Just Another Stupid Love Story
Urstruly April 8, 2001
#108 Posted by krashid on April 24, 2001 4:26:16 am
Sameer JB #106
Khalid Ahmed is right that drinking is not a criteria of judging a people called poet. (Most poets will fit the criteria of drinking).
I think it is jealosy or rivalry.
Ubaidullah Aleem, a great poet in his own right while sitting in Dow Medical College cafe teria was making fun of Faiz.
I think Faiz was more of a genius as his poetry depicts.
While Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi is talented. I like the few stories written by Qasmi. He has a humanistic approach to life.
As far as writer of ``Ataie``, Ata-ul- Haq Qasmi, the ambassador to scandanavia. I never was able to like his personality behind his writing. More of a boastful nature, degrading everything except himself. And playing with situation to create what he thought was humor.
But these days, the connection and Mafia and groupings works in success of Literary persons or Literature.
Independent people like Ibn-e-Safi were totally outcast by majority of Literary Mafia of Pakistan.
As Faraz aptly said:
Bus Ek Musahib Sarkar Ka Bulawa Tha.
Gadagaran-e-Sukhan Ke Hujoom Samne The.
By the way same thing is happening in USA, if newspaper are to be believed, although the competition is among third rate players of game.
Khalid Ahmed is right that drinking is not a criteria of judging a people called poet. (Most poets will fit the criteria of drinking).
I think it is jealosy or rivalry.
Ubaidullah Aleem, a great poet in his own right while sitting in Dow Medical College cafe teria was making fun of Faiz.
I think Faiz was more of a genius as his poetry depicts.
While Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi is talented. I like the few stories written by Qasmi. He has a humanistic approach to life.
As far as writer of ``Ataie``, Ata-ul- Haq Qasmi, the ambassador to scandanavia. I never was able to like his personality behind his writing. More of a boastful nature, degrading everything except himself. And playing with situation to create what he thought was humor.
But these days, the connection and Mafia and groupings works in success of Literary persons or Literature.
Independent people like Ibn-e-Safi were totally outcast by majority of Literary Mafia of Pakistan.
As Faraz aptly said:
Bus Ek Musahib Sarkar Ka Bulawa Tha.
Gadagaran-e-Sukhan Ke Hujoom Samne The.
By the way same thing is happening in USA, if newspaper are to be believed, although the competition is among third rate players of game.
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#107 Posted by Urstruly on April 24, 2001 12:33:00 am
FZK
An early retirement? well that ain`t good. That doesnt look good on my resume either. No one has ever volunatrily or involutarily asked to be excluded from my tease list :(
An early retirement? well that ain`t good. That doesnt look good on my resume either. No one has ever volunatrily or involutarily asked to be excluded from my tease list :(
#106 Posted by SameerJB on April 23, 2001 10:46:33 pm
dost-mittar, # 108: Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi and Josh Maleehabadi have many things in common. They both are/ were iconoclaust, never liked any other poet besides themselves, infected with superiority complex and irritating personalities. They may be good poets but not popular. Their poetry did not make it to mass appeal level as Faiz, Sahir or Faraz poetry did. You have to connect to people to be appreciated. Faiz was more than just a poet. He served in military, peace activist, communist, college principal, imprisoned, tried in conspiracy case, exiled and so on. Even his daughters and son-in-laws were well known figures for liberalism and workrd in TV dramas. Z. A. Bhutto and later Benazir also helped popularized him with national level exposure through Faiz Aman Mela.
Josh lived a secluded life in Islamabad. Lierary life in Islamabad is dull compared to Karachi or Lahore. Qasmi lived in Lahore wheras Faiz had the experience of both Lahore and Karachi, though a Sialkotia by birth. Faiz has become even more popular after his death. His poetry is recited in social gatherings, his Kulliat-e-Faiz (kalam-e-faiz?) might have sold more copies than diwan-e-ghalib or Kulliat-e-Iqbal.
I do not know how one judges good poetry from bad poetry but judging the popular poetry is easy and Faiz wins hands down.
Josh lived a secluded life in Islamabad. Lierary life in Islamabad is dull compared to Karachi or Lahore. Qasmi lived in Lahore wheras Faiz had the experience of both Lahore and Karachi, though a Sialkotia by birth. Faiz has become even more popular after his death. His poetry is recited in social gatherings, his Kulliat-e-Faiz (kalam-e-faiz?) might have sold more copies than diwan-e-ghalib or Kulliat-e-Iqbal.
I do not know how one judges good poetry from bad poetry but judging the popular poetry is easy and Faiz wins hands down.
#105 Posted by ShirinAhmed on April 23, 2001 10:46:33 pm
Sadaf # 107
you are very welcome!its just that i find getting hold of his cd`s is becoming very difficult, as has been pointed earlier that he did not get the due recognition he deserves ,therefore shopkeepers are hesitant to keep in stock what they cannot sell easily, so i hope you can find some , or else you know what to do !
:) sa
you are very welcome!its just that i find getting hold of his cd`s is becoming very difficult, as has been pointed earlier that he did not get the due recognition he deserves ,therefore shopkeepers are hesitant to keep in stock what they cannot sell easily, so i hope you can find some , or else you know what to do !
:) sa
#103 Posted by sadaf on April 23, 2001 8:19:30 pm
Dear Shirin:
:) Thanks for the offer, its so sweet of you. If I have any problem getting these CDs, I`ll tell you for sure.
