My travels to Delhi
Finally, I wrote a piece on Delhi ……
Delhi’s present day chaos cannot belittle its grand past, which created a civilisation and shaped the contours of Indo-Muslim identity
When travels come, they come in battalions. Such has been the trajectory of my recent sojourns to Delhi. Travel to India can be, at best, random and left to a game of chance, given how the officialdom on both sides of the border ensures that people don’t cross real and imagined boundaries. Coincidence, or as my less rational side would say, the calling of the Delhi and Ajmer Saints, enabled me to land in Delhi twice in less than three months.
My most recent visit is in some measure courtesy of TFT. My obituary on Urdu’s towering writer Qurratulain Hyder in TFT last August was read by the immensely talented Rakshanda Jalil, media coordinator at Jamia Millia Islamia. A few months later she sent me an invitation to talk and present a paper at a seminar on the legacy of Qurratulain Hyder. There was no way that I could have refused this invite. Ms Hyder is my all time favourite writer; Delhi, an incomparable city to visit; and above all the opportunity to explore Jamia, a historical seat of learning associated with luminaries such as Maulana Azad and Dr Zakir Hussain could not be missed.
Delhi is not an ordinary South Asian metropolis. Its present day chaos cannot belittle its grand past, which created a civilisation and shaped the contours of Indo-Muslim identity, nourished the Urdu language, produced the finest verse in Hindustani and Urdu and fashioned a fabulous architectural legacy. This is why Delhi fascinates me endlessly. Each time I visit, I find a mohallah of the old dilli that concerns an important event or personality. Even better, another hitherto unknown monument is introduced to me; it is like a newly discovered continuation of an enjoyable book. One has only to casually drive around the city to find that it is dotted with monuments. I cannot complain that they are neglected in India; considering that Pakistan’s mighty administrators erect Shaminaas on Mughal monuments for personal parties, how can one grumble about the infidel neighbours!
But Delhi is not a city of the dead and tombstones only. It is a mega-city alive with countless sub-cultures, languages and religions converging and conflicting at once. The partition has made Delhi into a hub for Punjabi immigrants as well, bringing a new dimension to the culture – not to mention hippie haunts such as Pahar Ganj or the hip Hauz Khas that boast art, fashion and contemporary sensibilities. However, all of this does not do much for me. I’d rather be elsewhere for contemporary sounds and flavours.
My Delhi is the Delhi of the Khawajas, the Mughals and the present day secular Indians - Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – who respect the separate identity of Pakistan and are willing to befriend a Pakistani bloke without reminding him ad nauseam that his country is an artificial construct – a blot on the soul of mother India. For me, Delhi is the fascinating mix of places I love to visit and a handful of people who are warm and intelligent, profound, often unassuming and otherwise extraordinary in so many ways.
The Nizamuddin neighbourhood, close to the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and a medieval settlement, is my microcosm of Delhi. Despite the exponential increase in the population, this area retains an ambiance that narrates the changing seasons of history. There are numerous monuments scattered around the area and it’s a splendid feeling to buy a phone card while standing next to Humayun’s tomb or pick up flowers in front of a medieval noble’s tomb. Not to mention that each time you cross the road, you’re crossing a few 700-year-old structures. The drama, poetry and poignancy of the setting cannot be missed.
As you walk under the shade of old trees from the Nizamuddin East towards the shrine in the western side of the settlement, the antidote to affluent gated communities merges into the palpable reality of Muslim ghettoisation. The old bastee of Nizamuddin houses a community that has withdrawn into itself and is reeling under a psychological siege, closing its ranks to the outside world – including modernity and education. Nevertheless, I love the bastee as it reminds me of old Lahore. But here the moods of old Lahore have Ghalib’s tomb, footsteps of Amir Khusrau and the spellbinding aura of Nizamuddin Auliya’s shrine.
