|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shahryar’s world of words Shahira Naim chats up the poet, who has won the 44th Jnanpith Award
Waqt teri yeh ada main
aaj tak samjha nahin FAME rests easy on his shoulders, as Shahryar, in his own words, regrets not being able to change with the times. Leaving his native place of Chandera Sharif in Bulandshahr, Akhlaq Mohammad Khan, who was to be known as Shahryar, had come to Aligarh not to be associated with its literary luminaries teaching at Aligarh Muslim University and dominating Urdu poetry. In fact, he had come to play hockey as AMU then boasted of the best hockey team. Sitting in his rather cluttered two-bedroom flat on the Medical College road in Aligarh, the poet is surrounded by books, trophies, citations and photographs of his near and dear ones, including poets and literary giants like Moin Ahsan Jazbi and Khalilur Rahman Azmi, who took him under his wing.
Even after lyrics like ‘Dil cheez kya hai aap meri jaan lijeye’ in films like Umrao Jaan, Gaman and Anjumaan made him a household name, he refused to leave his academic job in Aligarh for the tinsel world of Mumbai that was beckoning him. "My father had told me that you may take a long time to know exactly what you want to do in life but you will know by instinct what you can’t do. I wanted money and fame but with dignity and self-respect. That is why I did not leave the secure teaching job and laidback lifestyle of Aligarh for the fast life of Mumbai. I knew that it was not my cup of tea. And in hindsight, I’m glad of my decision". Yet this son of a police inspector belonging to a Muslim Rajput family that had most family members serving either in the police or the Army honestly confesses of having no inborn passion for either literature or poetry. It was the company of his mentor, guide and teacher the famous Urdu poet Khalilur Rahman Azmi that forced him to take interest in literature. "By the time, I was doing my graduation I had started writing poetry and was being published in the leading literary journals. It was sheer chance that I had started writing at a time when the progressive movement was over the hill and I was considered one of the representative voices of a new kind of modernist writing". Talking of his creative process, Shaharyar says that his brief stint in Urdu journalism helped him master the art of editing that helped him chisel his poetry. No two poems happen in the same manner while one may come easily for the other one may struggle very hard. "There are many miscarriages before one successful delivery", is how he describes his creative process. Unlike the popular notion of a poet, he never writes after a drink. His first collection Ism-e-Azam appeared in 1965 and received raving reviews. Still not sure that his destiny was in Urdu poetry, he joined post-graduation in psychology and never went to watch a film in the matinee show as those were the hours dedicated to practicing hockey. But soon, he switched to taking a Master’s degree in Urdu and by the end of his course in 1966, he was already teaching in the department. "Somehow, I never taught poetry. My Ph. D was on ‘Significant trends of Urdu criticism in the 19th century’ and I taught literary criticism and would rate myself as an average academician," laughs Shahryar, while quoting a critic who had said that even Shakespeare was not qualified for a university job. But the turning point in his life came in 1978 when Muzaffar Ali decided to use his poems for his directorial debut called Gaman. The songs — ‘sine mein jalan, ankhon mein tufaan sa kyon hai `85’ and ‘ajeeb saaneha mujh par guzar gaya yaaro, main apne saaye se kal raat dar gaya yaaro’ remain popular to this day. "Muzaffar Ali was almost 10 years junior to me at the university but took my poetry very seriously", recalls Shahryar. In Muzaffar Ali’s words, Aligarh, I was inspired by Faiz and many other poets of his time. Shahryar, however, struck a new chord with his modern sensibilities. He made me think and open new vistas in my creative thought. I began to live life through his work. He made poetry come to life and touch an inner self. I did not want him to write for my first film Gaman as I felt poets should not be commissioned to write poetry. I felt it was too demeaning to do that. And I did not respect poets who had compromised in life." Ali had used two existing poems for this film. During the LP release of the Gaman’s songs in Mumbai, Ali told Shahryar that he wanted to make a film recapitulating the culture of Lucknow. Shahryar, who taught Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa’s literary gem Umrao Jaan in the Urdu syllabus at AMU, recommended the novel. According to Ali, Shahryar agreed to work on Umrao Jaan and along with him worked out a character graph of the courtesan-poet Umrao Jaan. Acknowledging Shahrayar’s contribution to the creative venture, Ali recalls, "Shahryar, Khaiyyam, Asha Bhosle and I made a beautiful team. He had begun to blend in with my vision of films, finding parallels in his poetry and sharpening it with its positioning in the screenplay and the predicament of the protagonist. Truly, this was an unusual relationship that has rarely happened in cinema". The joint creative venture won both critical and popular acclaim and a National Award for Rekha. The songs remain a classic till this date. But Shahryar has his own take on the success of the film. "I think what the film did was to make even non-Urdu-knowing readers sit up and read my poetry. All my books appeared in Devnagari scripts and have run into several additions. This curiosity about my poetry helped me gain immense popularity. This instant recognition helped me win the AMU staff association election and subsequently the executive council one and eventually a place in the university court", Shahryar recollects jokingly. In a lighter vein, he adds that his newfound charm gave him a VIP status through which he managed train reservations and even hospital treatment. "In AIIMS, I was treated like a star and given the best possible treatment by the doctors". By then, his 1969 book Satvan dar had been followed by Hijr ke mausam`A0 (1978). But soon after the success of his film, came his most celebrated work,`A0Khwab ke dar band hain in 1987 that won him the`A0Sahitya Akademi Award`A0in Urdu. Fourteen years after retiring from his teaching job, Shahryar refuses any academic work like reading papers at seminars, setting questions, taking viva voices or any such work. He only has time for his writing. "I occasionally take part in mushairas (poetry reading sessions) at my own terms. I demand a hefty fee and perks like airfare and good hospitality. If it had not been for these ‘mushairas,’ I would not have been able to see the world which includes visiting the USA five times and performing the umrah in Saudi Arabia thrice". More than content with what life has offered him, Shahryar humbly says that if his own effort had been taken into account, he would have been living in a cave. "God has been very kind. Not only awards and recognitions have come my way but my children are also doing well and are nicely settled. The eldest two are in Dubai — the son making money in investment finance and daughter as a doctor. The youngest — Faridun — is in Mumbai writing poetry and jingles for a company. He innocently tells me that ‘aap toh chaa gaye hain’," recounts the proud father with a glint in his eyes. When not globetrotting, he lives in Aligarh very much the kind of life he always wanted — reading, writing, meeting friends and spending evenings in the university club. Confident of the future of the Urdu language, Shahryar says its survival depends entirely on the will of its lovers. "When two Bangla-speaking people meet anywhere in the world, they automatically speak in Bangla. The day Urdu and Hindi-knowing people break out of their mental bondage and show the same love and respect for their language, its future would also be secure". Shikwa koi dariya ki
rawani se nahin hai This is Shaharyar
chalking out a different paradigm with his poems.
|
||
|
|
||
Admitting
to having no precise roadmap to his literary pursuit, Shahryar’s
74-year-long meandering journey has just bestowed him with the most
prestigious literary award in the country — the 44th Jnanpith Award
for his contribution to Urdu poetry.