अभी अभी एक सफ़र गुज़रा है...

अभी अभी एक सफ़र गुज़रा है,
अभी अभी एक क़हर गुज़रा है I

अभी अभी एक सहर गुज़रा है,
अभी अभी एक लहर गुज़रा है I


अभी अभी वो हलकान गुज़रा है,
अभी अभी वो परेशान गुज़रा है I

अभी अभी एक अरमान गुज़रा है,
अभी अभी एक इंसान गुज़रा है I

###

कुछ समंदर का भंवर देखना था...

कुछ समंदर का भंवर देखना था,
कुछ मुक़द्दर का असर देखना था I

कुछ तूफान का क़हर देखना था,
कुछ अपमान का ज़हर देखना था I

कुछ प्रस्तर में अंकुर देखना था,
कुछ जलधर का शरर देखना था I

कुछ सपनों में अग्यार देखना था,
कुछ अपनो में अहंकार देखना था I

###

शरर : चिंगारी
अग्यार : अजनबी
जलधर : बादल

प्रस्तर : पत्थर

मैं खिल्ली उड़ाती तालियों का...

मैं खिल्ली उड़ाती तालियों का,

मुर्दा तमाशा भर हूँ I

मैं बारिश से भींगी दुनिया में,

एक अलहदा प्यासा भर हूँ I

मैं खुशियों में डूबी आँखों का,

एक गला रुआंसा भर हूँ I

मैं डूब चुकी कश्तियों के,

किनारे लौट आने का...

मूर्ख आशा भर हूँ I 

    ###

वक़्त से लेकर उधार...

वक़्त से लेकर उधार,
कुछ सपने... कुछ ख़ार,
शुरू किया था एक सफ़र,
बस तुझे मानकर आधार I

पर दूर तक आकर भी इस सफ़र में,
आज जाने क्यूँ लगता है,
पूरा सफ़र बेकार...तेरा असर बेकार I

जब सब कुछ तुझको हीं,
पता है सही ग़लत,
तो मेरी जान को,
क्यूँ डाली आफ़त,
क्यूँ आग जलाया,
सिने में... भीड़ जाने को,
लड़ जाने को,
जब तुझे पता था,
मेरा अंत...जब तुझे पता था,
मेरा उजड़ा वसंत I

आज मेरा कुछ भी नहीं ,
आज मेरा तू भी नहीं ,
आज बस मैं मेरे जुनून,
का बिखरा हुआ एक हिस्सा हूँ ,
आज बस मैं तेरे अफ़्सूं ,
का बिलखता हुआ एक किस्सा हूँ I

 ###

अफ़्सूं : जादू / जादूगरी

कैसे कह दूँ... खुद को मुक़म्मल!

कैसे कह दूँ... खुद को मुक़म्मल,

के जब देखता हूँ तेरे आँसू तो,

टूटता है मेरा हौसला,
टूटता है मेरे संबल I

कैसे कह दूँ...खुद को मुक़म्मल,

के जब पता हीं नहीं के अंबर,

के उपर कौन बैठा है?

के जब पता हीं नहीं के सूरज,

चंदा से क्यूँ रूठा है ?

कैसे कह दूँ ...खुद को मुक़म्मल,

के जब जनता हीं नहीं,

के क्यूँ कृष्ण के इंतेज़ार में,

राधा का प्यार बैठा है ?

के जब जानता हीं नहीं के क्यूँ,

राम के इंतेज़ार में हर अहिल्या

का प्रस्तर आकार बैठा है ?

कैसे कह दूँ... खुद को मुक़म्मल,

के जब देखता हूँ हर दिन,

क्षय होते फूलों का स्वास,

लूटता हुआ जीवन का हर प्रयास,

और मानव गति...दुर्गति पे रोता आकाश,

तो कैसे कह दूँ खुद को मुक़म्मल,

जब बैठा है, कोई मुझसे उपर, 

जो हैं सबसे सबल, जो है सबसे अव्वल!

###

वक़्त लगता है...

