Thursday, August 31, 2017

On Sahir and Amrita Pritam's love story

I think I read parts of following narration in Amrita Pritam's autobiography "Rasidi Ticket". Today is her birthday. She was  born  on August 31 1919 in Gujranwala, Pakistan and died on October 31 2005 in Delhi. Someone forward following article.


Sahir happened to ask Amrita, ‘Why don’t the two of us go and live in China?’
Amrita, puzzled by Sahir’s sudden suggestion of moving to China, sought an immediate explanation. ‘What will we do living in China?’
‘We shall write poetry,’ replied Sahir, rather vaguely.
Amrita shot back, ‘We can write poetry here without going to China.’
‘Yes we can, but if we go to China we will never come back,’ said Sahir.
It was, as Amrita told Uma, Sahir’s idea of proposing a lifetime together with her.
Amrita met Sahir sometime around 1944 in Preet Nagar, a village between Lahore and Amritsar. She was at this time married to Pritam Singh, who was an editor, but theirs was not the best of marriages. Amrita, in her mid-twenties at the time, had come to Preet Nagar to attend a mushaira which was being attended by Punjabi and Urdu poets. It was here that she saw and heard Sahir for the first time. She was immediately smitten by him. ‘I do not know whether it was the magic of his words or his silent gaze, but I was captivated by him,’ writes Amrita of the moment.
The mushaira ended only after midnight following which the guests bid goodbye to each other. The next morning they were supposed to go to the neighbouring township of Lopoki, from where a bus had been organized to take them back to Lahore.
However, the following morning they discovered that it had rained the previous night and the road they had to take to reach Lopoki had been rendered slippery and hazardous. Apparently, the sky had turned cloudy during the mushaira itself and it had started drizzling by the time the mushaira had drawn to a close. Amrita saw the hand of fate in all of this as she recalls, ‘Now, when I look back on that night, I can say that destiny had sown the seed of love in my heart which the rain nurtured.’
Desperate to go to Lopoki, the guests made their way ahead cautiously. It was in these circumstances that Amrita experienced her love blossoming for Sahir. She writes:
Walking at some distance from Sahir, I noticed that where his shadow was falling on the ground, I was being engulfed by it entirely. At that time I didn’t know I would spend so many years of my life in his shadow or that at times I would get tired and seek solace in my own words. These poems were written in Sahir’s love, but I never revealed the inspiration behind them publicly.
Over the course of attending several such mushairas, the acquaintance between the two grew into a mutual affection. It was by all reckoning a most unusual relationship. The two hardly ever spoke to each other, preferring instead to let silence define their association. ‘There were two obstacles between us – one of silence, which remained forever. And the other was language. I wrote poetry in Punjabi, Sahir in Urdu.’
‘Smoking gave me the feeling that he was close to me’
Even in her autobiography, Raseedi Tikkat (Revenue Stamp), Amrita writes of the eloquent silence that characterized their relationship:
When Sahir would come to meet me in Lahore, it was as if an extension of my silence had occupied the adjacent chair and then gone away . . .
He would quietly smoke his cigarettes, putting out each after having finished only half of it. He would then light a new cigarette. After he would leave, the room would be full of his unfinished cigarettes . . .
I would keep these remaining cigarettes carefully in the cupboard after he left. I would only light them while sitting alone by myself. When I would hold one of these cigarettes between my fingers, I would feel as if I was touching his hands . . .
This is how I took to smoking. Smoking gave me the feeling that he was close to me. ...........................................................................
He appeared, each time, like a genie in the smoke emanating from the cigarette.
She also gives Sahir’s side of the story. ‘Sahir also told me, much later in life, “When both of us were in Lahore, I would often come close to your house and stand at the corner where I would sometimes buy a paan, or light a cigarette or hold a glass of soda in my hand. I would stand there for hours together watching that window of your house which opened towards the street.”’
Then, when the country was partitioned, Amrita moved with her husband and eventually settled down in Delhi. Sahir, as we already know, had established himself in Bombay a few years after Partition.
Amrita hit upon a novel idea to bridge the geographical distance between the two. She began to include her experiences with Sahir in her literary endeavours. His character featured prominently in the anthology of poems ‘Ik si Anita’ (A Girl Named Anita), the novel ‘Dilli Diyaa Galiyaan’ (The Bylanes of Delhi) and the collection of short stories ‘Aakhari Khat’ (Final Letter). Her poem ‘Sunehray’ (Messages), which fetched her the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956, was also written for Sahir.
An interesting anecdote regarding their relationship can be found in the short story ‘Aakhari Khat’ in the eponymous collection. It was in the year 1955 that the weekly Urdu magazine Aayeena was launched from Delhi. When Aayeena requested Amrita to write a story for them, she decided to use the publication as a conduit to get through to Sahir. She wrote of her first meeting with Sahir in the form of a story and called it ‘Aakhari Khat’… Yet, many days passed with no response from Sahir.
Then, one day, Amrita ran into him. And he said: ‘When I read “Aakhari Khat”, I was so delighted that I wanted to take the magazine to each of my friends and tell them – look this has been written for me, but I decided to keep quiet. I thought if I told friends like Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Krishan Chander, they would chide me and threaten to take me to the asylum.’
It is indeed a travesty that the relationship between Amrita and Sahir, two doyens of literature, couldn’t mature into anything more substantial, something that mirrored their beautiful individual contributions to prose and poetry. Yet, it is probably with Amrita that Sahir came closest, at least in his mind, to a long-term relationship, as revealed in a telling conversation he had with his mother.
Maaji, yeh Amrita thi, janti ho na? Yeh aapki bahu bhi bann sakti thi,’ (Mother, that was Amrita. She could have become your daughter-in-law) Sahir is said to have told his mother in reference to Amrita once while they were in Delhi with some of Sahir’s friends.

