This is a poem in Hindi – Ashok’s native tongue.  An English translation, courtesy of ChatGPT follows the Hindi version.
The title translates as Neither you know me, nor do I know you.
Hope you like it.

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ना तुम हमें जानो ना हम तुम्हें जानें
साथ में रहते हुए  मुद्दतें बीत गईं
फिर भी ना तुम हमें समझ पाए
ना हम तुम्हें समझ पाए
ना तुम हमें जानो ना हम तुम्हें जानें।

जब हमने जीवन की डोर बांधी थी
तब तो आशाएं बहुत थी
उस समय तो ऐसा लगा सारी जिंदगी
का जीवन साथी मिल गया
लेकिन बहुत जल्दी यह सब टूट गया
यह ऐसा क्यों हुआ?
पूरी तरह से
ना हमें पता लगा ना तुम्हें पता लगा
ना तुम हमें जानो ना हम तुम्हें जानें।

बहुत रातें हैं हमने बिन सोए गुजारी
होठों पर जो बात आई वह भी ना निकली
बस खामोशी ही हमसे बात करती थी
कभी कवाड़ तुमसे कुछ नजरें मिल जाती थी
तो बिन कहे कुछ बातें हो जाती थी
लेकिन ना हम तुम्हें पूरा जान पाए ना तुम हमें पूरा जान पाए।

सोचा था मिलने के बाद मोहब्बत बनेगी
लेकिन अच्छे इरादों के बावजूद यह ऐसा नहीं हुआ
दिल दोनों के धड़कते रहे
मिलने को भटकते रहे
लेकिन वह यह दूरी नहीं पूरी कर पाए
अंत में ना हम तुम्हें जान पाए ना तुम हमें जान पाए।

वर्ष गुजर गए
अब तो हम जीवन का अंत देख सकते हैं
अगर हम इस समय सोचें यह ऐसा क्यों हुआ
आत्म घमंड ने जरूर एक किरदार निभाया
हम दोनों के मात्र-पिता भूखे  रह गए
और इस विश्व से चले गए।

अब हमारा नंबर आएगा
यह कहानी खत्म हो जाएगी।
ना तुम हमें जानो ना हम तुम्हें जानें।

हम तो बस यही सोच सकते है
हमारे बच्चे अपने जीवन को
इस पथ पर नहीं चलाएंगे जिस पथ पर हम चले
हम उनको अपनी शुभकामनाएं देते हैं
जीवित समय तो हमने उनको भी दुख दिया
आशा है हमारे जीवन अंत के बाद उनका दुख कम हो जाएगा।
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English translation, courtesy of ChatGPT.

Neither you know me, nor do I know you,
Despite spending years together, time has passed by.
Yet you couldn’t understand me, Nor could I understand you,
Neither you know me, nor do I know you.

When we tied the knot of life,
There were many hopes then,
At that time, it felt like we found a companion for life,
But all of that shattered too soon,
Why did this happen?
Neither did I find out completely, nor did you,
Neither you know me, nor do I know you.

Many nights we spent sleeplessly,
Words that came to our lips never found voice,
Only silence spoke to us,
Sometimes your eyes would meet mine accidentally,
And unspoken words would be exchanged,
But neither could I fully know you, nor could you know me.

We thought love would blossom after we met,
But despite good intentions, it didn’t happen that way,
Our hearts kept beating,
Trying to meet,
But couldn’t bridge that distance in the end,
In the end, neither could I fully know you, nor could you know me.

Years have passed,
now we can see the end of life approaching,
If we think now why did this happen?
Surely self-pride played a role.
Our parents have remained hungry And left this world.

Now our number will come,
This story will end.
Neither you know me, nor do I know you.

All we can think now is
Our children won’t tread the path
That we walked in our lives,
We wish them well,
Even in our living time, we gave them pain.
Hope their pain lessens after the end of our lives.