“Zehar se bachna aasaan tha… mushkil to khushbu se bachna nikla.”
– Zulfikar Inamdar
“Poison was easy to survive… it was the fragrance that broke me.”
“Khushbu Se Qatl”:
Arz kiya hai ke…
Maine bohot se aastin ke saapon ko sahaa hai,
Har zehar ko muskurakar pee jaana meri aadat raha hai…
Jinhone dushmani khuli aankhon se nibhayi, unse kabhi shikwa na hua,
Jo apne ban kar mile, unse har baar dil toda gaya hai…
Main har zakham ko chup chaap sajata raha seene mein,
Log samajhte rahe ke main be-dard ho gaya hoon…
Raat ki tanhaiyon mein cheekhta raha khud se,
Subah har dafa naya chehra pehen leta raha hoon…
Mujhe giraane ki koshish mein duniya lagi rahi,
Aur main har dafa khud ko sambhalta raha hoon…
Na kisi ki nafrat ne mujhe itna toda,
Na kisi ke zehar ne mujhe itna jalaya…
Magar ek narm si muskurahat, ek halka sa ehsaas,
Mujhe andar hi andar se mita gaya…
Woh jise apna samjha, wohi meri kamzori ban gaya,
Jise sukoon samjha tha, wohi meri bechaini ka sabab ban gaya…
Na teer laga, na talwar chali, na jung ka shor hua,
Phir bhi meri rooh ka qatl khamoshi se ho gaya…
Ek gulaab ki khushbu ne halaak kar diya mujhe,
Warna main to har zehar se bach kar nikal aaya tha…
Ab na kisi dushman ka darr hai, na kisi dhokhe ka gham,
Ab to bas apni yaadon ka bojh uthata hoon main…
Jo mehfil kabhi meri awaaz se roshan hoti thi,
Aaj usi mehfil mein khud se hi chup jaata hoon main…
Kuch rishton ki haqeeqat itni der se samajh aati hai,
Jab tak samajh aata hai… insaan toot chuka hota hai…
Ek khushbu ka qatl ajeeb hota hai,
Na khoon girta hai, na nishaan bachta hai…
Bas ek insaan dheere dheere khud se door hota hai,
Aur duniya ke beech reh kar bhi tanha ho jaata hai…
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English Version:
“Killed by Fragrance”:
A request is….
I have endured countless hidden snakes,
Smiling, I made peace with every poison…
Open enemies never hurt me this deep,
It was those who came as my own who broke me…
I kept decorating my wounds in silence,
While the world believed I had become numb…
In lonely nights, I screamed within myself,
Yet every morning, I wore a new face…
The world kept trying to bring me down,
And I kept learning how to stand again…
No hatred ever shattered me like this,
No poison ever burned me this way…
But a soft smile… a gentle feeling,
Destroyed me from within…
The one I trusted became my weakness,
The peace I sought became my unrest…
No arrow struck, no sword was raised,
Yet my soul was quietly murdered…
The fragrance of a rose killed me,
While I had survived every poison before…
Now I fear neither enemies nor betrayal,
Only the weight of my own memories…
The gathering once lit by my voice,
Now feels like a place I hide from myself…
Some truths in relationships come too late,
And by then… a person is already broken…
A death by fragrance is strange and silent,
No blood, no visible scars…
Just a slow drift away from oneself,
Until you’re alone… even in a crowd…
Sher O Shayeri 