तुम थी या नहीं!

तुम थी, या नहीं ? या था कुछ और?
अत्यंत गंभीर, गहरा सा,
जैसे बच्चे की नींद, या माँ की लोरी,
जाड़ो की नरम धुप सी,
गर्म रातों में ठंडी पुरवाइयों सी,
सुकून की नींद सी,
तुम आई थी, मुक्त करने मुझे जीवन की चिन्ताओं से,
तुम दे गई मुझे सभ कुछ,
पर मैं तुम्हें क्या दूं, तुम्हारे ज़िक्र के सिवाए?

तुम्हे पुकारूँ भी तोह कैसे, किस ओर आवाज़ दूं?
जब ख़ामोशी से ही सुन लेती हो सभ कुछ, और तर कर देती हो मुझे प्रेम से,
मैं सोया था, या था जगा हुआ?

तुम हकीकत में थी, या आई थी मेरे सपनो की हकीकत बन कर?
वो तुम थी, या तुम थी ही नहीं,
तुम मेरा वेहम नहीं हो सकती,
मन मानता ही नहीं, कि तुम थी ही नहीं,
हाँ तुम थी, था नहीं कुछ और,
वो तुम ही थी, तुम मेरे जीवन की डोर।।

In the rains, I cry

I look at the rains,
The falling drops, reaching my veins,
I feel like getting wet under God's shower,
Dance like a peacock and bloom like a flower.

Then why do I keep away from heaven's water?
What stops me I always wonder,
This question pops up every time in my brain,
Yes, yes, yes, whenever I see the rain.

Neither am I a flower, nor a peacock,
I am a woman, with many locks,
I have my boundaries, set by the society,
I can dream, but cannot live them,
I feel the rains, sinking in my veins,
Deep I think, smelling the wind,
I want to fly, but then I realise even the bird's wings aren't left dry
And then in the rains, every time I cry. 

मैंने इंसान बदलते देखा है

मौसमो को बदलते देखा है,
धूप से छाँव , छाँव से धूप होते देखा है,
सूरज की पहली किरण से लेकर,
चाँद की चांदनी तक, अँधेरा होते देखा है।
बदलना फितरत है इनकी,
कभी न खुद को ग़म करते देखा है॥

लेकिन जब देखा, इंसान को बदलते हुए,
तब अपनी आँखों से आंसू को गिरते देखा है।

वक़्त बदलते देखा है,
औदे, हुकूमत, सियासत और पोशाख बदलते देखा है,
और मैंने, नज़रे, फितरत और इंसान को भी बदलते देखा है॥

जो कहते थे अपने है, उनको भी बदलते देखा है, और जो न थे कभी मेरे,
मैंने उनको भी बदलते देखा है, मैंने इंसान बदलते देखा है॥

