tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post192842666560941124..comments2023-10-05T12:35:17.237-04:00Comments on a reader's words: Happy Birthday, Mirza Ghalibreaderswordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-4784698578754390642010-09-30T14:54:36.576-04:002010-09-30T14:54:36.576-04:00The birth anniversary of Mirza Ghalib is one of th...The birth anniversary of Mirza Ghalib is one of the most important events of these year. It requires a proper celebration.Vardenafilhttp://www.xlpharmacy.com/generic-levitra/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-50221324958161858722007-03-15T07:30:00.000-04:002007-03-15T07:30:00.000-04:00Far: You may like to see the website "A Deseetful ...Far: You may like to see the website "A Deseetful of Roses", the link appears under Websites on this blog (on the right)readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-43975777161768051802007-03-13T06:26:00.000-04:002007-03-13T06:26:00.000-04:00Hi Bhupinder. It was so refreshing reading about M...Hi Bhupinder. It was so refreshing reading about Mirza Ghalib. I have always been an admirer of Ghalib and have recently rediscovered my love for all his works. Although I know urdu and I can be called a n urdu literate its difficult to understand Ghalib's couplets completely and appreciate them becoz of the liberal usage of persian words. I guess there lies the beauty. I have been browsing the net trying to find a good book having Ghalib's couplets alongwith the translation..preferably in simple urdu or hindi. Do u have any suggestions?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03802996232821980710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-73747561466936141962006-12-29T16:41:00.001-05:002006-12-29T16:41:00.001-05:00Fawad: I have corrected the first misra in the pos...Fawad: I have corrected the first misra in the post. Thanks for pointing out.<br /><br />On Iqbal: There is some amount of literature available on Iqbal in India. My own 'shikwa' is that Iqbal's poetry is not available in any other script besides Urdu that places Urdu- illiterates like me at a disadvantage. This has much to do, as Alok has hinted, with the fact that while Iqbal's song was adopted as the national song, both Iqbal and Urdu were over the years pushed under the carpet. The same has been the case with Tagore as well, despite his work being adopted as the national anthem, his critique of nationalism has been ignored.<br /><br />Thanks for the reference to your father's book and for your kind words on the blog.readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-51793563417257802812006-12-29T03:18:00.000-05:002006-12-29T03:18:00.000-05:00Nice post Bhupinder. Your blog has become one of m...Nice post Bhupinder. Your blog has become one of my favorite places to visit. For a Pakistani extremely interested in Indian politics and history, I have found the insights on the Indian Left particularly informative. <br /><br />Not to be didactic, I believe that you might have misquoted one of the Ghalib verses. I think it goes: <br />Na thaa kuch to khuda thaa, kuch na hota to khuda hota<br />Daboya mujh ko hone ne na hota mein to kya hota<br /><br />I share your admiration for Iqbal and am generally saddened by how little most of my Indian friends here in the US know about him and his poetry despite his "saare jahan se achha" fame. However, in Pakistan there is plenty of material available on Iqbal including a substantial body of secondary lit and books explaining his verses (including my father's book "Tafheem-e-Baal-e-Jibreel" (Understanding Baal-e-Jibreel)).<br /> <br />Thanks for posting the documentary "Final Solution" on your site. It was heart rending and left me in a state of deep despair about the human capacity for hatred and cruelty. That sage Ghalib again: <br />Bus ke dushwar hai har kaam ka aasaN hona<br />Aadmi ko bhi muyassar nahiN InsaaN hona <br /><br />Keep up the good work.Fawad Zakariya https://www.blogger.com/profile/16008069828182560496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-49328912072317120362006-12-28T18:33:00.000-05:002006-12-28T18:33:00.000-05:00Alok: Thanks for clarifying :-)
Vidya:Bacchan's M...Alok: Thanks for clarifying :-)<br /><br />Vidya:Bacchan's Madhushala, I believe was inspired by Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyyat. <br /><br />Leaving aside the script, it becomes difficult to say where Urdu stops and Hindi starts- I think it is merely a question of using vocabulary from Arabic/Persian or Sanskrit that decides whether it is Urdu or English.<br /><br />I can understand for someone from a Tamil background learning Urdu ! And must say that trying to learn itself is an achievement !<br /><br />Siyaah: Most welcome, it's my pleasure- one owes so much to the man.readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-7633242399893211702006-12-27T23:55:00.000-05:002006-12-27T23:55:00.000-05:00A big thanks for the Ghalib post and reminding us ...A big thanks for the Ghalib post and reminding us of the anniversary!Siyaahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09602286491370735800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-73099052225198703942006-12-27T23:45:00.000-05:002006-12-27T23:45:00.000-05:00Nice post, bhupinder.My first exposure to Ghalib w...Nice post, bhupinder.My first exposure to Ghalib was through a DD serial, given my Madrasi background.I was so enamored by his poetry that I attempted to learn Urdu script (there is an excellent urdu book in dsal.uchicago.edu) rather unsuccessfully.The only other poet who appealed to me was Iqbal.