Link: 
http://thereel.scroll.in/819201/the-unspoken-passion-of-sahir-ludhianvi-and-amrita-pritam

Saturday, August 26, 2017

On ultra-short stories

"Agar bachpan ka woh waqt phir se laut aaye jab hum jungle main jaya kerte the to kiya karoge?"

"Main bapu ki kaati hui lakRian phir jungle main bhool aaun ga"!


Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Thriving or Surviving?

Last week, I had to travel for a work. Although, I gave up on self-help type books but was unable to find any other book so picked Matthew Kelly's "The seven Level of Intimacy" for airline read. (here). Overall, it is a very mediocre book, but one section of this book was relatively out of box, and talks about the value of 'discipline' in life. He equates discipline as a basic building block of integrity, honesty and commitment. Just a quote: "Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want. Freedom is the strength of character to do what is good, noble, and right. Freedom is the ability to choose and celebrate the-best-version-of-yourself in every moment. Freedom without discipline is impossible".

He asked an interesting question: "Are you thriving? Or are you just surviving?"

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Samosa, Ribbon aur Beizzati

(shared by a colleague on dinner table)

"Hum jab school jaate to Amma gin ke roz chaar aane deti jis se hum canteen se koi cheez kha lete. Har jumme ko amma hume aath aane deti ke aik samosa aath aane ka milta. Main woh paise bacha leti. Un paiso ko bacha ker main ne baalon main lagane wali aik achi si ribbon khareed li - jise daadi ne apne haaton se kuch aur taanke laga ker aur khubsurat bana diya. Main roz use pahen ker school jaati.

Aik din PT ke baad main ne ribbon apne baste main rakhi - aur woh chori ho gai. Do din baad main ne woh ribbon aik aur laRki ke baalon main dekhi. Ghar ja ker daadi se kaha: "Daadi meri ribbon jis larki ne li hai, kal main us se bahut laraii karun gi. Daadi ne jawab diya: "Dekho! usey akele mein jo chahey keh lena magar sab ke saamne uski beizzati na kerna. Kisi bhi insaan ki izzat tumhari ribbon se ziyada qeemti hai".