After a quick halt at Ghalib’s lonesome tomb, I always stop at the Ghalib Academy – a low-key little organisation – next door to check if there are any new titles or scheduled gatherings. It is a separate matter that the wine loving Ghalib’s mazar now faces the Indian Tableeghi Jamaat’s main office in Delhi, where many brethren drunk on piety loiter about. This time I found Annemarie Schimmel’s A dance of sparks: Imagery of fire in Ghalib’s poetry at the Ghalib Academy for Rs 150. Books are published and read in India and affordable prices are a major incentive for the huge middle class readership. 
And there are bookstores that can keep one entertained for days – old and new, light and heavy, from the banal to the highbrow.
One can walk into the medieval lanes of the bastee where all sorts of new-age healers have advertised their little spiritual shops. Not an unfamiliar sight, except that the setting is marvelous. Customarily, you need to pay respects to Amir Khusrau, inventor of the idiom that North India and Pakistan speak, before reaching Nizamuddin’s shrine. There are quite a few intermediaries out to make a quick buck and you can be stopped a few times to be initiated into a list of rituals that have to be performed – for money, of course. Luckily, I don’t go there alone and am hence typically saved of the hassle, but I have been through it a few times.
In the evenings, qawwals from far and wide perform on a regular basis. The courtyard turns into a captivating place with hundreds of people of all religions, castes and ethnicities participating and swooning in the mehfil. Unpretentious, earthy and undeniably real.
Nizamuddin’s compound houses the grave of Jahan Ara, the spirited daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan and sister of the eclectic prince Dara Shikoh. A devotee of the Sufis, Jahan Ara was a poet, a builder, a city planner and a woman of letters. Jahan Ara created the famous Chandni chowk, laying out the buildings, canals and a garden around it. Delhi was ruled and bejeweled by such fabulous characters. As for the present, let me cite an anecdote. My dear friend, Vidya Rao, a thumri singer par excellence, found her cat at Nizamuddin. She adopted the lost cat, named her “Sufi” for the dargah at which she was found and took her to her house, next to the shrine of H Bakhtiyaruddin Kaki.
The little compound at the shrine encapsulates eight centuries of history, empire, movements, musical innovations and poetic sensibilities that thrive even today. I have also recently discovered the Sufi Inayat Khan Centre, a hub for the international Sufi network, next to Nizamuddin dergah. This is a serene place with impressive facilities. As opposed to the common moorings of Nizamuddin, Inayat Khan Centre is more exclusive with many European and North American visitors staying or meditating in their little chambers. Music also holds a central position within the activities of Sufi Inayat Khan Centre.
Of course, this is merely a fraction of Delhi’s immense character. But this is how I like to spend my time there. Not unlike most cultural capitals, Delhi is abuzz with “events.” The exclusive India International Centre has become the fulcrum of literary and artistic events. It has a brilliant library and various places to meet, eat and chat. The little intellectual island within an endless city endears to residents and visitors alike.
A lot happens elsewhere too, in somewhat less lofty precincts. This December, I marched with a rally from Chandni Chowk to Ghalib’s Haveli in the famous Mohalla Balimaran. This procession was led by none other than the inimitable poet Gulzar who had flown from Bombay to attend the birthday celebrations of Mirza Ghalib. Such was the charisma of Gulzar that Delhi’s Chief Minister was just another guest at the event. Several Urdu wallahs , an endangered species in India, were also there in achkans, carrying their lost glory and forsaken dreams. Ghalib’s brilliant biographer Pavan Verma introduced me to Gulzar – and what an exciting moment that was. The Haveli was adorned for the occasion and the hip-hop reporters from the TV channels kept asking why Galib-ji was so great. In the post-ceremony mayhem, yours truly was also asked to speak. It was my first TV appearance – on Ghalib’s humanism, relevance and universal appeal. Not bad, I thought then. God knows how it appeared as I never got to see it.
Before Ghalib, Delhi was synonymous with Mir Taqi Mir and his timeless verse. The oft quoted couplets where Mir complains of Delhi’s destruction cited the city as Aalam mein Intikhaab, the chosen city of the world, ruined by the vagaries of time. I am glad that Mir Saheb is no more as he would have disapproved of what old Delhi has become – an inferno of a time-trapped Muslim underclass, where Urdu is evidently on the defensive.
