Does dream, a recurring motif in almost all creative endeavours, refer to what we see when we fall asleep or is it something that makes us wide awake? Can it be reckoned as an exercise in randomness and chance? Does dream produce a stirring narrative of what we long for? Does it indicate a sudden breaking off the poignant tale of rancour, deprivation and neglect? Is dream an assemblage of unlikely things or it is the most effective means of negotiating with the vexed issues of our life? Does it deepen the sense of solitariness? These pertinent questions are aptly answered by the creative oracle activated by a pre-eminent Urdu poet Irfan Siddiqui who says:
“Ajeeb Nasha Hai Hushiar Rahna chata hoon / Mein us ke khwab mein baidar Rahna Chata Hoon” (Amidst the strange spell of inebriation I want to be watchful/ I want to be wide awaken in the dream of her).
Irfan Siddiqui’s collected work comprising six poetic collections, skilfully edited by the eminent fiction writer Syed Mohammad Ashraf whose recently published novel “Akhri Sawarian ” has been creating waves in the Urdu knowing circle across the globe, exudes his intrinsic passion for portraying the contemporary reality which looks highly abominable but nonetheless to be highlighted properly. Syed Mohammad Ashraf perceptively put up the title “Shaher-e-Malal” (City of Anguish). The ghazals written in the back drop of unprecedented violence unleashed by right-wing radicals make it clear that poet strives for wiping out the miasma of feigned tranquillity, serenity and calmness created by power that be. His creative outpouring betray a curious spectacle: Sensitive portrayal of the infernal sufferance becomes an act of prayer and divine inaction leaves the narrator completely sequestered.
Haq Fatehyab mere Khuda Kuyun Nahin Hua/Tu ne kaha tha Tera Kaha kuyun Nahin Hua/ Why has truth not emerged victorious, Oh God tell me / why your promise was not kept up / JoKuch Hua Who kais ye Hua Janta Hun Mein / Jo kuch Nahi Hua who Bata Kuyu Nahin Hua (What happened, how happened I Know all, whatever has not happened tell me why?)
Urdu ghazal is always reckoned as a medium that continues to intrigue and attract the readers for its suggestive understatements but some of the ghazals of Irfan Siddiqui’s including the above mentioned ones reveal a creative sounding off the Gujarat riot. Irfan Siddiqui shares his deep-rooted and ever expanding anguish and angst with God as He never let him alone in a time when his solitariness is being encroached upon continuously.
God emerges as the central motif in an era when people eulogise Gods men vociferously but tend to forget to stich up a warm rapport with the creator directly. Since Almightly never tolerates anything that fetters or enslave mankind, people generally find it easy to shrug Him off, the poet deftly articulates.
In his brilliantly written introduction, Syed Mohammad Ashraf rightly points out that Irfan Siddiqui firmly believes in the continuity of life and a marked sense of optimism runs through his poetry. The poet seeks to establish a symbiotic relationship between an individual, society and God. His poetry is densely textured and visual and aural images are frequently used to reveal what the external reality conceals. Despite being trapped in an awkward predicament, the poet never loses hope and asserts:
“Mujhe Yeh Duniya Nuksan Ka Sauda Nahin Lagti/ Mein Aane Wali Duniya Ko Bhi Takumeene Mein Rakhta Hun” ( I do not reckon this world as something that always entails loss/ I take emerging world into account also). In line with the umbilical cord, the love binds everyday experience that too without false poeticism. Explanation of love in personal terms is nothing but an act of obscenity and voyeurism and Irfan Siddiqui’s fourth collection of poetry “Ishq Nama” reveals that any specification of love invariably indicates antagonism that thwarts the spiritual rhythm.
If Irfan Siddiqui’s poems and ghazals are sifted at once, one can find a conscious human being committed to take up the gauntlet on the behalf of everyone who is being subjected to cruelty, exploitation and discrimination. Occasionally contortions of syntax creeps in his poetry but as a whole the poet is on the side of cultural pluralism, liberal values, creativity and freedom and his marked exuberance of expression offers a new perspective to understand hypocritical social and moral values. Syed Mohammad Ashraf deserves adoration for editing an eminently readable collection of poems that echoes and re-echoes memories with awe-inspiring aesthetic patterns.
