Behar in Ghazals

Well this one is close to my heart. I have a long standing desire to learn the metric system in which ghazals are written. Initially I had interest in learning the English metric system, but I found that as a "top-up" (or an icing on the cake) rather an established system.

Over the years I have read whatever I could lay my hands over. My inability to read the Arabic script hampers the learning in a big way. I am in the process of remedying that too! But it is quite possible to have a more than passable knowledge of it, if one knows to read and write in Devanagari/Hindi.

Before proceeding note: I am learning, so don't take anything as final. As and when I learn, I will correct myself.

So, let us start. First some symbols: C=Consonant; v=short vowel [अ,इ and उ] V=long vowel[आ ई ऊ ए ऐ ओ and औ] This is a standard set of symbols used almost everywhere where Urdu metric system is taught.

Words are combination of syllables. Generally there can be one, two or three syllable words. Four syllable words and above are rare in ghazal constructs. A syllable will consist of combination of the above. The following can occur:
Cv, CvC, CVC, CvCC and CV.

Now, each of the above syllable constructs have an associated weight. We normally follow the "short" (denoted by 1) and "long" (denoted by 2). This as per the famous "L", "Ga" system of Hindi prosody. Following are the weights of each syllable constructs.
1. Cv = 1 [कि, न]
2. CvC = 2 [हम, तुम, इस, घर]
3. CVC = 2 + 1 [काम, मोड़, प्यार, शोर]. However if CVC construct appears as the last construct in a 'misra' (the one line of a sher), it is scanned as 2 only.
4. CvCC = 2 + 1 [हुस्न, मित्र]
5. CV = 2 or 1. This is a flexible construct. Like 3, above it will be scanned as 2 always at the end of a 'Misra'. 'Misra' never ends in a 1. However, if CV occurs in a single syllable word (and in between in a 'Misra'), like in [को, का, की, वो] it can be scanned as 2 or 1. Similarly, if CV construct appears as the last syllable in a multi-syllable word, it can be scanned as 2 or 1. Otherwise it is mostly scanned as 2.

Once the entire misra has been scanned in this manner, one needs to find the 'behar' of the ghazal. Urdu prosody has defined set of 'behars'. There is a famous book by Pritchett, on this topic here: Urdu Meter HandBook, and it lists around 37 most common 'behars'. Any 'behar' not on this list is extremely rare.

In this list "1" is denoted as "-" and "2" is denoted as "=". Rest all assumptions are same as discussed above.

Next post, I shall present a ghazal. I will then scan each sher in that ghazal using the rules above, and then determine the 'behar' of the ghazal.