Naghmaat Main Sajaa Kar

Yaad aa gai usi ki, nakhre dikha dikhaa kar
Jo kar gayaa tha waada, hum se nazar milaa kar

Un ki addaen aisi hum haar bhete yeh dil
Jisko churaa liyaa tha pehley hi muskuraa kar

Mobile se na hatna, texting bhi band na karna
Dartaa hun usko aakhir kho doon na phir se paa kar

Maikhaana hai yeh kaisaa, bhete hain sub hi piyaasey
Saaqi chalaa gaya hai khud aap ko pilaa kar

Pakki hai dosti yeh, toden naa hum kabhi bhi
Duniya bhi koi rakh de, qadmon main apne laa kar

Sub mushkilen bhi jhaileen aasan tha jab yeh kehna
Khushiyon ke bun ke baadal, sirf piyaar se wafaa kar

Ranj o alam mitaana, saathi se hum ne seekha
Her ghum ko baant lena huns huns ke aur hunsaa kar

Duniya ki garam mehfil lagti hai tub se khaali
Wo kar gaya akela, jub se gale lagaa kar

Sehraa main yun hi phirna, Laila ko naa tha milna
Majnoon main ho gaya khud paththar ki zad main aakar

Kiyunkar udaas hai wo, saael se pooch naa tu
Jaan e bahaar dil ki laut aae phir duaa kar

Mehfil main aaya Rahi, kuch aur to na laaya
Jazbaat le ke aaya, naghmaat main sajaa kar

~ Rahil 'Rahi' Khan

Aik Piyaase Ki Dua

O jaate rahi teher, sun le meri iltijaa

Majnoon na sheher chhor de sun Laila ki sada

Jaana to hai asaan yun nazron ko pher kar

Kariye zara yeh pyaar ho ga sabr aazma

Wo husn ka paikar,  zaalim unki adaaen

Na rahee apne paas mere hawaas ki baqaa

Kiyun kaaten hum firaaq main baaqi yeh chaar din

Ishq aakhir ko khud hai apne jurm ki sazaa

Maana keh zindagi ka safar mukhtasar bohut 

De gi sada ka sukh aik miskeen ki sewaa 

Mabood laa shareek use Khuda maan kar

Bandon ke liye hoja hidayat tu saraapa

Mushkil kusha jo kaam aaen Rahi is tarah

Saaqi ke liye Kausar hai aik piyaase ki dua

~ Rahil 'Rahi' Khan

Georgia On My Mind

Georgia...

Peach trees...

But, I was in Atlanta to meet her and wanted to surprise her.

Surprisingly though, getting to her was not that easy.

You see, she is Indian; and I am a US Citizen of Pakistani origin.

And unless I am the lead in a Veer- Zaara sequel, I might as well cast myself into a sequel of the Mission Impossible variety when it comes to meeting her… let alone surprising her.

I am no contender for any lead role.

But her name means a star.

And when it comes to creating and nurturing stars here on earth, you have to look no further than KIBA (Kids Island Basic Academy).

A bustling school of 1400+ kids in the low income part of the town of Aligarh, UP, India.

She is the founder and principal of the school - a beacon of hope for low income families who can hardly afford to send their kids to school.

What does all that have to do with Georgia? And why is it on my mind?

It wasn't because she runs KIBA half way across the world that I wanted to meet her.

It was because she is my sister.

Apia, as we call her, was in town and was eagerly awaiting the reunion after 12 years.

And her name, Tara, means a star.

Peachtree…

They all lived on the same street. Or so it seemed.

How crowded that street must be?

Peach is the state fruit of Georgia. Peach trees aplenty there.

And when I landed there, I noticed a recurring theme; every little while, I would read a sign that invariably had the word peachtree in it.

"On/just off Peachtree road…", would be the likely response; if you ask anyone who lives in the greater Atlanta area.

Beautiful trees everywhere my sister and I went.

But her thoughts would invariably gravitate toward the more than fourteen hundred children that she nurtures and cares for.

Even on her vacation, among her own kids here in the USA, she would wake up in the wee hours to check up on her rest of the children half way across the globe.

Teaching is a lot like planting trees.

But it is a lot more than that.

Mrs. Tara Jabeen, my sister, proved it again and again…

"If you are planning for a year, sow rice;
if you are planning for a decade, plant trees;
if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people." A Chinese proverb.

The Muslims Banned

'Twas January the 27th
And truth be told

We shivered more with fear
Rather than the cold

For us it was just a confirmation
A realization, an admonition 

For we saw it coming
With collective breaths on hold

We felt a wake up call
Or a prayer's summon

As the news popped up
On Fox and CNN

We packed our bags
And checked visa stamps

And wondered if there's WiFi
In the internment camps

His orders came in 
With urgency and fury

The executioner became
The judge and the jury

The lyrics spew hatred
From a one man band

And he wants to name it
"The Muslims Banned"

On a piece of fancy paper
He colors the Wall

And forgets Who parted the Red Sea
The Lord of us all

The charade has started
The Trumpet has sounded

See that Wall over there
"Great America" is above
And beyond it

~ Rahil Khan