<br /><br />With my meagre understanding of both Hindi and urdu I have felt that Bacchan's Madhushala was inspired by Ghalib in a lot of places but somehow I maintain that Hindi alloyed by Urdu is more malleable and dexterous for poetryVidya Jayaramanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11878238708389655574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-17217506380393329282006-12-27T22:18:00.000-05:002006-12-27T22:18:00.000-05:00Yes i was being ironical there. in fact the same c...Yes i was being ironical there. in fact the same can be said of the fate of the urdu language too.<br /><br />that's not my translation btw thats what i have read in many places in hindi media.:)Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-78103251069540921612006-12-27T20:17:00.001-05:002006-12-27T20:17:00.001-05:00Alok:
>Iqbal is perhaps considered as a "foreign" ...Alok:<br />>Iqbal is perhaps considered as a "foreign" poet from the perspective of India...<br /><br />I guess you meant the Hindutva version of India. I think I will need to write another post on Allama Iqbal and why he is needed for a secular, progressive India..readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-45707409197292522162006-12-27T20:10:00.000-05:002006-12-27T20:10:00.000-05:00Given that "gobar patti" literally means "cowdung ...Given that "gobar patti" literally means "cowdung belt", I think your translation is rather generous !readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-48351045633384669322006-12-27T17:01:00.000-05:002006-12-27T17:01:00.000-05:00lol... i understand what you mean there. I have co...lol... i understand what you mean there. I have come across some very ambitious wannabe poets myself. :) sometimes i think there are more poets and shayars in this world than there are readers to read them :)<br /><br />I wonder who first invented the phrase. hindi dailies use the term "gobar patti" :)Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-42930314962833045642006-12-27T16:17:00.000-05:002006-12-27T16:17:00.000-05:00Thanks for the link to Namwar Singh's text, I foun...Thanks for the link to Namwar Singh's text, I found some of his observations very pertinent- specially the argument against using the Nagari script.<br /><br />I haven't read much of Hindi poetry except in school. Part of the reason is that these were too didactic for me when I tried to read them, and also they used a very Sanskritized Hindi. and last, but not the least, I had a few friends who mistook my interest in Hindi poetry to be interest in <i>their</i> poetry and inflicted me with some heavy duty stuff of their own. <br /><br />I haven't yet recovered from those damages. (LoL)<br /><br />BTW, I like the way you always remark about the cow belt :-)<br />>The cow belt media is entire ignorant of its own cultural heritage.readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-68650004937671318662006-12-27T15:59:00.000-05:002006-12-27T15:59:00.000-05:00btw, have you read the Hindi poets Nagarjun, Raghu...btw, have you read the Hindi poets Nagarjun, Raghuvir Sahay and Muktibodh? they wrote in the 60s and 70s. they are all wonderful poets. all rebels, revolutionaries, socially and politically committed but all bitterly and very harshly anti-romantic and anti-sentimental. they are also very innovative in form. they are three of my favourites.Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-33591263410481483612006-12-27T15:52:00.000-05:002006-12-27T15:52:00.000-05:00you will find this article by hindi critic and sch...you will find <a href="http://www.museindia.com/showcont.asp?id=241">this article</a> by hindi critic and scholar Namwar Singh very interesting. (If you haven't read it)<br /><br />One great tragedy of the two nation theory that doesn't get mentioned generally is the decline of both Urdu and Hindi because of forced separation between the two and their identification with the nation state. So a highly artificial sanskritised hindi became the "rajbhasha" and urdu became a minority language always written in persio-arabic script. Iqbal's case might be related to the same. Iqbal is perhaps considered as a "foreign" poet from the perspective of India...<br /><br />It is possible to get these books easily specially if you are in that region, but even there it will be really hard to get essays, critical studies, scholarly appreciations of these poets. The cow belt media is entire ignorant of its own cultural heritage. it is very depressing to read some of those newspapers and magazines. there are a few (like Hans) but they are still marginal. not that english langauge media is any good. it is perhaps even worse.Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-33692326433174075562006-12-27T15:27:00.000-05:002006-12-27T15:27:00.000-05:00Chanad, Mohib, thanks for your comments.
