BOOK REVIEW : MERA SAFAR BY ALI SARDAR JAFRI

                                                                  

 BOOK REVIEW 

 MERA  SAFAR  : Published by  Bharatiya Jnanpith  ,

 Lodhi Road New Delhi.   Price Rs  50/=.

Selected poems of progressive urdu poet Ali Sardar  Jafri ( 1913-2000)

With   serious   Urdu poetry in Devnagri  script, the book  is meant to present Urdu poet  Ali  Sardar Jafri  to a broad section of his fans / readers  who  are not familiar with Arabic script  . The book contains   132  poetic compositions  comprising of   Gazals , Songs , Mini Poems , Blank Verses , Quatrains and extremely powerful and eloquent poems on Indo Pak Friendship and  the much debated topic of  lasting peace in the Indian Subcontinent .

Sardar hardly needs any Introduction. His Journey from Balrampur  to Lucknow , Aligarh , Delhi and finally to  Mumbai ( 1942 )  during the days of British Raj, His unflinching faith in man , love for his homeland  Awadh,  his  long association  with some Freedom fighters of the country , his communist connections and  imprisonments and finally  his association with progressive writers like Rajinder Singh Bedi  , Krishen Chander , Faiz  and sajjad Zaheer  are given some space in the brief and crisp foreword to this book. The  selection from  various poetic works of  sardar   for this book is   quite impressive and appropriate  so as  to present the  essence of his   beliefs and convictions .

These merits apart ,   the compilers have missed much in introducing Sardar   to the  readers of this Book. Not a word about  Sardar’s  firm conviction on staying back in India when all his relatives left for Pakistan in 1947. Not  a  word about Sardar’s  association with Nobel Laurate Pablo Neruda or Paul Robson (1898 – 1976  American concert singer ,  actor, athlete, scholar and a passionate   advocate for  the civil rights movement ).  No mention  of   films , Television and Documentaries produced or   scripted by him. His association with World progressive writers and   Turkish Poet Nazim Hikmet ( 1902-1963 ) is nowhere mentioned . Sardar’s  faith in Nehruvian Model for the country ,  his humanism in feeling pain and anguish over   Poverty and exploitation  in Asia and Africa  do not find a word in the introduction.

 Sardar was a self styled  spokesman for the poor, and wrote zealously to promote peace and friendship between India and Pakistan all along his life . .This towering poet started   his literary journey with his first  Book Manzil ( a collection of short stories ) published in 1938. His  language is direct, his words are powerful and his  ideas are   like paintings on a   bigger canvas.  Sardar’s poems have  been translated into many  languages of the world. He is  also  recipient of Soviet Land Nehru Award and  the coveted Jnanpith Award apart from being conferred Padam Shri by Government of India .

 Many  Critics  have labeled him as a  preacher which in no way is the real estimation of the man or his  work .In fact this happens with poems and issues that are meant to be conveyed to bigger audiences or Humanity at large  . People misunderstand such creative work and interpret it as preaching .   

 I remember Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying about sardar  jafri

 “ One may disagree with his political beliefs but none can overlook  the vision that this man has for the Humanity "   Vajpayee made the historic peace trip to Pakistan where  he  presented   SARHAD the first-ever album of anti-war poems of Sardar Jafri (sung by Seema Anil Sehgal) to his Pakistani counterpart. This was indeed the greatest tribute to the poetic vision of Sardar.

 On this initiative from Vajpayee  Leading Newspapers wrote

“Where politics had failed, poetics triumphed ”

I quote a  Memoriam on sardar  which was read out in a seminar in 2000 in New Delhi ..

“Sardar was a rebel, freedom fighter, pacifist, radical activist, storywriter, critic and documentary filmmaker at once. But, above all, he was a poet endowed with exquisite imagination, one of the brightest stars on the firmament of twentieth-century Urdu poetry. “

A poem from SARHAD has following beautiful lines . This poem is also included in the book under review

“ Tum Aao Gulshan e Lahore se chaman Bardosh

Hum Aayein Subh e Benaras Ki Roshinin Le kar

Himalaya ke hawaaon Ki Taazigi Le kar

Aur oss ke baad Yeh Poochein Ki Kaun Dushaman Hai ..”

