Yahi duniya, na poochha jeete ji jis ne kabhi ‘Aasi’/
Yahi duniya manayegi, hamari barsiyaan barson //
Roughly translated, it means :
The world that neglected me for years /
The same world will celebrate
my anniversaries for years to come //
As if just to prove his prophecy come true, the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages ( the Academy ), finally, organised an afternoon for a highly meritorious and unsung poet, Pandit Vidya Ratan Aasi, at the K L Sehgal hall of the Writers’ Complex in her premises, on 19 July.
The poet has simply proved prophetic. Barring a select few friends, the people, the Academy, nobody cared for him when he was live and kicking. Now that he is dead, we all wake up to celebrate his birth anniversary, 11 July. How cheap !
And, how sagaciously the poet wrote the truth of modern society, much before his demise ! In the words of renowned Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi :
yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai !
( So what even if I get this entire world ! ).
This is the first time ever that the Academy has organised a programme for this much quoted, but grossly neglected, contemporary Urdu poet of the Dograland. But, alas, the poet himself is no more available to absorb the edulation poured during the event and hear his friends and admirers speak good of him and his poetry.
A motely three scores of admirers of the poet, including his close friends and artists, saved the day for the Academy, which generally falls short of the desired nunber of audience.
Strangely, this worthy son of the soil lived like a prince in poverty, but he never compromised with his self respect and dignity. Recalls his close associate Khalid Hussain, a Sahitya Akademi Award winning writer in Punjabi : mostly, he was short of funds for the day to day living. But, he would neither ask for help nor accept any unsolicited help coming his way. Moreover, in spite of his dire financial conditions, he would not beg for invitations to mushairas that could bring him some critical financial relief. So, his admirers and friends had to strive hard to procure respectable invitations for him !
I, as an ardent lover of literature, admired his poetry a lot, but it so happened that I never met Pandit Vidya Ratan Aasi ( PVRA ), in person. He was an admirer of my better half Seema Anil Sehgal, though. He would often speak to us in Mumbai, over the phone, and convey his love and blessings.
Her father Yash Sharma was his fellow poet and friend. Many times, Yash Sharma requested PVRA to come and stay with them to overcome his problems of home made food and companionship. He would come to him, accept a meal or two and that is it. He, somehow, remained aloof all his life.
During one of her visits from Mumbai, PVRA, before his demise, visited Seema at her house in Gandhi Nagar with a big bouquet of fresh flowers. After blessing her, he expressed his desire and requested her to compose and sing some of his ghazals for a music album.
” I always consider him a poet of great merit. I have much liking for his poetry. Moreover, he was a friend of the family and a thorough gentleman. He was an uncle to me. I always addressed him as “chacha ji”,” recalls the eminent ghazal singer Seema Anil Sehgal.
That day, he sat with her and read out the ghazals he desired to be recorded for the music album. She composed one of the ghazals for him for the proposed music album, which he highly appreciated. She even sang it for him over the phone :
Raat achha laga, chand tum sa laga /
Aa gaya jis pe dil, woh tumhin sa laga //
( I felt good last night. The moon looked like you /
Whoever I like, she looks like you ! // )
” I regret, my preoccupations and his unforeseen and eventual demise , disturbed the plans for recording his desired album. I hope I am soon able to complete the project as a personal tribute to Aasi Chacha Ji. It would give me much satisfaction in accomplishing a worthwhile project that will enrich propagation of meaningful Urdu literature”, adds the famed singer and composer of poets like Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Firaq Gorakhpui, to cite a few.
” He wanted to marry a non- brahmin Hindu girl from some caste lower than his, but his family would not consent. Finally, he married a girl of their choice, and suffered all his life. It was a nightmare for him to get rid of the alliance,” recalls Khalid who is privy to the proceedings for divorce. Khalid read a well researched and comprehensive paper on the poet and his works. It introduced the poet Aasi to the few in the audience who did not know him well. It also reinforced the qualities of the poet in the hearts of his friends and admirers.
The programme was very ably conducted by Raj Kumar Behrupia, an associate and admirer of Aasi. He, surprisingly, remembers almost all the ghazals penned by the poet !
