Bayān-e-Ghālib: From Ghazals to Stage, the Voyage Goes On
I have chronicled the journey of Bayān-e-Ghālib
before, most recently in the blog I penned following our Delhi performance (see
reference at the end). In the interest of brevity, I shall offer only a concise
recounting of those earlier reflections and swiftly turn to the events and
experiences that have unfolded since.
A sagacious senior once shared with me advice that became
an anchor in my life: while it is natural and noble to have dreams, four things
must precede them—your family, your friends, your health, and your spirit.
Departing from the chorus that urges youngsters to "chase their
dreams," he advised patience: nurture the fire of your dreams, let it
simmer, and wait for the right moment. When it comes, seize it with full
commitment, guided by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: "Dream is not what you
see in sleep but is the thing which doesn't let you sleep."
“Go wisely and slowly. They stumble that
run fast,”
Shakespeare warns through Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, reminding that
recklessly pursued dreams often falter. Patience is a lesson I have cherished.
Everyone has dreams. I have mine. I am a
railway engineer by profession but an untrained aficionado of Urdu and English
literature by passion. My heart beats for the cadence of Ghālib's ghazals and
Shakespeare's verses. Though lacking formal education in these arts, my love
has been unwavering. Ghālib’s letters, poignant and evocative, remain
celebrated as Urdu prose masterpieces.
One long-held dream was to juxtapose
their genius, comparing essence, imagery, and metaphors. After retiring, I
realized it in a book, Shakespeare and Ghālib: A Collation by
Their Self-styled Nephew (Amazon link in references at the end),
a labour of love. Yet dreams, like flames, ignite others.
No sooner had this been done than
another arose, playful and whimsical. I envisioned Ghālib and Shakespeare in a
tongue-in-cheek tête-à-tête, exchanging wit and wisdom on contemporary matters,
drawing upon their poetry, indulging in hypercorrection at times. This idea
blossomed into a series of humorous blogs and eventually into a book that would soon be published and I hope it would tickle minds and stir hearts alike.
Yet my most audacious dream was larger,
a spectacle. I imagined a unique ensemble, blending Ghālib's ghazals and
letters with recitation, narration, melodic singing, music, and Kathak dance,
bringing his works alive visually and audibly.
To realize this, I turned to Mr. Syed
Kabeer Ahmad, an accomplished Urdu scholar who had translated Ghālib’s
intricate ghazals into Hindi verse. He embraced the vision, crafting the script
by delving into Ghālib’s letters and weaving them with his poetry, creating a
tapestry of romance, pathos, humour, prosody, clever wordplay, and melody.
Next,
I turned to Lucknow, that luminous cradle of artistic brilliance. Dr. Kumkum
Dhar, a masterful Kathak exponent, and Dr. Prabha Srivastava, a ghazal singer
of mellifluous charm, graciously joined the endeavour, accompanied by a troupe
of dancers and musicians, together forming an ensemble that breathed life into
the vision. To weave the master’s ghazals into the intricate rhythms of Kathak
was a task demanding rare artistry, and Dr. Dhar, with consummate skill and
grace, rendered them in a performance both exquisite and spellbinding. The team was strengthened by Mr.
Gopal Sinha, a seasoned theatre professional and stage designer, and Mr.
Gynaesh Tiwari, a journalist friend overseeing the staging.
With this talent, the dream took shape,
a harmonious blend of music, dance, recitation, and narration, a tribute to
Ghālib’s legacy. Passion drove us, not commercial gain, and daily setbacks
tested us. Yet, inspired by Hamlet, “... If it be now, yet it will come—the
readiness is all...”, we
pressed on, driven by quiet passion to stir hearts and imaginations.
Finally, on 19 May 2024 in Lucknow, we
presented the show with my poet friend Mr. Chandrashekhar Varma as MC.
Air-conditioning failed, but spirits remained high. Sponsors Frontier Springs
Ltd. and Ved Sassomeccanica (India) Pvt. Ltd. supported generously, and I
contributed personally without hesitation. The audience’s warmth spurred us to
dream bigger (recording on YouTube referenced in the end).
Hyderabad followed, under Dr. L.S.
Patil’s gracious support. The show on 18 January 2025, with Zeeshan as MC, drew
extraordinary turnout and sustained applause, reaffirming Ghālib’s power to
touch hearts.
After enthralling packed houses in
Lucknow and Hyderabad, Team Bayān-e-Ghālib was thrilled to bring its
performance to the learned and discerning audience of Delhi, arguably the very
city that nurtured the exceptional spirit of the master and the one he cherished
more than life itself, followed by an encore in Lucknow.
