How to get initiated into the world of Urdu Poetry Or How I Progressed into the world of Urdu Poetry

The purpose of this article is to guide people, like me, into initiation and subsequent progression in the beautiful world of Urdu Ghazal and Shayari. When I say people ‘Like me’, I limit the boundary to those who would not encounter any other mode of introduction to this field other than listening to Ghazals and when I say ‘progression into’ I mean that there is a natural course which one would take and there are no set rules. Just as one flows with the torrid stream and there is no style of swimming that can be practiced other than to give up to the force of water and flow with it.

My affliction with Ghazal and eventually Urdu poetry started around twelve years back. I would like to categorize these twelve years into three distinct stages of progression or enamor:

• Enamor to Light Ghazals a la Ghalib (simple) and quintessential ‘dil dhoonthdhta hap phir wahi fursat ke raat din’

• Enamor to Classical Ghazals a la Ghalib/Meer (elemental ) and quintessential ‘ Patta Patta Boota Boota haal hamara jaane hai’

• Enamor to Ustad Mehdi Hasan a la Ghalib/Meer/Faraz/Jigar and quintessential ‘Ranjish hee sahi, dil he dukhane ke liye aa’

‘Dil dhoondhta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din’ (My heart longs for those days & night of laziness):

It is said that a Ghazal is made up of three attributes: Alfaaz (Words), Saaz (Music) and Aawaz (Voice/Melody). In this phase ‘Aawaz’ is the most prominent attribute followed by ‘Saaz’ and ‘Alfaaz’. This phase starts with listening to Jagjit Singh and would last for around four years. Here one would love the slow and melodious voice of Jagjit. There would not be any need to learn the Urdu language as Jagjit Singh’s Ghazals are mostly in Hindi with few embedded Urdu words. The meaning of these Urdu words could be easily Googled. My suggestion is that one should maintain a diary of these collected words. By the end of second year or beginning of third year one would start searching for Ghalib’s Shayari on net. Most probable reason for this would be enchantment with album ‘Mirza Ghalib’ sung by Jagjit Singh. This would lead to discovery of various Forums and Websites dedicated to Ghazals and Shayari. To all the passersby from this phase, Ghalib would become one of the most prolific and the greatest Urdu poet. This according to me is the only permanent characteristic of this phase which cut across all other phases though I am sure there would be challengers to Ghalib at different stages of progression. In this phase one would also get acquainted to singers like Begum Akhtar, Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hasan but still Jagjit would remain the epitome of Ghazal singing.

‘ Patta Patta Boota Boota haal hamara jaane hai ‘ ( Every leaf and every shoot in the garden is aware of my misfortune):

When frequency of listening to Ghulam Ali becomes more than Jagjit Singh then one can assume that he has progressed into the next phase. This phase should also last for around four years. The inclination would be more towards classical Ghazal listening. In this stage ‘Aawaz’ would lose it prominence to ‘Saaz’ but ‘Alfaaz’ would still be the least prominent attribute. Ghulam Ali would become favorite singer to the passersby to this phase and they would be enchanted by his voice modulation. One would still respect Jagjit Singh but would find his rendition plain & monotonous. Passersby would get introduced to poet ‘Meer’ most probably through the Ghazal ‘Patta Patta Butta Butta haal hamara Jaane hai’ sung by Ghulam Ali. ‘Patta Patta’ , ‘Aawargi’ and ‘Chupke Chupke’ would be the favorite Ghazals of this phase . Passersby might also get introduced to poets like ‘Faraz’, ‘Momin’ and ‘Zafar’ but they would not be considered anywhere in the league of ‘Ghalib’ who by now would have grown on them and would be in his elemental best. They would start loving the philosophical and cynical Ghalib over the romantic one. One would search for Ghalib’s sher on net and would try to find meaning of many chaste Urdu (Persian) words. By this time the diary of Urdu words which was started in earlier phase would have around 200 to 300 Urdu words. An urge to read Ghazals in its original script will seed in. If this urge is not subsiding I would suggest passersby to buy elementary Urdu learning book. There are websites available which teaches Urdu scripts. It would take around a month to learn alphabets and read simple words. The end of this stage is marked by continuous listening of Mehdi hasan and his over shadowing other Ghazal singers

