ANDAAZ – E – BAYAAN
Mirza Ghalib the famous 19th century Persian/urdu poet of India had the following to say regarding his poetry :
Hain aur bhee Duniya Mein Sukhanwar Bahut Achche
Kahte hain ki ‘Ghalib’ ka hai ‘Andaaz-e-Bayaan’ aur
( there are many good poets in the world, but it is said that the manner of expression of ‘Ghalib’ is different /unique)
Despite the self praise, indeed it is ‘Andaaz-e-Bayaan’ which is the root of the creative work . The manner of expression, style, composition, perspective, angle, approach, combination of words, formation of sentences, a certain newness is what matters. This of course does not imply lack of ideology and substance, for it is assumed that a writer/poet will speak for the society and its conflicts as Premchand aptly said in his address to the newly formed ‘Progressive writers’ association in the year 1935 that a writer has to be progressive because he cannot be otherwise.
A few days past I was reading a book on Al Pachino. It was an interview of his in many sittings. What struck me was his views /perspective on various subjects—Shakespeare, other artistes . When we read the interview of such stars the intent is to extract information on them which is not visible in cinema. However this interview was so very different and displayed his depth as a thinker . A thinking actor truly. It is not surprising that Larry King rates his interview with Al Pachino to be the best among the many he took during his stint.
Premchand stands out in the realm of manner and matter. Simple and brutally honest account. An ordinary reader may not decipher but after reading his biography by his son it emerges that the famous novelist, short story writer, editor of journal and newspaper could come out so honestly as all the struggles and conflicts which he depicted in writing he encountered in his personal life. His deep and sincere commitment to society provided him with a consciousness and courage in his short stories and novels. There was much to invent but it was an extension of the reality which he had seen. What makes these writers /artistes unique is their perception. They see the world from an angle which we readers/viewers are unable to perceive ourselves but marvel the same, and concur with their representation. We have seen it in the paintings of Picasso and Hussain in the plays of Shakespeare and Ibsen and in the performance of Brando and Amitabh. We cannot perceive their portrayal but we acknowledge it.
Amrita Pritam’s biography ‘Rasidi ticket’ gives us an insight to her life and ideology. It is filled with many happenings in her life , meetings with other artistes etc. As she expresses her opinion on the subject of ‘relationships’ her ‘ANDAAZ-E-BAYAAN’ is revealed to us which is distinct. Her honesty grips us. Her narration of the various incidents in her life is striking. Similar honesty and boldness I saw in the autobiography of Harvanshrai Bachhan.
These writers were true to their convictions and interpreted those circumstances in a manner so different than us. But when we read them we realize; yes; indeed this is the way it is. Why it did not strike us ? yes. It is true. These remarkable qualities in possession of the artistes makes them different and therefore---- ‘Andaaz-e-bayaan’.
Sadat Hassan Manto’s short stories are brilliantly written. He knows the art of compressing many incidents and images in a few sentences; yet making it interesting. Plenty of action occurs within a few hundred words. All his stories are from day to day life. Shocking and stark. He was charged for obscenity on four occasions during his short life of 43 years . Truth was obscene during the turbulent times he wrote. We were struggling for independence. The cleft created between Hindus and Muslims had deepened and lead to widespread atrocities and violence by both sides. He remained neutral in his narration of his stories of that phase. Probably the best story writer of that era claimed by both to be theirs. His stories reveal the ugly side of both the communities. He also wrote sketches on the hindi film personalities of the pre independence era through which the reader gets a ‘unique’ look of the developing film industry. I marvel his ‘Anddaz-e-Bayyan’.
