Firaq Gorakhpuri ( 28 Aug 1896-03 Mar 1982)
Firaq
Gorakhpuri born Raghupati Sahai on 28 Aug 1896 was perhaps among the greatest
Urdu poets of the 20th Century! His personality was also as great as
his poetic works . Scholar , intellectual of a very high order ,voracious
reader of wide subjects , keen observer
of society and world affairs . An animated and engaging conversationalist all life. Honoured with Gyanpeeth Award, Sahitya
Academy Award and Padma Bhushan.
A much awarded student for his academic
brilliance he was among the toppers of
the Post graduate examinations of the state and as per the policy of that time he was appointed Deputy Collector of a
District ! However the freedom struggle movement under Gandhiji was engulfing
the nation and after about one and half year in job he resigned and joined the
non -cooperation movement, was jailed
for a year and half , during this time he came into contact with Jawaharlal
Nehru and helped him in his secretarial duties . However when his father died suddenly and elder brother also passed away the entire
burden of the family fell on him and took job as Lecturer of English Literature
at university of Allahabad and remained in the Bank road house of the campus
life long, till 03 March 1982. He had attained status of a legend in his life
time and his admirers from all over the country would visit him and various
stories and myths have remained in circulation .
Unfortunately, in his case the stories surrounding him
have taken precedence over his work and therefore the depth , range and beauty
of his creative genius have not reached the people to whom he belongs.
Firaq was essentially a ‘Poet Of Gazals’ however his
other forms such as ‘Nazams’, ‘Rubaiyan’
are equally relevant and impactful . What makes Firaq great ? Well ! the
first is the large body of work and wide canvas of ideas and images! It is
learnt that he wrote about 630 Gazals and his ‘gazals’ are long , some are
having even 50 ‘shers’ ( couplet)
therefore it is estimated that he wrote about 8000 ‘shers’ . And hardly
any of his ‘sher’ could be called light or casual! His ‘Rubaiyan’ more than 300
are immersed in images of Indian life with women in the centre . The long
‘Nazams’ he wrote are testimony to the fine vision he possessed . among them
‘Hindola’ , ‘Aadhi Raat’, ‘Parchaiyan’ ‘ Shame Ayadat’ are very popular. His
Hindi poetry collection titled ‘Dharti Karwat legi’ possess his revolutionary
ideas! In addition there are his essays
‘A Garden of Essays’ which contains short essays on various
subjects-‘Importance of Prose’ , ‘My favourite Book’ ,’ Our Education Policy’ ,
‘Beauty is Truth , Truth Beauty’ . These convey his ideology about life and
other subjects and help in understanding his poetry better .
What is remarkable is that the ‘meter’ of his ‘gazals’
is not the same and he wrote these verses in variety of meters which gives
novelty and varied rhythms. However what marks Firaq and his poetry is the
inherent music in it ; Lyricism of Firaq is supreme and he had great sense of
music and rhythm which the Urdu language offered him. His poetry can be
sung like the poetry of Shelly!
The subjects and themes which he presented in his ‘gazals’
and ‘nazams’ are indeed a bouquet of
beautiful flowers – beauty of women , beauty of nature , loneliness, social
issues, philosophy of life, pain of a poet, subtlety of contradiction ! His
vast knowledge of other languages and its literature provided him a broad
perspective . He was well versed in Sanskrit, Hindi , Persian and English .
Being professor of English Literature where he taught poetry gave him another
dimension . His favourite Urdu poet was Meer whom he calls ‘Khuda e Sukhan’ (
God of Poetrty). Wordsworth , Tennyson . Milton he admired and since he taught
the Romantic Poets he would devote extended time to Wordsworth ! Like him he
too was attracted to nature . Firaq would be mesmerised by presence of a flower or a plant , the farmers
tending to vegetables in the village fields held his attention for prolonged durations! Certain images
which he created were new in the Urdu word and he was hailed for it – ‘Gango
Jaman’, ;’Nal Daman’ ( a story from Mahabharat) , ‘Radha Krishna’, ‘Samudra
Mantha’ ‘Ram- Sita’ etc . He was perhaps the first Urdu poet who introduced
references to Hindu Mythology in his poetry. He is credited of giving ‘Nai
Awaaz’ ( New Voice) to Urdu poetry.