वक़्त लगता है,
सूरज को चंदा बन पिघलने मे I

वक़्त लगता है,
चंदा को सूरज बन जलने में I

वक़्त लगता है,
बचपन के जवान बनने में I

वक़्त लगता है,
जवान के सयान बनने में I

वक़्त लगता है,
कूक को पहचान बनने में I

वक़्त लगता है,
भूख को बेईमान बनने में I

वक़्त लगता है,
बूँद को तूफान बनने में I

वक़्त लगता है,
इंसान को भगवान बनने में I

###

Mera Wala Fear aur Mera Wala Anger!

Fear is a factor that cripples mind; fear is a factor that shows in eyes; fear is a factor that makes you frantic; fear is a factor that makes you mad.

Mr. Naseeruddin Shah has been under fear for whatever of his reasons but despite the fear he still enjoys his life in his rarefied home area, despite the fear he still enjoys a spick and span loo in his home and despite the fear he and his family is still safe.

Now during the cold winters of early 1990 the war cries of hatred made the milieu of valley in Kashmir vitriolic.

Some of the slogans used in the valley during that time are as follows:

“Ralive, Tsaliv ya Galive” (either convert to Islam, leave the land, or die)

“Kashir banawon Pakistan, Bataw varaie, Batneiw saan”

(We will turn Kashmir into Pakistan alongwith Kashmiri Pandit women, but without their men folk)

"Dil mein rakho Allah ka khauf; Hath mein rakho Kalashnikov"

(With fear of Allah ruling your hearts, wield a Kalashnikov)

“Yahan kya chalega, Nizam-e- Mustafa”

(We want to be ruled under Shari’ah)

And you know what such slogans did? They instilled fear in the hearts of mothers to such an extent that they were ready to kill their daughters before killing self; the families were ready to vacate their ancestral homes and take refuge in camps where there were no proper sanitation facilities available. (If anyone who has ever had the opportunity to defecate in open can understand the shame that it imbues in you and especially in those who had used toilets in their houses before.)

People are still bound to be stuffed in a small space with at least their three generations whereas they were owners of spacious accommodations just two and half decade ago. 

I mean this is called fear.

Then he said that he was not afraid but he was angry because of the general situation in the country that is happening on the name of religion. 

I mean just for once think about the anger of those whose land were dismembered in the name of religion. Think about anger of those, whose Hinglaj Bhawani is restricted to only books of Durga Chalisa…in general condition they can never go to Hinglaj temple in this birth. Think about anger of those whose sacred places were destroyed in the name of showing one-upmanship on the face of earth and they are reduced to a situation that in their own land they are running from pillar to post to build a temple for their revered God.

I mean come on… this was not expected from Mr. Naseeruddin Shah whom the nation never considered as only a Muslim when it watched him perform in Sparsh,Mirch Masala,Wednesday,Masoom or Paar for that matter. Since he was associated with sensible cinema, some sensible reactions from him was expected not the mera wala fear or mera wala anger.

When anyone of a stature, that Mr. Naseeruddin Shah enjoys, makes a comment on the situation of the country the constraint should be exercised. Because when anything undesirable happens due to the comments, it is the common men who suffer and need succor from each other in distressful situations. The celebrities remain in their secured citadels. And when some prominent personality of the society makes such statements, it is perceived that the milieu must be really bad otherwise why someone of his stature would be talking about it on the T.V.

We have a driver working in our company. One day he told that he needs some holidays to build his house. I was a bit startled to know that a driver was making his house whereas a private naukri –wala- admi spends his whole life in rented accommodations. When I enquired further on how he marshaled financial resources to make a home he told that he was granted Rs. 2,20,000 from some govt. scheme that doles out money to build houses to people belonging to poor class. I was startled to know that the govt. scheme didn’t differentiate in a Hindu and Muslim and even if our Driver is a Muslim, he got the benefit of the scheme on the yardsticks of being the countryman. Later, the driver told that his family members were immensely benefited from some Mobile Health Vehicles (again run by Govt.) that go to small villages and help complete whatever of tests required for a patient or could be done for a patient in a mobile health vehicle.

I think that these positive things that happen on ground level should be the epicenter of talks while talking about the image of the country.

On the ground level the Hindu and Muslim community needs each other more frequently than those who live in their own secured world.

