Shivpreet Singh

It is raining today in San Ramon and I am reminded of a beautiful poem from Meerabai (see below for info on Meerabai). I have been singing this poem in Raag Malhar and hope to publish it soon. Rain reminds Meera of the presence of her love, Krishna, nearby and she sings songs of love to welcome him.

Lyrics

barse badariyA sAwan ki

sAwan ki man bhavan ki

sAwan mein umangyo merO manvA

jhanak suni hari Avan ki

umad ghumad cAhun disa sE AyO

dAmini dhamke jhar lAvan ki

nanhi nanhi bUndhan meghA barse

shItal pavan suhAvan ki

meerA kE prabhu giridhar nAgar

Anand mangal gAvan ki

Translation

The monsoon clouds are showering

The clouds of monsoon, the clouds of bliss

In the monsoon my mind exults

as he hears that hari is coming

They are turning in from all directions

lightening strikes in a sequence

Tiny droplets of water drops

A cool breeze blows pleasantly

For Meera's love Giridhar Nagar

it is the time to sing wedding songs

More on Meerabai (See more on wikipedia)

Meerabai (Rajasthani: मीराबाई) (c.1498-c.1547AD) was an aristocratic Hindu mystical singer and sahajiya (apasampradaya) devotee of lord Krishna from Rajasthan and one of the most significant figures of the Sant tradition of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 12-1300 prayerful songs or bhajans attributed to her are popular throughout India and have been published in several translations worldwide. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of lord Krishna.

Details of her life, which has been the subject of several films, are pieced together from her poetry and stories recounted by her community and are of debatable historical authenticity, particularly those that connect her with the later Tansen. On the other hand, the traditions that make her a disciple of Ravidas who disputed with Rupa Goswami are consonant with the usual account of her life.

Alternative Meanings (http://sangitasopana.blogspot.com/2012/10/barse-badariya.html)

- let the clouds (badariyA) of spring (sAvan kI) shower (barsE)

- the clouds of spring (sAvvan kI), the clouds that entertain (bhAvan kI) the mind (man)

- my (mErO) mind (manvA) always exults (umag AgyO) in (mein) Spring (sAvan)

- I hear (sunI) the sounds (jhanak) of krishNa's (hari) arrival (Avan kI)

- I hear the sounds of thunder (umaD ghumaD) coming (AyO) from (sE) all 4 (cArUn) directions (disA)

- lightning (dAmini) flares (damkE) heralding the arrival (Avan kI) of the rains (jal)

- the clouds (mEghA) shower (barsE) tiny (nanhI) droplets (bUndE) of water

- as cool (SItal) and pleasant (suhAvan) wind (pavan) blows by

- It is the time for mIrA's (mIrA kE) Lord (prabhU), giridhar to

- sing (gAvan) and make happy (Anand) and auspicious (mangaL) music

Lyrics in Hindi

बरसे बदरिया सावन की।

सावन की मन भावन की॥

सावन में उमंगयो मेरो मनवा।

झनक सुनी हरि आवन की॥

उमड़ घुमड़ चहुँ देस से आयो।

दामिनी धमके झर लावन की॥

नन्हे नन्हे बूंदन मेघा बरसे।

शीतल पवन सुहावन की॥

मीरा के प्रभु गिरिधर नगर।

आनंद मंगल गावन की॥

Yet another version of this bhajan (from http://blog.anandway.com/post/Meera-Bai-bhajan-Barase-Badariya-Saavan-ki)

बरसे बदरिया सावन की, सावन की मनभावन की,

१. सावन में उमग्यो मेरो मनवा, भनक सुनि हरि आवन की

२. नन्हीं नन्हीं बूंद सुहावन लागत, बूंदन की झर लावन की

३. दादुर, मोर, पपीहा बोले, कोयल शबद सुनावन की

४. मीरा के प्रभु हरि अविनाशी, आनंद मंगल गावन की,

In the rainy season (Saavan), I am happy and excited. I hear that my Lord is coming. Raindrops looks lovely. Frogs, Papiha bird and cuckoos also voice their happiness in the rainy season. My Lord is the eternal Lord, Hari. This is the time to sing in bliss.

Sir Ganga Ram (1851-1927) was a civil engineer and leading philanthropist of his times, who established the Renala Hydral Power Station in Renala Khurd in 1925.

In 1873, after a brief Service in Punjab P.W.D devoted himself to practical farming. He obtained on lease from Government 50,000 acres (200 km²) of barren, unirrigated land in Montgomery district, and within three years converted that vast desert into smiling fields, irrigated by water lifted by a hydroelectric plant and running through a thousand miles of irrigation channels, all constructed at his own cost. This was the biggest private enterprise of the kind, unknown and unthought-of in the country before. Sir Ganga Ram earned millions most of which he gave to charity.

In the words of Sir Malcolm Hailey, the Governor of Punjab, "he won like a hero and gave like a Saint". He was a great engineer and a great philanthropist.

