Lodged in his daughter`s residence in Lahore, Dr Wazir Agha, the eminent octogenarian poet, critic and essayist, says he has “wrapped” himself in the room he lives in. “Occasionally I leave my room for the lawn of the house for a brief stroll. Sometimes children and other family members visit me. Friends, too, pay me visits but because of growing traffic congestion, their visits are becoming far and few between,” he says in an interview with Dawn. “But I have books, newspapers and telephone and TV to keep me company. So, I may be alone, but I`m not lonely as I have so much to do.”
Although his age and a bone fracture have slowed down his pace over the years, he is still a prolific writer by all accounts. During the last decade or so, he has published eight books of both prose and poetry. A collection of 50 poems, written in the last two to three years, Hawa tehrir kar mujh ko is his latest book, which was published just on February 1. An updated version of his autobiography titled Shaam ki mundair say is set to be published next month.
“Although I no longer write prose, I continue to express myself in poetry,” he says.
While the comparisons are odious, this is in contrast to Ghalib, who had stopped writing poetry during his twilight years, but continued to write, or dictate, letters (prose) till his last. “You have inquired about my health. Well, you might inquire after me from my neighbours in the next couple of days,” wrote the bard. And unlike his earlier predictions about his journey to the hereafter, this one proved correct as the very next day he passed away.
Asked what he would be writing in the days to come, Dr Agha says “I think poetry just happens. You cannot plan it much in advance. Whenever I hit upon an idea, I jot it down and later shape it up.”
His Tasawwurat-i-Ishq-o-Khirad -- Iqbal ki nazar mein is considered to be one of the most important books on Iqbal. Prof Sahar Ansari endorses the widely held opinion “Although Dr Agha attaches much more importance to his poetry, I have told him that he is a better critic than a poet. And that his book on Allama Iqbal is his best work.” He has more than 13 collections of poetry, including a volume of ghazals, to his credit. But this number is outweighed by his books in prose, which are more than 35.
Although Dr Agha`s long-running verbal dual with the late Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi portrayed him in a different light, his friends say he is a jolly fellow with a refined taste in humour. That is probably why he chose to write his PhD dissertation on humour in Urdu. Among the contemporary humour writers, he considers Mushtaq Yousufi the best. “But he is not a humourist,” he hastily adds to explain in answer to my question. “He is actually a satirist. It was Patras Bokhari who wrote pure humour. ... The highest form of this genre is irony, in which the writer subtly ridicules someone or something under the garb of praise as well amusing the reader.” He also likes Rasheed Ahmed Siddiqui as a humourist. In humorous verse, his favorites include Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Zamir Jaafri.
He is also famous for his inshayey, or light essays, the genre which was copied by his contemporaries and juniors in an attempt to earn a name for themselves. He has rolled into one four collections of such essays under the title Pagdandi say road-roller tak. Chahek uthhi lufzon ki chhagal contains all his poetry books published up to 1992.
His long poem Aadhi sadi baad was translated into several western languages. This poem was so good that he was invited by the Nobel Foundation to visit Sweden and deliver lectures on certain topics at different forums.
With a firm command over English, Dr Agha has translated some of his own works into English, which proved quite a different experience for him. “Other translators don`t have the licence to make changes in my thoughts and ideas. When I translate my own works, being the creator I enjoy the liberty to make them as I wish. And it was quite an experience when I wrote in English; I got new insights into my earlier ideas and changed them accordingly.”
In reply to a question about his reported active rivalry with Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, which various accounts say had prompted press statements by their supporters over the decades, he is reluctant to say much. “It was a one-way traffic. I never wrote even a single world against him. Anyhow, we continued to meet till his last days and it was not something of a break of relations.”
Born at the village of Wazirkot in Sargodha district in 1922, Dr Agha`s writings are replete with mention of things associated with country life — birds, flowers, farms. He lived in his village till a few years back when his daughter persuaded him to live with her in Lahore where he could be better taken care of. His son, Dr Saleem Agha, living back in the village and engaged in farming, is also an author of eight fiction and poetry books. Wazir Agha did his intermediate from the government intermediate college in Jhang, where the would-be Nobel Laureate Dr Abdul Salam was junior to him by two years. He did his MA (economics) from the Government College Lahore in 1943 and PhD (on Urdu adab mein tanz-o-mizah) in 1956.
He began writing poems in 1945, initially under a female pseudonym, for fun, but in 1948 he became serious about it and began using his own name.
His books include Shaam aur sayay, Din ka zard pahar, Dastak uss darwazay per, Ghas mein titlian.
Answering a question, he says his attachment to poetry is stronger than, presumably, his affinity for prose. “I began writing with a poem and rounded off the career with a collection of poems,” he remarks. Certainly one hopes he has the verve to write and publish more, even if it is poetry only.
That he is happy in the company of books is apparent from his enthusiasm for knowledge of his favourite subjects. The mysteries of the universe causes him to ponder over them as deeply as possible. “Cosmology, or the study of the origin and nature of the universe, is one of my favourite subjects. The universe is a real marvel both in its micro and macro forms. It makes one wonder about the power of its Creator.”