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RISING
from the parapets of a mansion, I see a pale moon. Like
the mulla’s robe and the Baniya’s ledger book, like
the poor-man’s youth and the widow’s charm—It’s
all useless. What to do, O my saddened heart, tormented
heart. This is what loosely translated verse of Majaz
Lakhnavi mean when he says:
"Ek
mahal ki aad se, nikla wo peela mahtab,
jaise mulla
ka amama, jaise baniye ki kitab,
jaise muflis
ki jawani, jaise bewa ka shabab,
Ai ghame dil
kya karoon, ai vahashte dil kya karoon"
The Indian Postal
Department issued a stamp in memory of the legendary
Asrar-ul-Haq "Majaz" Lakhnavi in March 2008
while very recently they held a seminar in Chandigarh in
memory of this Urdu poet. |
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Majaz Lakhnavi had a place reserved in a pub in Hazrat Ganj in Lucknow where
people queued up to hear
his latest verses
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Very many
instances relating to the "poet of romance and
rebellion" were recalled at the seminar. Experts on him,
who had had the privilege of sharing some part of their life
with Majaz, recalled with nostalgia certain facts, which make
interesting reading.
Majaz slipped into
depression and had to be kept in a mental asylum twice.
His habit of
excessive drinking made his liver weak. People accuse him of
"choosing to move ahead with death in mind," due to
his habit of drinking, but many of his so-called friends
themselves offered him liquor, so that he could "recite
something new".
When Majaz used to
head towards the "pub" in Hazrat Ganj in Lucknow,
people used to line up to see the legendary poet and the
institution that he was.
Even girls used to
stop in those days to catch a glimpse of Majaz. They waited for
his turn to recite his poetry in mushairas. Some had even taken
a vow to name their sons after him.
He had his place
already "reserved" in the pub and no one else dared to
occupy the place meant for Majaz. Slowly, people surrounded him
and there would be a horde of fans encircling him . He would
then be requested to recite his creations.
Past midnight when
the "fun" would be over, Majaz would be left all by
himself. The rickshaw -pullers would then make a beeline to take
him home. His mother would always keep the rickshaw fare under
his pillow.
The seminarists
recalled that Majaz had never touched any girl in "andhera
aur ujala" and that the fascination he had was all for the
simple beauty in a woman. His memorable lines from Ek
Naujawan Khatoon Se say in abundant terms what the champions
of women empowerment would have loved to quote:
"Tere maathey
pe ye aanchal bahut hi khoob hai lekin,
Tu is aanchal ka
ik parcham bana leti to achha tha."
(The cloth that
covers your forehead makes you look charming yet; If you had
made a loftier flag out of it, then it surely would have been
more meaningful). Flag is a symbol of revolution and sovereignty
(of the self in this case).
Tarana
he wrote is still the anthem of Aligarh Muslim University. It
goes like this:
"Ye mera
chaman hai mera chaman, mein apne chaman ka bulbul hoo(n)
Sirshaare nigaahe
nargis hoon(n), paabasta-e-gesoo-e Sumbul hoo(n)"
(This is my
garden, my own garden. And I am its nightingale. Drunk am I on
the look of the narcissus beyond by the tresses of the "sumbul"
(Spikenard, hyacinth).
Majaz Lakhnavi’s
sister was the mother of Javed Akhtar. The latter liberally uses
his maternal uncle’s expressions in his own creations.
Asrar-ul-Haq died at the age of 44. |
