Ghalib

More than a decade back, a serial based on the life of the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib used to be telecast on DoorDarshan. I developed a liking for his poetry thenceforth. As I recall, Ghalib lived in the age when Bahadur Shah Zafar ruled over Delhi, though his "ruling" is subject to doubt. He was an old man. Himself being a good poet, his court was adorned by many famous poets of the time including Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir who said

Laayi hayaath aaye khazaa le chali chale
Na apni khushi the aaye na apni khushi chale.

Ghalib's main passions were wine and women and he expressed this love eloquently through his poetry.

Kaafir na intezaar me neend aaye umr bhar
aane ka ahad kar gaye aaye jo khwaab mein

or

Ghalib chuti sharaab par ab bhi kabhi kabhi
peeta hoon roz ye abro-shab-e-mahtaab mein

His couplets are simple yet profound for instance,

Har ek baat pe kehte ho ke tu kya hai
tumhi kaho ke ye andaaz-e-guftagu kya hai

or

Ragon mein daudte phirne ke hum nahi kaayal
jo aankh hi se na tapkaa to phir lahu kya hai.
********

Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ki har khwaahish pe damm nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan magar fir bhi kamm nikle

These two lines which (I claim) sum up my personality perfectly are also penned by him. Rest of this ghazal goes as..

Nikalna khuld se aadam ka sunte aaye hain lekin
bahut be-aabroo hokar tere kooche se hum nikle

Mohabbat mein nahi hai farq jeene aur marne ka
usi ko dekh kar jeete hain jis kaafir par dum nikle

Khudaa ke vaaste purdah nakaabi si utha zaalim
kahin aisa na ho yon bhi wahi kaatil sanam nikle
*********

(Mind you kaafir is not used in a derogatory way here. Infact I dont think it was supposed to be used that way anywhere. Again, an example of narrow-mindedness taking over logic.)

In the serial directed by Gulzar, these shers (couplets) were sung beautifully by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. Ghalib was played to perfection by Naseeruddin Shah. The album is available in the market but what I would like to own is the whole serial in CDs if available. DD used to telecast superb serials in those days. I can distinctly remember Farmaan, Zabaan sambhalke, Shanti, Circus. I remember my parents watching Hum log, Buniyaad, Tamas etc. I wish I was a bit more grown up to have appreciated and enjoyed them. I especially missed the whole series of Bharat Ek Khoj, Chanakya, Fauji ( I admit this is a criminal offence for an ardent SRK fan :-(. ). The K serials of today cannot even compete with those serials.

PS; This is yet another post written at midnight when sleep eluded my tired eyes. The shers here have been quoted from memory. So I dont claim them to be perfectly correct.

My friend Sunanda calls my blog "Hazaaron Khwahishein Ek Tamanna" :-D
Cool na!!