Contemporary · Hyderabad
Zoya Mashriqi is a fictional contemporary poet written for the Meeras archive; her work is original seed content released into the public domain, not that of a real author. She is imagined as a poet of exile and return, writing free-verse nazms about belonging, language and the East seen from far away. Her presence gives the contemporary shelf a second, distinct voice — entirely copyright-clean.
main mashriq ki beTi hoon magar maghrib mein basi hoon
do duniyaaon ke darmiyaan ek pul si tani hoon
vatan vo nahin jahaan paida hue the hum
vatan vo hai jahaan dil ko qaraar aata hai
apni zabaan ko pardes mein yun sambhaale rakhti hoon
jaise koi maa apne bachche ko seene se lagaaye
door se dekhti hoon to mashriq aur bhi roshan lagta hai
shaayad doori hi mohabbat ka asli rang dikhaati hai
raat ke is paar bhi ek raat meri muntazir hai
do mulkon ke darmiyaan mera chaand baTa hua hai
har shaam yahaan dhalti hai to vahaan subah hoti hai
main donon ke beech kahin gum si reh jaati hoon
ek din lauT ke jaaungi us miTTi ki khushboo tak
jahaan meri jaRein ab bhi mere intezaar mein hain
tujhe chaaha to maaloom hua ki ishq bhi ek vatan hai
jahaan insaan be-khauf apni zabaan bol sakta hai