Ranjish hi sahi, dil hee dukhaane ke liye aa (let it be for enmity, come even if it is to hurt me)

The beginning of this phase is marked by the realization that most singers try to imitate the nonpareil Ustaad Khan Sahib ‘Mehdi Hasan’. Passersby to this phase would start getting introduced, one by one, to Mehdi Hasan’s Ghazals. I say one by one because it is not possible to listen to Mehdi Hasan’s Ghazals one after another for the reason that most of his Ghazals are gem in itself and each one will engulf you for some time. So it would be that one would listen to same Ghazals many a time in a day and for many days to come. Most probably it would start with ‘Ranjish hee sahi’ written by Ahmad Faraz. Mehdi Hasan has this ability to make ‘Alfaaz’ as prominent as ‘Saaz’ and ‘Aawaz’ ; such is the power of his rendition. One would encounter many poets like ‘Faraz’, ‘Adeeb’, ‘Jigar’ etc in this phase. This phase is also marked by a dilemma of one-upmanship of ‘Ghalib’ and ‘Meer’. Many passersby would solve this by giving equal importance to both. In this phase ‘Alfaaz’ would also become independent of ‘Saaz’ and ‘Aawaz’. One would simply like to read Urdu Ghazals irrespective of whether it is rendition as song or not.

I am in the fourth year of this phase and by now I have a fair knowledge of Urdu words and with an hour of revision of alphabets I can read Urdu sentences. I have read famous Ghazals of at least dozens of prominent Urdu Shayars and I totally agree with Lata Mangeshkar when she says that ‘Mother Saraswati’ resides in the voice of Khan Sahib Mehdi Hasan. For me he is the god of Ghazal.

P.S.: In a job interview an interviewer asked me to write a small article on how I got interested into Urdu poetry and Ghazals and hence the genesis of this article.

A precursor to History of Western Philosophy

It happens with me and I presume it must be happening with others too. When I talk to someone and while conversing I discover that he has same ideologies, belives and perceptions as mine then it gives me a vicarious pleasure; not because someone thinks like me but because someone else also is correct (everyone thinks that he is right and I am no different). And then think what a wonderful feeling it must be when your believes and ideologies which are contrarian to the normal gets corroborated in a book that is in vogue (as people are buying it; I am not sure about reading) and written by someone very esteemed. And then you feel that the only thing that is different between you and the author is the book; it’s just that who wrote it first and I know (i.e. my superego in Freudian lingo) that there is a great intellectual and epistemic chasm between me and the author but then feeling of epistemic equality comes from that part of me (the ID in Freudian term) which is not under my control. Last week I was reading 'The Black Swan' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

When I was reading the book I was happy and I was worried. Happy you know why; worried because I had the familiarity with the subjects of the book but I have forgotten their relevance. The Skeptics, the Rationalist, Algazel , Avveroes, Hume all these were was familiar to me but I have forgotten what they stood for except for the meanings of the adjectives like a skeptics is one who doubts , rationalist is one who beliefs in logic. My past endeavor of reading philosophy has completely gone down the drain. Whether Hume was a rationalist I could not remember. Philosophers whom I remember are Spinoza and Kant and the reason is that I have written a post on each of them. So I have decided the subjects like philosophy where I am getting initiated needs more dedication and time and hence I am going to write a blog on important topics. So I have again picked up the history of western Philosophy by 'Bertrand Russell' after six months and I am planning to blog what I feel is salient and needs to be remembered.

