A long night and a riot of memories ...

Two nights ago I lay down and listened to some old müshaaerees - as Asghar Bhai (Reminder to myself: I need to do a Podcast on him soon!!!) and I used to call the little impromptu sessions we held at my house in the post '71 days. The following couplet from Athar Nafees's amazingly poignant ghazal seemed so relevant after having spent the day thnking about the General's latest faux-ly:

dam-ba-dam ba∂h rahee hae yeh kaesee sadaa shahr vaalo süno jaesay aae dabay paaooñ saelé balaa shahr vaalo süno

I stopped the tape right there and whisked out an old vinyl of Julie Felix to hear, after a really long while, that beautifully powerful voice sing just this verse]. And then I went nuts - shunting between the protest songs of the 60s and 70s (Seeger, Dylan, Baez, Zappa, Joplin) and the Urdu poetry recitals from Müshaeraas and Müshaaerees. I revelled in the voices of: Jalib:

Aesay dastoor ko, sübhé bay-noor ko, maeñ naheeñ jaanta, maeñ naheeñ maanta

(On Pakistan's constitution) Majrooh:

Jalaa ke mish'alé jaañ, ham jünooñ sifaat chalay Jo ghar ko aag lagaaey hamaaray saath chalay

and the lilting ghazal tüm say ziyaadah that is one of his most popular pieces.

Süroor:

Ham to shaaer haeñ, ham sach naheeñ boltay (A brief nazm that is also part of his commercially released album). Zaidi: Maeñ raat aesay jazeeray mayñ tha jahaañ müjh ko Har ayk talkh haqeeqat milee gümaañ ki tarah (Along with Professor Shoor Alig's "Mayra Maahaul", this nazm tells it like it is!) Vaheedah Naseem: Abhee to aashiaanay jal rahay haeñ aatashé gül say Sabaa yeh aag daaman tak teray laaee to kyaa ho ga? (How many today recall her Ayub-defying political verses? or have even heard of her? The aatashé gül phrase is a reference to Ayub's election symbol - a Rose - and the fiery rampage his son, Gohar, created in Karachi to celebrate that dictraitor's victory ... an incident also captured inimitably by Faiz in two of his very moving pieces.) and the two wonderful Mohsins: [M] Bhopali:

Güzray thay isee tarah kabhee daar say khüd bhee Daykhayñ yeh khayaal aap ko kab tak naheeñ aata

(A shayr he had addressed to Bhutto when, as Martial Law Administrator, ZAB had started arresting dissidents. Mohsin Bhai later dropped reciting this shayr, saying that the 'daar' reference made it painful after Bhutto was hanged.) [M] Ehsan

Faqeehé Shahr nay kaaghaz ki kashtiaañ day kar Samandaroñ ke safar par kiyaa ravaanah hamayñ

and, of course, Faraz, reciting his superb classic, Mohaasirah:

Meray ghaneem ne müjh ko payaam bhayja hae (Uff. Who could listen to this amazing bit of poetry then, without wanting to be part of the heroic defiance it portrayed?) Maybe I shoud digitize some of these and provide audio links to this post soon? Is there enough interest? === Oh ... here's the opening shayr of Shoor Sahab's nazm, in case some of you are unfamiliar with the works of that radical poet: Payambar Ahraman-zaadoñ say larzaañ haeñ jahaañ maeñ hoon Yahaañ Laat-o-Habal kaa'bay ke darbaañ haeñ jahaañ maeñ hooñ PEACE!