Ours is a society that does not believe the idiom : don’t pity the dead, Harry ; pity the living. In fact we do just the opposite. We forget about the living. We ignore them. We do not even take notice of their existence and unknowingly wait for them to die before we celebrate their absence. We celebrate them for an year or two ; and that is it. No further. This becomes more obvious when we think of the well known authors and artists, intellectuals and masters of the performing arts, all living around us.
Hardly any litterateur, much less a literary giant, a critic, an essayist, is remembered 25 years after his departure from the mother earth. This is what exactly happened on 24 January, in Jammu. Thanks to the Jammu unit of Anjuman-Farogh-e-Urdu Jammu & Kashmir ( Anjuman ), a memorial meeting was held at KL Saigal Hall in the cultural academy complex to pay homage to a renowned Urdu writer and critic, Sham Lal Kalra who left the mortal world on 26 January 1999.
The Anjuman remembered Professor Sham Lal Kalra, famed Urdu critic, on his 25th death anniversary. He was also known as an excellent teacher of Urdu, the language close to his heart and mind. The memorial programme was held in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages ( Academy ). Mr Kalra, the literary luminary is better known by his pen name Aabid Peshawari.
Aabid saheb was reputed to be a tough task master, a dedicated linguist and an unforgiving critic. He was a pragmatic teacher who knew his subject well and was willing to share all his knowledge with those he taught. Recalls Dr Shahnawaz : I was a student of Urdu at the University of Jammu, from 1998 to 2000. Prof Sham Lal Kalra was the head of the department and, some times, used to teach classes as well.
“One day, we were having a free period as the teacher assigned to the class had failed to turn up. Usual gossiping and student like talks were in progress when Prof Kalra casually walked in the classroom.
” He offered to take the class for us and enquired what were we being taught those days. We told him it was a ghazal by Ghalib. Thereafter, what he taught us was not merely an explanation or analysis of the poem, it opened before us a sea of hidden meanings, references and contexts hitherto unheard by us. He taught us how to read and understand poetry. That Ghalib ghazal was
Harek baat pe kehte ho tum ke tu kya hai /
Tum hi kaho ke ye andaz-guftagu kya hai //
” What we learnt that day was how to read a ghazal in the first place and then how to analyse it correctly. He taught us what are the essentials of a great ghazal and how should we appreciate poetry in general. That day I learnt the ” tehzeeb”, ( civilization or elegance ) of poetry. I will never forget that class so full of scholarly erudition !”
Professor Kalra was a purist of the language, as far as Urdu is concerned. Just like the renowned Urdu literary giant like Josh Malihabadi and the irrepressible Qazi Abdul Wadood. Kalra belonged to this very school of linguists. All of them are well known to spare none as long as concerns of Urdu language were under threats of ignorance. For example, you dare not mispronounce a word in their presence and get away with that. They would immediately offer a correction, irrespective of your reputation or status. They could not care less if you felt embarrassed or annoyed, in the process !
Aabid Peshawari was a contemporary of Prof Jagan Nath Azad. Both were placed together in the University of Jammu for quite some time. Both were well respected amongst the students as well as the literary circles of the city of temples.
There goes an interesting tale that once his contemporary and renowned Urdu poet Jagan Nath Azad told a gathering that famed Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib lived in a place called “Balli” Maran in the Old Delhi area. Aabid sahib is reported to have quickly offered a correction: the place where Ghalib lived was “Billi” Maran and not “Balli” Maran !
As goes the story in the corridors if Urdu lovers, Aabid sahib barged into the chamber of Azad sahib to offer the correct information. And he quoted from a letter written by none other than Ghalib himself. Ghalib is reported to have written the place as Billi Maran in his letter to a friend.
Now, who can have that kind of audacity other than the irrepressible Aabid Peshawari !
Incidentally, in almost all the biographies of the famed Urdu poet, we learn that Mirza Ghalib was a resident of gali Qasim Jan in Balli Maran area of Old Delhi. For a quick confirmation, you may like to check with Wikipedia.
