KarunaIntermediate

रामदास

Ramdas

1 min read 5 versesSilence

5 verses · ~1 min

चौड़ी सड़क गली पतली थी दिन का समय घनी बदली थी रामदास उस दिन उदास था अंत समय आ गया पास था उसे बता यह दिया गया था उसकी हत्या होगी

धीरे धीरे चला अकेले सोचा साथ किसी को ले ले फिर रह गया, सड़क पर सब थे सभी मौन थे सभी निहत्थे सभी जानते थे यह उस दिन उसकी हत्या होगी

खड़ा हुआ वह बीच सड़क पर दोनों हाथ पेट पर रख कर सधे क़दम रख कर के आए लोग सिमट कर आँख गड़ाए लगे देखने उसको जिसकी तय था हत्या होगी

निकल गली से तब हत्यारा आया उसने नाम पुकारा हाथ तौल कर चाकू मारा छूटा लोहू का फव्वारा कहा नहीं था उसने आख़िर उसकी हत्या होगी

भीड़ ठेल कर लौट गया वह मरा पड़ा है रामदास यह देखो-देखो बार बार कह लोग निडर उस जगह खड़े रह लगे बुलाने उन्हें जिन्हें संशय था हत्या होगी

इति

Rasa: Karuna
Stanzas: 5
Lines: 25
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Metrical verse (chhand)
Metre: mātrika chhanda
Rhyme: AABB

The poem evokes a chilling atmosphere of inevitability and collective moral paralysis, characterized by the heavy, oppressive gray of a cloudy afternoon. A painting of the scene would center on Ramdas standing alone in the middle of a wide, sunless street, clutching his stomach while a silent, immobile crowd looks on with a detached, voyeuristic fixity. The imagery centers on the shocking contrast between the mundane public space and the sudden, graphic violence of a knife strike, where a fountain of blood erupts to confirm the grim prophecy of his death. This tragic, haunting tableau serves as a biting social commentary on the complicity of indifferent onlookers who transform a brutal murder into a hollow spectacle, highlighting the fragility of human life within a desensitized society.

रामदास (Ramdas), by Raghuvir Sahay runs to 25 lines across 5 stanzas, set as Five stanzas of five lines each (quintets) with consistent rhyming patterns. Its governing rasa is Karuna, shaded by Bhayanaka and Raudra. The metre is mātrika chhanda. Rhyme falls as AABB.

Written during a time of rising political violence and lawlessness in India in the 1970s.

Read it for सार्वजनिक हिंसा के प्रति समाज की मूक सहमति and भय और लाचारी के बीच एक नागरिक की नियति. 3 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Rama Breaking the Bow: The atmosphere of the painting is charged with a profound sense of divine awe and earthly astonishment, capturing a pivotal moment of heroic triumph and destiny unfolding. At the center of the vertical composition, the…

Words worth pausing on

निहत्थे: बिना किसी हथियार के
लोहू: रक्त या खून
संशय: संदेह या शक

Threads

Silence

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.