Dadi ki baat choti si thi - magar yaad reh gai - ke kisi bhi insaan ki izzat bohat bari cheez hoti hai

Friday, August 18, 2017

Wisdom of Queen Sheba

I was not much aware of Queen Sheba and her fertile Kingdom until I visited Fernbank Museum of Natural History at Atlanta for my daughter's school project. On one of our previous post on movie "Dunkirk", saugoree uncle mentioned her wisdom on war. (His blog post here).

I need to be honest to say that I never paid attention to the depth of the story of Queen Sheba and King Solomon. It has been described in most abrahamic religions. Uncle pointed out an extremely important part of the story with reference to Surah Al-namal (chapter of Ants # 27).

When she was challenged by King Solomon for war - and as her ministers said that we are strong to take them on, She wisely said: "Indeed kings - when they enter a city, they ruin it and render the honored of its people humbled. And thus do they do. But indeed, I will send to them a gift and see with what (reply) the messengers will return. (ayat #34,35)"

It is so true. Every time a king or an aggressor invade a country or a city - they do nothing but loot, plunder and destroy the pride and respect of its culture and people.

(It reminded me of poem of Hasan Abidi Halaku ab jo tum Baghdad aao ge (here). 
I did loose english translation of poem Halaku when you will come to Baghdad (here)

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Red Lipstick of Hope

I read this article 2-3 years ago. Today again I got a forward. It's from Bollywood actress Twinkle Khanna. It is so beautiful.

"My grandmother is 77. She has perfectly coloured hair with not a root in sight, her nails artfully manicured and her clothes always immaculate. I tease her about her interest in all these superficial things and she exclaims that I, in my dal-stained jeans, have always been a total disgrace to the family. Every Friday, she goes to do her prayers in the prettiest cotton saris with a string of pearls around her neck. 

What is so extraordinary about her story, you may wonder? She is a woman who has seen three out of her four children die before her very eyes. 

Sometimes I think the tiny joy she gets from her little indulgences is what keeps her going and distracts her from the anguish she must have gone through seeing what she has.

.......... I go to visit a family friend in the hospital. She has been dealing with cancer for a while now and though she is lucky to have tremendous family support, only she knows what it is like to deal with fear and pain on a daily basis. She is sitting on her hospital bed in her pajamas, with a turban jauntily perched on her head. And on her lips, she is wearing the brightest, happiest red lipstick. When I ask her about it, she says that whenever she feels low and run down, she puts on her lipstick and it just cheers her up tremendously. 

A pretty dress, a new haircut, a string of pearls are all trivial material things that should not matter because they have nothing to do with our inner self, but we forget that our physical form is strongly connected to our identity. It is how we interact with the world around us. 

When my family friend puts on her red lipstick, she is telling the world that she still has hope. Sometimes, the only thing you have left is hope. Hope that every tomorrow hurts a little less than yesterday."

Full article link here

Friday, August 11, 2017

Beqaabu Truck

(This short story is from Alok Bakshi blog. I liked this story as on first read it's appear to be a very simple story - but on second thought - there is an interesting hidden expression)

You can read this story in Roman and Hindi Script here

ek gaaRi me sawaar do dost Uttarakhand soobe me kahiN ja rahe the. din ka samay hone ke bawajood raasta sunsaan tha aur chuNki khaRi chaRhai thi lihaaza driver dheere-dheere gaaRi aage baRha raha tha. 

pahaRi saRke aam taur par tang hoti haiN aur jis waqt yeh waqya hua us waqt bila-shubah aaj ke muqable badtar haalat me rahi hoNgi. gaaRiyaaN ba-mushkil hi ek dusre se aage nikal paati hain aur agar samne se gaaRi aa jaye to aksar kisi ek ko pichche haTna paRta hai. raaste par safar khatre se khali bhi nahiN hota kyonki amooman saRak ke ek taraf gehri khaai hoti hai aur dusri taraf chaTTaneN. Aapko jagah jagah aagah karte ishtihaar dikh jaayenge: “Saavdhani haTi, durghaTna ghaTi.” 

