Rebounds

One of the things that has always tugged at my heart strings is the psychological scene behind rebounds. People who are second choices, people who come in someone's life when the former has already suffered a broken relationship, a heartbreak. How do they know if they are there because of themselves or because of the cause of that heart break. What about the fear, that they can be easily forgotten once the original couple mends fences.

And in the present world, where everyone is getting in and out of relationships at an accelerated rate, how can one be sure about someone. You move on, you build lives, invest time and emotion, and then someone else shows up and apologizes, and just like that it can be over.

I had found the best description of this dilemma in some lines of my favorite poet, Ahmed Faraz. Since the original poem is in Urdu, I will try to provide an English translation for every para to the best of my ability. Here we go:

मुझसे पहले तुझे जिस शख्स ने चाहा उसने 

शायद अब भी तेरा ग़म दिल से लगा रक्खा हो.

एक बेनाम सी उम्मीद पे अब भी शायद 

अपने ख्वाबो के जज़ीरो  को सजा रक्खा हो 

Maybe the one who loved you before me

still holds the pain of your love in his heart

Maybe there is a nameless hope he clutches

and preserves his island of dreams.

मैंने माना की वह बेगाना-ए -पैमाने वफ़ा 

खो चूका है जो किसी और की रानाई में 

शायद अब लौट के आये  न तेरी महफ़िल में 

और कोई दुःख न रुलाए तुझे तन्हाई में 

I agree that he who had cheated

is now lost in someone else's enchantment

maybe he will never return to you

and you will never need to cry in loneliness.

मैंने माना की शबो-रोज़ के हंगामों में 

वक़्त हर ग़म को भुला देता है रफ्ता रफ्ता 

चाहे उम्मीद की शम्में हों कि यादों के चराग़ 

मुस्तक़िल बोद बुझा देता है रफ्ता रफ्ता 

I also agree that in the chaos of our lives

time helps us to forget every agony

whether its the candle of hope or that of memories

constant distance blows that out too.

फिर भी माज़ी का ख्याल आता है गाहे गाहे 

मुद्दतें दर्द की लौ कम तो नहीं कर सकतीं 

ज़ख्म  भर जाएं मगर दाग तो रह जाता है 

दूरियों से कभी यादें तो नहीं मर सकतीं 

Still the memories haunt you from time to time

A long spell cannot totally cure the sting of pain

Even if the wound is cured, scar remains

distance alone cannot kill the rememberence

यह भी मुमकिन है की एक दिन वह पशेमाँ होकर 

तेरे पास आये ज़माने से किनारा कर ले 

तू कि  मासूम भी है, जूद - फरामोश भी है 

उसकी पैमां - शिकनी  को भी गवारा  कर ले 

Its also possible that his guilt will drive him back to you

and he will pledge to let go of the entire world

And you who are so innocent and forgiving

will forgive him even after breaking all promises

और मैं , जिसने तुझे अपना मसीहा समझा 

एक ज़ख्म और भी पहले की तरह सह जाऊं 

जिसपे पहले भी कई अहले-वफ़ा टूटे हैं 

उसी दोराहे पे चुप-चाप खड़ा रह जाऊं 

And me who considered you to be my savior

Will bear this wound like all others

I will be left behind on a fork in the road

which has witnessed many such stories earlier.

(अहमद फ़राज़ )