As Behrupia quoted the first line of a couplet, many in the audience followed with the second line to complete the couplet ! It speaks volumes about the popularity of PVRA among his admirers This distinction and love of his admirers makes Aasi the most quoted poet of Jammu and Kashmir in the recent times.
But, all this is true only with a very select bunch of his admirers. For most of the literate Jammuites, Aasi remains an unknown entity. He has the unique distinction of being the most meritorious Urdu poet of his time, and yet highly under rated.
I think his dire financial circumstances made him aloof and withdrawn. He became somewhat meek, but always remained a highly self respecting person. His well wishers once managed to collect his poems and applied for a subsidy, for publication of the volume, to the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. No wonder, the Academy found his poems unworthy of a subsidy of a few thousand rupees !
Aasi was born on 11 July 1938, in Jammu. He was very handsome as a young man, and thought of being an actor in Hindi films. He managed to reach the dream world of Bombay ( now Mumbai ), but could not succeed to find a foothold in the mercurial industry of Hindi films. It is interesting to note that even in a state of penury, every inch he looked a handsome movie star.
” I have never met another man as charming and handsome as our friend Aasi. His complexion was flawless and fair. You could see the blood running in his veins through his wafer thin translucent skin. And his deep blue eyes could cast a spell even on a Cleopatra ! “, reminiscences a close friend-cum-admirer that Khalid is.
PVRA considered famed Urdu poet Arsh Sehbai as his guru. There is a very interesting tale about their relationship. Once, disciple ‘Aasi’ sought counsel of his ustad ‘Arsh’ on a ghazal he had written. It is said that Arsh Sehbai approved the entire ghazal after deleting only one couplet.
But, Aasi was dismayed. His guru had advised him to delete his favourite couplet from the ghazal. He shared his feelings with fellow poet and friend Aabid Munawari who told him to forget the entire ghazal and just keep the couplet Arsh had advised to delete !
For records sake, this deleted couplet is the magnum opus, and perhaps the most quoted couplet of Pandit Vidya Ratan Aasi !
Thus goes the couplet that has given an indelible recognition to poet ‘Aasi’ :
Ghalat sub daleelein, ghalat sub hawaale /
Andhere, andhere, ujaale ujaale //
(All reasoning and references mean nothing /
Darkness remains dark, brightness remains bright !)
After the programme on Aasi, Bharat Singh Manhas, the Secretary of the Academy, in an informal interaction over a cup of tea,
informed : during my tenure, I would like to honour the merit in all fields of the arts, culture and languages. My directions to my team are to spot the genuine hidden talent and bring them before the people.
While I wish you luck in your endeavour, dear Mr Secretary, I pray you donot support the fake or less than brilliant talent. You must resist political or other considerations with all your might lest you promote the mediocre. Please do not forget that promotion of mediocrity in the arts is the bane of our society. It is a cancer we need to nip in the bud.
Have you ever come across an address like ” Shri Mirza Ghalib” or “Shri Ali Sardar Jafri” or “Shri Dushyant Kumar” ? And, ever seen “Late MirTaqi Mir” ? Surely, you have not seen such addresses. So, why was the banner at the programme decorated with orefixes “Lt. Sh. Pandit Vidya Ratan Aasi” ?!
I have a humble and unsolicited suggestion for the so called guardians of art, culture and languages in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir : please do not precede names of poets with the prefixes like Lt. ( late ) or Sh. ( Shri ). It is a strict no, no .
Famed Urdu poet Allama Iqbal wrote :
Uttho, miri duniya ke gharibon ko jaga do
( Rise, and wake up the poor of the world )
Please allow me to say :
Uttho, mire Jammu ke adeebon ko jaga do
(Rise, and wake up the literati of Jammu ! )
Here is calling all the educated lot of Jammu to come out of their shells ! Voice your concerns and stand up for your rights and duties.
Remember, the schools, colleges and the universities are established, for our benefit, by the society ; not our parents. We owe it all to the society, which needs periodical and regular nourishment for her progressive sustenance.
Let us cone together and think how can we improve the systems around us and weed out the redundancy. Let us join hands and honour the best amongst us so that only brilliance in everything blooms around us !
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