He designed and built General Post Office, Lahore Museum, Aitchison College, Mayo School of Arts (now the NCA), Ganga Ram Hospital, Lady Mclagan Girls High School, the chemistry department of the Government College University, the Albert Victor wing of Mayo Hospital, the Hailey College of Commerce, Ravi Road House for the Disabled, the Ganga Ram Trust Building on The Mall and Lady Maynard Industrial School. He also constructed Model Town, once the best locality of Lahore, the powerhouse at Renala Khurd as well as the railway track between Pathankot and Amritsar

He built Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lady Mclagan School and Renala Khurd Power House with his own money.

He was a promising agriculturist, too. He purchased thousands acres of barren land in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) on lease and by using engineering skills and modern irrigation methods, turned the arid lands into fertile fields. He retired in 1903. He died in London on July 10, 1927. His body was cremated and his ashes were brought back to India. A portion of the ashes were consigned to Ganga River and the rest buried in Lahore on the bank of the Ravi.

A statue of Sir Ganga Ram once stood on Mall Road in Lahore. Saadat Hassan Manto, the famous Urdu writer, in one of his stories on the frenzy of religious riots of 1947writes that an inflamed mob in Lahore, after attacking a Hindu residential area, ‘turned to attacking the statue of Sir Ganga Ram, the Hindu philanthropist. They first pelted the statue with stones; then smothered its face with coal tar. Then a man made a garland of old shoes climbed up to put it round the neck of the statue. The police arrived and opened fire. Among the injured were the fellow with the garland of old shoes. As he fell, the mob shouted: “Let us rush him to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.”

Lagta Nahin Hai Dil Mera Ujde Dayaar Mein

Kiski Bani Hai Aalam-E-Napaydaar Mein

Keh Do In Hasraton se Kahin Aur Ja Basein

Itni Jageh Kahan Hai Dil-E-Daagdar Mein

Umr-E-Daraaz Mang kar Laye The Chaar Din

Do Aarzoo Mein kat Gaye Do Intezaar Mein

Kitna Hai Badnaseeb 'Zafar' Dafan Ke Liye

Do Gaz Zameen Bhi Na Mili Kuch-E-Yaar Mein

Lagta Nahin Hai Dil Mera Ujde Dayaar Mein

Kiski Bani Hai Aalam-E-Napaydaar Mein

-- Muztar Khairabadi (attributed to Bahadur Shah Zafar)

My heart is not happy, in this barren city

Who has ever felt fulfilled, in this mortal world

Please tell my wishes to go away somewhere else

There is not enough room for them in my sorrowful heart

I had requested for a long life of four days

Two were spent in praying/wishing and two were spent in waiting

How ill-fated Zafar is! For his own burial

He couldn't even get two yards of earth in land of the beloved

The Story Behind Two Ghazals Attributed To Bahadur Shah Zafar

Article by Ajay Mankotia

Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hoon

Na kisi ke dil ka qaraar hoon

Jo kisi ke kaam na aa sake

Main woh ek musht-e-gubaar hoon

I am not the light of anyone's eye
I am not the peace of any heart
I am not useful to anyone
I am just a balloon of dust.

(Translation - Shivpreet Singh)

A whole generation has grown up in the subcontinent listening to the pathos-filled, divine-voiced, masterly rendition by Rafi of this ghazal written by Bahadur Shah Zafar from Lal Qila released in 1960. SN Tripathi's music was minimal, thus enhancing the pain and suffering suffusing the ghazal of the last Mughal emperor.

In the same film, Rafi also sang, in a recitational style, the other jewel in Zafar's oeuvre - "Lagta nahin hai dil mera".

The longing, despair and helplessness of the Rangoon-exiled monarch is very movingly conveyed in the last stanza - Kitnaa hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye, do gaz zameen bhi na mili, koo-e-yaar mein.

Earlier, in the early '50s, Habib Wali Muhammad had recorded "Lagta nahin" under the music direction of Saraswati Devi (India's first female music director). After this ghazal was broadcast on Radio Ceylon, it became very popular. Habib later migrated to Pakistan.

But it was Rafi who brought the two ghazals and Zafar's authorship of them into national consciousness. The association of Zafar with these two ghazals has continued to be reinforced in popular culture. "Lagta nahin" was so inextricably linked to Zafar that it was represented on a commemorative postage stamp released in his honour in 1975. Last year, I saw Salman Khurshid's play Sons of Babur with Zafar as the central character where these ghazals were featured.

Imagine, therefore, the shock when Javed Akhtar recently announced that "Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hoon" was actually penned by his grandfather Muztar Khairabadi (1865-1927). Javed's father, the noted poet Jan Nisar Akhtar, had some of Muztar's works with him. His remaining works were found in libraries and private collections in Khairabad, Lucknow, Tonk, Rampur, Indore, Gwalior, Bhopal and Indore - cities where Muztar had worked as a judicial magistrate. Javed found the original copy of the ghazal in the pages of his grandfather's personal books. He collected all of Muztar's ghazals into a book consisting of five volumes - Khirman - which was launched by the vice president of India in September this year.

