Sprinkle Some Ghālib Magic: Elevate Your Eloquence

 Sprinkle Some Ghālib Magic: Elevate Your Eloquence

Much like the bard whose influence on the English language resonates through phrases, idioms, and words created by him, Ghālib's impact is profound, albeit not easily discernible. Ghālib pioneered an entire genre of poetry and a distinctive prose style, yet attributing the invention of idioms and phrases directly to him proves challenging. Undeniably, in the early phases of his poetic journey, his writing style remained enigmatic to many. Reflecting on his own craft, he would express it by saying:

 

Mushkil hai zabas kalaam mera ai dil

sun sun ke use sukhanwaraan-e-kaamil

Aasāñ kahne kī karte haiñ farmāyish

goyam mushkil vagarna goyam mushkil

 

(zabas: plentiful, a lot, sukhanwaraan-e-kaamil: complete, perfect poets, farmāyish: request, goyam mushkil vagarna goyam mushkil: saying it is difficult but not saying is also difficult.  O heart, my creations are indeed not very easy to comprehend. When they hear my work, competent poets tell me that I should write something easier. I have to write what is difficult, otherwise it is difficult to write, or writing is difficult as people do not understand but if I do not write, that is also difficult.)

 

Conversely, Ghālib's poetry endures, effortlessly surfacing in our conversations, springing forth unexpectedly in our daily encounters. Countless misra.as (one line of a couplet) from his ghazals have found utility far beyond their original intent. These exquisite lines have become commonplace, detached from their intricate prosody, veiled idioms, ironies, paradoxes, wordplay, extravagant yet remarkably imaginative metaphors, vivid imagery, mysticism, and the profound concept of Sufi vahdat-ul-vujuud (the unity of existence, portraying all beings as manifestations of the divine). It is akin to the divine essence assuming popularity through its earthly embodiment, blending literal meanings with apparent metaphors.

 

One pointer about Ghālib for those who are not very conversant with his poetry. Ghālib has become such a giant in the field of Urdu poetry that he is naturally open to wide-ranging misuse, mostly in terms of wrong attribution and misquotes. Occasionally, some friends forward to me all kinds of pedestrian shā.iri, understandably attributed to Ghālib out of plain ignorance. For example, the web is full of this tripe misattributed to Ghālib, “Khudā kī mohabbat ko fanā kaun karegā, sabhī bande nek hoñ to gunāh kaun karegā.” Or, somewhat better, “Ghālib (Zāhid) sharāb piine de masjid meñ baiTh kar, yā vo jagah batā de jahāñ par ḳhudā na ho”.

 

Why is it so difficult for people to appreciate that poetry is about showing, not saying? On being advised about the fake, many of these senders do not like it. They respond with that inevitable question, “Sher to achchā hai. Kaise patā lage ki Ghālib kā likhā hai yā nahīñ?” (The sher looked good. How to ascertain if a sher is indeed written by Ghālib?) My stock reply, tongue in cheek, “Bahut aasān sirjī. Agar aap ki samajh meñ aa gayā hai to samajh jaa.iye ki Ghālib ka nahīñ hai.”(Very easy, sir. If you are able to understand it, rest assured that it cannot be Ghālib.)

 

Regrettably, Ghālib's illustrious takhallus (pen name) often gets diluted amid a sea of triviality. Yet, beneath this sacrilege lies the undeniable truth: Ghālib's stature is such that his takhallus has transcended into a generic nom de plume for poets, encompassing a wide spectrum from sublime poetry to mundane street rhetoric and balderdash.

 

Haiñ aur bhī duniyā meñ suḳhan-var bahut achchhe

kahte haiñ ki Ghālib kā hai andāz-e-bayāñ aur

(suḳhan-var: eloquent poet, andāz-e-bayāñ: style of narration. Although there be in this world many great poets but the style of narration of Ghālib stands unparalleled.)

