In
1996, I had this great opportunity; a great honor to accompany Baba Hardev
Singh ji on a month long tour in Canada and United States. Though this was not the first time to have
accompanied the Master, for some reason I was quite emotional during this whole
trip. Whenever I was sitting or standing close to Him, if someone sang a
Bhakti-geet; devotional song, tears would start flowing in my eyes. During most
of the trip, I cried whenever such moments arrived.
In
one of the small gatherings, Baba ji asked Jagat geetkaar to sing a devotional
song. Jagat ji pointed towards me and said “Baba ji! Jab bhi main gaata hoon to
Rajan ji rone lagte hain. Inko baaher bhej den?” (“Whenever I sing this song,
Rajan ji starts crying. Should we send him outside?”
Baba ji simply smiled but his
remarks made me thinking.
I
realized when most people come in close contact with the Guru, they celebrate;
they laugh; they sing and dance.
Why
is it that it makes me sad?
And
I remembered a ‘sher’, a couplet by Sahir Ludhianavi:
“Tujh
se milna khushi kee baat sahi,
Tujh se mil kar udaas rehtaa hoon.”
Meaning:
“Though meeting you is indeed a moment of pleasure, whenever I meet you, I
become sad.”
That
seemed to be the case with me also. Even though all day, every day I was just a
few feet away from the Guru, yet I was sad and crying; longing to be closer to
Him.
While
searching for the reason, these lines came to my mind, and I wrote this poem:
'Shaayed abhi main door hoon tum se '
Tum
ko dekhtaa hoon to ye aankh bhar aati hai kyon
Lagtaa
hai shaayed abhi main door hoon Tum se
Hai
tamanna tum meri hasti pe chhaa jaao, magar
Jaane kyon phir bhi abhi main door hoon Tum se
Dil
me baaki hain abhi khud-garziyaan, khud-daariyaan
Shayed
is vajaha se hi main door hoon Tum se
Chaahne
par bhi khudee ko maar na paaya hoon main
Or Pocchhtaa hoon kyon abhi main door hoon Tum se
Chhod
duniya-daari tere saath reh saktaa nahin
Man
hi nahin tan se bhi main door hoon Tum se
Dil me dekhaa gaur se to raaz ye 'Rajan' khulaa
Dil me hai duniya, tabhi main door hoon Tum se
Tum
ko dekhtaa hoon to ye aankh bhar hi jaati hai
Jaantaa
hoon ki, abhi main door hoon Tum se
“Rajan Scahdeva”
(September 1996)
“Chand kaliyaan nishaat ki chun kar,
Peharon mahave yaas rehtaa hoon
Tujh se
milna khushi kee baat sahi,
Tujh se
mil kar udaas rehtaa hoon”
-Sahir Ludhianavi-