A Paean to My Father Who Sang So I Could Comprehend the Beauty in Poetry as in Life

The air itself is pleasant,
The flowers too have a charm.
The melody is full of life,
Spring is in full bloom.Where is the wine-bearer headed?
Turn back, come here!
What is he looking at?
Lift the cup, lift the cup.Lift the cup, fill it up,
And bring it here.

Spring is in the air and the song “Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon” reminds me of my father. Composed by Hafeez Jalandhari (born January 14, 1900, in Jalandhar, India; died December 21, 1982, in Lahore, Pakistan), sung with such grace by Malika Pukhraj—a popular ghazal and folk singer from Punjab before the partition of India—evokes a deep and cherished connection to my father, reminding me of the youth and vitality he embodied. 

My dear father Sri Sudesh Kumar Kapur would have been 91 years old on February 26th 2025. I recently heard a cousin sing this very song, and as he did, he shared how his father and uncles would often sing it together at family gatherings and weddings. In the tremulous, slight nasal twang of his voice, I was struck by how it mirrored my father’s own voice. It was as if the song itself carried the energy of his life, his spirit, and the love he passed on to all of us. 

This moment, like many others, opened a window into the world of my father and the generations that came before him.The song, brimming with life and exuberance, speaks to something larger than the mere passing of time. “Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon”—”I am still young”—is not only about the vitality of youth but also about living fully in the moment, embracing the present with all its passions and pleasures. 

The beauty of Jalandhari’s words, set to melody, resonates deeply with me because they remind me of my father’s zest for life. Even as he grew older, he never truly allowed himself to be bound by the limitations of age or circumstance. His spirit, much like the verses of this song, remained vibrant and full of life, urging us to experience each moment as if it were our last.

The song’s celebration of life’s fleeting beauty, its moments of joy, and its inevitable approach toward death echoes the wisdom imparted by poets like Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. These poets, though born in different parts of the world, share a common thread in their call to live fully in the moment and embrace life as it comes. Whitman, in Leaves of Grass, writes with a similar exuberance, celebrating the sacredness of the physical world and urging us to savor the present:

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Whitman’s words embody the same spirit of unity with life that Jalandhari’s “Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon” celebrates. Both poets reject the ascetic pursuit of renunciation and instead encourage us to immerse ourselves in life—to experience its joys and sorrows, its beauty and messiness. 

My father, too, understood this balance. He had a remarkable ability to live fully in the present, even when faced with life’s challenges. He did not waste time on regret or worry about the future. Like the wine in Jalandhari’s poem, he drank deeply from the cup of life, savoring its moments with fierce appreciation.

Thoreau, another poet who believed in living deliberately, also aligns with this philosophy, though with a slightly different approach. In Walden, Thoreau advocates for retreating from the distractions of society and immersing oneself in nature to live authentically:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,
To front only the essential facts of life,
And see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
And not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

While Thoreau’s call for simplicity and reflection might seem at odds with the exuberant embrace of life seen in “Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon”, they share the same underlying message: to live with intention, to be present in each moment, and to find meaning in life itself. My father, though not one to retreat to the woods as Thoreau did, found his own form of simplicity in the way he lived—a life filled with love, music, laughter, and deep connections. He understood that true fulfillment does not lie in accumulating material wealth but in cherishing the intangible gifts of life: love, relationships, and moments of beauty.

The song, in its insistence on youth and vitality, encapsulates the energy my father exuded throughout his life. As I reflect on his life, I realize that the qualities expressed in the song—youthful joy, the intensity of love, and the refusal to give in to despair—were all embodied in him. It is through this lens that I now understand the resonance of the song. 

It is not just a song, but a reminder of the way my father lived and the legacy he left behind. The music, the laughter, the shared stories, and the love that spanned across generations—all of these remain, even now, in the very air we breathe, in the moments we share, and in the love we continue to feel.

What the heart truly cares about, as the song suggests, is resonance. It is this resonance that calls us home, that transforms us, and that invites us to live fully in each moment. It is found in a glance, a softly whispered word, a gentle touch, or a voice from afar—a presence that continues to guide us in silence, long after it has physically left. 

I feel this resonance in my father’s memory. Though he may no longer be with us, his love continues to echo in my heart, urging me to live fully and embrace life with all its beauty and complexities. His spirit lives on in every moment, reminding me that, like the song, we are all still young—still capable of embracing life with passion, joy, and reverence.

Ye bulbuloñ ke chahchahe
Ye gul-ruḳhoñ ke qahqahe
Kisī se mel ho gayā
To rañj o fikr kho gayāKabhī jo baḳht so gayā
Ye hañs gayā vo ro gayā
Ye ishq kī kahāniyāñ
Ye ras bharī javāniyāñUdhar se mehrbāniyāñ
Idhar se lan-tarāniyāñ
Ye āsmān ye zamīñ
Nazāra-hā-e-dil-nashīñ…

(The chirping of the nightingales,
The laughter in the gardens,
When I meet someone,
Sorrow and worry vanish.Sometimes when fortune falls asleep,
One laughs, another cries.
The stories of love,
The moments of youthful joy,Kindness from there,
Reproof from here.)

The sky, the earthThe sights that delight the heart…This legacy of resonance, of love that never truly fades, is what my father passed on to me and to all those who loved him. It is what connects us, across time and space, to the deeper truths of our existence. Through the music, the poetry, and the love, we carry forward the wisdom of those who came before us, keeping their memory alive in the way we live our own lives. This is the essence of living fully—drinking deeply from the cup of life, and finding joy in the present moment. 

I am so grateful that he sang to us so we can comprehend the beautiful poetry in Urdu and also enjoy it in English. 

---

With one foot in Huntsville, Alabama, the other in her birth home India, and a heart steeped in humanity, writing is a contemplative practice for Monita Soni. She has published hundreds of poems, movie reviews, book critiques, and essays and contributed to combined literary works. Her two books are My Light Reflections and Flow through My Heart. You can hear her commentaries on Sundial Writers Corner WLRH 89.3FM.