MERRY CHRISTMAS

                                 

MERRY CHRISTMAS..

Oss ne jalti huyi peshaani pe jab haath rakha,

Rooh tak aa gayi taseer masihaayi ki.... Parveen Shakir

( When he   put his hand on my burning forehead,

A feeling of Christ like healing rushed down to my very soul ) 

The core message of Christmas is compassion , healing  and selfless love . It is about spreading joy and goodwill to all . It is about giving without expecting anything in return .It is about renewal of hope and coming together with loved ones . 

In Hindi / Urdu literature,  especially poetry, Jesus Christ  has been presented as a sympathetic healer full of compassion. The progressive poets ( influenced by Marxism ) have also mentioned  Jesus  as a powerful symbol of suffering, sacrifice, and the hope of resurrection/redemption for the oppressed and downtrodden masses. I have found him in the poetry of Jaishankar Prasad, Nirala, Mahadevi Verma, Ghalib, Firaq , Parveen Shakir, Sahir  and many more. I quote :-

Ibn e Mariyam huva kare koyi 

Meray dukh ki dawa kare koyi......(.Ghalib)

Jis ki furqat ne palat dhi ishq ki kaaya Firaq ,

Aaj oss Issa nafas damsaaz ki baatein Karo....(.Firaq)

Wishing  my friends and followers joy, and warmth this Christmas ! May kindness and hope fill our hearts.  Merry Christmas! 🎅❤️"

( Avtar Mota )

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THE FORGOTTEN BIOSCOPEWALA

                                            

THE FORGOTTEN BIOSCOPEWALA 

 ( Photo  by Avtar Mota inside Sadda Pind Amritsar)

The bioscope was a significant form of  travelling  entertainment in rural India . It was a source  of wonder and news for  communities living in far flung areas before the arrival of television and the internet. It holds a unique and now vanishing place in the cultural landscape of the country .

The Bioscopewala or the operator would travel from village to village with a portable wooden box, having  magnifying lenses  in multiple viewing holes  to show a sequence of static images or short, looping silent film clips. The arrival of this showman was a highly anticipated event, a break from daily life and work.

For rural populations ,the bioscope offered glimpses of distant cities, historical events, religious stories, and even snippets of early cinema. It acted as a powerful medium for connecting remote communities with the broader national and global landscape. The  operator's narration added a personal, interactive layer to the viewing, blending visual storytelling with oral tradition.

It was brought to  India by British colonisers in the early 19th-century and was re-invented numerous times before it integrated completely into the Indian landscape. Presently, the bioscope is  remembered as a  vintage slice of rural India's heritage. 

                                             

I vividly remember Mumtaz dancing around a Bioscope in the song ," Paisa phenko tamasha dekho" in 1971 movie Dushman. Again  the Indian film with a song featuring a bioscope was the 2018 Hindi-language drama film titled Bioscopewala. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's classic short story Kabuliwala, but this film story  changes the protagonist's profession from a dry fruit seller to a Bioscopewala   who travels around showing films to children through his bioscope . Bioscope remained a great entertainment in rural Punjab of yester-years . Popular folk songs sung by Surrinder Kaur,and Assa Singh Mastana were also played by the operator of the Bioscope while people watched still pictures through the lens fitted windows .Not only children but village elders too watched it 

  The  Bioscopewala would be paid in cash and kind by villagers .

( Avtar Mota)

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SHABBY BUT DOCILE ,PRETTY BUT HOSTILE

ZOVAL TA ZEIVAL

( Shabby but docile pretty but hostile ) 

Our neighbour  Sondhar Dydh's son divorced his first wife and married for the second time.  One day ,Sondhar Dydh  said this to my mother( Kaaki )  :

" Hatai Kaaki , kyah vanai Zeivili khota aassim Zoval jaan. Yemiss raantus  balaai chhass na poshaan" 

"  Kaaki,  that shabby but docile daughter in law was better than this good looking but aggressive girl.  I can't deal with this  witch." 