Old Delhi, with the Jama Masjid as its landmark, intensely engages the visitor. The names of the streets haven’t changed and classic Delhi cuisine – nihari, kebabs and mutton mixes – is outstanding. The rickshaw pullers, vendors, beggars and the poor largely represent the local Muslim population. And now the Jamia Masjid might have a mall in the vicinity that land developers are keen to build and mosque administrators eager to support. At the end of the day, globalisation is all about getting rich, even if it means only a handful enjoys the fruits of “development.”
Sarmad the naked fakir was also a resident of Old Delhi and is buried there. Beheaded by Aurangzeb for being blasphemous, naked and defiant, Sarmad’s tomb is befittingly red and flaming. One has to visit the place to feel what mood it holds: it borders on the surreal. It was unlike anything that I had ever experienced.
As I mentioned earlier, during my last visit I was a guest at Jamia Millia Islamia for the seminar on Urdu writer Qurratulain Hyder’s legacy. Jamia retains its secular credentials but has expanded over time into a wide-ranging centre of graduate and post-graduate studies. India’s eminent historian Mushirul Hasan is Jamia’s current vice-chancellor and has consolidated Jamia into a formidable institution. Mushir is a prolific writer and quite an inspiring figure.
My paper at Jamia dealt with the enigma of Hyder’s dual belonging and her popularity among Pakistani readers. She lived in India, but was immensely popular as she presented an alternative view of history and selfhood. Hyder remained a unique bond between India and Pakistan until she died. She was a regular visitor in Pakistan, her second home in actual terms. Her family, friends and admirers never distanced her from Pakistan. Like her characters, she travelled, migrated and re-migrated and became a chronicler of our times, not as a historian but as a fiction writer. I concluded my talk at Jamia with these words: “Hyder was truly a dual citizen in an age where acrimonies of Partition and officialdom have made it impossible to hold concurrent citizenships. But Qurratulain Hyder even defied that; and proved that, like her vision, her belonging could be concurrent and beyond the accepted definitions.”
Indeed that was possible only with the stature and immense talent of Ms Hyder. Lesser mortals will remain hostage to visas and textbook identities. My Delhi travels are enriching as they lead to a near-dissolution of the textbook enmities that we had grown up with as the grandchildren of Partition. It is this reclaiming of my pre-Pakistan, Muslim and syncretic history that makes Delhi an enchanting place for me. Each time I am there, I connect with the larger subcontinental canvas that exists beyond the accepted and myopic definitions of identity. This is why I am never bored in Delhi; as many Delhi wallahs can never bore of the charms of Pakistan.
First published in the Friday Times
March 23rd, 2008
in
Religion, Politics, Random musings, India, heritage, All My Posts, South Asian Art, Published in The Friday Times, Sufism |
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
you have captured the nuances of a living delhi well
it is a living breathing historical city that has been plundered, burned, ruined and phoenix like rises again
March 24th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Well written.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Aargh…Now I think it was really silly of me to not have gone along…
March 24th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Temporal: thanks for the comment - I liked the reference to the phoenix..
Dastgir Saheb: Merci
Sidhu-ji: better not be lazy the next time I suggest a trip to Ghalib’s Haveli..
March 24th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
its beautiful RR ,i love your way of writing and specially your
seeing Delhi in a loving eye …good very good .should have told me
earlier so that i could have tried to meet you ..may be next time.
love and peace
priya
March 24th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Well written article- i enjoyed reading it. I also happened to be in Delhi in late November early December for more than a week- on a business trip . Apart from Jamia, I also visited most of the places you mentioned- it was my third trip to the city during the last 10 years although my last one was about 9 years back. Delhi seems to have changed ( sepcially Gurgaon and other big shopping malls) but the places which I visited were the same!
As always, I went to the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin- but to my disappointment- I had to ask for a Qawali-on a Saturday afternoon and a rag tag band of Qawals performed it for me. My last visits to the tomb have been in the evening and I have found Qawals performing there already… This time I had to ask for my favourite- “Mun Konto Mauala”- to be performed. It left me wondering if the age old tradition of Qawals performing all the time at the Mazar is a things of the past Hazrat Amir Khusrau first performed that Qawali in (Mun Konto Maula) front of Hazrat Nizamuddin….