Aabid was keen on doing his doctorate on famed poet of Lucknow school of poetry, Insha Allah Khan “Insha”. This was a subject dear to Qazi Wadood too. In fact, Qazi had written a well acknowledged thesis on poet Insha that was considered a classic. And, he had no qualms about the quality of his vast research on Insha.
When Aabid sahib approached Qazi for guidance, little did he realise he was going to meet his Waterloo. Qazi was far more curt than Aabid could have inagined. “What more can you, or anyone, else, write about Insha that will add to our knowledge beyond what I have already published ? “, he asked Aabid. Of course, he was rough with Aabid.
But, Aabid was not perturbed ; he was completely focussed and incorrigible too. Thereafter, he spent almost 12 long years to complete his thesis on Insha. His thesis of about 1000 typed pages is lying with the University of Jammu, yet unpublished.
Insha Allah Khan Insha, was the bone of contention between Qazi and Aabid. What do we know about him ? Well, to begin with, insha wrote Darya-e-Latafat ( sea of elegance ), the first grammar of Urdu language. Besides Urdu, he was well versed in several languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Punjabi. He was so versatile, he composed poems in all these languages, with distinction.
Just like the trio of Josh Malihabadi-Qazi Abdul Wadood – Aabid Peshawari, Insha was reputed to be a quick witted and hot tempered personality. He was too willing to pay a price for his uncontrolled and unabashed dexterity with the spoken words. This is one quality both Aabid Peshawari and Qazi Abdul Wadood also possessed in abundance, along with profound knowledge of the language they loved.
There is a large number of poems written by Insha that are popular with the lovers of Urdu poetry. I recall one of his ghazals, written in a long meter :
Kamar baandhe hue chalne ko yaan sab yaar baithe hain /
Bahut aage Gaye, baaqi Jo hain tayyar baithe hain //
(Ready to depart, all folks are packed up for good /
Many have gone before, the rest are ready to move )
Na chhed aye nikhat-e-baad-e-bahari raah lag apni /
Tujhe athkheliaan sujhi hain, hum bezaar baithe hain //
( Don’t tease me, O, fragrance of the morning breeze !
You act so playful whilst I am bored to the bones )
The memorial meeting for Aabid sahib was the handiwork of Khurshid Kazmi, secretary of the Jammu chapter of the Anjuman. He is a person who likes to hold programmes related to Urdu language and her writers and poets, whether living or dead. Why does he do it ? If you suggest he does it for name, fame or importance in the he literary circles, you have missed the mark, I would say.
Khurshid is a soft spoken, self-retreating man. He speaks so softly, you have to make efforts to decipher what he is saying. He makes no claims to be a writer or poet, though he has published a book of the poems he wrote over a few years. Besides, he has also edited two books of Urdu prose as well.
He had started off with writing short stories. But his stories were not much appreciated by his friends, he informed without any hesitation. So, he turned to writing poems in Urdu. When friends confirmed his poems were better than his stories, he published his poems. He may not be a well known litterateur, but he is a great lover of good literature and gifted literary persons.
I met Khurshid Kazmi sometime in December 2022. He had come to invite us to the memorial programme for his ustad, famed Urdu poet Arsh Sehbai. He was instrumental in holding the event under the banner of Anjuman.
Last year also, the memorial event was held in collaboration with the Academy. I attended both the events. I would have rather loved to attend a celebratory gathering to greet and cheer Arsh Sehbai when he was still in our midst, and listen to his recitation.
Somehow, we as a society like to remember our heroes after they depart from the mortal world. No harm in doing so, except that the person remembered is not a witness to the esteem in which we hold him.
In a society where literary persons vie with each other to sit on the stage rather than the auditorium, Khurshid is happy to sit in the midst of the audience even when he is the main collaborator with the Academy. He is content to be a listener rather than a speaker. You have to pull him in for a group photo or to maje a speech.
As I sign off, I sincerely wish we start celebrating the living talents in our midst. Let us celebrate the birthdays, awards, successes of those who are hugely talented amongst us. Thereby, I don’t say we should forget the dead. Unfortunately, our priorities are misplaced.
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