by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books
By Mohammed Shafeeq,
Book: Shahryar: A Life in Poetry; Author: Rakhshanda Jalil; Publisher: HarperCollins; Price: Rs 599; Pages: 226
Shahryar (1936-2012) was arguably one of the best Urdu poets in the post-Independence era. Emerging as a poet in the 1960s, when progressiveness was drawing to a close and modernism was sweeping the literary scene, he carved a niche for himself even as he refrained from identifying with either of the two groups.
In this biography, writer, critic and literary historian Rakhshanda Jalil has brilliantly captured different aspects of Shahryar’s life, his works in the backdrop of “taraqqi pasand” (progressive) versus “jadeed parast” (modernist), his unique yet simple style of poetry and also his brief tryst with films.
Tracing Shahryar’s journey as a poet, the author demonstrates how he evolved a set of symbols, images and metaphors that, while seemingly personal, transcended the self and the individual to speak of universal concerns.
She believes that the brevity and succinctness in his description, and the softness and evenness in his tone, set apart Shahryar’s poetry from his contemporaries.
The author notes that unlike many Urdu poets, who used to coin new expressions with the use of hyphenated words, Shahryar’s short poems used to catch the reader’s attention with a simplicity that is startling and direct. For instance:
Bechi hai sehr ke haathon/Raaton ki siyahi tumne/Kii hai jo tabahi tumne/Kisi roz sazaa paoge (You have sold the ink of the night/To the morning/You will be punished some day/For the devastation you have wrought).
With her translation of Shahryar’s best ghazals and nazms in English, the author has introduced his poetry to a new generation while evaluating his considerable body of works.
According to her, the individualism and romanticism of Shahryar’s early years, as evident in his first collection of poetry, “Ism-e-Azam” (The Highest Name) published in 1965, soon gave way to an acutely felt concern for the world around him in subsequent collections such as “Satwan Dar”‘ (The Seventh Doorway, 1969) and “Hijr ke Mausam” (Seasons of Separation, 1978).
The author believes that while refusing to fully adopt the vocabulary of the revolutionary poets favoured by the progressives, he refused to write merely to satisfy his own creative self or ease the burden of his soul, thus differing sharply from “jadeed parast” as well.
The book also encompasses the early life of Kunwar Akhlaq Muhammad Khan, who later took “Shahryar” as his nom de plume. Under pressure to follow in the footsteps of his father and join the police department, this Rajput boy from western Uttar Pradesh left the family home in 1955 and lived with Khalilur Rahman Azmi, his friend and mentor who spotted his poetic talent and encouraged him to write.
Shahryar had begun writing poetry in the final year of his BA at Aligarh Muslim University.
The book also refers to the legendary rivalry between Shahryar and Rahi Masoom Raza. Both were contenders for the coveted post of lecturer at Aligarh University and it was Shahryar who bagged it while Raza moved to Mumbai where he earned name and fame in the film and television industry.
With his debut collection of poems “Ism-e-Azam”, Shahryar established himself in the world of Urdu poetry and a flattering review by Gopi Chand Narang gave him the sort of international recognition that few poets of his time could hope for.
The author observes that while Shahryar wrote only in Urdu, there was nothing in his oeuvre that makes an explicit call to any one community. “If ever there is a writer who can most effectively debunk the absurd misconception that Urdu is the language of Muslims or the cultural repository of Muslims alone, it is indeed Shahryar.”
In a literary career spanning five decades, Shahryar always managed to remain topical and his poetry could always be termed “the call of the time”. A self-confessed Marxist, Shahryar was, however, not an atheist.
The author believes that Shahryar’s film lyrics have caused him as much harm as the fame they brought his way. While his songs made him a household name and enabled his words reach all nooks and corners, it must also be acknowledged that in the popular imagination, he became etched as a lyricist and not a poet of gravitas and merit.
“That four films should cast such a long shadow over a poet who produced six highly regarded volumes of poetry and two different editions of critically acclaimed collected works is, to my mind, an injustice to a poet of Shahryar’s calibre,” the author concludes.
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
For representational purpose only
By Vikas Datta,
We may be familiar with the literary concept of ‘poetic justice’, though in this modern technological and globalised age, we are more liable to call it ‘laser-guided karma’. But as the original term suggests, we desire not only justice but justice that happens in a “poetic” manner. Does the poetic form of literature treat advice the same way?
