Islamabad ke Sarkain-The Streets of Islamabad

wood nature flowers summer

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 in Urdu by Roohi Vohra

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 Vohra reading “Islamabad ke Sarkain”
Roohi Vohra the poet smiling

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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