Chalo Udaasi Ke Paar Jaey (Zain Shakeel)- Book Review by Shoby

Chalo Udaasi Ke Paar Jaey (Zain Shakeel)- Book Review by Shoby

Honestly speaking I dont read so-called poets of today's era. Most of them have no sense of rhyming schemes and they literally dont know the factual utilization of words with their most appropriate & understandable meanings. They even dont have any idea of where the behar of the poetic piece is going. Neither do they have any novel idea to express and nor they have beautiful treatment of words. Nevertheless I term them #Facebook or #SocialMedia Good for nothing poets.

And just by chance while browsing #Facebook I fortunately found a page named Zain Shakeel and I just had a glance on the same. Guess what, the below mentioned couplet emerged in front of my eyes:

Kabhi Aa Ker Inhain Shafaaf Ker dey...

Tere waadon pe matti jam gai hai...

Dont you feel Goose Bumps I bet you had. I am so sure about it because I felt the same. The depth of the couplet, the concept, the beautiful & simple words used to present the idea was so unorthodox that it tempted me to read more of the poet and after going through some more of his couplets, I instantly perceived that hey be aware! this magician named as Zain Shakeel has all the characteristics to spell cast you by his words.

So after few weeks, being a true admirer of honest & true artists, I contacted Zain Shakeel to praise his writing skills & there we started having a nice friendship bond. Just a few days back, my friend Zain sent me his debut poetry book titled as Chalo Udaasi Ke Paar Jaey and although I dont consider myself worthy enough to say even a single word for this gem of an artist, I am still writing a humble review on his book just to pay him the due regard.

So what is this #CUKPJ all about. I may sum up the whole story by uttering mere one word Emotions... I have talked to Zain a few times and through our conversations, I observed one thing about Zain. He is a very sincere & honest person and same is depicted by his words. His poetry is nothing except sheer presentation of very honest feeling & emotions.

Zain starts of the book with a tribute to the ASHRAF ul MAKHLOOQAAT, PAGHAMBAR e AKRAM MOHAMMAD MUSTAFA (saww) in the form of a Naat e RASOOL e MAQBOOL (saww). See how beautifully he is expressing the very righteous views:

Ik nazar e karam ho to kahin daad bhi paon

Kehna ke yeh bebas ki hai rudaad NABI Jee...

No doubt, we are nothing and the only ray of hope for all of us is the Shifa'at of our dearest PROPHET MOHAMMAD (saww).

As I stated earlier, Zain's poetry is all about emotions and the best aspect about his poetry is that he does not remain static in only a few of them. Although as the title suggests, the overall feel of the book is warm, sad & grieved, he still managed well to deal with many other emotions of human life as well.

If he depicts sheer sadness in his poem Chalo Udaasi Ke Paar Jaey, U will surely find a very loving & caring person in his poetry. Check one of his Punjabi couplet:

Us diyan akhiyan wasdiyan her dum...

Tu jis jis da peer wey ishqa...

Zain is blessed with the treasure of expressing diverse thoughts in very unorthodox manner. The below mentioned couplet tells us the same:

Rsta kaisey milta mere khawabon ko...

Main neendon se shart lagaey betha hoon...

He stunned me with his undermentioned couplet. Beautiful indeed

Aisey naazil hua khayal ter...

Jaisey koi azaab utra hai...

Somewhere in his poetry, you may feel a sort of complaint. This complaint is basically his agony that tempts him to write this way:

Zain, her baar main hi yaad aon...

Woh kabhi khud bhi mujhey yaad karey...

Aaj shayad teri suni jaey...

Aaj tu mehw e iltija hona...

Dekhiye, hath mein ehsaas mera mat lijiye...

Aap thak jaey ge tukrey mere chuntey chuntey...

Zain hoon, yaad kijiye mujh ko...

Aap ne naam to suna ho ga...

Zain's poems flow like a stream... Silent, if we look from far away but full of strength if we monitor them closely. I personally liked his poems Bol Piya, Mere Sarey Mausam Ho, Udaasi, Piyar Karo Na and a beautiful short poem with no title presented below:

Koi to hai na

Ke jis ki khatir

Udaas rehney 

ka shoq sa hai!

I personally dont like the genre of Azad Ghazal but Zain's poetry compelled me to read more of it and eventually I started liking the concept. It is pertinent to mention here that writing an Azad Ghazal is not an easy task altogether.

One of his couplets from Azad ghazal that has become my most favorite is:

Mujhey bikhrey bikhrey se baal yun bhi pasand hain...

Mujhey maatmi se libaas mein na mila karo...

Overall, this poem is a beautiful blend of sincere & honest emotions depicted in true & loud words. I would like to congratulate Zain Shakeel on this exceptional attempt on writing this very nice poetry book and I wish he writes more & more of this... Good Luck & Stay Blessed Zain...