Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Day 6: Truth and poetry

"Maan jaaiye
Varna
Waqt manvaayega."
-an amateur poet called Dhruv

*

My grandfather always taught me that while reciting Urdu - or any - poetry, one must be careful of the pronouns. One must always remember to say 'aap' or at most 'tum', never 'tu'. One must revere the subject of one's poetry, respect oneself, and be courteous to the listener. Thus the formal version of 'you'.

Of course there are songs which cannot do without the casual 'tu'. Imagine the song from Roja being called "Aap hi re.. Aapke bina main kaise jiyun."

1 comment: