The Original Rock Star

Hue mar ke hum jo rusva , hue kyun na gharqe darya ;
Na kabhi janaza uthta , na kahin mazar hota "

Translation : After death I was so disgraced; why didn't I just drown in the river ? For then no coffin had to be raised , nor any grave built.

Remembering Mirza Nausha Asad Ullah Khan Ghalib. A poet par excellence, a life most extra ordinaire.
Death : February 15, 1869
Lived : Ever after

The original Rock Star

Na tha kuch to khuda tha……

The greatest lyric poet in Urdu and arguably in any language of the world, Mirza Asadullah Khan ‘Ghalib’, was born on 27th December, 1797.A mystical sufi by inclination , self-consciously rakish and aristocratic by temperament , Ghalib who lived in penury was a character full of contrast and contradictions. One of the very rare geniuses in history, who were completely aware of their superlative abilities and the limitations of their contemporaries, Ghalib was extremely vocal and disdainful of the same. This was one of the reasons for his poverty in an era when urdu poetry had royal patronage and the king himself was an enthusiast.

Not that Ghalib cared about it. He was just short of raising his middle finger to what the establishment thought of him.

1)      Ghalib was very proud of his reputation as a rake. Once he was imprisoned for gambling, deeply embarrassing at the time, but Ghalib wore the affair as a badge of honour. When someone once praised the poetry of the pious Sheikh Sahbai in his presence, Ghalib shot back, ‘How can Sahbai be a poet? He has never tasted wine, nor has he ever gambled: he has not been beaten with slippers by lovers, nor has he once seen the inside of a jail.’

2)      Once when Ghalib’s financial condition turned very precarious, Mr. Thomason, the British Secreatary and an admirer of Ghalib’s poetry invited him to join as the Persian Professor at Delhi college, a well paid job by any standards of that time. Ghalib arrived at Delhi college in his Palanquin having been invited to apply for the post. On reaching the college gate, he refused to enter until Mr.Thomson, chairman of the interview board, came and welcomed him, as he insisted his aristocratic status demanded. After a long stand-off, Mr.Thomson came out personally and explained that in the present case a formal welcome is inappropriate as he is a candidate for employment. Ghalib replied ‘ I contemplated taking a government appointment in the expectation that this would bring me greater honour than I now receive, not a reduction in those already accorded to me’. The secretary replied,’I am bound by regulations’. ‘Then I hope you will excuse me, ’Ghalib said, and went away.

3)          After the fall of Delhi in 1857, Ghalib was probably the only member of the courtly elite to survive the British backlash without fleeing Delhi. He was picked up by British troops and hauled off to Colonel Burn to be interrogated. Always a dapper man, Ghalib made sure he was wearing his best Turkish-style headdress for the interview. The colonel looked at this strange fashion and asked in broken Urdu,’Well? You Muslim? ‘Half’, said Ghalib. What does that mean? asked the Colonel.’ I drink wine, but I don’t eat Pork. The Colonel laughed and said, ‘after the victory of government forces why did you not present yourself at the ridge?’ Ghalib replied, ‘My rank required that I should have four palanquin bearers, but all four of them ran away and left me, so I could not come.’ Not to mention that Ghalib was let off without any further questioning.

4) My personal favourite is Ghalib’s take on the concept of Paradise in a letter to one of his friend

“ In paradise it is true that I shall drink at dawn the pure wine mentioned in the Quran, but where in paradise are the long walks with intoxicated friends in the night, or the drunken crowds shouting merrily? Where shall I find there the intoxication of Monsoon Clouds? Where there is no autumn, how can spring exist? If the beautiful houris are always there, where will be the sadness of separation and the joy of union? Where shall I find there a girl who flees away when I would kiss her? ”

Happy Birthday Ghalib Sahab and a million thanks for introducing us to those subtle expressions of love, for teaching us the swagger of youth and for romanticizing melancholy as no one ever will be able to do.

You knew and the world acknowledges that you had an ‘Andaze Bayan aur’