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The phenomenon of Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Demystifying the marvel of Faiz’s poetry |
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The declining sex ratio
On Record
Profile
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The phenomenon of Faiz Ahmed Faiz
On my part, I am inclined to recall the noble eloquence of his words – now suffused with pain, now astir with rebellious thought, but always kindled with hope – as they relate to the disquiet that fills our land and countless others like ours today: hangs over our heads like some ominous cloud. Long and sad years have passed since he wrote those words, but they ring true even today, as if they had been thrown “clear, beyond the reach of time”. He might have been writing in his own times about his own homeland, our troubled neighbour – zard patton ka ban jo mera des hai/ dard ki anjuman jo mera des hai”, roughly rendered, “the forest of yellowing leaves that my land is, this congregation of pain” – but one knows that yellowing leaves are beginning to fall everywhere, and there is a searing quality to the pain that continues to afflict multitudes. Faiz Sahib’s passionate love for his country – that bepanah mohabbat – managed always to shimmer through his writings, one knows. When he had to leave his country, pursued as he was by oppressive regimes, he was not only ceaselessly thinking of it but addressing words of love to it from his virtual exile. “Main jahan par bhi gaya arz-i watan”, as he said, wherever I was, carrying in my heart “the pain of disgrace that clings to your name”, but also “the burning desire to save your fair name”, teri ulfat, teri yaadon ki kasak saath gayi, terey naaranj shagoofon ki mahak saath gayi”: “your love, the barely suppressed ache of your memories, was always by my side; at no time did the fragrance of your blossoms leave me”. However, nothing had kept the feeling of great disenchantment, if not betrayal, from overcoming him, like countless others, when he saw what followed the coming of freedom to our lands, the overthrow of a foreign yoke. Subeh-i Azadi, the great poem he wrote in 1947, began with these pained but ringing words: “yeh daagh daagh ujaala, ye shab-gazeeda saher/ woh intezaar tha jiska yeh woh saher to nahin”: this dim, stained light, this morning that still bears the imprint of a dark night’s blows: surely this is not the morn that we had waited for all these long years. There is a long, long way to go, he said towards the end of the poem, after taking in and going over all that he found wanting, all that felt like betrayal. Abhi giraani-i shab mein kami nahin aayi/najaat-i dida-o dil ki ghari nahin aayi/ chale chalo ki woh manzil abhi nahin aayi”: the night is still heavy and oppressive, he says, its weight overpowering; neither eyes nor heart is free yet. What then? We have to keep moving, for the goal is far yet, very far’. Even in a ghazal, a form in which there is no central theme, Faiz Sahib would not let go of what was uppermost in his mind: the sense of oppression from which men suffered, the iron-fisted regimes that would not let people be nor do anything for them. To be able to catch the nuances, the exquisite flow of his words, is almost impossible to render in another language – translation, as T.S. Eliot said once, is like looking at the reverse of an embroidery – and yet one needs to try. Ravish ravish hai wohi intezaar ka mausam/nahin hai koi bhi mausam bahaar ka mausam. One could imagine that he is speaking of seasons, when one would sing of spring and celebration, but he clearly is not. In a voice almost choked with pain, he says that everyone, and everything, is waiting for something, someone; there is no season like spring anymore. The long wait has turned into a season by itself. Yahi junoon, yahi tauq-o daar ka mausam/yahi hai jabr yahi ikhtiyaar ka mausam, he continues. This is the season of stern madness, of fetters and crucifixion, but also one in which one has to hold oneself back, evidently in the hope that things will turn. And then, boldly, he addresses the oppressors: Qafas hai bas mein tumhaare, tumhaare bas mein nahin/ chaman mein aatish-i gul ke nikhaar ka mausam. Like a bird, natural denizen of a garden, he says to his captors: all that you have in your hands is a cage: that is as far as your command or control can go. But nothing, not even you, can keep the garden breaking into full blossom when the time will come. And so on. Of immediate and pervasive relevance to us, as to countless others – at least as I see it in the context in which I write – is his Hindi-ized, disarmingly simple but moving poem: Ab tum hi kaho kya karna hai? It is difficult to eschew the temptation of bringing it in here in its entirety to the extent that I can recall it. Two apparently unrelated, but causally joined, narratives as it were: Jab dukh ki nadiya mein ham nein/chandan ki naao daali thi/ tha kitna kas bal bahon mein/lohu mein kitni laali thi/ yoon lagtaa tha, do haath lage/ aur naao pooram paar gayi./ Aisa na hua, ki dhaare mein/ kuchh an-dekhi manjdhaarein thein/kuchh maanjhi the anjaan bahut/ kuchh an-parkhi patwaarein thein./ Ab jis par chaahe dosh dharo/ab jitni chaahe chhaan karo/ nadiyaa bhi wohi hai, naao wohi/ ab kaise paar utarna hai? The innocence of faith, the elegance of effort, the sandalwood boat, the encounter with eddies and whirlpools, the inadequacies of the oarsmen, are clearly all metaphors. Things went wrong, he says, but finding faults would be of little avail, for the river remains unchanged and the boat that we have is the same. What then is it that we have to do afresh? And then, suddenly, another narrative takes over. Is desh ki chhaati par ham-nein sadiyon ke ghaao dekhe they/ thaa vaidon par vishwas bahut aur yaad puraane nuskhey they/ yoon lagta thaa bas do din mein saari biptaa kat jaayegi./ Aisa na hua, ki woh ghaao kuchh itney dher puraane they/vaid unki teh ko paa na sake, aur totake sab bekaar gaye/ Ab jis par chaahe dosh dharo/ab jitni chaahe chhaan karo/ chhaati bhi wohi hai ghaao wahi, yeh ghaao kaise bharna hai?