Sadaf
:) Thanks for the offer, its so sweet of you. If I have any problem getting these CDs, I`ll tell you for sure.
Sadaf
#102 Posted by SameerJB on April 23, 2001 3:09:36 pm
Just Another Stupid Hate Story
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi did not like Faiz`s wrists!
kuchh to log kahaiN gey
logoN ka bas kaam hey kehna
From Dawn
Denigrating Faiz Ahmed Faiz
By Khalid Hasan
FAIZ Ahmed Faiz never reacted to criticism, no matter how intemperate or unfair it was. He would always let go. When I once asked him why he was invariably referred to as ``the famous communist poet and intellectual, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize and Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case convict, Faiz Ahmed Faiz ...`` by a particular newspaper, he replied, ``Bhai un ka karobar bhi tau chalna chahhye.`` I heard him speak a harsh word about someone only once. When he was told that Jamil-uz-Zaman, once a journalist and later a senior information ministry official, had died, he said, ``Bhai bara paji aadmi tha,.`` That was all he said, no more, no less and not again. The word ``paji`` is so harmless that it hardly even qualifies as an epithet of abuse.
The writer Ashfaq Ahmed once called Faiz a ``malamti soofi`` and so he was. Those who hated Faiz for ideological or political reasons were always saying and even printing nasty things about him. No one can cite a single word that Faiz ever uttered in his defence or against his detractors. To borrow a phrase from Bhagavad Gita, he was like `the lotus in the lake` that floats in the water and yet is never wet. It takes a truly great and detached man to have the ripeness, wisdom, forbearance and understanding of the essential nature of things, not to answer abuse with abuse. Of all the people I know, there is not one who would not go ballistic if someone made a slighting remark about him. Faiz remained calm and he kept smiling: `Jo aaye aaye ke hum dil kushada rakhtay hain.`
Which is what makes Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi`s 32-page article on Faiz in a newly-fangled Urdu quarterly from Lahore deplorable. The gentleman who calls himself editor of the journal, like Qasmi, comes from the wilds of the Sargodha-Khaushab salient and has been churning out Sikh (and sick) jokes by way of a column for several years. Be that as it may, the jokes were good enough to earn him the admiration of the former Squire of Raiwind who sent him as ambassador to a Scandinavian country. It is another matter that His Excellency, like his mentor, was to be found more in Lahore than in his accredited capital, leading to speculation that he was actually ambassador of the Scandinavian country to Pakistan.
What is Qasmi`s case against Faiz? First that he and Faiz remained essentially apart because they belonged to different classes, Faiz being the privileged one. Two, that he was unable to join Faiz on the social plane because he did not drink. Both grounds are as frivolous as they are baseless. Faiz belonged to the privileged class much less than Qasmi did who has always been proud of having been born a Pirzada. There were scores of people who were close to Faiz and with whom he spent time or who were to be found around him in evenings though they had never so much as touched what Zafar Iqbal Mirza (`Zim`) calls ``snake juice``. Ibne Insha, for instance, was a teetotaller and yet he was close to Faiz who asked him in London in 1976 to write the foreword to his next collection.
Qasmi`s diatribe against Faiz springs from an acute sense of jealousy that, it is now evident, he has felt all along. He cannot reconcile himself to the fact that while the whole world loved Faiz, he, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, can claim no such following. Faiz was not only popular, he was loved. And he is loved fifteen years after his death. Even today, when people refer to Faiz, they invariably call him Faiz Sahib. Nobody has told them to speak of him with such respect and affection, nor have they been paid to do so. It is just the way Faiz was. That was how he affected people. Everyone who met him, even once, felt that he had found intimacy. Faiz in an unexplainable way reached out to people and touched them. It was just his presence, the way he sat there, the way he looked at you, the way he said a few words in between things. He had a strange mesmeric quality despite the fact that he was a shy and reserved person. Even if one spent long hours with him, it was the silences more than the conversation that one remembered. Those silences were ``unmarred by the intrusion of speech``, to borrow a phrase from Ghalib.
What bothers Qasmi more than anything is drinking. Most people in the world do not drink. In Pakistan not even 1/100th of one per cent of the population drinks. If you don`t drink that is your choice and it must be respected. But if you drink, that too is your choice. Alright, you will burn in hell for that, if those who derive the greatest pleasure in life by sitting in judgement on others are to be believed. But drinking or not drinking is inconsequential and cannot be used as bases for delivering judgements. So Ahmed Nadim Qasmi does not drink. That is fine by us and it was fine by Faiz because such things never mattered to him. Qasmi`s obsession with drinking - he makes over a dozen references to it is morbid. Is it that he has not been able to forgive himself for not having tasted the cup that cheers? If so, he still has time to make up for past abstinence.
If one did not know Faiz and one`s sole means of doing so was Qasmi`s article, one would conclude that if Faiz had one interest in life, it was drinking. This is both ridiculous and pathetic. Old `Lala` Muhammad Afzal, when asked when being interviewed for a job if he was a drunkard (some Qasmi-like tale had obviously reached Gen. Haq Nawaz of the Agricultural Development Corporation), replied calmly, ``Not drunkard sir, a drinking man.`` That was what Faiz was. Whatever he did in life, he did with much charm and grace. He was civil, respectful of others and sensitive to their needs. He listened more than he talked. He had no ego because he was secure in himself. He never once said that he was a great poet. He didn`t have to. He was and the entire world acknowledged it. And what is more, he held his drink well. He was always in control.