In 2016 there was some communal tension in my city but not of the flagrant nature but while we were at our office, words spread that shops were being closed down and general transportation was stopped. We were advised to leave the office as soon as possible. I had my driver (who also happens to be a Muslim) not of company, with me that day, and seeing the desolate roads he got panicked. I assured him that first I would drop him in his house only then I would go to mine. We moved towards his house but I was also anxious of anything untoward that could have happened. I left him at his home and then I drove as fast as possible to my house. 

Anyways, the roads were totally empty that day, so that also added to my speed. But during that period I had experienced immense fear I mean when there is a riot no one recognizes anyone. I just want to say that even if I am not a superman, I decided that first I would drop my driver at his house and then I would go to mine. I didn't see that my driver was a Muslim, he was my driver only and a human being whose family was waiting for him. And the same way my driver is ready for me whenever there is any emergency situation in my life. I mean though we are Hindu and Muslim yet seldom have we had any fear of each other. 

Under our company another entity works as our sub-contractor and the proprietor of that company is Muslim. But workers working under him are Hindus also and he is ever ready to help them out whenever there is an emergency situation in the lives of his Hindu workers. And mind you the help that he provides in shape of money is other than that he is legally bound to pay like: Salary, ESI, and PF.

With the two examples, I just want to show that the two communities, generally, are not baying for blood of each other on day to day basis and what is shown on TV might sometimes be aloof from what the reality might be.And since the reach of T.V is maximum, use of it should also have some responsibility. And the more positive we talk; the more the negatives will wilt, on their own.

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Happy new year to www.blogger.com and www.indiblogger.in !

You must be wondering that why I am greeting happy new year to these two websites?

Actually…to whom do we greet? The entity that is dear to us, right?

Then, by no means, I can say that www.blogger.com and www.indiblogger.in is dear to me. I might be cut off to my friends for 2-3 days but I am in constant contact with these two sites. So, I think that it just makes sense to greet the entities that are part of my day to day life (literally). Both have become a habit in my life. Seldom has a day passed, when I have not had a glance at these two websites. In a way they both have become an integral part of dissemination of my thought process.

I would like to scribble some striking attributes of these two sites and the way they have affected my life.

www.blogger.com :

My formative years were those when it was very tough to get anything published. The newspapers and magazines were not that open and encouraging towards the novices and if at all they were open they were open only to those who had some contacts in the publishing world. And moreover these publishing platforms had a ring of ‘super-intellectuality’ to them. Not any one could have had entry in that intellectual citadel of them. They were reserved for only those who had the reach in their world.

So even if you had the itch of writing your writing could never have got published. Because your social tentacles didn’t have that ‘reach’.

But blogger.com changed it. It gave everyone the reach to publish their work without the hassles of imploring before the editors of newspapers and magazine. And it also broke that concept that it is only a handful of people in the world who are endowed with the skill of writing. www.blogger.com established that given a chance anyone can emerge as a writer. Because www.blogger.com provided a platform the world is richer in terms of published words and in terms of understanding of life around the world.

www.Indiblogger.in :

Now when one gets published one needs some sort of review on the work. But for that you need an audience. And here the www.indiblogger.in plugged the lacuna between a writer and his/her readers by providing an interactive platform that brought in closer the writers who had new nomenclature as bloggers . The same bloggers became the readers for other writers. And by providing the opportunity to interchange the roles www.indiblogger.in imbued a writing soul with confidence that is the sine qua non for anyone who ever aspires to write.

And giving confidence was not only restricted to bringing together the writers and readers. The various contests and campaigns filled even the novice writers with the aplomb that they would have never got in the traditional beseeching- before -the -editors of magazines and newspapers. www.indiblogger.in not only saved the writers with dream of publishing from unavoidable humiliation but also gave recognition in plenty with open arms through its Badges and hefty Prize sum.

The painstaking work of the www.indiblogger.in team needs a big plaudit for weaving a network of people who  were also thinkers but lacked the vehicle to disseminate their creative work among those who would really appreciate their hard work. And in the process, the www.indiblogger.in helped bring closer many minds that would have remained unknown of each other in this incarnation of their lives.

