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January 8, 2002
REVIEW: Ghalib to the rescue
MIRZA Asadullah Khan Ghalib would not have had the faintest idea of the amazing dimension of his creative genius. All his life he remained a much maligned person. Many of his contemporaries refused to recognize him as a poet. Their poverty of intellect and lack of comprehension prevented them from appreciating the beauty and worth of his work. One of them in his overflowing zeal to ridicule him went to the extent of saying:
(We understand the diction of Mir (Mir Taqi Mir) and the poetry of Mirza (Mirza Rafi Sauda)/ But his (Ghalib‘s) verses, he alone can comprehend, or God Almighty)
Distressed by the hostile behaviour of his contemporaries, Ghalib in a fit of rage and desperation, observed :
(Neither do I crave any praise, nor do I care for rewards/ If my verses have no meaning, let it be so.)
But now after a hundred years, Ghalib has found a receptive audience among the members of the working class. Some of his inspiring verses bear a close resemblance with the innocent, witty and curt comments artistically depicted on the vehicles which ply on our roads. For decades, these inscriptions have attracted the attention of discerning observers. But in the booklet Pappu yaar tang na kar it is for the first time that the cursory observations made by illiterate or semi-literate transporters and their workers have received a poetic interpretation.
The first part of this book had provided a delightful feast for the readers of the pictorial presentation of the comments written on the rear of the vehicles. The second part under review is a unique offering, which reinforces the original comments. This is a selection of Ghalib‘s verses which are pertinent to the inscriptions. This was not an easy undertaking. But S.M. Shahid‘s ingenuity enabled him to initiate and complete this project.
For instance, the inscription Piya milan kee aas (longing for the lover) on a tanker has taken Shahid to this verse:
(If I survived on your promises, be assured I regarded them as a hoax/Had I really believed them I would have immediately died with joy).
A taxi carries this phrase: laina keh chala mein (take for I am leaving) has inspired the following verse of Ghalib:
(I would sacrifice my life for you/I do not know what prayer is)
Shahid has a penchant for springing surprises of a creative kind. He also has the tenacity to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. To select appropriate verses of Ghalib to depict a particular comment, he must have made painstaking study and research.
Pappu yaar tang na kar is certainly a work of art, which introduces a new genre in the realm of literature. Together with Shahid’s meticulous work, Mushtaq Ahmad’s cartoons and Yasir Ashraf’s illustrations have added to the beauty and charm of the book, which recreates Ghalib in a new form.
Pappu yaar tang na kar: Ghalib kay urein gay purzay Part 2
By S.M. Shahid & Cartoons by Mushtaq Ahmad & Illustrations by Yasir Ashraf
A publication of Pak-Arab Refinery Ltd.Karachi
ISBN 969-8625-06-2
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