Let me suggest a simple test to Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and those who are casting aspersions on Faiz. Let five people be stopped in the street of every city in Pakistan and most in Northern India and asked to recite one couplet by Faiz and one by Qasmi. Those able to recite one by Qasmi, it would be possible to count on the fingers of one hand. Faiz, unlike Qasmi, was a people`s poet and that is how he was seen and that`s how he is remembered. Qasmi is ponderous and boring, having spent his entire life trying to decide what he really wants to be: poet, short story writer or columnist. He has managed to become all three in a forgettable way.
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi started as in inspector in the Punjab irrigation department. Perhaps he should have stayed there.
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi did not like Faiz`s wrists!
kuchh to log kahaiN gey
logoN ka bas kaam hey kehna
From Dawn
Denigrating Faiz Ahmed Faiz
By Khalid Hasan
FAIZ Ahmed Faiz never reacted to criticism, no matter how intemperate or unfair it was. He would always let go. When I once asked him why he was invariably referred to as ``the famous communist poet and intellectual, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize and Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case convict, Faiz Ahmed Faiz ...`` by a particular newspaper, he replied, ``Bhai un ka karobar bhi tau chalna chahhye.`` I heard him speak a harsh word about someone only once. When he was told that Jamil-uz-Zaman, once a journalist and later a senior information ministry official, had died, he said, ``Bhai bara paji aadmi tha,.`` That was all he said, no more, no less and not again. The word ``paji`` is so harmless that it hardly even qualifies as an epithet of abuse.
The writer Ashfaq Ahmed once called Faiz a ``malamti soofi`` and so he was. Those who hated Faiz for ideological or political reasons were always saying and even printing nasty things about him. No one can cite a single word that Faiz ever uttered in his defence or against his detractors. To borrow a phrase from Bhagavad Gita, he was like `the lotus in the lake` that floats in the water and yet is never wet. It takes a truly great and detached man to have the ripeness, wisdom, forbearance and understanding of the essential nature of things, not to answer abuse with abuse. Of all the people I know, there is not one who would not go ballistic if someone made a slighting remark about him. Faiz remained calm and he kept smiling: `Jo aaye aaye ke hum dil kushada rakhtay hain.`
Which is what makes Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi`s 32-page article on Faiz in a newly-fangled Urdu quarterly from Lahore deplorable. The gentleman who calls himself editor of the journal, like Qasmi, comes from the wilds of the Sargodha-Khaushab salient and has been churning out Sikh (and sick) jokes by way of a column for several years. Be that as it may, the jokes were good enough to earn him the admiration of the former Squire of Raiwind who sent him as ambassador to a Scandinavian country. It is another matter that His Excellency, like his mentor, was to be found more in Lahore than in his accredited capital, leading to speculation that he was actually ambassador of the Scandinavian country to Pakistan.
What is Qasmi`s case against Faiz? First that he and Faiz remained essentially apart because they belonged to different classes, Faiz being the privileged one. Two, that he was unable to join Faiz on the social plane because he did not drink. Both grounds are as frivolous as they are baseless. Faiz belonged to the privileged class much less than Qasmi did who has always been proud of having been born a Pirzada. There were scores of people who were close to Faiz and with whom he spent time or who were to be found around him in evenings though they had never so much as touched what Zafar Iqbal Mirza (`Zim`) calls ``snake juice``. Ibne Insha, for instance, was a teetotaller and yet he was close to Faiz who asked him in London in 1976 to write the foreword to his next collection.
Qasmi`s diatribe against Faiz springs from an acute sense of jealousy that, it is now evident, he has felt all along. He cannot reconcile himself to the fact that while the whole world loved Faiz, he, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, can claim no such following. Faiz was not only popular, he was loved. And he is loved fifteen years after his death. Even today, when people refer to Faiz, they invariably call him Faiz Sahib. Nobody has told them to speak of him with such respect and affection, nor have they been paid to do so. It is just the way Faiz was. That was how he affected people. Everyone who met him, even once, felt that he had found intimacy. Faiz in an unexplainable way reached out to people and touched them. It was just his presence, the way he sat there, the way he looked at you, the way he said a few words in between things. He had a strange mesmeric quality despite the fact that he was a shy and reserved person. Even if one spent long hours with him, it was the silences more than the conversation that one remembered. Those silences were ``unmarred by the intrusion of speech``, to borrow a phrase from Ghalib.
What bothers Qasmi more than anything is drinking. Most people in the world do not drink. In Pakistan not even 1/100th of one per cent of the population drinks. If you don`t drink that is your choice and it must be respected. But if you drink, that too is your choice. Alright, you will burn in hell for that, if those who derive the greatest pleasure in life by sitting in judgement on others are to be believed. But drinking or not drinking is inconsequential and cannot be used as bases for delivering judgements. So Ahmed Nadim Qasmi does not drink. That is fine by us and it was fine by Faiz because such things never mattered to him. Qasmi`s obsession with drinking - he makes over a dozen references to it is morbid. Is it that he has not been able to forgive himself for not having tasted the cup that cheers? If so, he still has time to make up for past abstinence.
