Good-Riddance

Dear Harpreet,

`What a small world it is, that you both share the same ancestral village and have met online. That makes you related to each other, in a way.`

Absolutly, mate, absolutely. But believe it or not, Samina Shah claims to knows me as well!!! Now the name Murtaza and Shah is common amongst Shia individuals (the Muslim Protestants) and some of them claim to have the blood of the prophet running through their cholesterated veins. She mentioned the name of this lady (Azra) and guess what, I happen to know of one!!! The thing is, despite the fact that I know of three, it is a rare name.

Of course, my guess is that it is something more sinister:).

And hey, if I`m related to someone with the same blood group as the prophet, you never know, I may even be related to Yasser!!!

Man, this world is getting claustrophobic...but it`s gonna get even smaller!!! Think about it:)

Take care.

Umer M.

dost-mittar & Umer Murtaza;

What a small world it is, that you both share the same ancestral village and have met online. That makes you related to each other, in a way.

:)

-h-

Premchand (1880-1936), born Munshi Dhampad Rai, is arguably the greatest name

in modern Urdu and Hindi fiction. His short stories and novels are still

widely read in India and Pakistan and, indeed, wherever there are people who

understand these two languages. His biographer, Amrit Rai, is not only his son

but a scholar who has made his mark as the author of an excellent study (The

house divided 1984) of how Urdu and Hindi became separate literary languages.

The book under review has been known to readers of Hindi since 1962 when it

was first published. But it needs to be known even more widely and this should

be possible now through the several English editions of it out of which the

most recent is the present one.

Premchand was a remarkable man; a rare genius but he lived a very ordinary

life. He was born in the village Lamahi near Banaras. He became a low paid

schoolmaster after having read some Urdu and Persian from a maulvi. As he was

a kyesth, this was what was expected from a child of his caste. He then

studied in a school where English was taught as a subject.

However, it was not the school which gave him his tremendous grasp over both

Urdu and Hindi. The boy was a genius and one manifestation of this was his

tremendous love for reading. Thus he read the classics of Urdu fiction, which

fell more or less all in the fairytale mode of fantastic and preternatural

writing, in those days. This kind of fiction gratified his imagination but

what he himself wrote was very different from it. Indeed, he came to be the

pioneer of realistic fiction in South Asia.

But this was to come in the future. In 1896 a traumatic experience occurred.

It was his marriage; but marriage with a woman so utterly incompatible as to

make his life a living hell. The following year his father died leaving him to

fend for himself. He was, after all, a postal clerk and but for his ancestral

house in the village left no property to his son. In 1899 he became a

schoolmaster at a salary of Rs18 and kept teaching, except for a short

interlude of inspecting schools, till 1921.

After this he set up a press, was a headmaster for a brief period, edited

magazines and started his own journals. Unfortunately, none of these

engagements brought him much money so that he never achieved his major dream

in life - to write without financial worries! And yet he kept writing. Never

in the midst of dreary school teaching; in checking proofs for publication; in

fighting with ill health (he had chronic dysentary) and trying to make ends

meet - never in all this did he cease scribbling at a furious rate.

The children played around him and his second wife Shivarani Davi, the one who

bore him children and was his real life partner, subjected him to many a

tirade but he never ceased creating that magic world of fictional characters

which is the quintessence of Premchand at his best.

Premchand first wrote under the pseudonym `Nawab Rai` till 1898. In 1906 he

adopted the nom de plume of Premchand because the British Deputy Collector

felt that the five short stories in Soz-i-Vatan were seditious and banned

them. He was inspired by contemporary events and social problems in his

writings.

Indeed, he was the first major literary artist to be so committed to the

solution of social, political and economic problems which faced India at that

time. That is why his books like Bazar-i-Husn investigate the conditions which

create the discarded woman rather than the aesthetic or erotic realities

attendant upon that condition. With such interests it was natural that he

would become an inspiration for the Marxist school of writing which came to be

known as the Progressive Writers` Movement.

However, Premchand himself remained too preoccupied with the problem of his

own life to become too active a part of any movement. He did write, however,

purely political journalistic pieces in his own journal Hans which was closed

down but resumed publication later. Premchand was an opponent of British

colonialism and a supporter of the Congress on many issues. Such was the

family`s engagement with anti-colonial politics that in 1930 even his wife,

Shivarani, went to jail for two months.

Premchand was also interested in promoting Hindustani, a neutral alternative

to Hindi and Urdu, so as to promote Indian (rather than Hindu and Muslim)

nationalism. He made many efforts to achieve these ends but, of course, the

opposing forces were too powerful and beyond anyone`s control.

In his last years Premchand was widely acclaimed as the great writer which he

was. However, he never became pompous or snobbish. He remained so humble that

he was often mistaken for an ordinary traveller when organizers of functions

came to greet him at railway stations. Above all, he kept struggling to find

some peace and relief from financial problems. But this was not to be. He died

on October 8, 1936 while his wife was helping him wash in the morning.

According to custom he was cremated in Lamahi by villagers who thought he was

nothing more than `some schoolmaster`.

This biography brings out the ordinariness of the living conditions of an

extraordinary man - a man who commands respect only because of his genius. In

a world of power where the murderers of millions are celebrated as conquerors

and those whose only virtue is to control lives are called heroes, it is a

rare achievement that an artist should be so outstanding as to be celebrated.

Human beings need role models as we are all impressed by power, money and

genius. Let our role models be those of geniuses, philanthropists and savers

of lives rather than manipulators, takers of lives and appropriators of

wealth. For this reason alone this biography is worth reading.

Secondly, the biography has been written in a very simple, effective, powerful

style. It is detached and without that tendency to heap encomiums and indulge

in fulsome praise which make hagiographies of biographies. This is all the

more remarkable as the author is Premchand`s son - a circumstance which must

have made neutrality of tone difficult.

Thirdly, Premchand emerges as a good human being: a simple, kindly, unassuming

man with a dignity which, in some cases, great cognitive abilities confer upon

an individual. And yet, since he was poor and powerless, it is good to take

him as a role model if one feels that in a world of powerful elitist

individuals and groups it is impossible for all others to be dignified.

I would like to end on a note of protest against the kind of social system we

have in South Asia. As observed above, all Premchand wanted was a steady

income to write in peace. Incidentally, that is exactly what Ghalib also

wanted. One was probably the greatest master of the short story of his time;

the other was, and remains, the greatest poet Urdu in the world. Yet, so

callous and short sighted is South Asian society that both were left in near

poverty and suffered as a consequence.

Dear Dost Mittar,

This is fascinating (and sad also). Before anything, let me give you a few facts. I was born in `79 and knew that place from 82-84. You must be laughing at hearing this because I was so young but I must assure you that my memory from the age of 3 is surprisingly good! Hell, I even remember the operation performed on my neck (when I was barely 3) and I remember the red, white and yellow telephone toy, the orange colour of my room, the barren tree outside and the rail tracks and the twins and me thinking in Urdu (that was the most fascinating memory of all) why I didn’t have someone to play with….aaaanyway, I`m digressing.

Here`s what I remember. From the period of 82-84, I heard everyone call the place Guru Nanak Pura. I definitely saw Sikh males. Every one of them was old. I even remember the colours of their pughs. I didn`t see any Sikh ever wear an orange pugh (so I assume they weren`t Jatt). But It wasn`t as if I knew their addresses or anything. It was usually during the good ol` avara gardi (for which I would get my ears pulled and once I was almost kidnapped) when I would spot `old men with funny blue and black hats`.

As for the Gurudwara, I have no recollection of one. Maybe it`s because I never went inside gali 5 or that the Gurudwara was replaced by another building. Iqbal Manzil does strike a chord but I`d be lying if I said I knew anymore than that. My operational base was the end of Gali number 8 because a tai of mine lived there. Stinky place it was. I do remember a family member mentioning that gali number 5 and 6 were exceptionally clean. There weren`t any cows or cow $hit. Would you know of a person called Maula Baksh. Would that ring any bells??? He was my grandfather and took a havelli stretching from gali number 6 to 8. This was after the partition.

