KarunaIntermediate

गोली की मेहरबानी

Goli Ki Meharbani

Ashok Anjum

1 min read 6 verses

6 verses · ~1 min

गोली की मेहरबानी कुछ बम की मेहरबानी फ़ाक़े हुए कईं दिन से मातम की मेहरबानी

कलियाँ भी अब उगलने चिंगारियाँ लगी हैं दहशत है गुलसितां में सिस्टम की मेहरबानी

तिकड़म कईं भिड़ा कर भी हो रहे विफल थे ठेका मिला जो उन को ये रम की मेहरबानी

जो घाव था ज़रा-सा नासूर बन गया है जो तुमने दिया था उस मरहम की मेहरबानी

कोठी से चल के गोरी कोठे पे आ गई है दिल जिस को दिया था उस बालम की मेहरबानी

कैसी गरम हवा है पकने लगे हैं बच्चे गुम हो रहा है बचपन मौसम की मेहरबानी

इति

Rasa: Karuna
Stanzas: 6
Lines: 12
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Ghazal
Metre: ghazal
Rhyme: AA BA CA DA EA FA

The poem breathes a heavy, tragic air of collective grief and systemic terror, saturated with the desolation of karuna rasa. A painting of this scene would depict a devastated, ash-strewn garden where scorched flowerbeds spit embers, framing the haunting juxtaposition of an opulent mansion and a ruined hovel under a blistering, oppressive sky. Implied is a bitter political narrative of state violence, starvation, and betrayal, where even the supposed remedies—whether bullets, bombs, or official decrees—only fester into incurable wounds. Its artistic tone is fiercely critical yet elegiac, mourning the theft of childhood and the collapse of humanity beneath the cruel machinery of an indifferent system.

गोली की मेहरबानी (Goli Ki Meharbani), by Ashok Anjum runs to 12 lines across 6 stanzas, set as Couplets (Sher). Its governing rasa is Karuna, shaded by Raudra. The metre is ghazal. Rhyme falls as AA BA CA DA EA FA.

It belongs to the 1961 · 2000s span of Ashok Anjum's working life, and keeps the plain, spoken register that period is known for.

Read it for युद्ध, हिंसा और व्यवस्था की संवेदनहीनता पर तीखा प्रहार and आम जनता और बच्चों के खोते बचपन का दर्द. 4 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Kaikeyi and Manthara: The scene is heavy with a stifling, conspiratorial atmosphere of impending doom and moral decay, enveloping the opulent chambers of the Ayodhya palace in a web of psychological tension. Within this pillared corridor,…

Words worth pausing on

फ़ाक़े: भूखा रहना या उपवास
गुलसितां: बगीचा या उपवन
तिकड़म: चालबाज़ी या युक्ति
नासूर: ऐसा घाव जो कभी न भरे

The Poet

अशोक अंजुम

Ashok Anjum

1961 · 2000s

Ashok Anjum holds a highly respected place in modern Hindi literature as a devoted guardian of lyrical traditions. Born in 1958 in Aligarh, he dedicated his creative life to enriching the Navgeet, Doha, and Ghazal forms. At a time when contemporary poetry heavily favored free verse, Anjum insisted on the necessity of rhythm and classical structure. He writes with profound sensitivity about changing human values, rural displacement, and the moral decay of modern society. Beyond his own poetic output, he has been a prominent editor and a guiding force in reviving the literary prestige of the Aligarh region. His verses carry the quiet dignity of a man who observes the world deeply, using gentle melodies to deliver razor sharp social critique.