My encounter with Jalib

Oh bhaaie Sameer ji, aap bhi khoob hain. Bhie na to yeh piece captivating hai na shaptivating hai. Buss parrho. Theek hai.

I also enjoyed it since it remained away from the: ``Habib Jalib, Pakistan key tael (oil) key zkhair aur Kashmir: Aik Tujzia.``

I liked it. Halka phulka piece hai jaisey Nasir Kazmi ki shairii. Merey Bhaii Kazmi nain Urdu Shairii main Ghaas peh shair keh diya tha.

``Phir koonjain boleen Ghaas key harey samundar main.`` I am fond of dropping names. I knew Jalib very well. (Now that we are mentioning names, let me mention Faiz, Fraz and many better shuara of Pakistan. And listen, pay attention: Ustaad Mam Din. ``Jannat main gr (koi) seat khali na ho, to chhaitee say dozakh main warr Mam Dina``.)



So, I was saying that hulki phulki cheez hai aur khoob hai. As a jumla mo`atriza arz kr rha houn that inspite of my immence respect and love for Faiz, at times, I considered Jalib a better shaair. Consider the following: Faiz, ``Nisar main teri galyoun ke aey watan key jahan, chali hai rasm keh koi na sr utha kay chaley``.

Compare it with the mizaj of Jalib`s shaairi, ``Zamana aik sa Jalib sada nahin rehta, chalain gey hum bhi kabhi sr utha ke rste main``. Do you see the acceptance vs challange, the pessimism vs. agressive (pro-active?) optimism? More on these on some other ocassion.

Oos ka sara maza, however, has been ``zaa`il`ed`` by the ``introduction``, which I consider unnecessary, of course, but it is, unfortunately in bad taste and in polite company should be considered indecent. `J`s anf `F_K`s do not belong in such contexts. Km umri jhankti hai. B`hr hal khoob hai.

Sac: Marvelous and captivating presentation of a memorable event from your past. I wish I could narrate the memorable events of my youth so movingly. I had few encounters with Ahmad Faraz and Josh Malihabadi in Islamabad. We would call Josh and asked if this is ``do batti batti`` in Punjabi for 23232 (his telephone number) and he would really get angry and start using every abusive word in vernacular with the addition of batti. My encounters with Faraz were regretably related to my misspent youth with Jamaatis.

Here are some verses from Jalib:

Sholay haiN to kyoN unko bharakte naheeN dekha

HaiN khak to rahoN maiN bikhar kyoN naheeN jate

Aansoo bhi haiN ankhoN maiN duayeN bhi haiN lab per

Bigrhey howey halaat sanwar kyoN naheeN jate

Aik hamaiN awara kehna koi barha ilzam NaheeN

Dunya waley dil waloN ko aur buhut kuch kehte haiN

Woh jo abhi is rah guzar se chak girebaN guzra tha

Us awara diwaney ko Jalib, Jalib kehte haiN

Regards,

Sameer

sac #16

Thanks for asking :-). I`ve never really given it a thought. Maybe someday..

Sadhana

sac:

A great welcome to Chowk. You will be a refreshing addition. Pls. keep writing.

Habib Jalib was a rarity among men or women. He stood by his convictions.

On a purely literary level he cannot be included in the group of Iqbal or Faiz, or even Faraz, Qasmi, Josh. Firaq etc. But he stood apart with the courage of his convictions.

“Is mulk ki taqdeer hi kharab hai” reverberated for a long time.

rgds,

t

re sadna #13:

Agreed. BTW when are we going to see some contribution from you on this site?

re dL #15:

I am afraid we are both on the other side of the looking glass. And since we don`t know our destination it doesn`t really matter which road we take ;-)

later

-sac

P.S: Hope things are well in London.

Hello Child

Curiouser and Curiouser

Is the common man, as he stands idly by, the March Hare or the Mad Hatter?

Mayhap the dormouse.

Whose tea party is it then?

dL

Sac,

Nice change of Pace! Look forward to more articles from you.

Critiq

Thank you all for your words of encouragement.

Manail: You are right about the inane beginning. Lay it down as a case of irrational exuberance :) As far as aspiring writers in the financial community, it may have something to do with the one-dimensional people we deal with everyday and you know the dimension I am referring to.

mannyd: Jalib has been right upto this point. But as they say the night is still young. Maybe I will win in the end!!

jazba99: I am afraid you are reading too much into what I wrote. Anyway I am reminded of a cab-driver settled in NY for over 20 years who once said to me. ``Your homeland is where you earn a living to feed your family not some castle in the air that doesn`t even allow me that opportunity``. Enough said.

sac

Just a thought. Even revolutionary poets esp. in old age and illness, deserve `term limits`.

Sadhana

Good description of your encounter with Jalib.

Moreover your conversation with him reflects that he was quite honest, realistic with some humor even at this age.

If he did not trust a poor boy, it is realism.

His remarks regarding Faraz is testimony to his believing Faraz to be superior to him.

I have seen poet (one in forefront of pakistani poets) making fun of Faiz`s poetry.

There will hardly be any male poet who is pious.

Saying all these, there is no doubt that Jalib has contributed in the field of poetry which few of his contemporaries have done, without any fear.

He has been jailed for his outspoken stance.

Poetry of Jalib like

``Larkane Chalo Warna Thane Chalo``

And

``Zulmat ko Zia, Sarsar ko Saba Kab Kahte hain``

And

``Paon Nange hain Benaziroon ke`` etc

are still remembered through recitation.

Sac

Very enjoyable, lucid and crisp writing. Look forward to see more of your creation.

Cheers.

Sac:

A spontaneous, humorous and sweet memoir!

Good One!

sac

Enjoyable read!

Sadhana

Zarray hi sahi, koh say takra to gaye hum....

This eccentric bohemian was once the voice
of millions. His plain and simple Urdu
appealed to the masses of Pakistan and people
like myself (of Gulabi Urdu fame) who felt
great at not having to seek the services of
the nearest Urdudaan for translation.
The above line from this poet has somewhat become a motto of mine.
Jalib was at a Berkeley, California event in
the late 70`s or very early 80`s. Lost that tape
years ago but I still retain something in memory.

Ras

Dear Sac!

Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece with us. It was beautifully written and I really liked your style of writing. Keep up the good work.

yours truly.

sac,

Good writing, though I found the references in the beginning superfluous. Why taint your work, friend, with indelicacies?

Let me be cliched, and say that your piece brought back many memories for me, too. Jalib stands out in my mind as `The Poet of Resistance`, a phrase I read on the jacket of one of his books. He is my personal political poet, and helped greatly in keeping my patriotic self intact, in those uncertain days I had first come away to college in the US.

I wonder what it is, though, with us `aspiring writers` in financial services? Must have something to do with all the talk of money. Maybe Jalib can explain it better in his own words:

aik hamain avaara kehna koi bad`aa ilzaam nahin

dunya vaale dil vaalon ko aur bohot kuchh kehte hain...

Manail