Kaha jaane lagaa mujhe bachpan se hee-
kay jao mandir,
Jao maatha tekne apna uss dwaar par jahaa viraajmaan hain hamare bhagwaan…
Jee naa karne par bhee chala gaya main,
uss din se nafrat hone lagi mujhe,
dono uske naam se,
aur,
woh jis dwaar par staaphit usse bhee…
kyaa samjhu main apne aap ko?
Ek kaafir,
dushman apne dharm kaa,
kyonki,
Sabh ho jaate dur jabh main kehta main nahi maantaa kisi khuda main,
jo aaye kabhi iss dunya main,
aur,
unke naam par karobaar chalu kar diya ha ham logon ne…!
Karobaar kaisa…?
Pooche woh mujhse…
Magar,
Main apne shabd bolne se pehle chupa lu,
aas paas ka mahaul dekh;
Par,
jabh gaur se dekhu main,
dikhe mujhe kayi log,
Ek hindu jiske hoton par saji cigarette aur kash kheeche bade woh;
Ek panjabi jiske haath main jaam aur kuch pal baad woh phir khatam kar bhar le woh kaanch ka glaas;
Ek musalmaan bhai mera jo waise toh manaa karta koi bhee nashe ko par aksar paau main usko chabate hue tobacco;
Bhai bolu main sabh ko,
par apni jagah larh rahe ha woh inse,
har ek aeb se jo lage unko;
Main bhee apni jagah kahaa theek?
Mujhe bhee lagay kitne aeb,
sharab,
woh naa mile toh dhuaa pau apne aas paas…!
Apni jagah main kharaab,
par itna nahi kee main maan lu har ek baat jo mera dharm kahe mujhe…!
Par,
Waakiye,
Abhi toh tumne kahaa kee tumhara koi dharm nahi!!!
Jee haan,
mera koi dharm nahi,
aur ye hee mera dharm;
Kisi ko bure mahaul main dekh main khush ye mera dharm nahi,
Kisi neeche ko neecha dikhana ye mera dharm nahi,
kisi bure insaan ko bure karam karte dekh usse naa rokna—
ye mera dharm nahi…!
Binaa kisi kitaab ke jeena jo mujhe bataye kya sahi kyaa galat ye ha mera dharm,
aur ye dharm,
koi murat nahi,
koi patthar nahi,
koi kitaab bhee nahi;
Ye woh ha,
jo mere mann main,
mere andar…!
Mera dharm…!
Love Waakiye 🤍
English Translations
Should I become a sane believer or a blind one?
I was told since childhood,
“Go to the temple,
Go bow your head at that doorway where our God resides…”
Even when I didn’t want to, I went.
And from that very day,
I began to hate both,
His name,
and the doorway where He was placed…
What am I supposed to think of myself?
An infidel?
An enemy of my own religion?
Because everyone distances themselves the moment I say
that I do not believe in any God
who ever came into this world,
and that we humans have turned their names into a business…!
“What kind of business?”
they ask me…
But before I can speak my thoughts aloud,
I hide them,
after looking at the atmosphere around me;
Yet when I observe closely,
I see many people——
A Hindu, with a cigarette resting on his lips, drawing deep puffs;
A Punjabi, with a drink in his hand, only to refill that glass again moments later;
A Muslim brother of mine,
who speaks against every form of intoxication,
yet I often find him chewing tobacco;
I call them all brothers,
yet each of them is fighting battles within themselves,
against every flaw that clings to them;
And where am I right myself?
I too carry countless flaws——
alcohol,
and if not that, then smoke surrounds me…!
I am flawed in my own ways,
but not enough to accept every single thing my religion tells me to…!
“But, Waakiye,
didn’t you just say you have no religion?”
Yes,
I have no religion,
and that itself is my religion;
To feel happiness seeing someone trapped in darkness—
that is not my religion;
To belittle someone already beneath you—
that is not my religion;
To watch a cruel person commit atrocious acts
and not stop them—
that is not my religion…!
To live without a book telling me what is right and wrong—
that is my religion.
And this religion
is not an idol,
not a stone,
not even a book;
It is that
which lives in my heart,
within me…!
My religion…!
Love Waakiye 🤍
Waakiye 
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