Urdu writer

Eminent Urdu writer Rafia Manzoorul Ameen passed away in Hyderabad Deccan recently. She was 78.

Her first novel ‘Saare jahaan ka dard’ that was set in Kashmir was published by Naseem Anhonvi’s publication from Lucknow. She wrote Yeh Raste and later Aalampanah which got her immense popularity as TV serial Farmaan was based on it.

She passed away when the muezzin gave the call for Zohr namaaz and after repeating the initial words ‘Allah-o-Akbar’, she breathed her last, reports Nadeem Siddiqui, in Inquilab Urdu daily (Mumbai).

She wrote over 200 stories in her literary career. She was a student of science and also wrote a book ‘Saainsi Zaaviye’ that was in the syllabus in Nagpur. Rafia Manzurul Amin was born in 1930 and died on June 30, 2008.

AnIndianMuslim.com

For almost six decades, Noor, has been the leading children’s magazine in the country and has helped keeping Urdu alive among the young ones in India.

The Noor digest is published from Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) and is a must in every household where Urdu is spoken. Along with Umang and Payam-e-Talim, Noor is among the few standard periodicals for kids whose mother tongue is Urdu.

Priced at Rs 18 per month, the annual subscription costs Rs 200, however, if you want it through registered post the charge is Rs 410. For subscription you can contact idaraalhasanat@hotmail.com

In the past, Khilaunda, Toffee and Kaliyan were among the major children’s magazines but now few such magazines remain. And all Urdu lovers must patronise them.

For subscription you can send money order and also write a post card with the details of money order slip to Idara-e-Alhasanat, Old Khandsar, Rampur (UP), 244901.

AnIndianMuslim.com

One of the most popular humorist poets of Urdu, Saghar Khayyami passed away in Mumbai. He was admitted to the Nanavati Hospital after suffering cardiac arrest.

Khayyami, whose real name was Rashidul Hasan, was 70. The body has been flown to Lucknow for the last rites. Saghar Khayyami’s demise has left the Urdu world in a state of shock. He was unquestionably the most popular satirist and exponent of humorous poetry in Urdu.

His presence ensured the success of any mushaira and was among the most recognised faces of Urdu poetry in the country. Apart from India, he was also popular in Gulf and America. The stage of mushaira would no longer be the same, without Saaghar Khayyami.

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Eminent Urdu poet Mohammad Ahmad Ramz died in Ghaziabad on April 2. He was the foremost modernist poet.

Ramz was born in Sitapur in 1932. He emerged as a leading poet at the peak of moderist movement, especially in the 70s. Earlier known as Ramz Sitapuri, his collection of poetry ‘Savaad-e-Rang’ got popularity.

His couplet: SaaNsoN meN ulajh rahii thiiN saaNseN
SadiyoN ko ubuur kar rahaa tha voh

The demise of Ghulam Rizvi Gardish is another shock for Urdu world. He passed away in Mau. He was born in Muhammadabad town of Mau and taught English in Shia college. He had also spent years in Mumbai.

Ghulam Rizwi Gardish will always be remembered for his ‘khaaka-nigaari’ and his knowledge about Urdu poetry and its history. He could recall innumerable couplets of hundreds of poets and also the literary feuds and controversies in the history of Urdu literature.

He was a poet of repute and had several collections to his name apart from his famous work ‘paraganda log’ in which he wrote profiles of poets and writers. His second book of profiles, ‘Aainakhana’ is in print.

AnIndianMuslim.com

Ahmad Saeed Malihabadi, the editor of Urdu daily Azad Hind (Calcutta) is all set to get elected to the Upper House. The Left Front and the Congress, both bitter rivals in West Bengal politics, have supported his nomination.

He had filed his nomination as an independent candidate. It is quite clear that he will easily sail through. Congress leader PR Das Munshi said that Malihabadi is a scholar, a secular person and his family played its role in the freedom movement that makes him a candidate Congress can back.