I`m genuinely sad to hear that they`ve decided to change the name of the place. I haven`t been to Pakistan for ages so wouldn’t really know what`s happened to it. What`s the place called now? What about the Gurudwara? What happened to it, as in, how was the holy place disposed of? I`ve just recently been to a big, fancy Gurudwara so I`m assuming that all the holy bits could be easily disassembled?

Oh my, it is a small world. But do let me know. Best wishes and thank you.

Umer M.

PS. Don`t suppose you know a guy called Chachaa Ilmdeen. He owns a little shop on gali number 8 (maybe a supermarket franchise by now).

Dhanyawad Banjara. As you say...

Prem, sadna :)

hey thanks to both of you. I had heard `ghaneshyam` before, but I didn`t know what that referred to.

as for prem`s [Krishna turned blue from the sheer exhaustion of constantly running after a zillion pretty gopikas in Mathura and Vrindavan :)]---but he would surely stop at some point and come up for air, no? :)

...the psychopaths are at it again...ram really was blue, jesus really did walk on oceans, allah really does have 72 virgins in heaven for all the good muslim boys...good for you all...

Akash

Kabir Das said:

Aisee vani boliye, man ka aapa khoye

Apna tan sheetal kare,auran ko sukh hoye

Regards.

Krishna is also known as `Ghanashyam` meaning dark as a cloud. You understand what they mean when you see an inky monsoon cloud, a shade dark and blue both.

Dear Akash,

Man. you have got some problem. The so called Abrahmic religions also believe that the world began in 4000 B.C. and that the God ``created`` everything in six days

Not true my friend. Aramaic is a dead language, so the original flavour has been lost. I cannot read Hebrew (nor classical Arabic fully for that matter) but the word `yaum` which is used in Quran means not just days but also ages. So the worlds was created over six ages.

It`s just a matter of personal opinions and interpretations, I guess.

Best wishes,

Umer M

Prem #68,

where the heck are you thse days.

re: Akash # 72

Take it easy Akash Mian.

Only fools fight over matters of religion, and you are not a fool.

Kabuli has his opinion, you have yours. It`s not like either of you saw things firsthand in TretaYug.



re: Ana # 71

Krishna turned blue from the sheer exhaustion of constantly running after a zillion pretty gopikas in Mathura and Vrindavan :)

Seriously, ``Krishna`` means the dark one. But why blue? I have been told about all kinds of symbolisms:

1. Blue is the color of the skies, it denotes infinity.

2. Blue is the color of oceans. Since Vishnu is supposed to live in the oceans, his incarnations (both Ram and Krishna) are depicted as blue.

3. Blue depicts someone of ``another world.``

Take your pick.

Or, better still, make up one of your own. Krishna is pretty easy-going in such matters :)

Kabuliwallah

I am sorry if I was harsh. Actually I was quite pissed off when you said that Lord Ram did not exist without any proof. Note that I am not using this as the pretext for demotlition of any mosque. For in my own worldview, I believe that ``mann changa to kathauti mein ganga``. Lord Ram`s life story teaches us about the morality and I can never approve of any act that causes unnecessary violence towards anyone. Lord Ram does not exist in idols, but in the hearts of the majority Hindus. You dont need to go to any mandir if your heart is pure. If you had been at chowk for some time, you would know that I am one of the diehard opponents of RSS and their ``Hindutva`` brand. But I am a proud Hindu nevertheless.

achcha, here`s my question..since I`m not all that familiar with Hinduism, `cept for a few passages I`ve read from the Bhagavad Gita..

why is Krishna always depicted as blue? I asked someone this question once and the only answer I got was because he is dark. Okay, so if he`s dark, why not depict him as such...what is the significance/symbolism behind Krishna being blue?