If one did not know Faiz and one`s sole means of doing so was Qasmi`s article, one would conclude that if Faiz had one interest in life, it was drinking. This is both ridiculous and pathetic. Old `Lala` Muhammad Afzal, when asked when being interviewed for a job if he was a drunkard (some Qasmi-like tale had obviously reached Gen. Haq Nawaz of the Agricultural Development Corporation), replied calmly, ``Not drunkard sir, a drinking man.`` That was what Faiz was. Whatever he did in life, he did with much charm and grace. He was civil, respectful of others and sensitive to their needs. He listened more than he talked. He had no ego because he was secure in himself. He never once said that he was a great poet. He didn`t have to. He was and the entire world acknowledged it. And what is more, he held his drink well. He was always in control.
Let me suggest a simple test to Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and those who are casting aspersions on Faiz. Let five people be stopped in the street of every city in Pakistan and most in Northern India and asked to recite one couplet by Faiz and one by Qasmi. Those able to recite one by Qasmi, it would be possible to count on the fingers of one hand. Faiz, unlike Qasmi, was a people`s poet and that is how he was seen and that`s how he is remembered. Qasmi is ponderous and boring, having spent his entire life trying to decide what he really wants to be: poet, short story writer or columnist. He has managed to become all three in a forgettable way.
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi started as in inspector in the Punjab irrigation department. Perhaps he should have stayed there.
#101 Posted by fzk on April 23, 2001 3:09:36 pm
Ok, i will stop my shararat.
Sorry Urstruly, sorry guests, sorry girls.
Farzana, its ok, im leaving all the wrists
to anyone and everyone else,
and leaving the playground for now.
You guys are way too hi level shaairs for me
to keep up with.
See, some girls just wanna have fun...;)
Will miss the wrist tease!
Regards...
And until later...
fzk/..
Sorry Urstruly, sorry guests, sorry girls.
Farzana, its ok, im leaving all the wrists
to anyone and everyone else,
and leaving the playground for now.
You guys are way too hi level shaairs for me
to keep up with.
See, some girls just wanna have fun...;)
Will miss the wrist tease!
Regards...
And until later...
fzk/..
#100 Posted by ShirinAhmed on April 22, 2001 11:05:45 am
studebaker #91
Thank you very much for recommending the movie``goonj uthe shehnai``.BTW i happen to love the sound of ``shehnai ``, so i have a premonition I am really going to enjoy it, and sampling Bismillah Khan`s performance .
Thank you !
dost-mittar # 92
Actually i have never heard Hari Prasad Chaurasiya before.Thanks for mentioning him .I wish i could do it A.S.A.P. but one of the hazards of small town living is we can`t ! there is only one desi music shop here , overstocked , with absaloutely no inventory taken. I had to make 3 visits, before i actually spotted that they carried the video `` mirza ghalib ``.Their computer did not show that they had it .When asked why they operate with such disenchantment , the lady at the counter replied ``paisa dendain hai naien , to fir aiweein hona ae jee `` !Well i have offered my services for spring cleaning ! that too at no cost ! :)
Farzana Versey # 93
Good luck with the harmonium.I suggest the bengali teacher should come in a white shalwar kurta !! masla kuchla, look most unappetizing so that your focus can be where needed !!
Aur ap kehtee hain ``Haie aisa hota nahin ``!! aik nuskha batoon? Ankhein band kar key meri tarah dekhna shuru karein !aur yeh gaien ``Ae Jazba-e-Dil Gar Mein Chahoon, Har cheez Muqabil Ajai ``....
aap ko khud hairangee ho jaie gee , is tarah kitnae fasley aasani sey tey ho jatey hain ... kitnae khwab poorae ho jatein hain !!
Well i have always been a romantic at heart, so i suppose the philosophy so far has not betrayed me ! bus aqeeda hona chahiyae !!
and re: `` hey lovely sharing all this with you whether you want it or not ......
I think i have enjoyed reading the interractions much more than you have writing them :)
Take care , and please keep the momentum going !!
Temporal # 95
Inshallah !! but not in summer . i find summers in T.O. too hot !! After all we here on the west coast are spoilt by the Hawaiian breezes :)
SameerJB
I will definately shake on your thought of Nayyara singing Faiz`s poetry synonymous to Jagjeet singing Ghalib. Both singers are so gifted , and sing in such a relaxed style. The notes and the pitch comes so naturally to them, unlike so many where they have to struggle to get the note delivered correctly ! Some other favourites of mine sung by N.N. are
Woh jo hum mein tum mein qarar tha , tumhein yaad ho ya na yaad ho [ momin ]
Dosti ka aik samandar [ zehra nigah ]
Ae-jazbae dil gar mein chahoon , and of course `` kabhi hum khoobsurat they .
Urstruly # 101
You are very welcome. Actually it is from a print version, and i fail to understand why the shair you quoted was not there !
And we all have our wish lists ! Existence would seize if we lived without aspirations and dreams !!
Take care folks,
sa
#99 Posted by scout on April 22, 2001 11:05:45 am
dost-mittar,
Punjabis can write some beautiful urdu poetry but when they open their mouths to speak the language, they absolutely butcher it.
The majority of North Indians speak better Urdu than most Pakistani Punjabis (unless they are Karachiites).
Punjabis can write some beautiful urdu poetry but when they open their mouths to speak the language, they absolutely butcher it.
The majority of North Indians speak better Urdu than most Pakistani Punjabis (unless they are Karachiites).
#98 Posted by Urstruly on April 22, 2001 12:56:59 am
# 79
Dear Farzana!