Dhoondh ujde hue logon mein wafa ke moti, yeh khazaane to mumkin hai kharaabon mein milen

A work entailed me to be in Delhi. I was to return the next day. My train was in the evening and I had a whole day to spend. Gaurav who was with me took me to CP as he had some work there. There I entered in a book shop. It was an old bookshop and a cursory glance on the shelves I could make out that they had good collections of book. It was 1.30 in the noon and I had 2 hours before I had to leave CP for New Delhi railway station. I didn’t want to bore Gaurav who he is not very fond of books so thought of just asking for books I was looking for instead of going through the shelves. I asked the sales person there whether he has any book on Baba Bulle Shah. He said that I should go to the Masjid in corner where a Maulavi saab sells books on Baba Farid , Bulle Shah etc. Without any further ado I came to the corner where there was a very small masjid. Outside the entrance there were some books arranged in a stall. Nobody was there to attend a customer. I looked at the books and my eyes gleamed. It was a treasure. Bulle shah’s Kaafias, Baba Farid, Sufism, Islam , Ahmed Faraz all that that enthused me were there. I was excited and impatient; excited because never ever I had come across such a good collection of books and impatient because I was running short of time. On top of it I could sense that very soon Gaurav would become irritated because of all this. Moreover knowing me her sister has warned me not to bore her brother by taking him into old bookshops. I wanted 5-6 hrs to go through all the books. I had just about 30 minutes. I asked the Paanwaala near by about the Maulavi saab. He said that Maluavi saab has gone to his village but I can take any book I want and pay him. I asked him whether these are the only books available. He said that there are some more books. He told that his brother is looking after the shop and will come at 2.0. I asked him to request Maulavi saab’s brother to be there. It was still 20 min to 2.O clock. I thought that I should be with Gaurav so that these 20 minutes doesn’t add to my quota of book hunting. I went with him around the inner circle. Gaurav was excited by the offers in the shops and I nodded in agreement. He wanted to buy Aawala juice from Khadi Bhandar. He went there and I came back to the Maulavi saab's shop. But still nobody was there. It was 15 minutes pass 2. I thought let me pick whatever is displayed. Anyways I would not be able to buy whatever I like because of monetary constrain. A person came out from the Masjid. He was about 24-25 year frail looking man with a beard and a white cap. He was shy. As he came near me I asked him whether he looks after the shop. He said that Maulavi saab is his brother and has gone home for a month. I asked him if he has books other than those displayed. He hesitated a bit and then asked me to follow him inside the Masjid. I removed my shoes and followed him. Inside there were few people offering Nawaz. We circumvented them and came in front of a small wooden door. He opened the door and went inside the room. I followed him. It was a very small room probably 7x7 sqft. It was damp and dim. The bedding on the floor on which he and I were standing occupied most of the space. The leftover was occupied by a stove, few plates, a pitcher and a cooking pan. There was a small rack in the wall which was covered by a curtain which I presume was made up of a worn out sari. He removed the curtain. There were 5 columns of books. The books were kept widthwise to fit more books in that limited space on the rack. This made the cover and name of the book hidden. He went out and brought a chair and placed it on his bed. He stood on the chair and took out books in bunches and showed it to me. All were good books. I acknowledged this to him. I was excited. I wanted to spend some time with each one of it but I was running short of time. I told him that all are good books and I have to come again. Meanwhile I got two calls from Gaurav. I asked him to give me 15 minutes. He seemed a bit irritated. I glanced through some of the books cover. I picked up books on Sufism and poetry. We came out of the room. While locking the room he said that Bhai Saab (Maulavi Saab) has duties toward his family too, that’s why he has been to village. I nodded. I could make out that he was feeling apologetic because of his limited knowledge on books and thought that Maulavi saab was well aware about each of his books and could have engaged me better. We came out of the Masjid. In front of his stall I picked up Ahmed Faraz. He took out a yellowish slip. He wrote the book names in Urdu and prices in English. It came out to Rs 750. He told he would give me for 650. I said its more. He paused for a while and then said that because I showed so much interest he would make it 600 for me. He was not a salesman and I knew he was not pitching. I agreed and gave him 600 bucks. I could not have got these books in any bookshop in Mumbai. These were my priced finds from Delhi. I couldn’t wait to catch the train. I wanted to go through the books. Faraz verily said once:

ढूंढ उजड़े हुए लोगों में वफ़ा के मोती,

ये ख़ज़ाने तो मुमकिन है खराबों में मिले 

[seek solace in people who are distraught, its probable to find a treasure in the scum]

Kesariya

Maid to princess on seeing her distraught:

"मन्दिर माँ सुंदर खड़ी, खड़ी सुखावे केश,

जिनके आँगन केवडा , वो क्यूँ मैला भेष ?"