Among the cognoscenti, the debate, however, has been raging for long, much before Javed's disclosure. There is a considerable section which believes that the provenance of both the ghazals is not Zafar. In fact, some quarters in popular culture also uphold this view. Theatre director Sayeed Alam's play Lal Quile ka Akhri Mushaira, inspired by Muhammad Hussain Azad's Ab-e-Hayat and Farhatullah Beg's Dehli ki Aakhri Shama mentions the two ghazals as not having been penned by Zafar. In the opening scene of Bahadur Shah Zafar, a television serial directed by Baldev Raj Chopra in 1986, the names that appear on the screen are Zauq, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Muztar Khairabadi and Ghalib. William Dalrymple in his book The Last Mughal also refers to the controversy.

How did the controversy begin?

Jan Nisar Akhtar, in a 1938 article in the magazine Suhail, claimed that "Na kisi ki aankh" was in Muztar's handwritten divan (collection of poems), which he had in his possession. An essay by Yunus Hasni, "Shah Zafar nahin - Muztar Khairabadi", appeared in Nigar-e- Pakistan in January 1963, making the same claim.

The ghazal is not to be found in any of Zafar's divans. His first divan (believed to be completed in 1808) was published in 1845 or 1846. The second divan appeared in 1849. His third and fourth divans were probably published in 1856. His Kulliyat (collection) of all four divans was first published in 1862, and then in 1870 or 1887.

But could Zafar have written them during his exile in Rangoon post-1857 and that's why they don't appear in his divans? There's very little evidence that Zafar ever composed any more poetry after his four pre-1857 divans. During his stay in Rangoon, it wasn't possible for him to write as pen, ink and paper were strictly prohibited (jail governor quoted in Biyaz-e-Zafar). While he could have composed ghazals and remembered it by heart, the public was not allowed to hold intercourse with the prisoners. Zafar had no communication with the outside world.

Till 1958, this ghazal was not mentioned in any recognised Urdu publication. It had only been recited in mushairas and mehfils from where it travelled to ghazal singers and qawwals. From there it found its way to a paperback called Guldasta and got published as that of Zafar. The first published attribution of this ghazal to Zafar appeared in a selection called Navaa-e Zafar, published in 1958. The reading public readily accepted Zafar's authorship.

Similarly, "Lagta nahin hai dil mera" is attributed to Seemab Akbarabadi. One of the couplets of the ghazal is:

Umr-e-daraaz maang kar laaye they chaar din, do arzoo mein kat gaye do intezaar mein.

This verse appeared in Nigar's special issue on autobiographies (January-February 1941). Seemab himself selected this couplet for the special issue as one of his favourite verses.

Why were these ghazals attributed to Zafar?

In Urdu poetry, there is a tradition to write ghazals in the style of famous poets. They thus resemble, in style and substance, the ghazals of the poet concered. Zafar was an accomplished poet with a distinct style. His ghazals are a beautiful collection of words that spell magic and are read with awe and admiration. It's not unusual, therefore, for these two ghazals to be wrongly attributed to Zafar. There are examples galore of such misattributions. Regarding "Na kisi ki aankh", there are similar such couplets which are in circulation, like:

Na raha voh rang na boo rahi, na gulon ki khoobi-o-khoo rahi

Jo khizaan ke haathon tabaah hai, main voh yaadgaar-e-bahaar hoon

Most people were of the view that only a doomed emperor like Zafar could create self-pity of the sort expressed in the two ghazals. To use the imagery of Kitnaa hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye, do gaz zameen bhi na mili, koo-e-yaar mein, to declare that it must have been written after his arrest and exile made it that much more poignant. How tragic that the last Mughal to rule India had been imprisoned and then exiled to Burma, ruing his fate, missing the land he was born in, knowing that he wouldn't be buried there. This was romanticism at its very best! Since this ghazal is in a melancholic style and the maqta has Zafar's takhallus, the association with Zafar became even stronger.

There exists a contrarian view that Muztar couldn't have suffered such pain, which Zafar had to undergo. The emperor passed away in 1862 in exile in Rangoon and wrote these soul touching words in a state of utter loneliness, they claim. There are others who argue that Muztar was a man with a religious bent of mind and could not have written a ghazal of absolute hopelessness. The counter argument adduced is that Khairabadi's maternal grandfather, poet and philosopher Maulvi Fazl-i-Haq Khairabadi, was a freedom fighter who played an important role in 1857. He was later banished to the Andamans. His despondence and hopelessness were similar to what Zafar experienced, hence the similarity.

Zafar was a poet of great charm and accomplishment. Even if the two ghazals are not his, it doesn't detract from his immense talent and popularity. His poetry breathed the simmering anger, despair and revolt against the British rule. Once taunted:

Dumdamein mein dum nahin khair maango jaan ki

Aey Zafar thandi hui shamsheer Hindustan ki

Zafar riposted:

Gaziyon mein boo rahegi jab tak imaan ki

Tab toh London tak chalegi teg Hindustan ki

Only a true patriot could have uttered those words and paid a heavy price for it!

The Story Behind Two Ghazals Attributed To Bahadur Shah Zafar

SHIVPREET SINGH

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