I can`t imagine a life without uchal-kood; but only bad part with having a life full of uchal-kood is that no one understands when you are down. Everyone thinks that it is jsut another part of your uchal-kood or simply it cant happen to you. But still I firmly beleive that happy goes lucky.
I am also a big fan of Jagjeet`s yeh kaghaz ki kashti... it is one of his masterpieces. Another that I will recommend is ``kal chodhweeN ki raat this shab bhar raha charcha tera``. the poet is my spiritual mentor Ibn-e-Insha.
I always use signs of excalmation in my salutation; I think it is the first time I have called you Farzana instead of Ms. Versey. It sounds strange to me too ;-)
Did you know an Octupus has a camuflage mechanism built in it too. It releases an ink like substance when threatened which blindens the hostile entity. In other words yeh dushmanoN ki aankh maiN dhool jhonk kar bach nikalta hay.
And I really used to pull one prank per day until the time when the company I work for, issued a directive barring potty-potty-butt-butt on company premises. (Ppbb is a bottle like balloon that you inflate and put on someones chair before he sits and it makes a really funny and loud noise when one sits on it unknowingly). I swear I kid you not.
# 83
Fawzia Z. Khatoon!
aap kuch zaroorat say ziada shareer khatoon haiN. The people that you have mentioned in your post are my guests and I am eternally grateful that they have stopped by at this thread. Lagta hay aap ko theek karna paray gaa ;-)
Dear Farzana!
I can`t imagine a life without uchal-kood; but only bad part with having a life full of uchal-kood is that no one understands when you are down. Everyone thinks that it is jsut another part of your uchal-kood or simply it cant happen to you. But still I firmly beleive that happy goes lucky.
I am also a big fan of Jagjeet`s yeh kaghaz ki kashti... it is one of his masterpieces. Another that I will recommend is ``kal chodhweeN ki raat this shab bhar raha charcha tera``. the poet is my spiritual mentor Ibn-e-Insha.
I always use signs of excalmation in my salutation; I think it is the first time I have called you Farzana instead of Ms. Versey. It sounds strange to me too ;-)
Did you know an Octupus has a camuflage mechanism built in it too. It releases an ink like substance when threatened which blindens the hostile entity. In other words yeh dushmanoN ki aankh maiN dhool jhonk kar bach nikalta hay.
And I really used to pull one prank per day until the time when the company I work for, issued a directive barring potty-potty-butt-butt on company premises. (Ppbb is a bottle like balloon that you inflate and put on someones chair before he sits and it makes a really funny and loud noise when one sits on it unknowingly). I swear I kid you not.
# 83
Fawzia Z. Khatoon!
aap kuch zaroorat say ziada shareer khatoon haiN. The people that you have mentioned in your post are my guests and I am eternally grateful that they have stopped by at this thread. Lagta hay aap ko theek karna paray gaa ;-)
#97 Posted by Urstruly on April 21, 2001 11:44:40 pm
# 81
Dear Shirin,
I am eternally grateful to you for posting that Ghazal/Nazam by Iftekhar. I was in search of it for some time. Did you get it from a print version or aan audio? I am asking this because your version misses the shair:
``Darkaar ik haseeN hay jo paarsaa bhi ho
khul khailnay maiN taaq bhi ho ba haya bhi ho``
I think it is an excellent poem and also quite a tall order or a wish list. I love it cuz these wishes are not unrealistic though very demanding-as comapred to other urdu poetry.
tEMPORAL Saahib
bohut khoob saahib. aap to chuppay Rustam niklay. Why didn`t you put this on your website. I checked your site sometime ago-may be now you have. I also read your Karachi wignettes (sp? plz dont kill me for spellings)-excellent write up.
Dear Shirin,
I am eternally grateful to you for posting that Ghazal/Nazam by Iftekhar. I was in search of it for some time. Did you get it from a print version or aan audio? I am asking this because your version misses the shair:
``Darkaar ik haseeN hay jo paarsaa bhi ho
khul khailnay maiN taaq bhi ho ba haya bhi ho``
I think it is an excellent poem and also quite a tall order or a wish list. I love it cuz these wishes are not unrealistic though very demanding-as comapred to other urdu poetry.
tEMPORAL Saahib
bohut khoob saahib. aap to chuppay Rustam niklay. Why didn`t you put this on your website. I checked your site sometime ago-may be now you have. I also read your Karachi wignettes (sp? plz dont kill me for spellings)-excellent write up.
#95 Posted by PM on April 21, 2001 10:11:30 pm
hmmmmmmmm....
....just read the first four paragraphs. I agree with the title.
:-)
...let`s see if it get`s any better.. I mean, the only thing worse than these full-of-self ramblings (is the author really in love with his wrists???) would be an intergenerational `love story`--We already know how much chowkies despise *that * genre. Yuck Yuck!
waise, banda ka likhney ka ishtyle achha hai.
rgds,
PM
....just read the first four paragraphs. I agree with the title.
:-)
...let`s see if it get`s any better.. I mean, the only thing worse than these full-of-self ramblings (is the author really in love with his wrists???) would be an intergenerational `love story`--We already know how much chowkies despise *that * genre. Yuck Yuck!
waise, banda ka likhney ka ishtyle achha hai.
rgds,
PM
#94 Posted by SameerJB on April 21, 2001 10:11:30 pm
Farzana: I do not think being Bengali is going to any handicap for Chandan Das. Think of Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Kumar Shanu. Being Bengalis did not decrease their popularity. What about Hema Malini or Madhuri Dixit and their popularity in hindi-punjabi belt. By the way I did not know that Pankaj Udhas was not of a hindi-punjabi background. I actually remember reading long time ago about his growing up in Gujrat. I am not sure if it was Indian state or Pakistani city Gujrat. He learned Urdu early on from the village mullah. I think sub-continent does not like to have 5-10 good ghazal singers at the same time. They like to have just one or two at the top. They like pyramids. No wonder so many of them keep bugging me to join Amway. Never!