( Standing in the temple in scroching heat,O beautiful, just to dry your hairs,

for those having kewda in their backyard are not supposed to be slovenly.)

Princess replies nonchalantly:

"आग लगो इस केवडे को,अरे जलो बूझो यह केश

जिस माली का केवडा, वो माली परदेश "

" केसरिया बालम, आओ रे,पधारो म्हारे देश ।"

( Let the Kewda be on fire, and put the hairs to burn,
for the one to whom this Kewda (indicating herself) belongs is not here.

O beloved, come back, come back to me)

This verse is taken from Rajasthani folk song 'Kesariya Balam, Padharo mhaare desh'. The english translation is not word by word but just an attempt to capture the emotion.

एक धुन्धल्की शाम

एक धुँधल्की शाम,

मद्धम मद्धम साँस,

बोझिल सर, धुआं धुआं,
और दो मुन्तजिर आँख

ऐ मजहर-ए-ग़ज़ल,

आज तुम आओगी ,

अपने साथ मशर्रत लाओगी ,

और इस तीरगी में अपना जमाल फैलाओगी

पर तुम नहीं आई,

तुम्हारा पैगाम आया,
आज भी नही आओगी यह कहलाया,

कल का वादा कर के मुझ को बहलाया

आज फिर वही धुँधल्की शाम,

मद्धम मद्धम साँस,

बोझिल सर, धुआं धुआं,

और दो बुझी सी आँख

ऐ मजहर-ए-ग़ज़ल,
पर कल तुम आना ,
अपने साथ मशर्रत लाना,

और इस तीरगी में अपना जमाल फैलाना

प्रशांत

[मुन्तजिर = awaiting, मजहर-ए-ग़ज़ल = manifestation of Gazal, मशर्रत = happiness,

तीरगी = darkness, जमाल = Beauty]

Should Govt. open an IIM in 2nd tier cities?

This article is in response to the article published in Mint http://www.livemint.com/2007/08/27001558/Lesson-from-IIMK-Set-up-new.html

Most of us retain enough of the theological attitude to think that we are little gods.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

Just imagine what would have happened to the country if Indian army would have fought battles only around their location of advantage and not in the remote and inaccessible terrains.

In his article Mr. Palety has taken tunneled approach and has missed the broader picture. His ideas are myopic and ignore the long term tangible and intangible benefits of opening IIMs in 2nd tier cities of India. I would like to comment on some points:

On not opening IIMs in remote places

Government has a holistic approach towards the country as it thinks about the growth of country as a whole. The growth and development should be equitable as far as possible. If Govt. starts opening IITs and IIMs in industrial belt then all the IITs and IIMs will be segregated in few industrial areas of the country. In that case what will happen to the other parts of the country? Wouldn't the disparity between them increase?

Any city having an IIT, IIM or ISC will automatically come on the India's education map. It will give the city a prominence. It will ensure of the quality skilled manpower supply to the industries in the nearby areas and hence helping in the growth in that area.

Many of my friends have counter argued me by giving examples of younger IIMs and some of the IITs where industrial development has not happened in spite of the presence of these institutes for long time. If anyone believes that mere presence of IITs and IIMs in a particular region should lead to the industrial development of that region then either he is very high on expectations or is naïve. All that these institutes can do is to provide support to the development process. Rest is the prerogative of state/local government that how they capitalize on this advantage. If industries have not come up in the proximity of these institutes even after a prolonged interval then it is the failure the government not of the institutes.

