Piyush Mishra Responds to a Faiz Ahmad Faiz Poem at FTII Protests
A large part of Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s life was spent resisting and criticizing tyrannical forces in the establishment, and even in his death his poetry became a fodder for many revolutionaries. So when Piyush Mishra, among many other protesters, gathered at the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) it wasn’t surprising that he chose to read one of Faiz’s poems. But Mishra being a poet himself took it a step further deciding to read his own response to the poem.
Consider this an addition to Faiz’s chain of thought, the poem that reads:
Woh log khush kismat the
jo ishq ko kaam samajhte the
yaa kaam se aashique karte the
hum jeete ji masroof rahe,
kuch ishq kiya, kuch kaam kiya
kaam ishq ke aade aata raha,
aur ishq se kaam ulajhta raha
phir aakhir mein tang aakar hum ne
dono ko adhoora chhod diya
In Shiv K Kumar’s translation (as this blogpost mentions):
Fortunate indeed were those
who took love as their business
or were in love with whatever they did.
I remained busy my whole life–
some love, some work.
Work came in the way of love
and love often impeded work.
Then, finally, in disgust, giving it all up,
I forsook them both, half done.
To which here’s Mishra asking you why do a job that feels like a burden and why indulge in the kind of love that flows boringly even