 ba-har-haal gaaRi me baiThe dono dost aapsi baatcheet me hi mashghool the ki yakayak saamne tez raftaar se ek truck aate hue dikhai deta hai. dono Dar gaye lekin Driver ne aqalmandi dikhate hue saRak ke kinaare gaDDe me gaaRi rok di. Truck bina apni raftaar kam kiye aaya aur nikal gaya. dono dostoN ne chain ki saans li aur aapas me baate karne lag gaye ki yeh truck zaroor kisi na kisi din haadse ka shikaar hoga! 

chuNki raasta ghumaav-daar tha is liye truck ekdam nazroN se ojhal ho gaya. lekin agar aap pahaRi raaste me unchai par khaRe hain to niche jaate raaste ke hissoN ko dekh sakte hain. ittefaqan dono ne gaaRi chalani shuru nahiN ki thi aur unka dhyaan niche jaati saRak par hi tha. unhone ghaur kiya ki Truck ka kuchch ata-pata nahin hai, vo bich raaste se hi kahiN ghaib ho gaya hai. Dar ke maare ki kahin Truck khai me hi na gir gaya ho, wo wapas muRe aur idhar-udhar dekhne lag gaye. lekin Truck ka kuchch pata nahin chalaa. 

 paas me hi police ki chowki thi. dono udhar gaye aur ghabraate hue pura qissa sunaaya. unki baat sunke pehle to hawaldaar unko aise ghoor kar dekhta hai jaise use unki baat par yaqeen na ho raha ho. Phir kehta hai: “Bhagwaan ka shukr banaaye ki aap baal baal bach gaye. is Truck ke khauf me rehte hain yahaN ke log! agar Driver ehtiyaat na barat raha ho, to musafir iski wajah se haadse ka shikaar ho jaate hain. nahiN to yeh Bhagwaan jaane kahaN ghaib ho jata hai. yeh Truck kiska hai, ise kaun chalaata hai, kidhar se kidhar jaata hai — koi nahiN jaanta. khair aap khud ko khush-qismat samjhe jo iski chapeT me nahiN aaye. 

 wo din aur aaj ka din, us waqye ke baad dono ne kabhi us saRak ki taraf rukh nahiN kiya!

Monday, August 07, 2017

Dunkirk

I watched this second world war movie Dunkirk. In childhood, I was a huge fan of second world war movies (naturally the favorite is 'Where Eagles Dare'). After long time I watched a 2nd WW flick, and it led me to think that, how a war changes a human at personal level. As at one point in the movie, a rescuer said to his son about a survivor: "He is not himself,  and will never be the same". While working in USA, I have met many war veterans, and trust me, many though came back alive but their souls were lost.

This movie is unique in the sense that instead of glorifying win on forefronts, it portrays the agony and pain of a struggling force. I doubt, war ever brings prosperity to either side.

Sahir Ludhianvi famously said in his poem (full poem in Roman and Nastaliq here)

جنگ تو خود ہی ايک مسئلہ ہے
جنگ کيا مسئلوں کا حل دے گی

Good night!

Trailer  https://youtu.be/F-eMt3SrfFU

Sunday, August 06, 2017

Be

This came just roaming on internet to me, but I really liked this
  • Be Honest when in Trouble 
  • Be Simple when in Wealth
  • Be Polite when in Authority and 
  • Be Silent when in Anger

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

the dark tree, the cold sea

(someone shared with me as his close sibling stopped talking to him years ago and still not talking)

although I know you can never be found
although I know that from the highest height
you cannot be seen you are not hiding
from me or are you is it how you look now
or maybe how I look now all these years gone by
places seen people met not knowing at any time
who I was or how others saw me or did not see me
and how are you wherever you are if I write you a letter
I’ll get no answer if I cry out to you to come in my final
hour you will not come but I will still look for you

~ Emily Fragos