Equitable distribution of growth

A lot of hue and cry is made over opening an IIM in Shillong. I feel that this is a very good move by the government of India. Till date GoI has given less attention toward the development of north east compared to other parts of the country. No wonder these states are one of the least developed states of India. With opening an IIT and now an IIM Govt. has taken a step in right direction. IIMs, IITs, IISs are not just educational institution but they are wealth of the country and it needs to be equitably distributed across the country. Also this gesture is sign of inclusivity towards these states.

Many of my friends are from north east. They travel to far areas in the country to get higher education. If they get an IIM in their backyard it will save them from a lot of hardship. Also it will motivate others to pursue higher education.

Industry Interaction is important not locating near the industries

The most valuable asset an educational institution has is its students; everything else comes a distant second. Open an IIM at any remote location and you can rest assured that it gets the best of the breed. Once you have right people right thing will automatically fall in place on doing right thing.

As far as industry interaction is concerned two months of summer training gives student a lot of exposure. Apart from this there are numerous seminars and workshops organized where people from industry share their ideas and views. Also the batch is laden with rich industry experience as it comprises of students from diverse field and having substantial work.

Location is no more important

Distances are no more the same as they were few years back. In another couple of years one can expect most of the 2nd tiers cities well connected with Metros. Location disadvantage of IIMK is very minimal because of its proximity to Bangalore and Cochin. Also it is very well connected with Delhi and Mumbai.

Do not leave the problem, find the solution

There are certain problems that an institute faces because of its being situated in remote area. The way to develop these institutes is to solve these problems. When Govt. is opening any institute of education in remote places it should ensure that basic amenities which are essential to sustain the institutes are there. An airport which is well connected to metros, good schools for faculty's children, jobs for spouses are some of them. In short it should ensure about the good life of the faculty and staff

Prologue to ‘Also Sparch Zarthustra’

'Dil dhoondhta hai phir wahi fursat Ke raat din….' 'Ghalib'

[In search of those carefree days and nights..]

When I started with Gunche, never did I envisage that it will be the paucity of time that will prevent me from posting new entries. I my first post I had written that it would be waning of interest or simple laziness that might prevent me from posting here but none of them were the reason for this late post.

B' schools suck time and energy and that to such an extent that even one gets some time here and there one feels like living the moment by not doing anything. Back in campus 'Summers' seemed like time spent in different world. A world where time moved slowly, in fact, at times I felt that it didn't move at all.

It was one such day in Pune when the sun was at its scorching best outside and I was dozing off in the air cooled training room. It was only 2'O clock and I was done with all the time killing activities of lunch, mail checking, newspaper reading and tea break. I had another four hours to spend in the office with nothing to do. I had two options left. One was to watch a movie or visit Crossword at the basement of the building. I rejected the idea of watching movie on the ground of it being economically imprudent as I could watch the same movie next day morning show at half the rate. So I had no other choice but to once again go to Crossword which was becoming customary activity.

In the self deceiving anticipation that some new books would have arrived I took the lift to basement. Unlike usual days when lift was full with people and it stopped at each floor between eight and first, it was empty with only liftman and me in it. This saved me five minutes which seemed a loss to me. Also, I lost the pleasure of watching busy people hurrying in and out off the lift.

The doorman of the bookshop opened the door for me. He had done the same nearly twenty times in the last thirty days. He got a sadistic pleasure of watching me getting bored and doing as mundane a job as his. As I entered same old setting was awaiting me. It was like looking at a picture frame at different points of time. Jack Welch with his wily eyes and deceptive smile was looking at me from the 'New Arrivals' shelf, the world was lying flat on table, 'The last Mogul's were stacked above each other and 'Argumentative India' was lying dumb on the 'Crossword Recommends' segment.

