प्रेम की, सचाई की, बोलियाँ ही गायब हैं

The emotional atmosphere is one of sharp disillusionment and melancholic satire, rooted in the sorrowful karuna rasa over a world that has lost its moral and romantic core. A visual depiction would juxtapose surreal, almost absurd imagery: a barren garden stripped of its butterflies after a nobleman's stroll, a figure looking at their hands only to find their fingers missing after an impulsive gesture of love, and a modern Draupadi in jeans frustrating Dushasana's attempt at disrobing because traditional sarees have vanished. Underlying the biting critique of contemporary social decay and vanished sustenance—where even kitchen taps disappear with neighbors and bread vanishes from working hands—is a tragicomic tone of profound loss. The poem weaves together the cynical disappearance of truth and affection with whimsical yet biting surrealism, creating a landscape where ancient epics collide with modern urban emptiness.

प्रेम की, सचाई की, बोलियाँ ही गायब हैं (Prem Ki, Sachai Ki, Boliyan Hi Gayab Hain), by Ashok Anjum runs to 14 lines across 7 stanzas, set as Couplets (Sher). Its governing rasa is Karuna, shaded by Hasya. The metre is ghazal. Rhyme falls as AA BA CA DA EA FA GA.

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 आधुनिक समाज में नैतिक मूल्यों का ह्रास and कन्या भ्रूण हत्या और सामाजिक विसंगतियों पर व्यंग्य. 3 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Disrobing of Draupadi: The painting evokes a tense, agonizing atmosphere charged with the friction between mortal cruelty and divine salvation. Set within an opulent yet morally bankrupt royal court, it depicts the harrowing Mahabharata scene…