Re-cycling old song by T-series has done terrible job for the newcomers and new poets. Unlike India, Benjamin sisters and others were not so successful with recycling in Pakistan. People compare recycled songs with the original. Although recording qualities have improved tremendously over time but overall the recycled ones are no match for the originals. I wish to see the recycled pulled out from the space they are occupying in the desi music stores. Similarly some sort of copyrighting must be enforced to benefit of artists. For instance, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan`s survivors are getting nothing from any of his large number of CDs. In India, copyrights of the old originals are mostly held by EMI and they are charging same price as the new ones for releasing old songs without sharing it with the artists or their survivors.
Re-cycling old song by T-series has done terrible job for the newcomers and new poets. Unlike India, Benjamin sisters and others were not so successful with recycling in Pakistan. People compare recycled songs with the original. Although recording qualities have improved tremendously over time but overall the recycled ones are no match for the originals. I wish to see the recycled pulled out from the space they are occupying in the desi music stores. Similarly some sort of copyrighting must be enforced to benefit of artists. For instance, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan`s survivors are getting nothing from any of his large number of CDs. In India, copyrights of the old originals are mostly held by EMI and they are charging same price as the new ones for releasing old songs without sharing it with the artists or their survivors.
#93 Posted by SameerJB on April 21, 2001 10:11:30 pm
Here are few good verses from not so familiar poets.
bichhRa kuchh is ada se keh rut hi badal gaie
ik shakhs sare shehr ko veeran kar gaya
(Khalid Sharif)
jurm adam ne kiya aur nasl-e-adam ko saza
kat`ta hooN zindagi bhar maiN ne jo boya naheeN
(Munir Niazi)
ae sanam jis ne thujhey chand se soorat dee hay
usi Allah ne mujhe bhi to mohabbat dee hay
(Aatish Lakhnavi)
kaun is ghar kee dekh bhal kare
roz ik cheese toot jati hay
(Joan Elia)
marney ke duaeN kyoN mangoN.........
(Moeen Ehsan Jazbi)
log u`se bhagwan kahaiN ge
jis kee jaib maiN paise hoaN ge
(Anwar Masood)
maiN nazar se pee raha hooN, yeh samaN badal na jaye
na jhukao tum nigahaiN, kaheeN raat dhal na jaye
(Anwar Mirzapuri)
suna hey usko mohabbat dua`eN deti hay
jo dil pe chot to khaye magar gila na kare
(Qateel Shifai)
na jeeney se khush hey, na marne pe razi
bil`akhir musalaman kya chahta hey?
(Hafeez Jullundhari)
Farzana: You may ask some friend to read parchaiyaN for you and you can write it in devnagri script or some friend familiar with both scripts can do it for you. Knowing Sahir without his parchiyaN is incomplete. I will have to favor dost-mittar regarding, ``aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo, janam saphal ho jaye``. It just does not look typical of Sahir and practically no Urdu in the whole song.
dost-mittar: Thanks for sharing background of Asa Singh Mastaana`s rendition of ``jadoN meri arthi.........``.
Shirin: Nayyara Noor and her singing Faiz poetry in the same category as Jagjit Singh and Mirza Ghalib. ``Hum ke thehrey ajnabi``, ``tum merey pass raho`` and ``du`a-aai`ye hath uthaiN...`` at the end are great.
bichhRa kuchh is ada se keh rut hi badal gaie
ik shakhs sare shehr ko veeran kar gaya
(Khalid Sharif)
jurm adam ne kiya aur nasl-e-adam ko saza
kat`ta hooN zindagi bhar maiN ne jo boya naheeN
(Munir Niazi)
ae sanam jis ne thujhey chand se soorat dee hay
usi Allah ne mujhe bhi to mohabbat dee hay
(Aatish Lakhnavi)
kaun is ghar kee dekh bhal kare
roz ik cheese toot jati hay
(Joan Elia)
marney ke duaeN kyoN mangoN.........
(Moeen Ehsan Jazbi)
log u`se bhagwan kahaiN ge
jis kee jaib maiN paise hoaN ge
(Anwar Masood)
maiN nazar se pee raha hooN, yeh samaN badal na jaye
na jhukao tum nigahaiN, kaheeN raat dhal na jaye
(Anwar Mirzapuri)
suna hey usko mohabbat dua`eN deti hay
jo dil pe chot to khaye magar gila na kare
(Qateel Shifai)
na jeeney se khush hey, na marne pe razi
bil`akhir musalaman kya chahta hey?
(Hafeez Jullundhari)
Farzana: You may ask some friend to read parchaiyaN for you and you can write it in devnagri script or some friend familiar with both scripts can do it for you. Knowing Sahir without his parchiyaN is incomplete. I will have to favor dost-mittar regarding, ``aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo, janam saphal ho jaye``. It just does not look typical of Sahir and practically no Urdu in the whole song.
dost-mittar: Thanks for sharing background of Asa Singh Mastaana`s rendition of ``jadoN meri arthi.........``.