In today’s Delhi- apart from Muslims- Urdu seems like an extinct language…. hardly any one speaks it properly… I was rather surprised when people asked me as to wherefrom UP did I belong to! I told them that I have nothing to do with UP as I belong to Wazirabad in Pakistan- which is so far from UP…..I did not tell them Maulana Zafar Ali Khan- who lived and died in Wazirabad- had such command over Urdu that he could have easliy put all UP Wallahs combined to shame in less than a minute!
As always, I had lunch at Kareem ( Dastar-Khan-e-Kareem- to be exact about the name). the famous hotel very close to the tomb- I understand that they have retail outlets in quite a few areas of Delhi but I always prefer to have it there in neighbourhood of Nizamuddin….
kind regards.
Ammar Ali Qureshi.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
March 24th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
The myriad faces of the city are simply fascinating.
Delhi, where an empire rose and fell before the dawn of history; where citadels of emperors appeared and disappeared; a city of mysterious eternity whose old ruins proclaim a majestic and imperial past and whose present pulsates vibrantly with the ever flowing life of India
March 24th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
your perception as a visitor is interesting .. although we Non Delhi Indians doesn’t like that Rude, power minded city ..:)
but then that city has suffered a lot ..History has always betrayed that city .
As per your last line about identity .. our sense of identity is our perception and not truth
, we are much beyond our limit of dreams ..
March 24th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
A city made beautiful and meaningful through the eyes of an appreciative beholder! Thanks Raza for helping me see a historic and beautiful Delhi; something that I had relegated to the annals of History forever. Your post brought it alive and also kindled some hope within those who love Delhi that there are still some embers in those ashes that could be lit up if fanned and nurtured with care and love; pretty much what you did Raza when you were in Delhi.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:50 am
jab bhee müjhay tahzeeb-o-tamaddün ne sadaa dee
dehli teree dehleez peh sar maeñ nay jhükaaya
Raza miañ … jee khüsh kar diya! If I were living in Lahore, from where the trips are infinitely more affordable, I’d be in Dilli every opportunity.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I am really not very familiar with that aura of Delhi you’ve described with such adoration, it feels like a beautiful memory, long forgotten. Very well-written piece. You’ve inspired me to take up reading ‘the City of Djinns’ again which I left half-way through once.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Its very dificult to hold oneself at times. Ammar Ali Qureshi went too far in praising Zafar Ali Khan (Editor Paisa). Zafar Ali Khan was a good journalist… period. He was not the last word on Urdu Language. No one was / is. That is not the right approach. Its jingoistic. Urdu belongs to those who speak and write it.. ….
Zafar Ali Khan, Editor Paisa; wrote a poem on Sarojini Naidu… i am sure Ammar knows abou tit.. the opening line was..
Aankhen huee hain khee`raa.. Sooraj Ki rowshni sey…
Maanga hai Noor shaayad… Us ne… Saro`jini Sey…
Zafar was good at Urdu, just as Sarojini Naidu and S. Radhakrishnan were good in English…
Cheers…
PS : As regards the Qawwals… and continuous singing. The old Qawwals are long dead. In a Dargah in Hyderabad Deccan [AP] (from where i belong); there is a Dargaah… It is called Dargaah-e-Yousufain. In my childhood, there used to be Qawwali with the Lead Qawwal dressed in the Sherwani and the Cap on the Harmonica (Harmonium) and his 2-3 Hum-Navaa.. . The Qawwal would perform… women would sit beside a wooden curten underneath a HUGE peepal tree… Now when i happen to visit the Dargaah… I saw an old man.. in an old kurta pyjama.. and tattered cap… and he was singing ALONE. I was shocked. I went very DEEP into the change of setting… (then and now)… and realised the truth… of how economics impacts everthing.. everything in the life of a community.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Ammar … sorry for an error.. ( i write from my work-desk.. and type very fast.. so mistakes.. typos do happen.
