In an era when the realisation of being lied leaves no one infuriated and contrarily it casts a spell on people who dismiss facts in favour of the manipulative emotional truths dished out by all pervasive media, it is time for a pause. It is the moment of introspection and exploration of infallible but unappreciated power of literature. At a time when education and political empowerment induced insensitivity becomes the most lethal weapon form of violence, one must explore the creativity reflected in written word that can organise us against hatred, intolerance and uncertainty. Fine arts and literature poignantly highlight how much-hyped promise of ushering in a new era of equality and empowerment through digital means produces a stifling narrative of homogeneity and intolerance. This is what came through in a quiet but highly gratifying literary evening attended by poets, intellectuals, academicians, doctors, civil administrators and judicial officers held at the residence of Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor.
Professor Tariq Mansoor, a trained surgeon, conceived the idea of mapping out the space where students and scholars can breath, imagine, create and recreate in their journey of self exploration. To ruminate over it he made the Vice Chancellor residence, largely perceived as a citadel of academic administration, a site of literary outpourings. At Professor Mansoor’s initiative, well known academicians, belonging to Hindi, Urdu, Mass Communication, History, Persian, Law and a couple of eminent ladies including renowned poetess Dr Anjana Singh Sengar, well known paediatrician Dr. Hameeda Tariq, Professor Sheerin Moosvi, Professor Azarmi Dukht Safavi and Professor Farzana Aleem huddled together to mediate on finding a way in the era characterised by wilful “deafness and lack of understanding.”
Longing for inner purity
The gradual withering of individual flourishing in an increasingly more unequal world, the celebrated poetess Anjana Singh Sengar through her densely textured muktak and doha spelt out the contours of a coherent moral understanding of human existence. The rise of a new culture that increasingly abandons the values that make life worth living, prompts Dr. Sengar to allude to Ganga, a living metaphor of purity. She affirms the longing for inner purity lies with us and for her Ganga is the explorer of existence.
In his immensely popular novel, “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting”, Milan Kundera asserts: “The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for anything. The wisdom of novel comes from having a question for anything. The novelist comprehends the world as a question”. In line with it, a reputed Urdu fiction writer, Tariq Chhatari (Chairman, Department of Urdu, Aligarh Muslim University) puts a question mark on the realm of affirmation as everyone seems to be very sure about the veracity of his claim.
In his story, “Gun”, Tariq creatively denies the centrality of gun in unleashing a reign of terror and violence. In the time gone by, gun was used as a status symbol by van glorious or prideful individuals. The narrator of the story mocks at them and tries to turn attention to the presence of deeper menaces than what is just visible at the surface level. The protagonist finds it extremely difficult to come to terms with the contemporary predicaments of society.
Noted Persian scholar Professor Azarmi Dukht Safavi made a candid difference between patriotism and nationalism and she recited several couplets of renowned Persian poet, Saadi, whose poetry puts people belonging to different faiths and linguistic and ethnic affinity on equal footing. Saadi celebrates the essence of diversity of life but he remains fully committed to the well being of the entire humanity.
Noted historian Professor Sheerin Moosvi through the recitation of the couplets zeroed in on cultural vibrancy that eludes us but the poetry brings it to life.
Shyam Bahadur Singh, bureaucrat-turned-poet, through his laconic poem made a searing appraisal of the evil influence of ambitions, immorality and greed and regretted at the dwindling presence of a questioning and meaning seeking creature.
Prominent Urdu poets such as Mahtab Haider Naqvi, Ghazanfar Ali, Shahabuddin Saqib and Moeed Rasheedi touched upon the banalities of everyday life.
Indeed it was a memorable evening that wiped out the irrational fears and reaction to a gloomy reality. It provided us with an alternative way of life.