It is i...Chanad, Mohib, thanks for your comments. <br /><br />It is indeed true that the TV serial Mirza Ghalib did a lot to reawaken interest in him. I personally don't like Jagjit Singh's renditions, somehow he makes them sound very sad and morose, while Ghalib's poetry is full of life and what Allama Iqbal called "confident restlessness".<br /><br />My grouse, against no one in particular, is that the strain of philosophical questioning from within an Indian/ Eastern tradition that Ghalib and later Iqbal ingrained in their poetry is not being taken forward. <br /><br />Alok: I think you do have a point when it comes to the availability and treatment of Iqbal in post- 1947 India. I could not find his works in any language except in Urdu. Even essays and writings on Iqbal are past now, I wonder if there is anyone at all interested in Iqbal in India. In his own times, he was on the lips of the youth of his generation, cutting across political and religious lines.readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-87276624424609432712006-12-27T02:20:00.000-05:002006-12-27T02:20:00.000-05:00i don't think the gulzar/jagjit series captured gh...i don't think the gulzar/jagjit series captured ghalib's true spirit, but it did do alot to make ghalib more accessible for young people especially.<br /><br />my favourite is (a bit morbid albeit):<br />naadaaN ho jo kahte ho kih kyuuN jiite haiN Gaalib<br />qismat meN hai marne kii tamannaa koii din aurAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-22735201791214790692006-12-26T23:56:00.000-05:002006-12-26T23:56:00.000-05:00Fine tribute, Bhupinder saahab!
Only Ghalib could...Fine tribute, Bhupinder saahab!<br /><br />Only Ghalib could say<br /><br />Ghalib-e-Khastaa ke baGhair, kaunse kaam band haiN<br />roiye zaar zaar kyaa, keejiye haaye haaye kyuuN<br /><br />and<br /><br />haiN aur bhii duniyaa meN suKhanvar bahut acche<br />kahte haiN ke Ghalib kaa hai andaaz-e-bayaaN aur<br /><br />with elan.<br /><br />:-)<br /><br />Thanks are also due to Gulzar and Jagjit Singh for introducing the master to a whole new generation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-47155731026783723072006-12-26T22:05:00.000-05:002006-12-26T22:05:00.000-05:00a fitting tribute to the bard. nice post!a fitting tribute to the bard. nice post!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-83257776008378491442006-12-26T22:03:00.000-05:002006-12-26T22:03:00.000-05:00It is true that there is much more secondary litt ...It is true that there is much more secondary litt available in English. But in case of major Urdu poets like Ghalib and Mir, there is no dearth of inexpensive litt available, I read Ghalib mainly in the Devnagri script. I think those of us who know English have just got used to reading more in English.readerswordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536082441634566406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12564073.post-36149899658351235962006-12-26T21:47:00.000-05:002006-12-26T21:47:00.000-05:00diwan-e-mir and diwan-e-ghalib were both there in ...diwan-e-mir and diwan-e-ghalib were both there in my home in patna. i never managed to read much though :)<br /><br />I think it was the same rajkamal paperback edition. one grouse i have with these regional language publishers is that they don't have a good introduction or adequate footnotes. for a beginner and an amateur it is very difficult to find a grounding in the technicalities of poetry without some guidance. it is true for all forms of literature actually. in english there is a wealth of secondary literature which is comparatively very easily available.<br /><br />nice post though. the earlier review was also very informative. thanks!Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.com