Focussing initially on nature and vistas, poetry has, in the past
century at least, become a largely urban phenomenon - both in subject
and location of poets - and Urdu poetry is no exception. But there are
still those who look beyond urban settings and preoccupations to
incorporate pastoral rhythms, songs of the seasons and festivals, and
other patterns of rural life in their verse. This veteran, for one,
bears the distinction of receiving his pen-name from India's first prime
minister.
Familiar to those attending prominent 'mushairas'
(till quite recently) as a stately, bespectacled man with a distinctive
white streak running diagonally down the left side of his beard Mohammad
Shafi Khan 'Bekal Utsahi' (1930-) is one of India's pre-eminent poets.
Lauded by his peers from Raghupati Sahai 'Firaq Gorakhpuri' to Ali
Sardar Jafri to Bashir Badr, he has been prolific across all genres of
Urdu poetry spanning ghazals, nazms, geet, dohas as well as naats and
salaams - his kulliyat (collected works) is over 1,100 pages long.
Born
in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur town, he started off his career as a poet
in the mid-1940s as 'Bekal Warsi' taking his pen-name from a comment
about him at a visit to Dewa Sharif, the dargah of Haji Waaris Ali Shah
(founder of the Warsi order of Sufis) in Barabanki. But this did not
remain for long. In 1952, he was reciting his geet "Bharat ka Kisan" at
an election rally addressed by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru who too
was so impressed - as the story goes - and quipped this was "one of our
'utsahi' (enthusiastic) shayars". And hence, 'Bekal Utsahi' it would be.
The
name set the tone for his poetry, which reflects the Ganga-Jamuni"
tradition of his birthplace (a part of the Avadh region) and is the best
example extant of Hindustani, featuring copious use of Hindi words, and
at times, Avadhi dialect, with chaste Urdu. And 'Bekal', though at his
best with rural themes, is not confined by them and can also deal with
complex issues of the human condition and society in a
deceptively-simple manner, with some very distinctive imagery.
"Tere
hai sab rang-tarang jawaani ke/'Foothpathon' par bhooka bachpan kiska
hai" is from one famous ghazal beginning "Pyaase chehrah tapta sawaan
kiska hai/Hijr ka mausam bheega daman kis ka hai".
"Jo mera hai
woh tera bhi afsana hua to/Mahaul mohabbat ka begaana hua to" is one of
his most known ghazals, in medium 'behr' (meter) and an unusual
"qafiya-radif" (rhyming) scheme. The few shers of the version I quote
were heard in a mushaira, and differs somewhat from the printed version -
it is possible he may have subsequently amended it.
"Tum qatl se
bachne ka jatan karo ho/Qaatil ka jo lehza shareefana hua to", "Kamzarf
to itni mohabbat na pila/ Labrez zeesht ka paimana hua to" and finally
"'Bekal' ne tujhe dushman-e-jaani bhi kaha hai/Tujh se bhi achanak
yaraana hua to".
He can use a much shorter meter too: "Jab se hum
tabah ho gaye/Tum Jahanpanah ho gaye", "Husn pe nikhar aa gaya/ Aaene
siyah ho gaye" and ending "'Bekal' ek hamen saza mili/Log begunah ho
gaye".
'Bekal' is equally deft in using the longer meter, of the
classical tradition, but in his unique style. "Kahin ret ko sagar saunp
gayin kahi pee gayin khud apna jal nadiyan/ Kahi ranaiyan raaj haveli
mein hain kahi jogan ban gayi chanchal nadiyan" or "Kab tak haath ki
rekhaon mein dhoondega taqdeer re jogi/Kya jaane kan nagin ban kar dass
le koi lakeer jogi".
He also used the old form of 'doha' too:
"Panghat se gori chali bhare gagriya neer/Ghazal bhajan sabb tyag den
'Ghalib' aur 'Kabir' ", or he advises himself: " 'Bekal' ji dohe likho
geet ghazal ke naam/ Abhi samae hai kaam ka phir karna bisraam."
But
geet, in the native dialect, is his speciality and his focus was
unusually wide - be it the Holi festival: "Nachi hai ithaas ke angaan
mein Holi ki yaad/Jhul raha hai hai aag ka jhola phool bana Parhalad..."
or Eid: "Har taraf rahmat-o-anwar ki ranaiyaan hai/Ham nasheen Eid ke
din..." patriotism as in "Vaqar-e-Vatan" or elegies to Lal Bahadur
Shastri ("Subh-Tashqand") and Rajiv Gandhi.
Ever the
experimenter, he was one of the first to adapt the refined sensibility
of the Japanese haiku. "Jeevan dhoop aur chaaon/Sailabi nadi ke tat
par/Mere piya ka gaon" or "Kya kya hai sansar mein/Ghar se bahar nikal
ke dekh/Saude sab bazaar mein", or even "Sansad bhitar shor hai/Bahar
dahshatgard ka zor hai/Kursi par hi zor hai" and many more.
Bringing
varied colours and sensations of our composite civilisation in his
poetry, 'Bekal's work is a veritable Idea of India in verse - and
deserves a wider audience and recognition. Anyone keen to translate or
even transliterate?
(14.06.2015 - Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. He can be contacted at [email protected] )