Please read : Zafar Ali Khan as Editor of “ZAMINDAR” and not “Paisa” as i wrote in the eariler post. Very sorry about lapse of memory…
Im only human !
March 25th, 2008 at 11:30 am
RR, have you considered writing a book on Delhi? I bet you could do better than Dalrymple. I’ll definitely be reading your posts before traveling to Delhi.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
[…] Jahane Rumi writes a wonderful piece - reflecting on Delhi, its history and people. Share This […]
March 25th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
>the wine loving Ghalib’s mazar now faces the Indian Tableeghi Jamaat’s main office in Delhi
Very ironic and well observed!
As to a certain writer described as ‘Ghalib’s brilliant biographer’, I humbly beg to differ, for the biography was little more than a cut and paste job.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Raza, dil khush kar diya. What a wonderful description of Old Delhi and the history that is so imperceptibly a part of everything in that great city. Despite my desperate desire to go to Delhi I have not managed to get there other than a brief 2 days in 1987. You well know my passion for Lahore and Delhi. I have always thought of Lahore as Delhi in miniature but without that great UP influence. Your piece makes me just want to get up and go.
March 29th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Dastagir,
As you had directed the post to me- I think it would be appropriate to answer the allegation you levelled at me ( of not being able to hold oneself regarding my remark about Maulana Zafar Ali Khan). I do not want to enter into a discussion about Maulana’ s poetry- as I do not think I am qualified to do that. I just mentioned about his command over the Urdu language and made a remark which is acutally rewording of Maulana’s challenge himself during his lifetime- when he said: ” if people from Lucknow and Delhi combined write 10 lines of Urdu- Zafar Ali Khan is that person who will be able to fault them for their language mistakes”…. I have heard this remark from my father and uncle who knew Maulana very well as he was a daily visitor to my grandfather’s home in wazirabad…I do not think I can be accused of getting carried away…. it is maulana who can probably be accused of getting carried away- although I do not think that is right… he meant it what he said…..
I leave the discussion here as it seems ( even the bias is quite clear from your post) that UP’s claim regarding monopoly over command of Urdu language is quite old and deep rooted that must have moved men like Maulana to challenge it in such a manner…
Just to quote an example ( as you have quoted one) of his command over urdu and extempore poetry….. when the news of defeat of British forces at Dardanelles ( in Turkey) during first world war broke in India…..Maulana said extemporely:
Angarez kee hey fauj nasl-e-shigal sey
woh dum daba key bhag gay dar-e-danyal sey!
How simple and amazing… and it was extempore…..
cheers
Ammar
P.S: I agree with your remark about Qawwals and the dying numbers- the fact about economic necessities eroding old traditions also occured to me at the Dargah although I failed to mention it in my post ( which was initially just an email exchange between me and Raza- but he asked my permission to post it on the website)
March 30th, 2008 at 3:38 am
Great to read of your experience and observations about Delhi.
March 30th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Ammar… thanks for writing. The “beauty-contest” mind-set in matters of literature is deplorable.
March 30th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Urdu and UP. This discussion has to be met head-on. One cannot avoid it for reasons of diplomacy. Delhi was the seat of Mughal power and after its fall… for a hundred years or so… we see sparks in Hyderabad and Lucknow (and other places like Rampur etc. etc.).
Ammar.. this is for you.. There is something called “Indo-Muslim Culture”. I am sure you knwo Sarojini’s one-liner on this… Its very true. By the way i am not from UP. I am totally free of bias… BUT…. yes… people do have provincial bias. it is the reflection of an immature mind.
Urdu + UP… is one problem… and Urdu + Muslim is another problem. The former part was damaged in 1902., when Devnagri became the language replacing Persian and Urdu in UP. Pls. re-collect Sir Syed’s anger at this. That was THE turning point. The second severe blow was rendered in 1947. Pls dont forget that Pakistan was made for “islam in danger + urdu culture in danger”. What is Urdu Culture ? It is the product of centuries of refinement…. the luxury that history afforded India… and its muslims.