Shirin: Nayyara Noor and her singing Faiz poetry in the same category as Jagjit Singh and Mirza Ghalib. ``Hum ke thehrey ajnabi``, ``tum merey pass raho`` and ``du`a-aai`ye hath uthaiN...`` at the end are great.
#92 Posted by Ras Siddiqui on April 21, 2001 7:46:50 pm
Since we are on the topic of poets and singers
my ``Do Paisay`` (two cents)..
The Queen is gone but ``Mujh Se Pehli Si Mohabbat
will live on in my mind as the greatest ever.
But today the baton has been passed on to
Mohtarma Iqbal Bano whose rendition of Faiz
Ahmed Faiz`s ``Hum Dekhain Gay`` has now moved to
my number one spot.
On bringing up other poets ``t`` mentioned
Fahmida Riaz.
She is reciting some poetry tonight about 2
hours away in the San Francisco Bay Area
so I guess that I now have to make the
effort to go and see her.
I do not know who translated the following into
English but during the Zia Dictatorship it sure
hit the mark as one of Fahmida`s best, so here
goes:
The Interrogator
The Interrogator is waiting –
What should be our statement?
Our suffering
Is hard to reveal
What the heart has endured
Impossible to recount.
Here is my statement then:
So take note, this is all true.
All the allegations are true
my crime is proven
What I did was too little, though
that is my only regret
I hope for another chance
I owed more than I have paid as yet.
To all that, add this too:
So long as I breathe
I shall do it again
If possible I shall do it better
We shall write that word again
To make every dictator equipped with his armoury
Tremble upon reading that word
We shall play that tune again
To make every victim of oppression,
with hands folded,
Dance to its rhythm.
This law is a rag
Worthy of the dust
Off the rebels’ feet
Dictatorship with a curse
This government of
Ordinances
We shall shred in a public square.
The time is coming
for accountability
When they must account for it all
But then, to answer for this,
Where should you be?
Less than a thorn, less than dust
You are but a pebble by
the wayside
Which obstructs the path
He is your master
We have now decided to clear the way
You who are only his instrument
You, we shall forgive.
Fahmida Riaz
#91 Posted by temporal on April 21, 2001 2:12:20 pm
Ferz/Sameer/Shirin:
...MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS
gar khaam’shi say faidah akhfa-e-haal hay
khoosh hooN kay meri baat samajhna mahaal hay
----ghalib
...thank you...parveen was good...but just a personal observation... a tad over-rated...have you guys read zehra nigah?....kishwar nahid?...fehmida reyaz?....there you have the spectrum covered from the traditional to the iconoclastic...
...first a digression...tariq ali the activist firebrand student leader of the 70s...president of the oxford debating society...one time neo-trotskyist... to the present day novelist... will live in my mind for one remarkable coinage...he called pinky’s dad....zab....inter-con socialist....
(...for those not in the know...in late 60s early 70s....pakistan boasted of only two world class hotels...inter-continental karachi and dacca.... tariq ali was covering the election in pakistan for some uk papers then...and zab granted him an interview...which was conducted in the dacca inter-con...)
...this dichotomy....surrounded by the luxury and cool air of inter-con...discussing roti-kapra-makaan...served scotch and cigar by uniformed waiters...shalimar in the air...this dichotomy was captured in essence by tariq ali’s ‘intercon-socialist’...
...end digression...
..what bothers me is the double standards we perhaps unconsciously apply in the case of poets...sort of give them a general carte-blanche we do not extend to others...why?...
...why is that?...is ‘commitment’ to a cause enough to cover for any/all personal shortcomings?...let me mention some names...ali sardar jafri, majrooh sultanpuri, faiz ahmed faiz, ahmed faraz, ahmed nadim qasmi...even ghalib and iqbal...these fellows had major dichotomous flaws...some more than others...some causing hurt to their selves only....some causing fissures on a societal or national level...yet on a poetic appreciation level...it is as if we turn a totally blind eye towards their human short-comings...this is the dichotomy that troubles me...
___________________________
ferz...woh kya she’r hay?.....such kehta hooN kay jhoot ki aadat nahiN mujhay?...is liyay hum kuch nahiN kahaiNgay....is baar:)
sameer....thanks
shirin...when you cut that disc of chandan das make an extra copy...caveat...don’t send it... will have to bring it in person.. whenever you visit T.O......on second thoughts.... change ‘whenever’ to ‘soon’...summers here are beautiful...besides... I don’t plan to live for ever:)...and as an incentive.... I will share this one written in the fall two or three years ago...on a day off...really...some more dichotomy:)...kya kijiaye...
____________________________
ROUZ-E-TAATEEL
Rouz-e-taateel
sarma ki barf kaa souch kar
seeRRhi nikali gayraaj say
aur lagg gaya
chath ki naaliyouN ki
safaee dhulaaee maiN
ghantay dou youNheeN guzar ga`aye
toond dhoop maiN.
Fehrist daikhee phir eek baar
ghass
mahawara-tun
haqeeka-tun
ghaas kat tay kat tay
ghantay dou youNheeN guzar ga`aye.
Fehrist daikhee phir eekbaar
khas-o-khaa-shaak
mumalik-e-pasmandah
kay bachchouN ki maanind
yeh oogtay hi chalay jaatay haiN.
