Hum Log

Hum log
Daairon mein chaltay hain
Daairon mein chalnay se
Daairay to barhtay hain
Faaslay nahin ghat.tay
Aarzuain chalti hain
Jis taraf ko jaatay hain
Manzilain tamanna ki
Saath saath chalti hain
Gard urti rehti hai
Dard barhta rehta hai
Raastay nahin ghat.tay
Subah-dam* sitaaron ki tez jhilmilaahat ko
Raushni ki aamad ka pesh-baab* kehtay hain
Ik kiran jo milti hai, aaftaab* kehtay hain
Daaira badalnay ko inqilaab* kehtay hain

*Subah-dam = dawn; early morning
*Pesh-baab = preface (as in a book); something to hint or suggest what's about to come; foreshadower
*Aaftaab = sun
*Inqilaab = revolution ; complete change in the dynamics of something

(We (humans/people) have our set ways of doing things. We simply follow them and hope that somehow our problems will get resolved, our wishes will get fulfilled, but don't take any step towards these goals. Because we follow just one pattern, we keep going in circles, and keep increasing our journey towards unfulfilled desires (since there's no end point, the distance to travel is infinitely long). And then the smallest thing that happens out of the ordinary, we start to take that as a sign of positive change. For us, the biggest revolution is simply the change of direction (implying that's how ignorant we are when it comes to working towards something better). We don't even know how to take a positive step forward)

~Amjad Islam Amjad