People may forget a good lyricist but not the good lyrics if composed by competent music composers and sung by popular vocalists.

Lyrics are considered comparatively a lighter form of poetry and are generally tinged with delicacy of emotional nuance and marked by simplicity of language. A lyric is designed to reach the mass of people and thus seems aimed at evoking a mass response.

Manzur Jhalla was one of those lyricists of Punjabi language whose songs ruled the roost for decades after the Partition and still enthrall the listeners and viewers with their pathos and emotional sadness laced with warm intensity. By way of tribute which he amply deserves, two books have recently been published by Baba Farid Book Foundation, Lahore, on his life and work. The books authored, compiled and edited by Safdar Wamiq are titled “Manzur Jhalla [Hayati Te Funn] and Kuliyat Manzur Jhalla”. The former is the poet’s biography and the latter a compilation of his works. The books are a testimony to Safdar Wamiq’s dedication, hard work and research skills which we usually find missing among our scholars. Biographic details of Jhalla’s life have painstakingly been collected with tireless effort which involved contacting diverse people and visiting different places connected with him in order to trace his family background and early years shrouded in anonymity. His source material comprises books, articles, interviews, radio talks, conversations with various individuals including Jhalla’s son and relatives.

Jhalla, born in the 1920s in Jandiala Guru in district Amritsar, migrated to Khudian in Kasur district in the aftermath of riots unleashed by the bloody partition of Punjab. He mounted the cultural stage with his poetry and music when he moved to Lahore.

Professor Saleemur Rahman, a music maven and poet, whose article has referred to in the books says that Jhalla as a lyricist came into prominence in 1960s when HMV released two his songs - Rahia na jaa and Na dil daindi bedardi nu - composed by music director Saleem Shahid and sung by Khursheed Begum. The second song became immensely popular and has frequently been played by Radio Pakistan ever since. This song was re-recorded by inimitable Reshman which made it even more popular. He reached the high point of his literary career when Reshman, an immortal gypsy, started singing his lyrics with her absolutely haunting voice unfettered by mechanical constraints evoking the whispering deserts of Rajasthan and mysteriously quiet fertile fields of Punjab.

The books, meticulously researched and well-referenced, would become reliable source materials in the future. The author and the publisher deserve to have our kudos for such a remarkable work in a world where remembering someone with no right connections and official patronage is a rare thing. The books must be on the shelf of all libraries

Translation and short stories

“Janawar Jagut” is the translation of George Orwell’s “Animal Form”, a short novel that allegorises the Russian Revolution and its main characters. It narrates and depicts, as we all know, the story of farm animals who rise in revolt against their human master who ruthlessly exploits them in the name of collective well-being. Their revolt becomes a metaphor of struggle for freedom, equality and dignity. The translation done by Shahid Shabbir has been published by Sanjh Publications, Lahore.

Shahid Shabbir is a lawyer by profession deeply connected with literature. He is a poet and a committed translator with a number of publications to his credit including the rendering of Becket’s “Waiting for Godot” in Punjabi which was much appreciated. The story in Punjabi doesn’t look odd or sounds weird simply because our homeland has a very long history of cattle raising and agriculture that goes back to the haze of ancient times as shown by the excavated remains of Potohar region and Harappa. The language used has the flow and is devoid of pretentious gloss making the story easily accessible to readers.

Interestingly, the translator occasionally borrows certain words, phrases and terms exclusively used in the East Punjab. Mutual borrowings between East and West Punjab should be welcome as it may help to bridge the gap that exists between the two in terms of use of language. East Punjab’s literary language is generally laden with Sanskrit and Hindi words while the West Punjab has its language loaded with borrowings from Arabic and Persian. Both need to jettison the unnecessary dead weight of other languages that they carry. They need to borrow from each other what could be naturally acceptable to our literary language. The translation is a work done well. Grab your copy.

“Bavian [Female figurines]” is Noorul Ain Sadia’s latest book of short stories published by Sulaikh Bookmakers, Lahore. The book dedicated to Markhan Shaikhan, the first woman poet of Sindhi language, subtly hints at Sadia’s perspective which can’t be other than the feminist one that breaks the cultural barriers under the overarching concept of sisterhood.

Sadia is a poet and fiction writer. The book has 19 short stories, some of which are really very short, with an introduction by Dr. Karamat Mogul who rightly says that “what women experience in our society is the subject of her stories”.

The stories mostly have traditional structures i.e. combination of description and depiction. But what they describe and depict makes all the difference because it reveals the woman as she emerges after being subjected to physical, psychological, emotional and sexual repression and oppression committed against her from childhood to old age in the names of religious values, social norms and sexual mores. All this ensues from the social structures erected by male. Her agonising struggle whether she is a girl or an old woman is to strive for actualisation of her repressed potential, regain dignity as an individual and expand her non-existent social space in a tradition-ridden patriarchal society. Most of the characters, it seems, are from the middle and lower middle classes who have tales of economic deprivation, domestic violence, rape and psycho-social disorders to tell. Some characters shaped by their dark experiences have ghoulish fascination with gore. How an honest working woman develops a diabolical disposition as a result of rape and wanton sexual violence committed against her person is delicately explored.

Sadia’s characters though repressed and victims are unusually bold. And boldly she portrays them with remarkable aplomb caring little for middle class morality. Simple but impactful stories of women insisting on their right to be human in a dehumanised world. Don’t miss out on the insights the book offers. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2021