 In Kashmiri Zov means lice and Zoval  means a woman with lice in her hair or shabby . Similarly Zeiv means tongue and Zeival means a woman who confronts and  uses her tongue aggressively . I have heard many elderly Kashmiri woman saying, " Zeivili Khota  Zoval  jaan ( a docile girl with lice in her head is better than a good looking who hits all with her words )  

With spread of nuclear families ,  education and  women empowerment, this phrase used by our elderly women  is extinct now. 

( Avtar Mota)

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ZUBAIR RIZVI AND HIS MAGAZINE ZEHENE JADEED ( MODERN MIND )

                                           

( Gabriel Garcia Marquez issue )

               ( Special Issue on Artist  G R Santosh )

                                                

               ( Art, Theatre, Music and Dance issue )

ZEHEN E JADEED ( MODERN  MIND )  AND  ZUBAIR RIZVI ( 1935- 2016)

"Apnī zaat ke saare ḳhufiya raste uss par khol diye,

jaane kis aalam mein uss ne haal hamaara poochha tha." ...... Zubair Rizvi 

("I revealed all the hidden paths leading  to my innermost self, my soul,

So much was I moved,  when he sought to know my welfare  ")

Born at Amroha in the UP State, Zubair Rizvi ( 1935 -2016  ) was the    finest amongst Modern Urdu poets of the country. He served All India Radio for more than 30 years . In his professional career, Zubair had interviewed celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Lata Mangeshkar, and Dilip Kumar. He also served Radio Kashmir, Srinagar for some years . He also served as secretary of Delhi Urdu Academy for about  two years. 

In verse, he mainly tried his hand at three genres: Ghazal, Nazm, and Geet. He has over 17 books to his name, some of the more important ones among these include, Lahar Lahar Nadiya Gahri (Collection of Poems), Khisht-e-Deewar, Musafat-e-Shab, Purani Baat Hai, Dhoop Ka Saibaan, Ungliyaan Figaar Apni, etc. Further, there have also been 2 books written on him and 24 books compiled by him. 

I happened to know him in person initially through the bank and later through his  affable mannerisms , friendly demeanour and grand literary  aptitude  during the days he was posted in Kashmir. I vividly remember him coming on 1st or 2nd of every month in 1980 and making a telegraphic transfer of eight hundred rupees to his wife Jamshed Jahan who maintained her account with Asaf Ali Road branch of our bank . It was Zubair  Rizvi who introduced me to  Virginia Wolf by gifting me her novel ," To The Lighthouse". 

In 1990 ,Zubair  started an innovative and experimental publication ," Zehen e Jadeed" , first of its kind amongst  Urdu magazines published in the country. . I also read some wonderful  issues of Zehen e Jadeed ( Modern  Mind ) that he edited.  The canvas of Zubair 's study was wide and it included ; western literature, theatre, art , films and music. This got beautifully reflected in his magazine," Zehen e Jadeed " which  published  many topics that were relatively unfamiliar in Urdu literature. In Zehen e Jadeed, apart from Urdu poetry , Zubair also published  informative write-ups on fine arts, theatre, film, music, painting, art and culture. It also  published  translations of foreign literature . Jamshed Jahan , wife of Zubair Rizvi was co-editor of Zehen Jadeed.  A well read and gracious lady, Jamshed Jahan was a popular  broadcaster  and announcer in the Urdu Service of All India Radio (AIR) Delhi for almost 20 years. She was also involved in various social work activities .  She died sometime in 2021. While Mrs Jamshed Jahan skillfully raised the three children in Delhi, Zubair Razvi moved to different places in India during  his service.He dedicated a  ghazal he to his wife  during his stay in Kashmir. This ghazal , sung by Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain is as follows:-

Tootay huve rishton ka har zakhm hara likhna

Jab bhi usse khat likhna adaab mera likhna..

Woh jisnay meri aksar lotaayi hain saughatay, 

Uss jaan-e- taghaful ko koyi na bura likhna..

