HasyaBeginner

बदलो

Badlo

1 min read 2 versesChange Society Satire

2 verses · ~1 min

उसने पहले मेरा हाल पूछा फिर एकाएक विषय बदलकर कहा आजकल का समाज देखते हुए मैं चाहता हूँ कि तुम बदलो फिर कहा कि अभी तक तुम अयोग्य साबित हुए हो इसलिए बदलो, फिर कहा पहले तुम अपने को बदलकर दिखाओ तब मैं तुमसे बात करूंगा।

(1980)

इति

Rasa: Hasya
Stanzas: 2
Lines: 8
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Free verse
Metre: free verse
Rhyme: none

The poem evokes a tense, mildly absurd, and sharply satirical atmosphere charged with the biting mockery of hasya, stripped of lightness and turned into a weapon of social critique. Visually, the scene unfolds as a suffocating, mundane confrontation where a self-righteous middle-class moralist—depicted with stiff posture and a judgmental glare—waggingly interrogates a weary interlocutor across a cramped, ordinary room. This encounter symbolizes the endless, hypocritical loop of societal gatekeeping, where those in comfort demand systemic and personal reform from the unfit while dodging accountability themselves. The artistic tone is one of cynical, playful detachment masking a biting irony, capturing the tragedy of hollow moral posturing in modern society.

बदलो (Badlo), by Raghuvir Sahay runs to 8 lines across 2 stanzas, set as Single stanza of free verse. Its governing rasa is Hasya, shaded by Shanta. The metre is free verse. Rhyme falls as none.

Written in 1980, this poem satirizes the middle-class moralists who demand personal transformation from others while avoiding systemic dialogue.

Read it for व्यक्तिगत सुधार के नाम पर व्यवस्था का पाखंड and संवाद से बचने के लिए दूसरों को बदलने की सलाह. 2 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Sri Krishna as Envoy: Radiating an atmosphere of profound, heavy tension mingled with divine serenity, the painting captures a pivotal moment from the Mahabharata as Lord Krishna sits unflinchingly within a hostile Kaurava court to negotiate…

Words worth pausing on

अयोग्य: लायक न होना या काबिल न होना
विषय: मुद्दा या टॉपिक

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The Poet

रघुवीर सहाय

Raghuvir Sahay

1929 · 1990

Raghuvir Sahay transformed the language of modern Hindi poetry by entirely removing its reliance on classical romanticism. Born in Lucknow in 1929, he worked as an influential journalist and served as the chief editor of the prominent weekly magazine Dinaman. This journalistic career fundamentally shaped his poetic voice. Sahay wrote about political disillusionment, middle-class hypocrisy, and the quiet tragedies of urban life with the precision of a reporter and the sensitivity of a master poet. Collections like Log Bhool Gaye Hain, which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984, dissect the democratic failures of post-independence India. He refused to dress his anger in ornamental words. Instead, he used everyday conversational Hindi to confront readers with the harsh realities of power and powerlessness. Sahay died in 1990, leaving behind a stark and unsentimental body of work that continues to challenge the conscience of the nation. He proved that poetry does not need to be sweet to be profoundly moving.