Urdu Book Review
Poet of protest

Naghma-e-Ehsaas 
by Maikash Ambalvi
Educational Publishing House. Pages: 148. Rs. 125

Reviewed by Amar Nath Wadehra

(The clouds wept and asked me why in this sawan am I forlorn in my nest, lonely with my feelings)

Life has variegated influences on a poet’s worldview and, hence, his work. During youth, his take on various issues is exuberant and optimistic. With the passage of time, his insights acquire greater depth lending gravitas to his work. This is true of Maikash Ambalvi, who, way back in the early mid-1950s, was a member of a group of dedicated Urdu writers and poets in Jodhpur — that included such accomplished litterateurs as Mahmood-ul-Hassan Paras Jodhpuri and Khurshid Ahmed Sahar Jaipuri — of which I, too, was a part, albeit less as a wordsmith and more as a listener. Even back then, he was essentially a sensitive and reflective soul.

This collection conveys the distance Ambalvi has travelled over the decades; the initial rose-tinted golden hues have taken on more sober and, frequently, darker shades. His carefree laughter and lighthearted grin has now given way to a smile with myriad meanings tempered with pain and deep introspection; as he says in one of his ghazals, "Dukh kay aansoo dariya dariya/ sukh kee yadein shabnam shabnam (tears of pain are like rivers while happy memories are like dewdrops)".

Not that he cowers in the face of vicissitudinous life, "Majboori-e-hayaat say jab vaasta pada/ yeh mera haunsla tha ki main muskura pada (When I experienced helplessness in life it was my fortitude that enabled me to smile)". He casts a sardonic eye at society at large, "Dikhavey ka zamaana hai vazadaari zyaada hai/ mohabbat kamm logoen mein adakaari zyaada hai (There is more pretence than essence, less love and more affectation)"; he also comments on the ways of the world, in which he finds himself an odd man out, "Logoen ko iss jahaan mein khuda kee talaash hai/ hum ko talaash hai kay koyee aadmi milay (While people are in search of God, I am looking for a human being)".

Indeed, life teaches us many lessons. One learns to sort out the emotional aspect and look at things in a more pragmatic manner in order to remain connected with the society, hence, "Jaisey ho doston say nibhatay chaley chalo/ kho dogay doston ko agar aazmaogay (Persevere with your friends whichever way you can, if you test them, you lose them)".

His sympathy for the strugglers in life, especially the toiling masses, comes through in these quatrains, "Haalaat kay chehray pay thakan ho jaisay/ dukhta hua her shai ka badan ho jaisay/ yeh teera-o-khamosh fazayein Maikash/ mahaul mein sadiyon say ghutan ho jaisay (As if the circumstances have got tired and everything is in pain, these silent and convoluted winds indicate that for centuries the atmosphere has remained asphyxiated)"; and, "Haalaat kee aandhi kee udaano mein rahey/ haan bey-dar-o-deewar thikaano mein rahey/memarey-watan mulk kay mazdoor awaam/ ikk umr hee tareek makaano mein rahey (The labourers remain caught up in storms, these nation builders stay in abodes that neither have doors nor walls)". Understandably he is trenchant in his comments on the political class, "Yeh siyaasatdaan kya rasta dikhayengay hamein/ rehnuma jab insay hon tow rehnumayee ho gayee (What guidance can politicians provide to us? With leaders like these, whither leadership?)".

With so much misery around him Maikash is deeply disturbed. He turns on the Almighty, too, "Bahut hairaan hongay woh teri shaan-e-khudayee per/ woh jin logoen ko tuunay zindagi bhar gham deeyay hongay (They will be greatly surprised at your divine splendour, those whom you inflicted with pain/sadness)."

Truly, Maikash has emerged as a leading poet of protest, who seamlessly merges personal grief with the universal agony even as he gives self-respect top priority, "Yeh azmat-e-hayat hai, apni khudi na baech/Murda zameer shakhs ka jeena fazool hai (don’t sell off your self-worth because it is life’s adornment; a person with dead conscience leads a futile life).

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