Same books, same people and even the time was same; only the date in my watch had changed. As usual after combing through 'New Arrivals', 'History' and 'India' section I moved to 'Religion and Philosophy'. In all my visits to this bookshop this section had never added a book and that day was no different. I picked up 'In search of Zarathustra' by Paul Kriwaczekia for the second time. First time I didn't take it because I wanted to read a book on history of Christianity and decided to wait for it but then I realized that it would not come before I left Pune. I read the blurb again and thought that it would be safe bet to take the book. I read first few pages and my thought about the book got embolden and I bought it.

During next few days I read the book. Kriwaczekia had written a very captivating, impartial and insightful book. Enthused by new information I started drafting the blog.

That was three months ago. And still I have not posted. As per my original plan the blog was becoming very long and demanded substantial amount of time. So I decided to break it in three parts. In first part I'll write about Nietzsche and Zoroaster, second part will cover Bogomils, Tartars and Manichaeism, and in final part I'll write about the Sassanid, the Achemenids and Zoroaster. The first part 'Also sparch Zarathustra' is posted here.

In the hope that I'll complete the other two parts soon I am ending this post by quoting Meer

ashq aankhon meiN kab nahin aata

lahu aata hai jab nahia aata

[ashq = tears ,lahu = blood]

hosh jaata nahin raha lekin

jab woh aata hai tab nahin aatn

dil se rukhsat hui koi khwahish

griyaa kuchh be-sabab nahin aatn

[rukhsat = depart] [KHwahish = desire]

[griyaa = weeping] [be-sabab = without reason]

ji mein kya-kya hai apne ai hamdam

har sukhan taa ba-lab nahin aata

[suKHan = speech] [taa = but] [ba-lab = till the lips]

Gunche

‘Hazaaron Khaishein Aisii, Ki Har Khaish pe Dam Nikle…’
- Mirza Asaddula Khan ‘Ghalib’

‘Thousands of desires, like this,’ said Ghalib ‘that for each one, I feel like dedicating my entire life’.

‘Gunche’ is one such desire of mine. ‘Guncha’ is a Hindi/Urdu word which means flower bud and ‘Gunche’ is plural of that. In the hope that these buds will bloom some day I have started this blog.

For last 2-3 years, I had been wanting to pen down my thoughts. Initially I planned to have my own website but that would have required an enormous amount of time. So I decided to blog. It has taken me a couple of years to get started. Two reasons prompted me to write my blog and one inhibited me from doing so. First reason was that I wanted to put down my thoughts and share it with the others. I always wanted to write the summary of the books I read. This is what I am going to do here until something else strikes me. Second reason was to improve my writing skills.
The reason which inhibited me from writing was laziness and this might be the reason for me to delay the next article or at worst not to write anything at all. But at this point of time I am very optimistic and confident that I will continue with it.

I have started writing this prologue when I have reached the denouement of my First article – Kublai Khan. Initially, I felt helpless. Writing does not come easy to me and more so writing in a language which is not my mother tongue. I am unable to translate my thoughts into words and sentences. Nevertheless, I am trying.

As far as my introduction goes, I am a 2nd year Management student with three years of experience in the software industry. Urdu, Ghazals, literature and history are subjects which fascinate me. I have just learnt writing basic Urdu but am still unable to read it fluently. Till late, Ghazals meant ‘Ghalib’ to me but now it is also ‘Meer’. In Literature I love reading ‘Magical Realism’ and my favorite is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. For me his best book is ‘Love in the time of Cholera’ and not ‘One hundred years of solitude’. The book which I am reading now is his ‘Living to tell the tale’. In religion, I am reading Islam. In history, I am currently interested in history of western and central Asia history, period 800 - 1300 AD.

I have started with a ‘Ghalib’ but will end with a ‘Meer’.

‘Shikvaa-e-aablaa abhii se ‘Meer’,
Hai pyaare hanoz Dilli duur.’

[ Shikvaa = Complaint, aablaa= blisters, pyaare = dear, hanoz=still/yet, Dilli = Delhi]
[The destination is far off and you have started complaining of blisters.]

And lastly your comments and suggestions will be very valuable to me.