भाषा / language

कभी कभी
मन करता है बहुत
के सीख लूँ
भाषाएँ सारी, संसार की
और जो भी मिले, अजनबी पहला
पूछूँ उस से
कैसे हो तुम
कोई दुःख तो नहीं तुम्हें
कुछ बताओ अपने बारे में
कुछ सुनाओ तो किस्से नये
पर ये सब सोचने के बाद
लगता है
के इतना सब जानने के लिए
किसी भाषा की जरूरत ही कहाँ मुझे

not my usual way of translation. the soul is same, the clothes and the appearance different. as per Dee, it's an altogether new poem. and i admit that the English one fed the original Hindi one a thought or two.

often i yearn
to understand, to learn
all the languages
of this wide wide world
so when next i meet
the first stranger on the street
i should be able to ask
and greet
how are you
i hope no sadness plagues you
tell me something more about yourself
or tell me tales of a distant hue
but whenever i do think about this
i wonder, i ramble, i ponder anew
to know all of this and more of that
why would i need a language new

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