 

I cite this sher to try to decipher this ‘aur’ (something extra, something beyond) within his poetry. For scholars and erudite minds, there exists an extensive aur, yet for an everyday ordinary admirer of poetry like myself? There is also plenty. His verses resemble a treasure, a gift enriching our everyday language, capable of infusing it with a depth which can range from practically felicitous to superbly transcendental. I am no one to perch upon a lofty pedestal, attempting to unravel the intricacies of Ghālib's poetry from my modest pulpit but simply to render it more accessible and relatable. So, for this purpose, I did a thing. I wrote a book titled "Shakespeare and Ghālib, a collation by their self-styled nephew” arrogating to myself the status of a nephew to Chachā (uncle) Ghālib & great uncle Shakespeare.  The book was published in December last year.

 

Available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.in/dp/9391465277

 

I did have a scholar buddy glance at the draft of the book. Smart move, he didn't critique it. Instead, he hinted that less erudite readers might actually find some sense in it. His additional advice? Spice it up and turn those poetic intricacies into a hilarious spoof! So I started writing occasional blogs of poetic pow wows and shenanigans of the two greats. Now, as the first book sails on, rather unexpectedly, I am now trying to dish out this series of literary spoofs cleverly disguised as a book. It is my attempt to nudge fellow poetry lovers into a chuckle, with a clear warning for scholars to stay away—no offence intended! Dissecting their genius is indeed like decoding ancient hieroglyphs without a guidebook but I have tried my best. However, any engagement with scholars is for the esoteric, not the ordinary.

 

I presented some examples in chapter 3 of the first book with a view to encouraging the readers to use these misra.as (lines of couplets) in appropriate situations and see for themselves how appealing and elegant their discourse can become. You can actually assume some Ghālibiat like, as he said, “andāz-e-gul-afshānī-e-guftār” (the style of spreading flowers as you speak). The list is endless and that in the book is also long, so I had extracted only some, with caveat that the lines which have found colloquial or even written usage are in bold. Meanings of only tough words were given merely to follow the perspective; the usage may have been distorted, or made light-hearted; no attempt to go into any deep interpretation here, only the context in which it can be used effectively today. A short extrct from this chapter will be carried in the fresh book too. I present here some examples, all from two of his famous ghazals:

 

Bāzīcha-e-atfāl hai duniyā mire aage

hotā hai shab-o-roz tamāshā mire aage

(bāzīcha-e-atfāl: children’s play, shab-o-roz: night and day, tamasha: spectacle. The second misra.a is spoken by someone who is running down any goings-on which they do not like.)

 

Mat pūchh ki kyā haal hai merā tire pīchhe

tū dekh ki kyā rañg hai terā mire aage.

(Used for deriding someone who is embarrassed face-to-face due to some wrongdoing.) 

Phir dekhiye andāz-e-gul-afshānī-e-guftār

rakh de koī paimāna-e-sahbā mire aage

(gul-afshānī-e-guftār: flowery style of conversation, sahbā:wine. A grandiose statement about one’s good ability to articulate.

Aashiq huuñ pa māshūq-farebī hai mirā kaam

Majnūñ ko burā kahtī hai lailā mire aage

(māshūq-farebī: bluffing the beloved. Can be used claiming oneself to be a deft and slick operator.

 

Ghair leñ mahfil meñ bose jaam ke

ham raheñ yuuñ tishna-lab paiġhām ke

(bose; kisses, tishna-lab; thirsty, deprived, paiġhām: message, contextually of love. Recalled in disappointment when undeserving people get rewards and deserving ones wait for favours.

Ishq ne Ghālib nikammā kar diyā

varna ham bhī aadmī the kaam ke

(A favourite one in part or in full to express that one was once a force to reckon with.)

 

While this book may take some months before publication, I give the link of some select blog posts from the series, with a collage of the covers of these blogs:

On Nitish Kumar:

http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2024/01/nitish-kumar-and-his-incredible.html

 

On Indian economy and population:

http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2023/12/india-overtakes-uk-and-china-lively.html

 

On Trudeau:

http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2023/10/justin-trudeau-is-not-mere-joker-he-is.html

 

On some bizarre Air India incidents:

http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2023/01/to-pee-or-not-to-pee-that-is-not.html

 

Full disclosure, folks: All my writings might have a few "oopsies." But you know what? I'm slathering on a heavy dose of tongue-in-cheek attitude to smooth-talk my way out of any scholarly side-eye. Ciao!

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