So, today I am wishing a prosperous new year to these two entities that have played a cardinal role in whatever capacity that I have today as a writer.

                                                           ###

P.S: If my write-up seems to be reeking of sycophancy then I wouldn’t mind being labeled a sycophant as long as I sound indebted to these two sites for their role in my writing life.  

My Shadow Inspiration for a day!

By participating in the last edition of Blogadda.com’s WOW (2018)  prompt “Imagine you are some one’s shadow for a day”, I choose to be the shadow of Mr. Satya Nadella,CEO Microsoft.

Pic Courtesy:https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-is-writing-a-book/

As I have chosen to be the shadow of Mr.Nadella, I am bound to wake up early and follow him on his morning jog. I am not that person who enjoys waking up early but willy- nilly, I woke up in the morning today. But now I don’t regret it. The morning breeze seems therapeutic and the zeal in the boss of Microsoft is just infectious. But the goody feeling about the morning quickly evaporates, as I fail to match up his brisk pair of legs. I am a panting shadow of Mr.Nadella with the tongue lolling out and heart hell-bent on exploding. These feelings are bound to happen, when you are a lethargic soul and haven’t jogged in eons. Thank god Mr.Nadella has decided to stop the jogging for today and now I feel relieved.

After having a healthy breakfast that is sans Aloo ka Paratha and Puri Bhaji (That is essential for me for a breakfast to be called a breakfast in true terms) he is ready to make a beeline to his office at Redmond, Washington.

The sprawling Microsoft campus is just a sight to savor! It is perfect mélange of concrete and nature.

As I am rapt in the sightseeing…Mr. Nadella scoots towards his corner office. After rummaging through the program list for the day, he makes way for the conference hall for the morning meeting with his colleagues.

“We are starting the day but we need this day to start a beginning…a beginning that  takes us away from our competitors but close to our customers and consumers. We need to design our culture on the dimensions that empathize with requirements and needs of our customers. We must make the best use of today to create a better tomorrow for ourselves and for our customers and consumers. And above all, we should try everything today that inspires next generations to strive for a better world. May I have your views on making the best use of today?”

After this influential talk he is all ears for his colleagues’ pieces of inputs.

I am just there listening to the innovative ways of making a better tomorrow. The kahuna of Microsoft  never has the hubris (on his face) of being the boss of a leading software company of the world. He is easygoing but assertive on occasions as well.

At times he is one of them and at times he is the one guiding them.

Throughout the day he has been taking views, making new plans, suggesting improvements in software codes and not for a moment he felt tired. He was like a wellspring of birr and verve throughout theday. But the fatigue in me is making me sleepy. I am praying for his day to get over. At around nine O’clock in the evening(if at all it could be called an evening) he leaves the office.  

As he reaches home, he asks the first question: Where is Zain?

Zain is his son.

He goes to the room of his son. He is sleeping.

Mr. Nadella sits in the room just looking at the innocent face of his son. A few moments later his eyes brims with tears that he tries to fight back.

I am startled to see the scene but then as I am his shadow I get to know the reason, instantly, reading his mind. Actually, his son is affected with cerebral palsy since birth. And like any other father he would have liked his son to enjoy and experience life on turfs that are called ‘normal’. The tears are of a father who could design codes that made sense of many lives that could have gone awry but his coding ability failed to create a normal platform for his own lad.

But next moment, I see him full of aplomb and resolve as if some day he would surely crack a code to trounce the devastating effects of cerebral palsy for his son and the other progeny of Mother Nature through his dexterous coding skills assisted by knowledge from medical field.

As my contract given from Blogadda to be the shadow of someone is about to cease, I come out of his house. 

The whole day changed my perception. 

Earlier, I was of the view that only people from middle class like me have problems in life like: an unstable job, yearly shooting up accommodation rents, spiraling out of control medical costs… and these super -rich people don’t have any problems in life. I mean what could be a problem in life for a person who earns $100 odd million yearly?

But I was wrong…the super- rich also have their share of problems and they are fighting their own battles and at the same time devoting their energy to make our lives easy.

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‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

कोई उम्र तो होगी...

