Islamabad ke Sarkain-The Streets of Islamabad
This poem was inspired by Hassan Shah’s poem “Yaad” which brought back memories of my own childhood and young adulthood days in Islamabad. The nostalgia of those carefree days spent in the streets of Islamabad – playing Rounders, Cricket, Pehl dooj and Pittu Garam with street friends, walking in the rain, running into each other’s houses – came rushing back to me and compelled me to pen these words. Many vivid memories are missing in this poem, but one gets the idea that growing up in Islamabad was indeed a joyous time.
Islamabad ke Sarkain-इस्लामाबाद की सड़कें/اسلام آباد کی سڑکیں- by Roohi Vohra
Wo sarkein jin pe chal ke zindagi
Ke kaye saal guzaar diye
Un ke chaap peron tale ub bhi vazeh hei
Koi ghaur se dekhey toh sahi
Un ke mati ke khushboo ub bhi taza hei
Koi sunghey to sahee
Shaid un sarkon ka tilism baqi na raha
Laikin wo sarkein ub bhi apne hein
Un se unsiat ub bhi utni hei
Un se pyar ub bhi utna hei
Un se wabasta khubsurat yaadein
Ub bhi zhen nasheen hein
Yaqeenan ye wohi sarkein hein jin pe chaal ke
Kai saal guzaar diye
Ub nai sarkon se kya lena dena?
Wo bachpan aur larakpan ke hanstey kheltey din
Wo dorna bhagna, khelna koodna
Sahelion ki galiyon mein aana jaana
Yeh yaadien to bas inheen sarkon se juri hein
Wohi sarkein jin pe zindagi
Ke kai khushgawar lamhat guzaar diye
Wohi sarkein jin pe chal ke zindagi
Ke kai saal guzaar diye.
Roohi Vora is an English Lecturer at San Jose State University and Evergreen Valley College and currently Interim Director of the San Jose Area Writing Project. She is a hiking enthusiast and an avid fiction reader who collects books. She loves to travel to exotic places with her mom, sister and daughter, but her favorite place is Islamabad where she grew up playing in the streets with her friends.
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