A sher is a couplet in Urdu, it is form of poetry. Sher is also sometimes referred as Ashaar. Though this definition is deceptively simple but essentially it is the definition, because a sher is not bound by any rules. The only rule is that every sher has to be a poem in itself in the sense that it does not need anything around it to convey the message; it conveys a complete thought. A ghazal is necessarily a collection of couplets, sher. The following is an example of Sher, the poet here is Mirza Ghalib:
nahii.n ki mujhako qayaamat kaa etiqaad nahii.n
shab-e-firaaq se roz-e-jazaa ziyaad nahii.n
It is not that I do not have faith in the day of judgement
But the night of speration is not less than the day of judgement.
What the poet is trying to say is that, he trusts that the day of judgement would be very painful as it has been described in Quran and Hadith, however this night of seperation from my beloved is not less painful than the day of judgement.
While the former would entertain people at bus stops and railway stations with his mimicry, the latter took recourse to amusing passengers in Mumbai buses by telling jokes and reciting humorous `ashaars'.
He was known for his honesty, commitment and punctuality on sets.
He could recall hundreds of `ashaars' to suit all occasions.
An occasion like this, or a classical musical concert, is nothing short of a feast for the connoiseur or the wannabe's or pseudo-such.
Anyway, I was there somewhere in the back of the crowd but jotting in devanagari the few ashaars that appealed to me. The following she'r from the ghazal presented by Shamim Karhani is for the enjoyment of all nukkies but especially for MN and Dr. M C Gupta.
Dhalate hain yahan sheeshe, (to) chalate hain yahan pathhar Deewano thahar jao, sahara nahi.n basti hai So, MN miyan, basti ka har shakhs bhi agar sang utthane par tula hua ho to bhi sheeshe to dhalate hee rahenge kyon ki deewanon ka to sheva hee bekhabari hai.
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