/Ab tum hi kaho kya karna hai? The wounds that this land of ours bore, centuries old; the innocent faith that all these can be healed; the trust that old remedies will work and the failure of those remedies; but the persistence of pain, those wounds, “eternally touched up and iodised but never healed”, as another poet said. Followed by the futility of inquiries and blaming, and the ringing question: since the body continues to be the same, and the wounds remain, where does one begin? What is it that we need to do? Matters of relevance to which a great poet drew our attention in his own gentle but needling
manner.
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Demystifying the marvel of Faiz’s poetry Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s (1911-1984) voice of rebellion and love transcends many boundaries — of language, time and space. On his birth centenary (Feb 13), colloquiums and seminars were held across the continent to demystify the marvel of his poetry.
The Urdu poetry of Faiz finds an echo in the hearts of the Naxalites of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh with the same intensity as it does with the rebels of Sindh and Baluchistan. If his ghazals and nazms have transcended the progressive writer’s context of the extreme left, ironically, they are embraced by the extreme right wing like Jamat-e-Islami, to the chagrin of his admirers. What amazes experts is that his poetry has charted its own path beyond the realm of any ‘ism’. It is people’s poetry that is growing beyond its print and form, like an oral tradition, sung extensively by star singers as well as by the anonymous commoners. Like Firaq Gorakhpuri, Faiz was a professor of English literature, but chose to voice people’s struggle, pain and joys in people’s language. As was his poetry, so was his life. There was never a moment of predictability or ennui in both. He was jailed, exiled, shifted from one place to another, one position to another. Yet, he never opted for a life of compromised comfort. Being a part and witnessing both of the turbulent history-in- making of his beloved country — Pakistan, only two things remained steadfast — his belief in the humanism of Marxism, and his poetry. Faiz was among those rare voices whose verses become part of a cosmic plan and turn prophetic. The waves of rebellion surging through the Arab world today reverberated in his verse decades back. Faiz was born in Sialkot — also the birth place of Allama Iqbal — his popular poetry is translated into over a dozen languages ( including Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Kannada). His well known anthologies — Naqsh-e-Faryadi, Dast-e-Sabah and Zindan-nama are translated in many languages of the world. Salima Hashmi, Faiz’s Lahore-based artist daughter, author of Unveiling the Visible: Lives and Works of Women Artists of Pakistan and co-author of Memory, Metaphor, Mutations: Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan, attempts to demystify the phenomenon called Faiz in a telephonic interview with The Tribune. Q: What was it like to be the daughter of a poet who was perpetually in exile? A: He was in exile for about five years, but he was mostly away; arrested for his political beliefs or because he needed a break. And, he was a much traveled man. In 1962, after General Ayub Khan came to power, it became stifling for him. He was worried for the family so he decided to migrate. I went with him to the USSR. After a month, we went to London. This was the year he was awarded Lenin Peace Prize by the USSR. My mother and sister followed us after selling the house my parents had lived in Lahore since 1947. This was our first brush with exile. I went to an art school in London where we lived in a small house. My father went away for a year and a half to explore Afro-Asian countries. He wanted to establish the Afro-Asian Writer’s Association. He had contacts in the Central Asia, but, this was not his life, so he returned to Pakistan in 1964, to Karachi this time, where he headed the Abdullah Haroon College, and worked for the orphanage attached to the college and the slums of the area. He got deeply involved with everything that he took up. In 1971, he moved to Islamabad, after Z.A. Bhutto came to power. He prepared the blueprint for the National Institute of Folk Heritage, the Pakistan National Council of Arts, the Academy of Letters and the National Theatre. He then drafted a cultural policy for Pakistan. During this period, Parliament passed an Act to give protection to all these institutions. He was the Editor of Pakistan Times and Imroz, an Urdu daily. He established trade union in Pakistan. In 1976, he created the Music Research Cell. It was his passion to collect all genres of classical music. He had many many careers. Even in exile he edited several magazines. Q: Could you say something about his life in Beirut? A: In 1977 when General Zia-ul-Haq came to power my father decided to leave on self-exile. He never stated the nature of exile. He did identify with the Palestinian’s state of exile, but those two and a half years were emotionally exhausting for him. He had friends in rebellious poets like Mehmood Darvesh, but Palestine did not have diaspora. Poetry was surging through him, but he did not have an audience. He needed a translator all the time which blocked the flow of his expression. Moreover, Palestine was going through a civil war, physically it took its