While
shows in other metro cities are planned, the most recent performance was in
Jaipur, before another lively audience. This is how the show was introduced,
with me stepping into the master’s persona and speaking in his voice, drawing
attention to a truth often overlooked amid today’s contrived and laboured
interpretations of history:
“Esteemed
and gracious audience, history herself bears witness to the ancient,
affectionate, and dignified bonds that unite your magnificent city of Jaipur
with my own beloved Delhi. Of Raja Man Singh and Emperor Akbar much has been
spoken and widely remembered; yet few recall that even in the most ruinous and
impoverished days of Delhi’s emperors, the rulers of Jaipur never permitted the
least shadow of disrespect to fall upon them.
By every right of courtesy and
affection, it should have been my fortune to set foot upon the blessed soil of
Jaipur and offer my salutations in person. Alas, destiny chose otherwise, and
circumstance stood firmly against my desire. Deprived of that honour, I
therefore stand before you today not in body, but in spirit and remembrance, to
lay before you the chronicle of my life—its longings and losses, its follies
and faith, and those verses which alone have survived me.”
The
team led by Giriraj Maheshwari of National Engineering Industries Limited,
namely Somesh Sharma, Ravi Sharma, and Sunil Gupta, rose to the occasion with
rare grace and generosity. Their arrangements were meticulous, their
hospitality unstinting, and their attention to every detail left nothing
wanting. Though all of them are engineers to the core, and theatre was not
their familiar terrain, their sincerity, commitment, and infectious enthusiasm
more than bridged that gap. It is a debt of gratitude that Team Bayān-e-Ghālib
will carry with humility and affection. The officials of the Rajasthan
International Centre, our magnificent venue, extended invaluable support
throughout. The warmth of the audience, needless to say, matched their efforts,
and the show was received with resounding appreciation.
(The Jaipur show: L to R: Rinku Raj, Naman Singh, Niteesh Bharti, Zeeshan
Abbas, Gopal Sinha, Syed Kabeer Ahmad, Dr. Sudhanshu Mani, Kumkum Dhar, Prabha
Srivastava, Anushrita Ghosh, Roshny, Dr. Aditi Thapliyal, Shivangi
Barwal, Misha Singh, and Parthavi Rai)
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, the style of narration of Ghālib
stands unparalleled.)
This
aur
(different, special), this elusive sense of “otherness,” this
quality that is at once different and distinctive, is not easily defined, let
alone confined to neat explanation. The soul of Ghālib’s work resists
dissection. It shimmers somewhere between the everyday and the ineffable,
fusing the ordinary with the extraordinary in a manner that feels at once
intimate and infinite. To grasp this essence is no simple undertaking, yet it
is precisely this subtle and ungraspable magic that this production has dared
to place before its audience.
As
I pause to reflect upon this journey, the words of Shakespeare, spoken through
Prospero in The
Tempest, return to me with quiet insistence: “...We
are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a
sleep.” Our
lives, like a fragile circle, begin and end in darkness, and in the brief
interval between, it is dreams that give us shape, direction, and meaning. Yet
dreams attain their true splendour only when they break free of solitude, when
they step beyond imagination and begin to breathe within the lives of others.
In
retrospect, I find myself blessed beyond articulation. This was never merely my
dream. It was a shared voyage, a collective triumph shaped by devotion,
artistry, and the grace of collaboration. The spark that set this journey in
motion burns brighter still, refusing to dim. Even now, we look ahead with hope
and anticipation, exploring new cities and new audiences, carrying with us the
cadence of Ghālib’s words and the measured poetry of Kathak, so that their
combined magic may find fresh hearts and linger there.
The
journey now turns eastward, to Kolkata. The city holds a singular place in the
master’s life, brief in duration yet rich in resonance. Mirza Ghālib’s visit to
Kolkata, undertaken in pursuit of a pension from the British, left him deeply
impressed by the city’s intellectual ferment and vibrant modernity. His stay at
the historic house on Beadon Street, and the letters he penned there, witty,
perceptive, and at times ambivalent, capture a city poised between memory and
imagination, tradition and tomorrow. That legacy endures today in Mirza Ghālib
Street itself, a tribute Kolkata bears proudly, and one that even Delhi, alas,
cannot claim. This evocative chapter finds its place, if only in passing,
within the tapestry of our show.
Beyond
Kolkata lie other cities that beckon with promise and affection. Varanasi, so
dear to the master’s heart, awaits its turn, as do Mumbai and Bengaluru,
without question. Pune and Bhopal should follow close behind. The road ahead is
long, the cities many, and the spirit willing. For as long as words can move
hearts and music can stir memory, the show, indeed, must go on.
…
References:
Amazon link of the book titled ‘Shakespeare
and Ghālib: A Collation By Their Self-styled Nephew’
https://www.amazon.in/dp/9391465277
The first Ghālib
show on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN89oXuD6U4&t=964s)
Earlier blogs on the show
https://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-bayan-e-ghalib-show-master-returns.html
https://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-bayan-e-ghalib-show-encore-at.html
https://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-bayan-e-ghalib-show-kahte-hain-ki.html
Comments
Post a Comment