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
मुक़द्दर के स्याह रात की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
आँखों में तैरते आँसुओं के बारात की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
इंसान से बने मज़बूर की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
सिने में जलते तंदूर की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
चेहरे पे नाचते गुरूर की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
आत्मा को सब होते मंज़ूर की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
तूफान के इब्तिसाम की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
मेरे सब्र के इम्तिहान की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
कराहते हुए जज़्बात की I

कोई उम्र तो होगी,
बिगड़ी हुई हर बात की I

###

इब्तिसाम: मुस्कुराहट, मुस्कान

सुना था के तेरी गलियों में...

सुना था के तेरी गलियों में,

चाँदनी का बसेरा है I

सुना था के तेरी गलियों में, 

रागिनी का डेरा है I

सुना था तेरे गांव में,

सितारों का मेला है I

सुना था तेरे सदके में,

कोहेनूर भी ढेला है I

तू नूर था कितनों के,

ज़ीस्त के शरर का,

तुझसे मुन्नवर था,

हश्र कितने बुझते शहर का I

दिल बहुत दुखा जब...

तुझे तुझसे मुख्तसर देखा I

###

शरर : चिंगारी

ज़ीस्त : जीवन
मुनव्वर : रौशन 
मुख़्तसर : छोटा,संक्षिप्त 

Smart devices and their smart effect on life!

Here is my take on the smart changes in the life courtesy smart devices:

Why do we need smart devices in our lives?

Well, smart devices are stepping stones towards a better concept of life with a better control over it. Smart devices give new dimensions to the lifestyle that are unprecedented in terms of making life less of a fuss and more of a fun. We need smart devices to create better health, awareness, entertainment, and security in the personal and social aspects of life that we lead. And where there is less anxiety pertaining to a life style, obviously that lifestyle redounds to the creation of more prosperity. So, we need the smart devices because they are harbingers of a lifestyle that believes in making life more livable by mitigating the aspects of worry and creating the facets that are merry.

What are the advantages of having the technology to ease our day to day living?

If it was not for smart devices how we would have been able to deduce the miles traveled, cycled and therefore the calories burned? And this way we don’t have to wait for a visit to the medical labs to know the results of our daily work out.  With smart watches you can get all important mails and other social media notifications even while you are on the treadmill and you just have to turn your eyes in the direction of smart watch and you are updated  in a jiffy without interrupting your work out. If you like to listen to meditative tunes while doing yoga you just have to tap your smart watch instead of going through hassles of rinsing apps in your smart phone.

People not that conversant with the typing on devices find it really easy to just use their vocal cords to play the music of their choice or rummage through the repository of information that the internet has to offer. If you are working in kitchen and your hands are occupied the smart devices like Google Home can come to your rescue to a tee!

Many attempts of felony can be negated with the help of smart camera and the perpetrators can be brought to book with watertight evidence. There is very little that any argument can do before a live evidence of a crime.

When you are away from home on a holiday, you can control the lighting of your home with smart lights in case you forgot shutting down the lighting system of home while getting away from home. With the smart lights installed at your home you can relax and make the most of your holidays.

So advantages of smart technologies are in plethora to enjoy the best of life quality with best of ease.

Views on how evolution of technology has changed my life

My accommodation place is fitted with smart security camera that is manageable by smart phone so it reduces the anxiety related to the car parked in front of home the whole night. And it reduced the risk of burglary to a zilch that has resulted in a peaceful sleep at night. And this uninterrupted sleep is a great change that the security camera has brought in my life.

My fitness band tracks my daily walking steps and helps me keep fit. So, smart wearable is quintessential if you like to keep a vigil on your health.

To my mind the fitness bands and smart security cameras have been best additions to my life and I would highly recommend them to the Indian population in search of a healthy and secure life.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get the band and #GetFitWithFlipkart and buy the smart security camera, smart lights and Google Home to start #SmartHomeRevolution! 

                                                               

                                                                  ###

 P.S:Pic Courtesy : www.flipkart.com

Things that make me say Wow,Super…Awesome!

There are some things in life that when they happen to you will take you in their thrall and leave you enchanted. And when you are bewitched by the sheer force of the happening, you blurt out in mind or mouth: Wow! Super. Awesome! And obviously you smile and feel happy after articulating the words.