toll. He returned in 1982, was home for a few months, then he had to leave for treatment abroad. After his return, he survived just a few months and passed away in 1984. Q: He used his time creatively in jail, reading and writing. Didn’t he? A: No, he had long periods of silence when he just observed the life pass by, doing nothing. Looking at a squirrel, tree, clouds, moonlight… for hours, weeks passed by and he would not write a single poem. His long letters written to my mother Alys are very revealing of this state. He took to gardening in Sahiwal jail and created a garden in wilderness. I visited it just a few days back, it was a choking moment for me. Pandit Motilal Nehru was also imprisoned in that jail. It was known as Montgomeri jail, then. Q: His poetry is deeply profound, it also carries fire of a rebel’s heart. How was he to you, as father? A: In his person, his demeanor, he was extremely calm and humorous, his emotional depth was that of an ocean — calm and generous. He had an extreme capacity to dispense love, free of any kind of reservation. He never responded to his critics, he just took a puff of cigarette and smiled. His rebellion was a passion, an internal matter, it was never used for swinging speeches, it was internalised and reserved for poetry; which was potent and constant. Q: He visited Preetnagar (Amritsar district) and was influenced by the idea of an exclusive town for artists and writers. Did he ever wish to replicate it in Pakistan? A: He was never given that kind of time in his life, he was always caught- up. And he never had that kind of resources to work on such a project. Q: Was the rebel in him alive till his last days? A: Just a night before he passed away, he visited his village Kala Kader in Sialkot and the village of his mother. He was very nostalgic and sad. He reminisced a lot and told us we don’t know how people live in villages in Pakistan. He wanted all of us to go with him to his village and do something about it. Kala Kader was the last thing on his mind.
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The declining sex ratio
THE data released recently by the Director General Health Services, Haryana, paints a grim picture. An unfathomable ignominy is reflected by the figures. Of the 6.5 lakh registered pregnancies in the state in 2009, only 5.39 lakh delivered baby. In the prevailing social environment, surely, a logical contemplation would imply that a large number of missing pregnancies may have been terminated for the desire to have a male child. The consequences are perceptible, 17 out of 21 districts in the state (till October 2010) experienced substantial decline in sex ratio at the time of birth in comparison to 2009 figures. This parameter of gender discrimination has shown an alarming declining trend during the last two years. During the current year, there were 838 girls born in comparison to 1000 boys. A cursory look at the worst performing districts — Rewari, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Faridabad and Jhajjar — would suffice to conclude that female foeticide and gender discrimination continue to be rampant all across geographical and cultural precincts in the state. The statistics provided by National family Health Survey – III also clearly show that the ill-effects of gender discrimination are gripping the state. It reveals that in Haryana 42 per cent (0-3 age group) children are under weight, 27 per cent women have body mass index below normal and 56.5 per cent ever married women are anaemic. A recent survey conducted by the state government under the Indira Bal Sawasthya Yojana revealed that about 64 per cent (6-11 age group) children are anaemic. Worse, the magnitude of the indicators of poor health of women and children has swollen over the period of time. The state also does not provide a safe and secure living space to women either. The Tata Strategic Management Group based on the data on gender ratio and crime against women (National Crime Bureau, 2006 and 2007) has computed female security index (FSI) for all districts in the country. Not surprisingly, 17 out of 21 districts in Haryana have been rated among the worst FSI districts of India. Among the other districts, three fell in the category of bad and only one district provided average security to women. The social security for women has also thinned down substantially in the wake of increasing incidence of gruesome murders of young women and men in the name of family or clan ‘honour’. The women, who dared not to follow the socially acceptable behaviour, perceived to have lost their chastity or displayed courage to choose their life partners in contravention of the reigning social order have to bear the brunt in the form of violence, coercion and killing. There are numerous examples in the state where the medieval mindset of the people and its corollary institutions like the khap panchayats has directly or indirectly precipitated situations leading to the cold blooded murder of young women and men for defying the assumed sacrosanct and age-old established value system. Successive governments in the state led by different political parties have rarely responded politically to the grievous social issues. They have often taken them as administrative challenges and responded by launching various social welfare schemes through the state administration. Some of these schemes launched in recent years may have caught the imagination of people as well, particularly in the districts headed by socially committed and conscious officers. But the empty and hollow slogans for saving girl child like, chhori nahin bachaoge to bahu kahan se laoge (if you would not save the girl child, where would you bring the bride from?) merely reflect the poverty of thought behind the much-hyped social