(You Bring us flowers from the Garden of Lahore

We bring the Dawn of Benaras for you ,

We bring the fresh Himalayan breeze for you,

Then let us sit down and ask each other  ,

“Who Is the enemy Now ? )

For  lovers of Urdu poetry the Book has  many eloquent and powerful poems like Subh e Fardaa , Tashkand ki shaam , Qatl e Aftaab and Guftagu raising issues like the   need for  permanent and lasting  Indo Pak Friendship and peace in the subcontinent. His other  poems like   Mera Safar , Asia jaag uthaa, Ved e Muqaduss, Chandalika , Awaadh ki Khaak e Haseen  and Daulat e Duniya Kaa Hisaab are a treat to urdu  poetry Connoisseurs .The compilation has beautiful quatrains and couplets like

Daur e Mai Khatam Huva Khatam Huyee sohbat e shab,

Ho chukee Subah Magar raat abhi Baaki hai

Aisaa Lagtaa hai Ki Bichchhadi Hai abhi Mil ke Nazar

Aisaa Lagtaa hai Mulaqaat Abhi Baaki Hai .

Or

Aey wattan Khaak e wattan Woh Bhi  Tujhe Dhe Dheinge Hum

Buch gayaa hai jo lahoo ab ke fasadaat ke   Baad .

(O my country, my beloved land, we shall be most willing to sacrifice

Whatever blood is left in us after the bloodbath of riots)

Or

Yeh kaun Aayaa  Shab e wasal Ka Jamaal Liye

Tamaam Umr e Guzashataa ke Maah o Saal Liye

Hazaar Rang e Khizaan Ka Badan pe Pairaahun

Zawaal e husn mein Bhi Husn e Laazawaal Liye .

Some mini poems composed by sardar and included in MERA SAFAR  are worth mentioning . For example

Gham Kaa heera

Dil mein Rakho ,

Kis ko Dikhaatey Phiratey Ho , 

Yeh Choron Ki Duniyaa hai.

(Keep these pearls of pain hidden in thy heart

Do not show them to one and all.

Take care !

There are thieves all over

They might snatch this too from thee.)

About the  freedom soaked in Blood bath of 1947  sardar says

Issi sarhad pe kal dooba tha sooraj ho ke do tukade

Issi sarhad pe kal zakhmi huyi thi subh-e-azaadi

(Yesterday, the sun split into two and diminished at this border

Freedom’s dawn was also wounded at this very border…)

Sardar’s romanticism is unmatched .His  small poem “Tu Mujhe Itane Pyaar se Mat Dekh  “  included in this compilation   is worth mentioning for his moving romanticism which at times is  shadowed by anxieties of  existence .

Tu mujhay itnay pyaar say mat dekh,

Teri palkon kee naram saayaye main

Dhoop bhi chandni si lagti hai

Aur mujhay kitni door jaanaa hai

Rait hai garm,Paon kay chhaalay

Yoon dehktay hain,jaisay angaaray

Pyaar ki yeh nazar rehay na rehay

Kaun dasht-e-wafa main jalta hai

Teray dil ko khabar rahay na rahay

Tu mujhay itnay pyaar say mat daikh

-------------------------------------

(Don't look at me so lovingly.

In the gentle shadows of your eye lashes

the sunlight turns into moonlight.

I've yet to go far off,

the sand beneath my feet is hot,

and the boils on my feet

feel like red hot coal.

Whether love lingers or not,

who wants to get burned

in the desert of faithfulness?

Whether you remember me or not,

Don't look at me so lovingly)

Praising beautiful  hands of workers of the world , Sardar goes on to say that Humanity should Respect the hands of Poor Artisans . These hands should get acceptance  and dignity  for these hands alone run this world. This poem called “ Haathon Kaa Taraana “ or song of the hands is also included in the  compilation under review .

Mitti Ko chhuain to sonaa hai

Chaandi ko Chhuain to paayal hai

Pather ko Chhuain to Buut kar dein

Kaalik ko chhuain to kaajal hai

Aijaaz hai yeh inn haathon ka

Resham Ko chhuain to Aanchal hai

Inn haathon ki taqreem karo

Inn haathon ki taazeem karo

Duniyaa ko Chalaane waale hai

Inn Haathon Ko Tasleem karo

 (If they touch clay , It turns gold .

If they touch silver , it shapes itself to become Paayal ( Beautiful foot anklet ) ,

If they touch a stone , they make a deity out of it .

If they touch the lamp soot , they make it Kohl for the eyes .

What a wonder ! They touch silk and it turns to be our Body scarf..

Respect these hands .

Dignify these hands .

They move the world .

Accept these hands ).

Some more poems of sardar like Husn e Kashmir ( The beauty of Kashmir ,)  and  Bombay would have done a little bit of value addition to this compilation . Nonetheless , the Book present Sardar Jafri  in Proper perspective and the reader finds it enjoyable.

 (  Text And Photo by Autar Mota )

 Monday ,14^th November 2012  Time 00.20 AM GOOD NIGHT

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