paa;Nv me;N jab vuh ;hinaa baa;Ndhte hai;N
mere haatho;N ko judaa baa;Ndhte hai;N
1) when she applies/'binds' henna to her feet
2) she binds my hands separately/differently/extraordinarily
baa;Ndhnaa : 'To bind, tie, fix, fasten; to tie up, tighten; to bind up, dress (hair, &c.); to fasten or tie (on or round), bind (round), put (on) ... ; to chain, enchain, fetter; ... fasten together, put together, join, connect, conglomerate, unite'. (Platts p.127)
judaa : 'Separated, parted; separate, distinct, away, apart, aside, asunder, absent; different; peculiar; extraordinary'. (Platts p.378)
SETS == MUSHAIRAH; WORDPLAY
BONDAGE: {1,5}
Raza p. 234. S. R. Faruqi's choices. This verse is from a different, unpublished, ham-:tar;h ghazal from the same year, and is included for comparison. In the unpublished ghazal, this was the first verse.
Here's a textbook case of a mushairah-verse. Nothing is going on in it except wordplay-- but then, who would ever say that wordplay is nothing? (Of course, the 'natural poetry' people would, but that's their problem and not Ghalib's. Just look at how awkwardly Gyan Chand struggles to make sense of this enjoyably punchy little verse.)
The first line sets us up for something, but there's really no guessing what. Then (after the usual mushairah-performance delay) when we hear the second line, it's not until the last possible moment-- with the rhyme-word judaa -- that we suddenly get it all, and with so much pleasure.
In a general way we have the juxtaposition of her feet and my hands, unified by the excellently versatile verb baa;Ndhnaa -- which can refer (see the definition above) to the act of applying henna, and also to the act of binding or imprisoning (as a captive is bound), and also to the act of tying together (as hands are tied together).
But still, that's not quite enough to give the verse its punch. Rather, it's judaa that most strikingly energizes the verse (see the definition above). Just look at how every one of its possibilities becomes operative:
=she 'binds' my hands so that they're 'separated' from her feet
=paradoxically, she 'binds-together' my 'separated' hands
=she binds my hands in a 'different' way from the way she 'binds' or applies the henna
=the sight of her 'binding' henna on her feet paralyzes me, 'binding' my hands in a 'peculiar, extraordinary' way
Not bad for a little thirteen-word verse, huh? It has an amusing, enjoyable punch, and then we're ready to move on to the next one.
Gyan Chand:
When she applies henna to her feet, then the causes my hands to be bound. The reason for this is perhaps so that I wouldn't sacrifice myself [balaa))e;N lenaa] for her beautiful feet. Another reason is so that on seeing her feet I wouldn't, in my writhing, begin to scratch my breast into embroidery patterns. (269)