There is another ghazal that he wrote in Kashmir and dedicated to his wife Jamshed Jahan . It has been sung by Suman Devgun. I quote opening lines :- 

"Usse milne ke zamaane aaye

Khwaab ankhon mein suhaane  aaye"

I remain an admirer of  the  canvas of Modernism in Zubair 's  poetry . Here are two  poems of Zubair :-

(1)

(Zindagi Tujh Se Mil kar Zamaana hua)

Zindagi tujh se mil kar zamaana huala,

Aa tujhe aaj hum maikade le chalein

Raat ke naam honthon ke saagar likhein

Apani aankhon me kuchh rat-jage le chalein

kyaa haseen log hain

inn ki aaraa_ish-e-Khal-o-Khat ke liye

Apni ankhon ke ham aaine le chalein

Ajanabi chehare me dost banate nahin

rishte-Naaton ki  chaandi barasti nahin

qurbatein sohabatein jin ki yaad aayengi

Aise kuchh doston ke pate le chalein

Un ki aankhon ne jalate sulagate huve

Manzaron ke siva kuchh bhi dekha nahin

phool-o-Khushbu saba zam-zamein le chalein

Zindagi tujh se mil kar zamaana hua..

(Zubair Rizvi)

My English translation is as under:-

(Life! An age passed by when we met last,

Come be my guest at the tavern tonight.

Let these lips celebrate the night with the goblet,

Let our  eyes  carry  night’s awakening.

How beautiful  are the people  around ;

Let us mirror affection through our eyes

To adorn their physical appearance .

They don't make friends in unfamiliar faces,

Relationships don't rain silver,

Intimacies are blessings,

Let's take addresses of such friends,

Whose memories will be cherished.

Those eyes which saw nothing except

blaze  and hell fires,

Let us carry  flowers , fragrance ,morning breeze, and respite for them .)

(2)

(Tabdeeli )

Subah-dam jab bhī dekhā hai mainay kabhī

Nanhe bachchoñ ko schōol jaate huve

raqs karte huve gungunāate huve

apnay bastoñ ko gardan meiñ daalay huve

uñgliyāañ ek kī ek pakday huve ..

subah-dam jab bhī dekhā hai maiñay unheiñ

māmtā un kī rāahoñ meiñ saaya karay

un ke qadmoñ meiñ ḳhushbū bichhaāyā karay

devtaā un ke hāthoñ ko choomā kareiñ

mun hī mun un kī bāatoñ pe jhoomā kareiñ ..

subah-dam jab bhī dekhā hai maiñay unheiñ

merā jī chāahtā hai ki meiñ daud kar

ek nanhe ki uñglī pakad kar kahūuñ

mujh ko bhī apnay schōol letay chalo

tā-ki ye tishna-e-ārzu-e-zindagī

phir se āġhaāz-e-shauq-e-safar kar sakay

( Zubair Rizvi )

My English translation is as under:-

(Change )

(Early in the Morning ,

Whenever I see little children

Going to School,

With bags hung around their necks ,

They dance ,

And as they move holding each other’s hand ,

They sing in soft tones.

Early in the morning ,

Whenever I see them ,

I Wish

“May the maternal love always bring pleasant shade in their journey’s path ,

May It always spread fragrance in every passageway they traverse ,

May gods always come down to kiss their tiny hands ,

May gods take delight in listening to their innocent conversation .”

Early in the morning ,

Whenever I see them ,

I simply wish to join them ,

And holding hand of some innocent child ,

Just say to him ,

“ Take me along ,

Take me to your school “

So that ,this thirst and yearning for life

May be able to start afresh ,

Start with a new wanderlust,

To traverse a new journey .)

One of his famous poems, Yeh Hai Mera Hindustan, which he read with gusto at many a Mushaira, not only gained great popularity among Urdu lovers in India  but was also included in many textbooks. I conclude with a couplet of Zubair:

puraane log dariyaaon mein neki daal aate thay 

hamaare daur ka insaan neki kar ke cheekhega

( Avtar Mota)

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TIPASA RUINS IN THE WORKS OF ALBERT CAMUS

                                           

