PRELUDE

Dear Fellow Travelers

Before discussing Ghalib's poetry, I wish to share views on how to read Ghalib, in order to understand him holistically. I think that the best way would comprise the following steps:

1. Arrange Urdu poetry of Ghalib chronologically. (Because Urdu was his mother tongue, and he expressed in Urdu naturally. Arranging the outpour chronologically helps understand the contradictions and the evolution.)

2. Select verses of Urdu ghazals that stand out for one reason or the other. (Because ghazal verses provide best opportunity to covertly express views, and Ghalib exploited the same. And, certain pruning is desirable, i.e., a selection is preferred over whole of it. The ghazal’s verse, and not the ghazal, forms the basic building block of the edifice of thought.)

3. Take note of even those ghazals and verses that were not included by Ghalib in his last selection. (Because some of these deserve to be taken note of; and, after almost two centuries, one is not bound to be governed by his selection.)

4. Translate into English. (So that a large body of people can interact/ share.)

5. Interpret verses, keeping in mind the other verses of the period as also in the larger backdrop of entire chronologically arranged poetry. (Because Ghalib was a great intellectual, and the scope for multiple interpretations is great.)

One can easily see that the above-mentioned methodology is invaluable for proper comprehension of his verses, and traverse his trajectory of thought. However, notwithstanding that he could comprehend Nature, including society, a great deal, and could also cleverly grapple with some of the most important, and even eternal, questions, an important point to remember is that Ghalib was, after all, a poet, and not a conscious philosopher; and, therefore, some contradiction can be, and is, found even in ghazals’ verses of his last selection.


Knowing Urdu, the foregoing can be easily attempted because Kalidas Gupta Reza’s Urdu book [deewaan-e Ghalib kaamil, nuskha-e Gupta Reza, teesraa jadeed aur baa-tasweer edition, tarmeem aur izaafe ke saath, February 15, 1995; Published by: Sakar Publishers Private Limited, 107 Juli Bhawan –1, 10 New Marine lines, Mumbai – 400 002, India] encompasses Ghalib’s entire Urdu poetry, and has the following features of our interest:

• The outpour is chronologically arranged.

• Every verse is dated based on its first publication.

• The verses, coined later, and inserted in an earlier ghazal, have been identified.

• In case of revision of a verse, revised and original, both, versions are given.


One Anecdote

I recall an anecdote from my school days, when our Urdu teacher (a male poet, a North Indian Muslim, a scholar, a freedom-fighter, a cool and good teacher, and a communist), while explaining poetry, opined that everyone was entitled to interpret poetry as none had been ensconced in poet’s heart; and, hence, he would not fail any student! At that time, the latter part attracted us, the students, most, whereas, much later, notwithstanding numerous works on Ghalib’s poetry, the first part has given me courage to interpret a selection of his chronologically arranged Urdu ghazals’ verses.