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अरविंद ओझा की कविताएं

Vol. 51 · No. 09September - 2003pp. 42Hindi

Summary

The text is a Hindi poem that reflects on the transformation of a city from a place of natural beauty and peace to one dominated by pollution, noise, and industrialization. The speaker laments that the sky has become so dirty that the moon is no longer visible, and the city, once filled with pleasant memories, is now only noise, with no clean air. The faces of people have turned black, and the sun never reaches the offices, factories, or closed rooms, where only darkness is seen. Despite this, the speaker asks to keep the window open to the sky, hoping to escape the city after death. Internally, the speaker still holds remnants of faith, like a temple's stone fragments with an intact idol of belief, though efforts to preserve it are failing against strong winds that have shaken the roots of trees at the door. While all leaves have fallen, the body remains, still hoping for a green leaf. The speaker asserts that even if not a full tree, they are not a stump either; they have their own piece of land with deep roots. They were once green and full, which is why they cannot accept dying. The poem ends with a reflection that it is pleasant for someone to be green, suggesting a lingering resilience and desire for life amidst decay.

Conclusion

The poem's implications reveal a profound tension between urban decay and spiritual resilience. The speaker's struggle to see the moon through a polluted sky mirrors a deeper loss of innocence and connection to nature, replaced by the noise and darkness of factories and offices. Yet, despite the erosion of faith and the shaking of roots, the poem concludes with a stubborn assertion of survival. The speaker is not a whole tree but not a stump either, still possessing deep roots and a claim to the earth. This suggests that even when external forces—pollution, modernity, despair—strip away leaves and threaten the core, a remnant of hope and identity persists. The outcome is not triumph but a quiet, enduring resistance, where the memory of greener days and the desire for a clear sky remain as acts of defiance against a hardening world.

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