Some examples of his variety and subjects are worthy
of mention here.
Contradiction
‘Ek Muddat se
teri Yaad bhi aayi na hamen
Aur hum bhool
gayen hon tujhe aisa bhi nahin’
( It is for some time that I have not
remembered you
And yet I cannot say that I have forgotten you
)
It is indeed true that we may
not remember a dear one for some time but that person is never erased from our memory, and yet the couplet seems contradictory!
wherein lies its beauty!
‘ Ye Raat Aag
lagade Kahin na Duniya mein
Ye Chandni ,
Ye Hawayen , Ye Mehtab ki Aanch ‘
( This
night somewhere not burn this world
This moon , This wind , These
flames of the Moon!)
Now there is an apparent
contradiction in the above couplet. The ‘Moon’ is known to cool things , it is
a soothing agent and yet for a lover
longing in his desire to meet his lover this moon acts opposite! The
lonely lover ‘burns’ alone in his desires for her!
Beauty( Husn)
‘Meri har
gazal ko ye Aarzoo , tujhe saj saja ke nikaliye
Meri fikr ho
tera aayina , mere nagme hon , tere perhan ‘
( It is the desire of each of
my couplet to present you well decorated
My worry /problems should be
your mirror , my songs be your gown /attire/clothing )
Now here the poet says that
she is the subject of his ‘Gazals, and it is his desire to present her
beautifully . Her face should reflect him and his worries and that his songs
are in praise of her complete personality!
Rubaiyan
‘Dhalka Aanchal , damakte sine pe alak
Palkon ki ot
muskarahat ki Jhalak
Vo mathe ki
kehkasan , vo moti bhari maang
Vo godi mein
chand sa humakta hua balak’
( head covered , necklace on
the shining chest,
Corner of her eyelids faint
view of her smile
That broad forehead ,
those pearl beads in between her hair
That child in her arms
humming! )
For Firaq the ultimate
happiness and pure beauty was woman and
child. A beautiful wife !
On Revolution
‘Dekh Raftar
-e -Inquilab ‘Firaq’
Kitni aahista
aur Kitni Tez ‘
( See the speed of Revolution Firaq!
So Slow and so Fast)
Here we get an example of ‘contradiction’
. How can something be so slow and yet so fast at the same time! And yet it
conveys that the ‘revolution may appear to move ahead slowly’ but it is wide
spread and deep and may surprise one day! ‘Still Waters run deep’ .
On personal
conduct
‘Jab Tak
Unchi nah o Zameer ki Lao
Aankh Ko
Roshni Nahin Milti ‘
( Unless your conscious is
pure
Your eyes will not have vision
)
True , that vision and
perspective of life one attains with pure heart only!
On Formation
Of Hindustan
‘ Sarzamine
-Hind par Akvame Alam ke Firaq
Kafile baste
gaye Hindustan Banta Gaya’
( On the soil of Hindustan
many communities of the world ‘Firaq’
The Caravans settled and Hindustan was formed)
This is a very profound
statement and often quoted by scholars . Basically it says that India is a
Nation of many ancient and recent immigrants!
On Lament and
Self Praise
‘Ye Udaas
Udaas Bujhi Bujhi , Koi Zindagi hai Firaq Ki
Magar Aaj
Kishte – Sukhanwari , Hai Usi Ke Dam Se Chaman Chaman ‘ (
What life is this ‘Firaq’ so sad and so
dark
But the fields of Poetry are blooming in each garden
on his strength only! )
Now this is an example of self pity and lament and yet
self praise !
True the poet suffered to give us these beautiful
moments and he needs to be remembered and celebrated . He fell victim to the
communal divide . The Hindus thought that he
was writing in a language of the foreigners and the Muslims thought that how this Hindu
could write so well in their Language .
He perhaps would have been world famous like ‘Rumi’ had he been a
Muslim! But we must realize that a poet has no religion and that Urdu is an
Indian Language .
On his birth anniversary we may resolve to publish his entire works through ‘Rashtriya
Sahitya Academy’ . Doordarshan and All India Radio may consider
commissioning renowned Gazal singers to
record his ‘Gazals’ and bring them to public domain so
that he lives forever!
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