it is interesting to see how the poet of urdu ghazal can talk about political matters under the cover of symbols and allegories....here is an example from Irfan Siddiqui..which seems to hint at the constructions and surveillance that characterizes the system of power...also note the speciously innocuous nature of the shair..
us ko rehta hai hamesha meri vehshat ka khayal
mere gum gushta ghazaalon ka pata chahti hai!
vehshat aur ghazaalon mein ek bahut interesting relation hai. The deer of the deserts (ghazaala, gazel in english) is an image that is very appropriate for the aashique (not the lover in the english sense), in its running after a smell(of love) that seemingly comes from outside but is actually coming from within(like the smell of musk). vehshat, has to do with madness, of a very different kind, it can only be understood, if at all, by visualising the running around of a trapped gazel or impala. To be able to know where one's gazels are, is an idiomatic phrase for knowing the reach and ability of one's mind. madness is threatening to institutions and establishments precisely because the gazels of the mind jump over the boundaries within which they are trapped.
there is another one by Irfan, which makes a similar political comment, Plato's cave appears in the background...this gives you an image of a dead society...completely incarcerated.
hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!
hoo ka alam means pin drop silence, and zanjeer e giran means the heavy chain of bondage.
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poochte hain woh ke ghalib kauh hai...
- aahu e khutan
- Senior assistant professor at Zakir Husain Delhi College (Eve.) of the Delhi University
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
irfan siddiqui...here again.
it is interesting to see how the poet of urdu ghazal can talk about political matters under the cover of symbols and allegories....here is an example from Irfan Siddiqui..which seems to hint at the constructions and surveillance that characterizes the system of power...also note the speciously innocuous nature of the shair..
us ko rehta hai hamesha meri vehshat ka khayal
mere gum gushta ghazaalon ka pata chahti hai!
vehshat aur ghazaalon mein ek bahut interesting relation hai. The deer of the deserts (ghazaala, gazel in english) is an image that is very appropriate for the aashique (not the lover in the english sense), in its running after a smell(of love) that seemingly comes from outside but is actually coming from within(like the smell of musk). vehshat, has to do with madness, of a very different kind, it can only be understood, if at all, by visualising the running around of a trapped gazel or impala. To be able to know where one's gazels are, is an idiomatic phrase for knowing the reach and ability of one's mind. madness is threatening to institutions and establishments precisely because the gazels of the mind jump over the boundaries within which they are trapped.
there is another one by Irfan, which makes a similar political comment, Plato's cave appears in the background...this gives you an image of a dead society...completely incarcerated.
hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!
hoo ka alam means pin drop silence, and zanjeer e giran means the heavy chain of bondage.
us ko rehta hai hamesha meri vehshat ka khayal
mere gum gushta ghazaalon ka pata chahti hai!
vehshat aur ghazaalon mein ek bahut interesting relation hai. The deer of the deserts (ghazaala, gazel in english) is an image that is very appropriate for the aashique (not the lover in the english sense), in its running after a smell(of love) that seemingly comes from outside but is actually coming from within(like the smell of musk). vehshat, has to do with madness, of a very different kind, it can only be understood, if at all, by visualising the running around of a trapped gazel or impala. To be able to know where one's gazels are, is an idiomatic phrase for knowing the reach and ability of one's mind. madness is threatening to institutions and establishments precisely because the gazels of the mind jump over the boundaries within which they are trapped.
there is another one by Irfan, which makes a similar political comment, Plato's cave appears in the background...this gives you an image of a dead society...completely incarcerated.
hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!
hoo ka alam means pin drop silence, and zanjeer e giran means the heavy chain of bondage.
4 comments:
I actually do not have much understanding of Urdu poetry or shairi...
ReplyDelete
fir bhi mujhe Irfan ka jo sher tha bahut acha laga...
"hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!"
It's right that the seeds of revolution are sown in the soil of oppressive rule... I am actually at a loss of words to explain what I mean.. may be this would be the right way to say that the poet is amazed that even the heavy chains of bondage make noise so at a moment when large number of arrests are taking place how can pin drop silence prevail.
I hope I will get some points for that interpretation.
Thank you
With Regards
Subhankar De
Aka
Dark - Knight
the chains of bondage...these days are virtual...could that be one of the interpretations..
ReplyDeleteyes it may be so... if we apply to these times... yet the time when the sher was written, the poet I believe was definitely referring to Iron chains... :) In todays world where physical boundaries are becoming free the mental social and spiritual freedom is surely getting narrow... and hence binding us...these chains of bondages are more or less make no noise...
ReplyDelete
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I actually do not have much understanding of Urdu poetry or shairi...
ReplyDeletefir bhi mujhe Irfan ka jo sher tha bahut acha laga...
"hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!"
It's right that the seeds of revolution are sown in the soil of oppressive rule... I am actually at a loss of words to explain what I mean.. may be this would be the right way to say that the poet is amazed that even the heavy chains of bondage make noise so at a moment when large number of arrests are taking place how can pin drop silence prevail.
I hope I will get some points for that interpretation.
Thank you
With Regards
Subhankar De
Aka
Dark - Knight
the chains of bondage...these days are virtual...could that be one of the interpretations..
ReplyDeleteyes it may be so... if we apply to these times... yet the time when the sher was written, the poet I believe was definitely referring to Iron chains... :) In todays world where physical boundaries are becoming free the mental social and spiritual freedom is surely getting narrow... and hence binding us...these chains of bondages are more or less make no noise...
ReplyDeletethe poet is of OUR TIMES...is still alive
ReplyDelete