Word Meaning
गरेबाँ-चाक
garebaan-chaak
Meaning
having a torn collar; one who has torn their collar in madness or grief
Detailed Meaning
In classical Urdu poetry, 'garebaan-chaak' signifies a collar ripped open in extreme anguish, ecstasy, or passionate madness (junoon). In Ghalib's couplet, the torn collar is portrayed as having earned an obligation or entitlement over the speaker's neck, standing as an essential milestone toward complete nakedness. It marks the lover's total abandonment of social norms and decorum.
Etymology
Persian compound formed from 'garebān' (collar) and 'chāk' (torn, split, slit).
Usage
A quintessential trope in the ghazal, serving as standard physical evidence of a lover's descent into ecstatic madness.
Examples
wandering through the wilderness with a torn collar
the lament of the torn-collared lover