Meaning is wrapped in words but its verbal embodiment can be dismantled if words are used as concept metaphors that may evoke multiple referents related to different points of view, attitudes, ideological positions and cultural aspirations and aesthetic sensibilities. Usually words exist in harmony and conciliation but sometimes they live in mutual subversion and the great poet explores the inherent potentialities of the word for conveying different things by using the same word. This creative exploration produces the ambiguous, indeterminate and even mystifying text that betrays a range of antithetical meanings. It is what makes Ghalib one of the most influential cerebral poets of India whose iconic legacy continues to be salvaged by aficionados including critics and poets belonging to different languages.
Between identity and freedom
How does Ghalib engage himself with the themes of solitude, angst, alienation and a sense of belonging? How does his poetry oscillate between compromise and obstinacy, identity and freedom? These two questions are answered by some critics but their creative explanation is yet to be done and now a celebrated multilingual poet, Suhail Kakorvi has zeroed in on Ghalib by composing hundred ghazals in the same prosodic patterns, rhymes and end rhymes. It looks incredible that Suhail renders Ghalib in three languages: Urdu, Hindi and English with almost equal ease, titled as “Arziaat-e-Ghalib” (Urdu), “Remnant of Ghalib” (English) and “Ghalib – Ek Uttarkatha” (Hindi). The book is braced for re-textualising the original in the backdrop of the withering of romantic concept of originality of the text. The text is no longer identified as the original as it capitalises on a plethora of similar texts.
Poetry or prose or any genre of literature is now perceived as an entity comprising several tissues of culture, linguistic conviction and literary traditions. The very act of writing has become an act of inter-textuality which is essentially an identifiable sign of collective human sensibility.
Suhail Kakorvi, visibly ensorcelled by Ghalib’s poetry, tried to map out new terrain of textual gravity of Ghalib’s poetry and initially he found the task quite daunting: “Indeed it is very difficult to follow the great poet. He makes such structure of meters that apparently look easy but when one tries to emulate him, his talent is put on trial. In the endeavour to create poetry on the feels of Ghalib’s mental exercise surely makes imagination weary,” Suhail asserts.
Bard’s popular ghazal
Modelling his ghazal on Ghalib’s famous ghazal “Dil-e-Nadan Tujhe Hua Kya Hai”, Suhail recounts his honest internalisation of a complex but common situation. The experience is located at the intersection of verbal and non-verbal communication that makes inseparable separable: Usne Khat Mein Likha Kya Hai/ Nama bar Yeh Mita Mita Kya Hai (Not known what beloved wrote in letter / How faded some portion herein, Oh! Messenger?)
It is certainly more than adolescent exuberance that takes shape of the questioning. Here one can see a deliberate subversion of the intended meaning. The life of desire usually creates an unquiet space of vexation of pain that runs parallel to one’s alter existence. It provides the man with eternal bliss and Suhail points out: “Gham Ki Lazzat Ka Kuchh Jawab Nahin/ Hansne Wala Yeh Gaya Kya Hai” (Grief has its taste and deliciousness/ Why said departing lovely capricious).
Now violence is perpetuated through law and Suhail’s outpouring reminds us Kafka. It is clearly an expansion of the semantic import of Ghalib: “Qatil Ka Is Qadar Asar Zahn-e-Adal Par/ Munsif Ki Jis Ko Bolna Tha Who Khamosh Hai” (Upon the mind of justice the killer has so much influence/ That he who ought to speak keeps silent the judge hence).
Here Judge’s deliberate silence speaks louder than words and the objectivity fed uncertainly fades away long before the verdict is delivered.
Rendering of Ghalib betrays new dimension of creative dexterity of the poet and Suhail deserves accolades for producing such an alluring poetry rooted in Ghalib’s sensibility
