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Mandodari

KarunaIntermediate

मुझको याद किया जाएगा

Mujhko Yad Kiya Jayega

Gopaldas 'Neeraj'
2 min read 5 versesTearsLove

5 verses · ~2 min

आँसू जब सम्मानित होंगे मुझको याद किया जाएगा जहाँ प्रेम का चर्चा होगा मेरा नाम लिया जाएगा।

मान-पत्र मैं नहीं लिख सका राजभवन के सम्मानों का मैं तो आशिक रहा जनम से सुंदरता के दीवानों का लेकिन था मालूम नहीं ये केवल इस गलती के कारण सारी उम्र भटकने वाला, मुझको शाप दिया जाएगा।

खिलने को तैयार नहीं थीं तुलसी भी जिनके आँगन में मैंने भर-भर दिए सितारें उनके मटमैले दामन में पीड़ा के संग रास रचाया आँख भरी तो झूमके गाया जैसे मैं जी लिया किसी से क्या इस तरह जिया जाएगा

काजल और कटाक्षों पर तो रीझ रही थी दुनिया सारी मैंने किंतु बरसने वाली आँखों की आरती उतारी रंग उड़ गए सब सतरंगी तार-तार हर साँस हो गई फटा हुआ यह कुर्ता अब तो ज्यादा नहीं सिया जाएगा

जब भी कोई सपना टूटा मेरी आँख वहाँ बरसी है तड़पा हूँ मैं जब भी कोई मछली पानी को तरसी है, गीत दर्द का पहला बेटा दुख है उसका खेल खिलौना कविता तब मीरा होगी जब हँसकर जहर पिया जाएगा।

इति

Gopaldas 'Neeraj'

The Poet

गोपालदास "नीरज

Gopaldas 'Neeraj'

1925 · 2018

If Hindi poetry possessed a single voice that could dissolve the boundary between the written word and the sung breath, that voice belonged to Gopaldas Neeraj. He moved with rare and uncanny fluency between the high courts of literary poetry and the golden studios of Hindi cinema. Writing film lyrics in the 1960s and 1970s, he achieved something almost impossible by ensuring his songs carried genuine philosophical weight while remaining luminous with melody. His songs for films like Mera Naam Joker and Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal did not condescend to their popular medium, but rather elevated it entirely. Neeraj understood with the instinct of a true artist that the deepest questions of human existence, the nature of time, the certainty of loss, and the strange beauty of impermanence are not the exclusive property of the academy. They belong to the weeping widow, the dreaming young man, and the farmer watching rain fall on dry earth. Born in Puravali in 1925, he lived until 2018. Through nine full decades, he carried the gift of making the philosophical feel personal and the personal feel universal. He was that rarest of things, a poet whom both the scholar and the ordinary listener claimed as their own.

Mandodari

Paired Painting

Mandodari

Mandodari, the queen of Lanka and wife of Ravana in the epic Ramayana, is revered for her profound wisdom, righteousness, and unwavering devotion, despite the tragic circumstances of her life. In this moving masterpiece by Raja Ravi Varma, Mandodari is depicted inside a sacred temple environment, engaging in quiet acts of charity and spiritual devotion. She stands draped in a resplendent red saree, her gentle gaze filled with grace and compassion as she offers alms to a humble devotee seated below. The artist masterfully captures the architectural grandeur of ancient temple pillars and carved stone structures, juxtaposing worldly royalty with spiritual humility. Through his pioneering synthesis of Western academic realism and deeply Indian narrative sensibilities, Ravi Varma breathes life into the inner nobility of Mandodari, transforming a mythological figure into a profound symbol of empathy, grace, and enduring human dignity.

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