Shaam say ka`ble
soucha ghusal karouN
phir hou
nazzarah-e-ghooroub-e-aaftaab
kouch naimatouN kay saath---
naimataiN junnat ki
zamin pay.
Ghusal gah maiN daakhil hotay hu`aye
phone pur goof-tu-goo kartay hu`aye
oonkay yeh alfaaz kaanouN say takraai
``Shaa`er haiN woh
kaam kay nahin haiN kooch.``
DAY OFF
One fine day off
thinking of coming snow
climbed the ladder
to clean the eaves trough
washing, draining, bagging debris
took me couple of hours
in the scorching sun.
Next on the list
grass
not the smoking
but not inhaling kind
in the desi context
mowing was the domain
of the lowliest of the low
but here, dear t...
Mowing consumed
another hour or two.
Next on the list
weeds
like the children
of the third world
why do they keep on sprouting?
Sunset was now an hour away
thought of a quick shower
before taking in the sunset
from my favourite perch
savouring the delights
promised in heaven
on earth.
As I entered the shower
overheard my partner in sin
``Shaa`er haiN woh,
Kaam kay nahiN haiN kuch.`` *
________________________________
*``Poet he is
(almost) good for nothing!``
...MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS
gar khaam’shi say faidah akhfa-e-haal hay
khoosh hooN kay meri baat samajhna mahaal hay
----ghalib
...thank you...parveen was good...but just a personal observation... a tad over-rated...have you guys read zehra nigah?....kishwar nahid?...fehmida reyaz?....there you have the spectrum covered from the traditional to the iconoclastic...
...first a digression...tariq ali the activist firebrand student leader of the 70s...president of the oxford debating society...one time neo-trotskyist... to the present day novelist... will live in my mind for one remarkable coinage...he called pinky’s dad....zab....inter-con socialist....
(...for those not in the know...in late 60s early 70s....pakistan boasted of only two world class hotels...inter-continental karachi and dacca.... tariq ali was covering the election in pakistan for some uk papers then...and zab granted him an interview...which was conducted in the dacca inter-con...)
...this dichotomy....surrounded by the luxury and cool air of inter-con...discussing roti-kapra-makaan...served scotch and cigar by uniformed waiters...shalimar in the air...this dichotomy was captured in essence by tariq ali’s ‘intercon-socialist’...
...end digression...
..what bothers me is the double standards we perhaps unconsciously apply in the case of poets...sort of give them a general carte-blanche we do not extend to others...why?...
...why is that?...is ‘commitment’ to a cause enough to cover for any/all personal shortcomings?...let me mention some names...ali sardar jafri, majrooh sultanpuri, faiz ahmed faiz, ahmed faraz, ahmed nadim qasmi...even ghalib and iqbal...these fellows had major dichotomous flaws...some more than others...some causing hurt to their selves only....some causing fissures on a societal or national level...yet on a poetic appreciation level...it is as if we turn a totally blind eye towards their human short-comings...this is the dichotomy that troubles me...
___________________________
ferz...woh kya she’r hay?.....such kehta hooN kay jhoot ki aadat nahiN mujhay?...is liyay hum kuch nahiN kahaiNgay....is baar:)
sameer....thanks
shirin...when you cut that disc of chandan das make an extra copy...caveat...don’t send it... will have to bring it in person.. whenever you visit T.O......on second thoughts.... change ‘whenever’ to ‘soon’...summers here are beautiful...besides... I don’t plan to live for ever:)...and as an incentive.... I will share this one written in the fall two or three years ago...on a day off...really...some more dichotomy:)...kya kijiaye...
____________________________
ROUZ-E-TAATEEL
Rouz-e-taateel
sarma ki barf kaa souch kar
seeRRhi nikali gayraaj say
aur lagg gaya
chath ki naaliyouN ki
safaee dhulaaee maiN
ghantay dou youNheeN guzar ga`aye
toond dhoop maiN.
Fehrist daikhee phir eek baar
ghass
mahawara-tun
haqeeka-tun
ghaas kat tay kat tay
ghantay dou youNheeN guzar ga`aye.
Fehrist daikhee phir eekbaar
khas-o-khaa-shaak
mumalik-e-pasmandah
kay bachchouN ki maanind
yeh oogtay hi chalay jaatay haiN.
Shaam say ka`ble
soucha ghusal karouN
phir hou
nazzarah-e-ghooroub-e-aaftaab
kouch naimatouN kay saath---
naimataiN junnat ki
zamin pay.
Ghusal gah maiN daakhil hotay hu`aye
phone pur goof-tu-goo kartay hu`aye
oonkay yeh alfaaz kaanouN say takraai
``Shaa`er haiN woh
kaam kay nahin haiN kooch.``
DAY OFF
One fine day off
thinking of coming snow
climbed the ladder
to clean the eaves trough
washing, draining, bagging debris
took me couple of hours
in the scorching sun.
Next on the list
grass
not the smoking
but not inhaling kind
in the desi context
mowing was the domain
of the lowliest of the low
but here, dear t...
Mowing consumed
another hour or two.
Next on the list
weeds
like the children
of the third world
why do they keep on sprouting?
Sunset was now an hour away
thought of a quick shower
before taking in the sunset
from my favourite perch
savouring the delights
promised in heaven
on earth.
As I entered the shower
overheard my partner in sin
``Shaa`er haiN woh,
Kaam kay nahiN haiN kuch.`` *
________________________________
*``Poet he is
(almost) good for nothing!``
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