TIPASA AND  ALBERT CAMUS

The ancient Roman city of Tipasa falls in Algeria on the coast of Mediterranean sea . It is located  40 miles (65 km) west of Algiers. Phoenician, Roman, early Christian, and Byzantine ruins all lay scattered alongside the golden beaches of the bay, spread out between a blue sea and rolling hills covered with pine trees. Established by Phoenician merchants  in the sixth century B.C., the city reached its apex during the second and first centuries B.C. It became a part of the Roman Empire in A.D. 40. Emperor Claudius of Rome  granted Roman citizenship  rights to its residents.Artifacts found at the site provide evidence of the residents  trading with Italy, Greece, and the Liberian Peninsula.Tipasa became an important centre of Christianity in the 3rd century. The first Christian inscription in Tipasa dates to 238, and the city saw the construction of a large number of Christian religious buildings in the later 3rd and 4th centuries.Ruins from the Roman period include a forum, a curia, four thermal baths, and a theatre, as well as a Christian cemetery and a large Christian basilica with nine naves. To the east of Tipasa’s harbour are ruins of two more Christian basilicas and a cemetery. Tipasa’s ruins were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982.

 Albert Camus often referenced Tipasa in his essays, novels, and letters, as it was a place of great personal importance to him. Heaa visited Tipasa in 1939 and 1947, and it had a profound impact on him. He was captivated by the town's natural beauty, its rich history, and the sense of harmony between nature and human existence. Tipasa became a symbol of the Mediterranean spirit, which Camus cherished.For Camus, Tipasa was a  place of refuge and solace, a connection to the natural world and the beauty of existence, a symbol of the human desire for happiness, simplicity, and meaning, a  reminder of the importance of living in the present moment and a  contrast to the absurdity and chaos of modern life

Camus  often used Tipasa as a backdrop to explore themes of human existence, morality, and the search for meaning. In the works of Albert Camus, Tipasa ruins  serve as a profound symbol of sensory joy, lost innocence, and the "invincible summer" of the human spirit. While it is most famously the subject of his lyrical essays, it also appears as a pivotal setting for his early fiction. 

In "The Outsider" , the sun-drenched, sensory-focusesd environment of the Algerian coast throughout the novel echoes the "Tipasa spirit" found in Camus's other works—a world where the physical environment (sun, sea, and light) dictates the character's internal state. Tipasa ruins find mention in , " The Plague" " The Happy Death'" and elaborate essays like ,"Return to Tipasa" ," Nupitals at Tipasa"  and many more .

Scholars believe Camus  used Tipasa as a metonym for the entire natural world, representing the raw, indifferent, yet beautiful reality that humans must inhabit.

( Avtar Mota)

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UPANASHADIC CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF SMILING ALBERT CAMUS

                                         

UPANASHADIC CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS AND   PHOTOGRAPHS  OF SMILING ALBERT CAMUS 

                                              

Upanishads  teach the distinction between pleasure  and happiness. According to Katha Upanishad, pleasure (preya) is temporary and sensory; true happiness (shreya) is enduring and comes from knowing the Self . The Kena Upanishad connects happiness with Brahma-gyana  (self-realisation), teaching that true happiness lies not in pursuing the visible material  phenomenon,  but in knowing the inner, eternal reality that drives all, leading to  ultimate satisfaction . The journey along this path  enables the traveller to have a glimpse of inner peaceful soul and the ultimate reality. The Taittiriya Upanishad describes a ladder of bliss, starting from human happiness and ascending to the infinite bliss of Brahman (Brahmananda) through contemplation and realisation.The Chhandogya Upanishad says , "Yo vai bhuma tatsukhaṃ nalpe sukhamasti" (That which is infinite is happiness; there is no happiness in the finite). It clarified that happiness derived from material or finite things is temporary and ultimately leads to suffering.

This man, Camus  had  found the sunlight lying hidden within him even in the haziness of his existence   . He wrote this :-

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."... 

And Camus had read Katha Upanishad in French that was gifted to him by his mentor and philosopher  Prof. Jean Grenier .This Upanishad with Camus's notes in French remains in his private  library  inside his Lourmarin  house in South France . Catherine Camus, his daughter lives in this house and manages the Camus Centre and her father's  legacy.

( Avtar Mota )

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THE MOMENTARINESS OF THIS EXISTENCE

                                        

THE MOMENTARINESS  OF THIS EXISTENCE.

