ShantaIntermediate

सोये हुए लोगों के बीच जागना पड़ रहा है मुझे

Soye Hue Logon Ke Beech Jagna Padh Raha Hai Mujhe

2 min read 5 versesAwakening Truth Light

5 verses · ~2 min

सोये हुए लोगों के बीच जागना पड़ रहा है मुझे परछाइयों से नीद में लड़ते हुए लोग जीवन से अपरिचित अपने से भागे अपने जूतों की कीलें चमका कर संतुष्ट संतुष्ट अपने झूठ की मार से अपने सच से मुँह फेर कर पड़े रोशनी को देखकर मूँद लेते हैं आँखें

सोते हुए लोगों के बीच जागना पड़ रहा है मुझे ऋतुओं से डरते हैं, ये डरते हैं ताज़ा हवा के झोंकों से बारिश का संगीत इन पर कोई असर नहीं डालता पहाड़ों की ऊँचाई से बेख़बर समन्दरों की गहराई से नावाकिफ़ रोटियों पर लिखे अपने नाम की इबारत नहीं पढ़ सकते तलाश नहीं सकते ज़मीन का वह टुकड़ा जो इनका अपना है

सोये हुए लोगों के बीच जागना पड़ रहा है मुझे इनकी भावना न चुरा ले जाए कोई चुरा न ले जाए इनका चित्र इनके विचारों की रखवाली करनी पड रही है मुझे रखवाली करनी पड रही है इनके मान की सोये हुए लोगों के बीच जागना पड़ रहा है मुझे

रचनाकाल: 1991

शलभ श्रीराम सिंह की यह रचना उनकी निजी डायरी से कविता कोश को चित्रकार और हिन्दी के कवि कुँअर रवीन्द्र के सहयोग से प्राप्त हुई। शलभ जी मृत्यु से पहले अपनी डायरियाँ और रचनाएँ उन्हें सौंप गए थे।

इति

Rasa: Shanta
Stanzas: 5
Lines: 22
Reading time: ~2 min
Form: Free verse
Metre: free verse
Rhyme: none

The atmosphere is one of solitary, melancholic vigilance, evoking a scene where a lone, wide-eyed figure stands amidst a sprawling, shadowed landscape of prostrate, sleeping bodies who recoil from the piercing light of truth. The imagery centers on this stark contrast between the restless observer and the comatose masses, who are surrounded by symbols of ignored nature—mountains, deep seas, and fresh breezes—while they remain obsessively focused on the mundane details of their own neglected lives and polished illusions. The poem carries an austere, reflective tone that frames the act of awakening as an exhausting, protective duty, suggesting a burden of stewardship where the poet must guard the very consciousness and dignity of a society that chooses to remain blind. Through the lens of shanta rasa, the work transforms from a quiet meditation into a tragic, allegorical commentary on the alienation of the enlightened mind trapped in a conformist, soul-numbing void.

सोये हुए लोगों के बीच जागना पड़ रहा है मुझे (Soye Hue Logon Ke Beech Jagna Padh Raha Hai Mujhe), by Shalabh Shriram Singh runs to 22 lines across 5 stanzas, set as Three long stanzas in free verse.. Its governing rasa is Shanta, shaded by Karuna. The metre is free verse. Rhyme falls as none.

Written in 1991, this poem serves as an allegory for intellectual awakening in a conformist and politically passive society.

Read it for अज्ञानता और उदासीनता के विरुद्ध संघर्ष, सत्य से विमुख समाज की त्रासदी and जागरूक व्यक्ति का दायित्व और अकेलापन. 2 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Nala and Damayanti in the Forest: Bathed in a warm, subdued palette of sandy ochres, muted taupes, and soft creams, the landscape emanates a quiet, melancholy intimacy infused with tender devotion. In the stillness of a secluded forest grove, the exiled…

Words worth pausing on

नावाकिफ़: अनजान या अपरिचित
इबारत: लिखावट या लेख

Threads

Awakening Truth Light

The Poet

शलभ श्रीराम सिंह

Shalabh Shriram Singh

1939 · 1960s

Shalabh Shriram Singh was a bohemian visionary who deliberately rejected the comfortable illusions of mainstream literature to forge an entirely new path. Born in 1938 in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, he became the driving force behind the Yuyutsawad movement in Hindi poetry during the late 1960s. He refused to be categorized by traditional literary epochs, writing with a rebellious spirit that sought a total transformation of society. His iconic poem Nafas Nafas Kadam Kadam became a revolutionary anthem, echoing through protests and progressive circles long after it was written. Singh possessed a remarkable ability to bridge the lyrical traditions of the Urdu ghazal with the grounded realities of modern Hindi verse. He wrote not for applause, but to confront the deep social inequalities and religious hypocrisies that plagued the nation. Passing away in 2000, he left behind a legacy that continues to inspire young writers. He remains a fearless poet of the marginalized, proving that true literature must possess the courage to make the comfortable feel intensely uncomfortable.