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Ghalib
(1797- 1869) was court poet to the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah
Zafar. Ghalib wrote in both Persian and Urdu but is famous for his
self-selected collection of 2,000 Urdu couplets. He enlarged the
range of Urdu literature in the nineteenth century much beyond its
hitherto romantic focus. His poetry reflected his fluctuating
fortunes, the stagnation of his own society and the onslaught of the
British conquest on his beloved city Delhi during the revolt of 1857.
The Ghalib Academy in New Delhi was established as a `literary and
cultural' memorial by Hakeem Abdul Hameed, to eternalize memory of
Ghalib in 1969.
Ghalib
Academy is situated opposite the Qawwali hall of the holy shrine of
Hazrat Khwaja Nizam Uddin Aulia near the mausoleum of Ghalib, in the
bustling by-lane of Nizamuddin. This place is also a stone's throw
from the tombs of two celebrated poets Amir Khusro and Abdur Rahim
Khan Khanan. Built in the architectural style contemporaneous to
Ghalib, the Academy's building has ornamental canopies and
embellishments with delicate lattice work along with modern
adaptations in order to meet the requirements of the present day. Set
in the midst of historical residuum, the place breathes the
bewitching grace resembling the times and life of Ghalib. The Academy
was established on the death centenary of Ghalib in 1969. It was
inaugurated by another Ghalib fan and a man with a name in the world
of Letters, President Zakir Hussain. The Academy was equipped with an
auditorium, museum and a conscientiously built library, to serve as a
melting-pot for all research and discourse on Ghalib and his times.
Mirza
Asad Ullah Khan `Ghalib' was, they say, the last classical poet and
the first modern poet of India. He was a symbol of the syncretic
cultural ethos of India. Even though Ghalib held his Persian poetry
in great regard, it was his Urdu poetry which left an indelible mark
on the hearts of people. His Urdu poetry has enthralled generations
till date, irrespective of their religion or cultural background.
Although Ghalib prided himself in being an elitist poet, his Diwan,
written in Urdu, made him a poet of the masses. Thus, in view of
Ghalib's immense contribution to composite culture of our nation,
through both Urdu poetry and prose (in the form of letters), the
first task contemplated by the founders of the Academy was to bring
out an authentic and a complete edition of Ghalib's Diwan,
Secondly, to serve the Urdu language in a new way. Since various
Universities and Madarsas were already teaching and attempting to
popularize Urdu, the Academy decided to encourage Urdu in those
aspects where it was still untouched. For the purpose, innovative
schemes of teaching Urdu typewriting, Kitabat- composing of
books and manuscripts, Fan-e-khattati or calligraphy, Urdu
shorthand, proof reading, translation work and the training in Urdu
journalism were endeavoured and earnest efforts were made to get the
various courses State recognition and certification. However, as
Zaheer Naqvi the erstwhile founding secretary of the Academy
reminisces, owing to weighty red-tapism only few schemes could be
initiated. For instance, the Urdu Board instituted only a paltry sum
of ten thousand rupees for one of the schemes and much to the chagrin
of the founders, asked them to pay half the amount. Ghalib's poetry,
which was earlier made popular by Sohrab Modi's film Mirza Ghalib
and later by the soulful music and melodious voice of singers such as
Jagjit Singh was rendered timeless by the publication of the new
Diwan and the regular talks, lectures, mushairas and musical
soirees organized by the Academy.
Besides
the library which has a lot of source material for Ghalibean
research, an attractive feature of the Academy is the museum on the
fourth floor. The items on display give one a peep into to the world
of the Ghalib's times. Its walls are arrayed with old but beautifully
framed photographs and paintings of the great contemporary poets,
such as, Zauq the court poet of Bahadur Shah Zafar, Maulana Altaf
Hussain Hali who was a devoted disciple of Ghalib, and other
luminaries of Urdu poetry such as Mohd. Hussain Azad and Abdur Rehman
Chugtai. Other photos include places where Ghalib had stayed at
various times in his life such as the Gali Kasim Jan, Benares
house, the dalan where nikah of Ghalib was performed in
1810, and the Ballimaran house where Ghalib breathed his last, on
15th Feb 1869. The Delhi government has recently attempted to restore
the Ballimaran Haveli of Ghalib to its original glory. Amongst other
items on display are the extremely beautiful and ornamented specimens
of calligraphy or katabas and waslis, in kufic script.
They include a copy of a rare manuscript which belonged to Prince
Dara Shikoh, the son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan; a copy of the
celebrated Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Fazl, the court historian of
Mughal King Akbar 'The Great'; and a farman of Balban, a
Sultan of Delhi in the fourteenth century A.D.. There is also a
collection of coins and postal stamps of eighteenth century along
with some of recent times with Ghalib's face on them.
It
is well-known that Ghalib was a prolific letter writer and also a
calligrapher of no mean distinction. The visitors to the museum can
witness some of Ghalib's writings in his hand-written postcards,
letters and pension papers. There are also dummies of delicious foods
that Ghalib enjoyed, like, seekh kabab, shammi kabab, dahi, pasande,
murg massalam, kofta, dal chana, karela, yakhni, maash ki dal, besani
roti. Standing there in the museum one can just smell the aroma of
all these mouth-watering gourmet dishes. Alongside are displayed a
silver glass with intricate engravings, a silver bowl, a soup spoon
and other pieces of cutlery which belonged to Ghalib. Even the
clothes of Ghalib, his shoes and his walking stick are exhibited.
Ghalib had a great passion for chess and gambling, this is evident by
the display of Ghalib's personal chessboard made out of cloth with
wooden pieces. One of the favourite pastimes of Ghalib was
kite-flying. His charkhi, which is on display in the museum,
bears testimony to him being a great patangbaaz. There have
been artists, like Saadquin, Chagtai and Cpt. Sayyal who have
illustrated his couplets in painting or in stone carvings some of
which can be seen in the museum.
Ghalib's
poetry has a resonance in the ideology to which the Academy pays
homage, that is the syncretic tradition and the universal values of
Indian culture. This is also one of the reasons for the Academy
taking up the work of promotion of Urdu. The erstwhile founding
secretary of the Academy, Zahir Naqvi Sahib calls Urdu the only
`secular' language of India. Scholars from different religious and
lingual affiliations, such as, Malik Ram, Prithvi Chand, Khwaja Ahmed
Farooqui, Qazi Abdul Wadood, were closely associated with the Academy
at one time or the other. Anees Siddiqui, the teacher of advanced
calligraphy at the Academy, uses both theological pieces and secular
poetical verses to impart his art. Its been a constant endeavour on
the part of the Academy to collaborate with institutions with similar
undertakings, for the continuance and prospering of these
multifarious literary activities. However, the financial problems
which had affected Ghalib all his life seems to be the bane of Ghalib
Academy also. The state of the Ghalib Academy may be best described
in these words:
Darmandagi
me 'Ghalib', kuchh ban pade to janu,
Jab
rishta begirah tha, nakhun girah kusha tha.
(Ghalib!
I'll appreciate it if someone were to help me in my own distress now.
When
there were no knots to undo, my own fingers were strong enough to do
so)
In
want of funds it is unable to carry out all its ideals to fruition
and as far as Ghalib is concerned the work remains incomplete. As a
result, the work has been slow but nevertheless significant. Ghalib
Academy with its tireless devotion to its cause of familiarizing
people with the works of the great poet and bringing them together on
one platform has, in Shamim Haider's view who is the librarian at the
Ghalib Academy, succeeded in creating a niche for itself and it is
extremely popular and respected, even abroad.
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