Basically it is the “Iranian” cultural influence… in matters of language, architecture, dress, food, accessories, jewelry, music, literature, and so on. The iranian domes (Gumbad)., mehraab (arches).. the Baghdadi Arch (which i love)…. the Moroccan Arch, the Moorish (AL Hambra) Arch, The Christian Arch….the SYMBOLISM of it all. The inner court-yard for example.. Urdu is a by-product of this CULTURE…. this environ. It was a beautiful product.. but unfortunately.. got trampled by the bull-dozer of communal politics.
Ammar.. pre-1947, what was the population % of muslims in UP ? Do you know that ? Yet, what was the cultural INFLUENCE of Indo-Muslim Culture in Indian (United India) life. This is the question…
Urdu is a very beautiful language…. BUT…. right now…. in India… 160 Million Muslims (more than all the Arabs put together) are facing a crisis ! Under the present circumstances, it is my endeavour that we must adopt ENGLISH and FRENCH en`masse. We need to build the economic life of the community… the basic questions of survival. Jaan Hai.. to Jahaan hai.. (aur language bhee hai). Jaan ko mazboot karnaa hai. Jaan means the body and the mind. So… lets head off TO English.. .and French… with a vengeance. After 200 years, after we had built ourselves, we can always revert back to Urdu Persian and Arabic. Right now… our priorities are different. I know… this is a sacrifice. Sacrifice is inevitable… and we are giving it… Do not care for the next election.. or generation.
One must have a 300-year vision ! English is a beautiful language… as beautiful as Urdu.. or Persian or Arabic. So lets adopt it. After English, French is next… Engilsh and French are so beautiful. Love them… and they will love you too. Love begets love…
Change starts from the elite segment of a society and then “trickle-down effect” comes into operation. Initially there would be criticism.. So be it.
March 30th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Thanks Dastagir for writing and informing me of different nuances of Urdu culture.
What is the one-liner of Sarojini Naidu- I do not think I know about it or may be it is alluding my mind at the moment- can only tell once you inform me about it!
The % of Muslims in UP was quite low- that much I know as it was a minority state of Muslims- I think it wont be high than 35-40%. Yes their influence was enormous not only on Urdu culture but also Muslim politics. UP along with Bengal was the driving force between Pakistan movement.
I am also free of regional bias and have no problems in conceding that people from UP- Ahle-Zaban- as they are called speak Urdu better than people from other regions but that does not mean that people from other regions cant do equally well in Urdu if not better. Although I do not one to sound suffering from regional bias- but if you look at the last 100 years- Iqbal, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan and Faiz- the three greatest Urdu poets of the last century- were not from UP or were not Ahle-Zaban. I wonder as to what can be the factors which contributed to decline of standards. Although faiz did face competition from Josh ( who was a great poet and definitely had better command over the language) but Faiz trumped him in terms of following and status. Similaly Iqbal had no peer in whole of India ( excluding Tagore but then he was a poet in Bengali not Urdu)…During the last 100 years, Lucknow, Delhi or UP or Karachi ( where most of the Ahle-Zuban settled after 1947) did not produce a poet of the stature of Iqbal or Faiz… any thoughts about this particular aspect.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Sarojini’s one-liner : “Hyderabad and Lucknow represent THE Essence of Islamic Culture”. Its a very deep line… She has used the word “Islamic Culture”… which has deep connotations. I would dilute or simplify it and say… “Indo-Muslim Culture”.. i like that term because Harvard University applies it.
Well Ammar…. i read your post with interest… and you are right. This jhagda of who “Ahl-e-Zubaan” is.. has psychological roots. it would need me 2-3 pages to fill.. to comment. I do not claim to be an expert ! My knowledge is very limited…I am an ordinary guy (infact, less than ordinary !). This is not modesty - its the truth. But i would want to say what i wish to.
My insight : After loss (erosion) of political power and the perks appended thereto, the EGO needs a staff to lean on ! UP had been the major “Theatre” in the struggle for Independence (Indo/Pak/Bangla). The Muslims as a community were consolidated on the basis of : (1) Religion and (2) Language… In the former, there were fissures and sectarian fights … and in language too… it displayed the similar trait. Why ?