" Maine poochha ke zindagi kya hai,

Haath se gir ke jaam toot gaya"

My English translation is this:-

(( I sought to know what life is all about,

Alas! It slipped from my gasp ; 

Like a wine glass ( pleasures )  slipping from hands And  breaking into pieces.))

The concept of the momentariness of existence is a central philosophical doctrine in Buddhism known as ( ksanika-vaada), which emphasises that everything in the phenomenal world is transient and constantly changing.This doctrine is associated with the Buddhist concept of 'impermanence' (Anicca), which states that all created things inevitably change and decay.Each momentary existence causes the next. That is, one thing exists simultaneously as itself and as the cause of another. 

  The Upanishads reject the everyday world (samsara or maya). It  is described as impermanent, fleeting, and ultimately unreal from the highest perspective, but the underlying Self is not. The Upanishads focus on realising the permanent, eternal nature of the Self, which transcends the impermanent, "momentary" phenomenal world. The predominant teaching in the Upanishads is the spiritual identity of Self within each human being, with the Self of every other human being and living being, as well as with the supreme, ultimate reality Brahman.

 In the Katha Upanishad, Nachiketa, the text's central character, rejects Yama's offers of wealth and long life, calling them "fleeting and vain" and insisting on the eternal nature of the Self beyond death.

The Kena Upanishad addresses the impermanence of life by contrasting it with the permanent, unchanging reality of Brahman (the ultimate Self/Spirit). It teaches that the physical world and individual existence are transient phenomena, and true immortality is attained only by realising the self/ Brahman .

The Isha Upanishad teaches that the material world is transient and a universe of constant movement, but this phenomenal existence is enveloped and pervaded by the one, unchanging, and immortal Self (Brahman or Ishvara).

The Upanishads assert that mind has the power to perceive the world as it is, as well as fabricate the world as it wants to perceive it. Mind is a means to see the world but it is prone to flaws. In this ontological quest man has to make a serious attempt to realise the "true reality ( Brahman ) behind perceived reality ( Maaya )". That Brahman has no attributes or characteristics. German Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer   in his book " Die Welt" ( in one specific   passage on Vedantic Concept of Maaya  )  writes :-

“It is Maya, the veil of deception, which blinds the eyes of mortals and makes them behold a world of which they cannot say that it is or that it is not: for it is like a dream; it is like the sunshine on the sand which the traveler from afar takes to be water; or the stray piece of rope he takes for a snake.”

Abdul Qadir Bedil was a Sufi poet of Indian School or what is known as ‘Sabk  e Hindi’ . He had done wide study of ancient Indian philosophers and the Influence of Buddhist philosopher  Nagarjuna is evident in the Persian poetry of Bedil. Bedil was also influenced by the Advait philosophy of Adi Sankara. And Bedil was Ghalib's greatest inspiration .This appears to be the reason for the influence of Upanishads/ Vedanta upon Mirza Ghalib’s poetry. Did Ghalib read Dara Shikoh's Persian translation of Upanishads ? I can't comment for I have no authentic source to fall back upon. Dara Shikoh was a lover of Upanishads and had 52 Upanishads translated into Persian just two years before he was executed  .His translation Sirr-e-Akbar (The Greatest Mystery ) was completed in 1657. He also got Bhagavad-Gita and the Yoga Vashishtha translated into Persian .In his foreword to Sirr e Akbar, Dara wrote:-

" Happy is he, who having abandoned the prejudices of vile selfishness, sincerely and with the grace of God, renouncing all partiality, shall study and comprehend this translation titled 'The Greatest Secret ' [Sirr-i-Akbar], knowing it to be a translation of the words of God. He shall become imperishable, fearless, unsolicitous, and eternally liberated.”

 " Hasti ke mat fareb mein aa jaaiyo ‘Assad’

Aalam tamaam halqaa-e-daam-e-khayaal hai”………( Ghalib )

Meaning …….

( Get not trapped by the deception of this existence O ! “Assad “,

This visible world in its entirety ,

belongs to the realm of imagination only.)

 

( Avtar Mota )

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