schemes. Such appeals and slogans clearly reflect a sexist and chauvinist overtone and give an impression that the girl child must be saved to serve the male-dominated society. The schema of social development hardly figures in the political agenda of main political parties in Haryana. This is a disturbing trend in a state where the level of social development is lower than most of sub-Saharan countries. Ironically, even in the 21st century, the dominant political view perceives and justifies the Haryana society being governed by the conventions of patriarchy – a system of social structure and practices that values male gender roles and devalues female gender roles. It declines to visualise that the perpetuation and accentuation of gender prejudice in modern human society amounts to social degradation. The political parties in the state with the lone exception of the left have displayed opportunism while confronting social issues emanating from reigning social order. They often take shelter behind the social traditions and values. It has been reflected through the public debate on the issues of amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to ban same-gotra and same-village marriages and enactment of laws on honour killings in the state in 2010. The main Opposition party, the Indian National Lok Dal, has openly advocated the amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to appease the vast majority of rural masses engrossed in caste and sub-caste nostalgia. The present ruling party in the state, the Congress, continues dithering on the issue of amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act. The Congress does not favour enactment of legislation on honour killings either. This despite the fact that during the recent period the state has been the epicentre of the spate of brutal killings of youth for the so-called prestige of castes or clans. There is an organic link between the continuing social underdevelopment and the nature of political discourse in the state. Despite taking a leap economically, the state remains socially backward as its ruling elites are keeping aloft the medieval social ethos and their functional forum, khap panchayats, to maintain their political
hegemony.
The writer is Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra,
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On Record Since its establishment in early twentieth century, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has undertaken extensive field explorations linked to faunal surveys in different parts of the country.
The ZSI Director, Dr A.K. Sanyal, who was in Dehradun to attend the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the ZSI, held an interaction with The Tribune elaborating at length on the mandate of the ZSI and its achievements in recent years. Excerpts: Q: What is the Zoological Survey of India’s immediate plans to further enhance its working ability? A: In a major decision, the ZSI has proposed setting up DNA finger printing laboratories along with DNA sequencers in as many as five ZSI centres across the country. DNA fingerprinting has been identified as most sensitive and reliable means available for specific identification of animals and plants as it enables to clearly distinguish individuals in highly inbred stocks as well as elucidating the variations in natural populations. Currently, we are maintaining a cytotaxonomy laboratory. DNA finger printing laboratories will further strengthen our working and would fulfill our long-standing requirement of such laboratories. Q: Shortage of scientists poses a major challenge for research institutions in the country and the ZSI, too, is no exception. How are you coping with these vacancies? A: There are, certainly, a number of vacant posts with the ZSI. In the last three years, we have recruited as many as 50 scientists. We are gradually strengthening the staff and expanding the research programme. Certainly, scientists stand as the backbone for its effective implementation. However, the department has never lacked in constant succession of zoologists. Q: The Dehradun Regional Station stands as one of the important offices of the ZSI. What new responsibilities do you propose to entrust on this office? A: This station holds much significance and we propose starting Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) studies projects from the Dehradun office. With lot of many hydro and other projects coming up in Uttarakhand and surrounding areas, EIA studies hold much importance for the Dehradun centre. The ZSI’s other centres are already undertaking EIA studies with special reference to ecology and wildlife and provide necessary services to assess possible impact and also on mitigating measures. Q: What more new technologies you are taking to enhance your research works? A: We have already taken to Geographical Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS). These techniques are identified as one of the most important methods for the study of ecosystem and its faunal composition. We also propose to establish and develop a centre for GIS as this would help collection and analysis of data and further supplement it with that collected on ground for bringing out an integrated picture on faunal diversity of various ecosystems. Q: What about sensitising the masses vis-à-vis the zoological wealth of the country, its importance both on identification and conservation point of view? A: Yes, certainly, sensitising masses on country’s zoology is all important and we have also succeeded to a big extent on this front too. There is an increasing interest in matters pertaining to animal life on the part of the general public. Constant stream of enquiries continue to pour in at our offices, reflecting public confidence in the ZSI.