I was speaking to a family elder who is a scholar. we were talking about the sectarian fights (sunni/shia/etc). He told me… we would have fought ANYWAY.. if not on this,. on some other issue ! Man’s inherent nature is to seek differences and fight over THEM. Hence “Ahl-e-zubaan”.. my urdu us gr8.. yours is not… i am the “inheritor” of a heritage… you are not… ultimately the root cause is : “Love for one-self”… or “Holier-than-thou mindset”. Why do we fight so much…. Why is there so much “Jhagda”. The whole of the indian sub-continent (indo-pak-bangla) is about 30% of Australia (in area). The whole of the so-called muslim-countries (combined)., are smaller than Australia + Canada (in area).. Why so many Jhagdas then ?
Reason : Too many people - too little resources.. leading to cut-throat competition for survival.. and hence animal instincts take over and civility is thrown out of the window. The beast is aroused when the belly is empty.
So the bottom-line is to go to the grass-roots. The Punjabi fellas Iqbal,Faiz ; the UP walla Bhaiyya [Afridi Pathan Josh] ; the Hyderabadi (AP) Bahadur Yar Jung (orator)… and the Bengali (Kolkata) Abulkalam Azad… were masters at Urdu Poetry, Speech and Writing (respectively).. There is a long list of names., but im at work..so i wanna wrap up the argument with minimum names.
So.. while i love the “Mehrab” (Baghdadi Arch); the “Taaq-chaas” in the walls ; the earthen Suraahi… the Chilman… the Huge havelis… (that we could not maintain.. the typical “Asset-rich Cash-poor syndrome”)… The dress… the Sherwani.. The Gharara… The Khada-Dupatta… The Jewelry… The incence.. The Food.. The Literature.. The language.. and the CAPSULE of it all.. The Culture.
Culture that led to the making of a personality. That personality reflected a CHARACTER. Character was the End Result. Language (Urdu) and Architecture (Mihrab) are SYMBOLIC things… But symbols are important… cuz they are VISIBLE signs. Yeh sab cheezen ek shaqsiyyat ko banaati hain.. aur us se CHARACTER (Kirdaar) emanate hota hai.
Nation-building ke liye.. Language aur culture kee zaroorat hai. Aur saath mein ECONOMIC muscle bhee ho. I love Urdu from The Master “Daagh” right upto Ghalib via Sadat Hasan Manto and Ainie Haider.. It binds us… We mock at each other’s accents… and FIGHT more with each other FOR the simple reason that we cannot fight SOMEONE else. So we take our anger on each other ! Yeh ek majboori hai.. jo zavaal kee soorat mein aa jaati hai.. Qaum`on (aqwaam) ke andar.
Qissa taweel ho gaya.. and i lost in the forest of thoughts.. Vision blurred ho gaya. Grass roots kaam hona chaahiye. We need Rich People like Warren Buffett (and not the Sheikhs of Dubai)… and good governance in our societies. Individually we cannot do anything. (In the 56 so-called muslim countries., 98% of them live in dictatorships … under the American Viceroy). Qissa taweel ho gaya.
Maulana Mohammed Ali’s essay : Fight for the Turks… read it… and if you find it.. email it to me.. I wanna read it too.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Errata : The essay is titled “CHOICE of the Turks”… by Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar… I couldnt find that essay… If you happen to find it, pls email same to me. God bless !
April 6th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Dastagir- I tried finding it on the internet… but could not… however,Maulana Jauhar’s autobiography “My Life- A fragment ” carries a chapter with that title- Choice of the Turks- the book apparently was edited by former Pakistani diplomat Dr. Afzal Iqbal- who has written a celebrated book on life and works of Rumi. Recently a new edition of Maulana Mohamamd Ali’s has been published which has an introduction by famous Indian historian- Mushir-ul-Hasan.
Please follow the link
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/Ideas/lika/cover.html
April 8th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Mushirul Hasan is a “Gem”. He is a great asset to the community. May Allah bestow health and happiness on him. i have read his books… what scholarship.. Subhan Allah.
Thanks for trying… and God bless.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Here’s another rather delectable take at Delhi… http://www.radioreloaded.com/tracks/?975