Such things happen in every one’s lives and I also have a scant share of such wow moments in my life.

Enumerating such things, I would like to start with the scene of a rising sun from the lap of unfathomable sea. When the sun rises from the far east unraveling its crimson charm and painting the bosom of the sea with shivering cerise is just a sight that exacts the words like wow…super…and awesome from your mouth. It shows that the nature that can give birth to a mind of Pablo Picasso is itself the supreme womb from where all superior art gets spawned and this realization makes me smile.

Coming on to the next point, I would like to say that a turnaround of a situation from a diametrical bad state to a better state makes me smile. I have been part of an organization that helps raise fund for patients suffering from serious ailments and diseases. I sometimes contribute to different fund raising campaigns from the organization as per my financial capabilities. So,when the organization sends me mail of the improvement of the patients (who were really going through terrible phase of their lives) my mind just says wow, super and awesome in unison. It makes me smile, when I realize that how god subtly manifests itself to the world  through the betterment in the condition of an ailment of a human being.

When I go through the food blogs of fellow bloggers (I really like Bhawana’s and VarshaBaikar’s food blogs) and when I happen to witness the scrumptious and lip-smacking recipes at the blogs, my mind just says wow, super, and awesome. I really feel happy to experience the colourful pictures of different delicacies that have power to satiate the hunger of stomach and taste buds alike.

When I see a beautiful girl (or woman) draped in ethnic Indian dress, I can’t help saying wow, super, awesome, obviously, in my mind otherwise the chances of getting slapped is high. Right from sea shores to mountainous altitudes of India, the different dressing styles of Indian women depicts vibrant finesse of sartorial craft of our artisans. It makes me smile to think how my country represents a cosmos of cloth craft with all its width and depth.

And… yes when I finish writing a piece of poem or article my mind says wow, super, and awesome! I really feel happy at transmuting my thoughts into words. Every time… I finish a write up, I feel as if it is chef d’oeuvre. Though… what I think and what my readers think about my piece of writing might vastly differ!

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‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

कुछ क़िस्से मेरे हिस्से के...

कुछ क़िस्से मेरे हिस्से के,

कुछ क़िस्से जीवन के गुस्से के I

कुछ क़िस्से उड़ते बादल के,

कुछ क़िस्से आधे पागल के I

कुछ क़िस्से रोती हीरों के,

कुछ क़िस्से सोते फकिरों के I

कुछ क़िस्से बंटती मिट्टी के,

कुछ क़िस्से लुटती हस्ती के I

कुछ क़िस्से बीती जवानी के,

कुछ क़िस्से खेलती नयी निशानी के I

कुछ क़िस्से बुढ़िया नानी के,

कुछ क़िस्से मीरा दीवानी के I

कुछ क़िस्से उसके गेसू के,

कुछ क़िस्से उसके हरसूं के I

कुछ क़िस्से उसके सावन के,

कुछ क़िस्से मेरे आँगन के I

कुछ क़िस्से उत्तर दख्खन के,

कुछ क़िस्से प्रस्तर पावन के I

कुछ किस्से मेरे हिस्से के,

कुछ किस्से जीवन के गुस्से के I

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यह कविता इंडीआस्पाइर के लिए दी गयी शीर्षक से प्रेरित है : Must story writers pick up incidents from their own life or create everything in their imagination? Where do good stories really begin? #StoryWriting

पता नहीं मैं हूँ की नहीं...

सब बात तुझमें हैं,
सारी औकात तुझमें हैं,
तो पता नहीं... मैं हूँ की नहीं I

सारी सच्चाई तुझमें है,
सारी परछाई तुझमें है,
तो पता नहीं... मैं हूँ की नहीं I

सारी इज़्ज़त तेरी है,
सारी मशिय्यत तेरी है ,
तो पता नहीं... मैं हूँ की नहीं I

सारी अज़्मत तेरी है,
और सारी तोहमत मेरी है,
तो पता नहीं... मैं हूँ की नहीं I

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मशिय्यत: इच्छा,चाहत
अज़्मत: महानता