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Profile THIS is perhaps for the first time that a pharmacist has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan. A pioneer in pharmaceutical research in India and founder-chairman of Dr Reddy’s group of companies, Dr K. Anji Reddy has been decorated with this year’s Padma Bhushan award.
This is perhaps for the first time that a pharmacist has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan. A pioneer in pharmaceutical research in India and founder-chairman of Dr Reddy’s group of companies, Dr K. Anji Reddy has been decorated with this year’s Padma Bhushan award. His achievements have been spectacular indeed. He founded in 1984 Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and soon the company established new benchmarks in Indian pharmaceutical industry. Dr Reddy’s laboratories transformed Indian bulk drug industry from import-dependent in mid-80s to self-reliant in mid-90s and finally into an export-oriented industry. In 1993, Dr Reddy’s company became the first to take up drug discovery research in India. In April 2001, it became the first non-Japanese Asian pharmaceutical company to list on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). By the end of fiscal year 2005, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was India’s second largest pharmaceutical company and the youngest among its peer group. Dr Reddy, who has come to be known as ‘chemistry’s child’, went on to make newer drugs, the important one being Narfloxacin. It is an anti-bacterial drug which created uproar in the pharma market and positioned his company high for all times. The drug, according to Dr Reddy, was much better than the versions of Ranbaxy and Cipla. He was quoted as saying that the two companies that were then the Indian pharmaceutical leaders, priced their products at Rs 8 while his company made the same drug at half the price making it affordable to all. The passion of making newer drugs continued and Dr Reddy moved on to make a blood pressure drug, an anti-hypertensive and priced it at Rs 1.20 while Merck was selling the same medicine at Rs 60! With a series of brilliant compounds and affordable pricing, Dr Reddy’s Labs found its foothold as a strong pharmaceutical company. Twenty years later, the company has become India’s number one pharmaceutical player. The other drug Dr Reddy pioneered is Ciprofloxacin. His company remained the only producer in the country for four years without any competitors. He has been quoted as saying “I made a lot of profit during that time. I gave one bonus share for every two shares. The second year I increased it to one bonus share for every share and the third year, I gave two bonus shares. That is how I became the darling of the stock market in 1993”. Dr Reddy’s company experienced a blazing growth rate from Rs 500 crore in 1999 to Rs 7,000 crore in 2009. “What kept us ahead of some of our competitors was having our own brands,” says Dr Reddy. Dr Reddy is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. He spends more than half of his time on philanthropic activities. And it is not just time that he invests. He has been spending a bulk of his earnings to fund initiatives to alleviate hunger, create livelihoods, provide education and access to safe drinking water and pull back children from hazardous industries through his not-for-profit organisation — the Naandi Foundation. It is with this perspective that he founded Dr Reddy’s Foundation in 1996 to pursue causes close to his heart. The Foundation is particularly active in the field of creating livelihoods. Its initiative, called the Livelihood Advancement Business School of Labs, has so far trained over 130,000 youngsters with skills suited for entry level jobs in sectors such as hospitality and customer relations. Dr Reddy has committed a huge amount of fund for over 10 years that will make the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute self-sustaining. The Institute does a lot of free and subsidised eye treatment. Dr Reddy spent his early life in Tadepalli village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. His father was a peasant and grew turmeric. After completing his schooling from the local high school, he pursued his graduation in science in 1958 from the A.C. College in Guntur city. He later pursued B.Sc in Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals from the Bombay University. Thereafter, he obtained a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. |
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HOW, one wonders, does one celebrate a great poet in his centenary year? Especially someone like Faiz Ahmed Faiz to whose work there are many aspects: subtle and complex, beguiling plain and mystifying at the same time.
