Najm Hosain Syed Kitab Kaal Thaal Gawan: MahRe Mitar Samundar (Live Performance Risham Syed 2013) by Samina Hasan Syed published on 2023-08-14T22:28:28Z Najm Hosain Syed Kitab Kaal Thaal Gawan: MahRe Mitar Samundar (Live Performance Risham Syed 2013) A Song by Najm Hosain Syed Translation: My dear ocean, listen Our sons departed to earn They live, filling water for the mighty The cauldrons clank Half-asleep eyes strive to remain open Roads palpitate The master’s chain around their neck has become their only distinction My dear ocean, listen Our words are the waters of Sawan [1] Our story lasts a step or two Yet tells of long-standing despair The water flows over black stones Demanding the evidence of existence We have no excuse Sort, now, this half-truth of a life. My dear ocean, listen [1] The Sawan/Soan is a river in the Potohar region of Pakistani Punjab. Though Soan is considered to be one of Pakistan’s smaller rivers, this is an important stream of the Potohar region and historically has been the centre of pre-historic Soanian culture. Soan River has proven to be an asset which has seen the rise and fall of many civilisations and cultures. But as fates have turned, once the site of a prehistoric civilisation, today Soan River has been reduced to nothing more than a sewer and a dump site for our ‘modern civilisation’.