Spring in India: The Joyous Celebration of Bahaar in Urdu Poetry

Given that the Indian climate is marked by a difference of temperature and rainfall more than anything else and falls under the category of “tropical monsoon” with no clearly defined spring or autumn, the “idea” of spring has an important place in our collective consciousness, and by extension our poetry. Just as there is copious amounts of poetry in Sanskrit on the six seasons as identified by the ancient Hindu calendar, namely, vasant, grishma, varsha, sharad, hemant and shishir and on vasant or spring in particular, so too there is a joyous celebration of bahaar in Urdu poetry.What ‘Bahaar’ Means to an Urdu PoetMeaning beauty, glory, splendour, elegance, prime of life, bloom of youth, ‘bahaar’ is used for spring, spring-time and verdure. But the Urdu poet, as is the poet’s wont, infuses the word with a special agency to mean many things: exuberance, prosperity, a time of plenty, a promise of new beginnings as also beauty, fragility, impermanence.And, by extension, bahaar has also come to indicate the ecstasy of union and fruition as also the lament of the lover who is separated from his beloved and wants nothing more than to be united with her/him to enjoy the beauty and ephemeral splendour of this short-lived season.At its simplest, here is Ahmad Faraz comparing spring at the peak of its glory with the beloved’s face:Bharii bahaar mein ik shaakh pe khilaa hai gulaabKi jaise tu ne hatheli pe gaal rakha haiA rose has bloomed on a branch in the fullness of springLooking as though you have placed your face on your palmAnd the classicist Jigar Moradabadi declaring the beloved’s beauty that surpasses that of spring;Sehn-e-chaman ko apni baharon pe naaz thaWoh aa gaye to saari baharon pe chha gayeThe garden’s courtyard prided itself on its springsWhen she came, she held sway over all the springsFani Badayuni rues the frittering of the possibilities that spring offered:Tinkon se khelte hi rahe ashiyan mein humAaya bhi aur gaya bhi zamana bahaar kaWe kept playing with twigs in our nestsThe time of spring came and went awayHappy Basant Panchami 2021: Quotes, Wishes and ImagesWhat Spring Means to Those in CaptivityThe coming of spring is always most evocative for those who are in captivity – literal or metaphorical – for the bars of the cage – real or imaginary – enhance the sense of being deprived of all the abundance in nature’s garden. This sense of deprivation is best captured by Sauda:Kahiyo saba salaam hamara bahaar seHum to chaman ko chhod ke sū-e-qafas chaleConvey my greetings to the spring, O breezeI have left the garden and gone towards the cageAnd Yagana Changezi:Qafas-nasibon ko tadpa gai hawa-e-baharChhuri si dil pe chali jab chali hava-e-bahaarSpring breezes trouble those destined for prisonLike a knife on the heart these breezes of springAnd in the same ghazal, the poet goes on to say:Hawa mein aaj-kal ik dhimi dhimi wahshat haiIsi zamaane se shayad hai ibtida-e-bahaarThere’s a slight frenzy in the air these daysPerhaps the beginning of spring is in the worldWith the rays of the sun becoming stronger and the coming of hot westerly winds, the colours begin to fade and the garden begins to look like a bride taking off her jewels. The image is beautifully captured in this sher by Ameer Minai:Shaḳhon se barg-e-gul nahin jhadte hain baaġh meinZewar utar raha hai urūs-e-bahaar kaIt isn’t the flower petals coming off the branches in the gardenIt is the jewellery being taken off by the bride of springRecipes for Basant Panchami: The Food Platters of IndiaThe Fickleness of Spring & AutumnUsed in conjunction with khizaan (autumn), bahaar reinforces the life principle as in this sher by Shakeel Badayuni:Miri zindagi pe na muskura mujhe zindagi ka alam nahinJise tere ġham se ho waasta woh ḳhizan bahaar se kam nahinDon’t smile at my life, I have no affliction in lifeHe who has your grief autumn is no less than springHere’s another version of the popular bahaar-khizaan trope with Arsh Malsiyani stressing the fickleness of both:Nairangi-e-bahaar-o-khizaan dekhte raheyHairat se hum tilism-e-jahaan dekhte raheyI watched the fickleness of spring and autumnIn amazement I beheld the illusion of the worldFaiz Ahmad Faiz has the last word on the possibilities bahaar offers and the terrible sadness that comes in the wake of a spring that is unlike any other:Na gul khile hain na unse miley hain na mai pii haiAjeeb rang mein abke bahaar guzri haiThe flowers have not bloomed nor have we met her or drunk wineThis spring has passed by in the odd sort of wayAnd this, my personal favourite also by Faiz, that I like to quote often when the world seems a dark place:Hum ne dil mein saja liye gulshanJab bahaaron ne be-rukhi kii haiI created a garden in my heartWhen spring showed indifference(Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, translator and literary historian. She writes on literature, culture and society. She runs Hindustani Awaaz, an organisation devoted to the popularisation of Urdu literature. She tweets at @RakhshandaJalil. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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Spring in India: The Joyous Celebration of ‘Bahaar’ in Urdu Poetry

The Urdu poet infuses the word ‘bahaar’ with a special agency to mean many things such as exuberance & prosperity.

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Topics: Urdu Urdu Poet Urdu Writers