Poets will undoubtedly agree, but so do others too. While Samuel Taylor Coleridge held: “No man was ever yet a great poet without being at the same time a profound philosopher. For poetry is the blossom and the fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, emotions, language”, an iconic US President also stressed its importance beyond literature.
“When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses…” said John F. Kennedy at Massachusetts’ Amherst College, barely a month before his assassination.
But while lessons from “wisdom married to immortal verse”, as Wordsworth termed poetry, abound in Western literature, does our poetic tradition, especially of the courtly and polished Urdu, have similar enlightening and edifying insights into life?
Definitely, as some couplets from its greatest masters show. In these, we can find everything from the fundamental tenet and purpose of religions, the making of India and its composite ‘ganga-jamuni’ culture, the price of existence, the importance (or lack thereof) of the individual, how to appraise fellow humans and what celestial portents indicate.
Though a chronological approach may not be feasible, let’s begin with the earliest of them, the first well-known poet of Urdu, for Mir Taqi ‘Mir’ touches on a subject that has been extremely divisive but he very simply and extremely tellingly brings out its fundamental similarity: “Us ke farogh-e-husn se jhamke hai sab mein noor/Sham-e-haram ho ya ho diya Somnath ka“.
And in the next century, Syed Akbar Hasan Rizvi ‘Akbar Allahabadi’ sought to remind custodians of both of their right (hidden) place in a modern, multi-confessional nation: “Agar mazhab khalal-andaz hai mulki maqasid mein/To shaikh-o-barhaman pinhan rahen dair-o-masajid mein“.
On the other hand, the making of India, with its openness to all kinds of people, is as simply but eloquently explained by Raghupati Sahay “Firaq Gorakhpuri’ in: “Sar-zameen-e-Hind par aqwaam-e-alam ke ‘Firaq’/Qafile baste gaye Hindustan banta gaya“.
All these sentiments however can be better understood and practised once we imbue life’s proper lessons. And here we need those which speak to us as individuals, and there are plenty.
First of all, we must learn to live on reason, not blind faith for Faiz Ahmed ‘Faiz’ noted: “Dast-e-falak mein gardish-e-taqdeer to nahi/Dast-e-falak mein gardish-e-ayyam hi to hai” (or, in simpler terms, the sky doesn’t show fate, but the promise of a new day).
How much importance should we pay our life, is angrily answered by Shaukat Ali Khan ‘Fani Badayuni’, who perhaps taking a cue from Omar Khayyam’s “… Make Game of that which makes as much of Thee” (quatrain XLV, Fitzgerald’s first translation), says: “Zindagi meri bala jaane, mehngi hai ya sasti hai/Muft mile to maut na lun, hasti ki kya hasti hai“.
We must also not look for continuous, unalloyed happiness in it as a matter of right for Mirza Asadullah Khan ‘Ghalib’, in one of his greatest ghazals, tells us: “Qaid-e-hayat o band-e-gham asl mein dono ek hain/Maut se pahle aadmi gham se najat paaye kyun“, or for that matter, think too much of our importance in it: “Ghalib-e-khasta ke baghair kaun se kaam band hai/Roiye zaar zaar kya kijiye haaye haaye kyun“.
But if we had to look for the most useful lesson of umanity, we couldn’t do better that look at the poetry of a monarch, who was himself the monarch of poetry, the unfortunate Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’, the last of Mughals, who said: “Na thi haal ki jab hamen apni khabar rahe dekhte auron ke aib-o-hunar/Padi apni buraiyon par jo nazar to nigaah mein koi bura na raha“.
He also gave his standard to judge his fellow humans: “Zafar aadmi us ko na janiyega vo ho kaisa hi sahab-e-fahm-o-zaka/Jise aish mein yaad-e-Khuda na rahi jise taish mein khauf-e-Khuda na raha“.
And while we could end with him, his ustad Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim ‘Zauq’ deserves this honour. And he also has some good advice: “Behtar to hai yehi ki na duniya se dil lage/Par kya karen jo kaam na bedillagi chale“, or even “Duniya ne kis ka raah-e-fana mein diya hai saath/Tum bhi chale chalo yunhi jab tak chali chale“.
That is the best cue to end.
(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
—IANS