regards, ana

Kabuliwallah

``. The sad part is, Hindus believe that the events in their`` holy texts ``actually happened. Which is impossible if you take the religious texts at their word. It is well know that time is divided into Yugas (Treta, Dwapara, Kali etc) and each in turn runs into dozens of thousands of years. Either Hindus have been freakishly living on this planet far too longer than others or the texts are wrong. ``

Man. you have got some problem. The so called Abrahmic religions also believe that the world began in 4000 B.C. and that the God ``created`` everything in six days. If you have the guts, come out in open and say that all the Abrahmic texts are wrong and let me see if you can escape the blashphemy law. Ever heard of Al-Aqsa in mosque in Israel where people have been killed by thousands. Go to Israel and try proving it to people that Prophet Muhammad could not have rose to heaven from that mosque. Try convincing people that since NO HISTORICAL EVIDENCE(Time ) has ever been discovered of whether anyone called moses or David or Solomon ever existed. Go and try convincing people that Jesus was actually a .... So you look the other way when it is atught to the people that Moses parted Red sea and argue with Hindus when they say Hanuman jumped over sea to reach Lanka. Typical disgusting p-sec. Try convincing people that Jesus could not have walked on water or rose after death. Does that falsify Judaism, Christianity etc.

Why are all the answers to be scientifically rigorous demanded only from Hinduism? Is it because we are so telerent that you know you can abuse our religious figures and get away with. Should we also enact a blashphemy law? The foundations of any religion are based on faith and the beliefs of the people. I believe that like Homer`s Odyssey, Valmiki Ramayana also recounts a real story if we take out of it the unnatural exaggerations. And Ramayana and Mahabharat are cornerstones of our culture. People derive their inspiration from them and learn their basic lessons in morality. Hindu religious beliefs are attacked with impunity in their own country. It was this kind of grievance among the Hindu population against the self styled secularists who deny the existence of Lord ram but gleefully accept the Prophet rising to heaven in body that was responsible for the backlash in the form of rise of Sangh parivar. You disgusting p-secs have dome more harm to the country that RSS was ever capable of.

Kabuli #55
Re Aryavarta
I don`t see a basis in the article you refer to, to consider Elst`s terminology to be anything but his own.

Re back to your remark about gods not going Shiva, etc. Let me point out a few more instances which contradict your assertion.

There is the famous churning of the ocean of milk for the nectar of immortality. You probably know it already. The gods got the king of serpents Vasuki to act as rope, the mountain Mandara to act as churn. The mountain began to sink into the ocean so Vishnu turned into a tortoise to hold it up. The gods pulled at the serpent rope from one side and the asuras (with whom they had a truce for the purpose) from another.

The first thing that came out from the churning of the ocean was poisonous fluid, which began to destroy the world and so in his compassion Shiva swallowed it, and held it in his throat which turned blue, which is why Shiva is also known as Neelkanth.

(The story goes on about how the churning resumed and other things came out of the ocean, including the moon which was given to Shiva(so he is known as Chandrashekhar), and the cow Surabhi who gave birth to Nandi( Shiva`s bull), the elephant Airavata and the apsaras(given to Indra) and Lakshmi, who became Vishnu`s wife.

Lastly the pot of nectar emerged, which the asuras snatched away. A few drops of nectar from the pot fell on earth, at Allahabad,
Ujjain, Nasik and Hardwar during the ensuing chase which is why the Kumbh Mela is held in these places. Finally Vishnu turned into a beautiful woman Mohini and distracted the
asuras allowing the gods to recover the pot of nectar, drink from it and become immortal.)

And how about Shiva breaking the force of the descent from heaven to earth of the river Ganga on himself at the request of Bhagirath, an ancestor of Ram. The Ganga emerged from Shiva`s locks(now is that a pun or what) in seven streams and apparently he is also credited with creating the Gangetic dolphin to carry the message of her descent).

And how about Mahashivaratri the only night when Shiva sleeps so the world remains awake in his stead(and our local cinema would show movies all night to help some consentious humans do their duty :))

Shiva is definitely a central figure in the Puranas and regarded with not only respect but affection, North or South.