निदा सैफी

CHARLIE HEBDO

Written on- Sunday, 25th January 2015
Today, I am writing, not because of my love for writing, but because I am hurt and broken. I want to speak myself out, I want to share my feelings , thoughts and opinions with people. But, certainly I am not able to do so, and that’s happening with me for the first time, not because I am in some dilemma , it’s because I know people out there won’t understand my point of view, and even if they do , they would stop themselves from saying so, because we sometimes or may be most of the times, tend to go with the majority, and that can be for various reasons.
You , must be thinking , why am I not coming to the point, as that is what I always do while I write or say something I agree or I don’t agree with, I don’t twist and turn things while sharing my views, but today something different is happening with me, and I am not happy about it. This doesn’t means that I am scared, it is just that, I am nervous , because somewhere I know that people will not understand me, or they might take me wrongly. Still, I need to write, because when speech doesn’t work, writing tends to bridge the gap, because it is patient, peaceful and slow.
It’s not been many days since the Charlie hebdo attacks took place, a really sad incident indeed. Humans killing humans. Or no! it is Muslims killing humans, but who are Muslims? They may be whatever, but they are certainly not humans. What is Charlie Hebdo? A London based magazine that publishes cartoons, which are purely for humor. This, magazine is always known for its freedom of speech, they publish whatever they feel should be published, and their base of doing so is FREEDOM OF SPEECH, which is not at all wrong. Then why did Muslims attack the Charlie Hebdo, they did it because they are not liberal, they are not open minded, they don’t know how to adjust with the society, on a whole, they are not humans.
Freedom of speech, is an extremely important part of a democracy, and why shouldn’t it be? The citizens of a country should have complete right of keeping their views forth, even if the views are hurting the sentiments of a human, a caste, a religion, or a gender! For, all those who disagree with this definition of freedom of speech, let me make it clear , that’s exactly what Charlie hebdo follows. This, magazine since many years, was publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, because of which a large Muslim population was not happy. In many countries, mass agitations and protest took place against the same, some even took Charlie hebdo to court. These non- human Muslims tried to conveye their disagreement with the same, but ! It was Charlie Hebdo which followed Freedom of speech and there is nothing wrong in doing the same. After many years, when these Muslims saw, that these people are not stopping themselves from publishing the cartoons of their prophet, what they did was, they picked up the guns, and killed the staff of the magazine.  I had personally never seen these cartoons, but after these attacks, when I gave it a look, I was numb for a moment. What I saw, was disgusting, and cannot be described in words, those cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, were actually not for humor, and if that’s what you call humor, then I am sorry to say, it certainly did not make me laugh, it made me think and think deep. It made me feel ashamed of myself, it made me realize that I certainly don’t have the power to distinguish between the wrong and the right and I am among one of those, who tend to follow the majority.
Freedom of speech does not mean, writing  or saying anything  even when it  disrespects someone’s emotions. For a civilized person, freedom of speech means, keeping forth your views in a respectful and orderly manner, keeping in mind the sentiments of the people you are living with. Sometimes, unknowingly we tend to hurt emotions, because we live with a diverse population and taking care of all, gets difficult at times, but when the disagreement is expressed, it is always better to stop rather than provoking and instigating hatred in minds, and if someone continuously attempts doing so then it is undoubtedly wrong, because it is possible that out of that population of millions and billions there can be one or two fellows who will pick up guns and kill, in that case the population is not to be blamed and neither should the background of the population should be blamed.  
It doesn’t mean that, I am okay, with the attacks on Charlie hebdo. I strongly condemn the incident, and pray to my lord, that this type of incident doesn’t happen ever again, because killing is not a solution to anything . It gives way to further hatred, and violence can never bring in peace, it in fact turns the wrong into right, and the same has happened with the Charlie hebdo magazine.
Yes, what the terrorists, did was inhuman, but their religion doesn’t teaches them to do so. It wasn’t Islam that did so, prophet Muhammad doesn’t require killing for saving his stature. Like all other religions that exist in this world, Islam is also a religion of peace and harmony, no religion can asks for killing. No religion promotes violence. You don’t agree with me? Please read the Qur’an before deciding on the same.
What Charlie hebdo did, was inhuman too, it provoked the non-human Muslims, instigated hatred in their hearts and minds, of which the result was sad, and terrifying. but did it not hurt our fellow Muslims almost every day? Did it not emotionally kill them from within each second, because these muslims despite of knowing what was happening couldn’t do anything about it because they knew that in this world, the position of the magazine is above their sentiments and religious beliefs. Islam does not allow photography of their prophet for religious reasons. Terrorists killed the people at Charlie hebdo in mere 10 minutes, but Charlie hebdo killed Muslims emotionally every day and It still continues doing so, because as I said, violence on the victim turns him to be right, even if he is wrong. We must never make anyone a means of laughter and fun for our own benefits, and when it is someone whom around 2 billion population of the world follows, then it is certainly not a civilized thing to do.
I am a Muslim. I understand that you now, might not take this write up seriously, and think that I have a one sided view, to the Charlie hebdo incident, but still, I want you to know my religion because, I want all of you to realize, that your views are not and never should be influenced by your background, your thoughts should always reflect your ability of understanding things and distinguishing between the right and the wrong.

Nida saifi.

A weakening heart

Who are you?
- A human
No, I asked who are you?
- A woman
I asked who are you?
- A muslim!
The question was answered, the voice was tough.
Baffled reaction, exasperated they looked.
Falon i was not,
Then why that look?
Is being a muslim a crime?

My religion is as pious as yours,
My book is as echt as yours,
My Allah belongs not only to me, but to you too, Then why do i deserve that reaction on revealing my roots to you?

The evil is dumb, deaf and blind,
Cannot see the truth behind (quran)
Are you like him too?
Then why look at me like that, what did I do?

I pray like you, I enunciate truth like you,
Then why do I look like an evil to you?

I give to poors, my book asks me to,
I dont obliguy on others, my book asks me not to,
I dont drink, My almighty orders me not to,
I take care of my neighbors, so they take care of theirs too,
A better society that will build, a good country that shall make.
Then why? Why do I deserve that look?

Evils kill in the name of my religion,
But does Islam sanction it?
Will my allah forgive them?
No. They shall never be forgiven.
Allah has no place for felons in his jannah,
Then why you look at me like that?

I am a normal humanbeing , I follow Allah's path, path of righteousness , of truth and of peace.

No look can shake my roots, but it can surely weaken my heart.

Sometimes I forget

Sometimes I forget,
I am not the only one,
I am not the only one breathing,
I am not the only beautiful.

Sometimes I forget,
I am not the only one given that award,
I am not the only singer and I am not the only dancer.

Sometimes I forget,
I am not the only one with a beautiful family,
I am not the only one happy.

And then,
Sometimes in joy I dance , love, laugh and live,
Believing that yes I am one of the blessed ones,
And then I understand,
Sometimes forgetting is so much better.

A bye!

She said bye,
But why? He asked her, with a sough
She had an answer, a deep one for sure,
Still, keeping mum was her choice,
As he won't understand she had assumed.

She was a girl, who was heart broken,
Ran away from commitments and relations,
He was a guy, full of love and fun, wanted her more than anyone,

He loved her, she liked him,
Realization of her love for him came anon,
This annoyed her, reality was hard to accept,
She started running from the truth.
But till when would she run, had to take a turn,
Her heart was with him along with her mind,
She said sorry and he hugged her,
Love was there to stay..  !