UPDATE:
Malihabadi has been elected to the Upper House. One does hope that in the Rajya Sabha, he would raise the issues of poor, the downtrodden and of course the issues concerning minorities. Unfortunately Azad Hind, an old and respected newspaper, is yet to have a website of its own.

Obituary: Prakash Fikri’s demise

Only last year at Urdu India, we had featured a ghazal of Prakash Fikri. The renowned Urdu poet passed away sometime back (the news has come late). He was 77. Zahirul Haq alias Prakash Fikri was born in Ambala in 1931.

His father Maulvi Mohammad Zakaria was an Arabic teacher. By 60s, Fikri was well-known as a modernist voice in Urdu poetry. His poetry collections Safar Sitara & Ek Zara Si Barish were critically acclaimed. In Patna and Ranchi, where he lived, there were condolence meetings organised in his memory.

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One of the foremost Indian writers, Naiyer Masood, is known for his masterful portrayal of the Lucknow of yore. But Masood dislikes nostalgia.

A flagbearer of post-modernist tradition in Urdu, his short-stories reflect the decline of Lucknow, once the epitome of culture and civility in India. But the stories no way lament the loss of an era.

Rather they deal about the ordinary human beings, and the celebration of their courage in the face of adversities. In his stories, Masood demolishes the perception that Lucknow’s society was decadent.

His story ‘The Myna from the Peacock Garden’ [Taoos Chaman ki Mynah] is a classic. In an interview with Sagaree Sengupta, Masood says, “First, I wanted to offer a
corrective to the bad reputation Vajid Ali Shah had acquired. Certainly,
he had weaknesses but he had good qualities as well. I wanted to deal
with him, Lucknow, and the culture of Lucknow in a story…”.

“Ahmed Ali Khan, who was the first photographer of
India. He assembled his own small army and fought against the British,
and was probably killed himself. In Munshi Naval Kishore’s history it
says that this man was a photographer and the English respected him
because of that, but that, “regrettably, in spite of all that he raised arms
against the British.”

Read this interview in PDF file on Urdustudies.com
Read another interview with Asif Farukhi.

Naiyer Masood was born in Lucknow in 1936. He did his graduation from Lucknow University and later got a degree in MA (Persian) from the same University apart from Phd in both Persian and Urdu from Allahabad University and Lucknow University respectively. He has written 21 books and his works have been translated from French to Finnish.

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Renowned Urdu litterateur Naiyer Masud has been selected for this year’s Saraswati Samman, which is given by KK Birla Foundation, annually to an Indian author in any of the languages of the country.

Masud is one of the greatest Urdu short-story writers and has become a legend in his lifetime. A translation of his short-stories, which was published in English, ‘The essence of camphor’ had stunned the readers across the world.

His works have been translated in umpteen languages from French to Hebrew. Earlier, eminent critic Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, was awarded Saraswati Samman, six years ago for his landmark ‘Sher Shor Angez’. The Saraswati Samman comprises of Rs 5 lakh cash and a citation. The jury that selected the winner was presided over by Chief Justice of India JB Patnaik.

Award to Iqbal Majeed

Another eminent Urdu author, Iqbal Majeed, has been selected for Madhya Pradesh government’s prestigious award ‘Iqbal Samman’ in the field of Urdu literature. Iqbal Majeed has been writing since mid-50s and is considered one of the finest novelists and short-story writers in the sub-continent. The award carries Rs 2 lakh cash.

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Shahar-e-Sukhan is Dr Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad’s interesting account of the poets who ruled the Mushairas half-a-century ago. Separate chapters on 26 major poets including the likes of Salam Machhlishahri, Fana Nizami Kanpuri, Ravish Siddiqui, Masood Akhtar Jamal, Allama Anwar Sabri, Mirza Ahsan Ahmad Beg, Hindi Gorakhpuri and Salam Sandelvi.

Chapters on poets like Jigar Muradabadi, Nushoor Vahidi, Khumar Barabankvi, Rahi Masoom Raza and Arif Abbasi Baliyavi are also part of this book. It was first published in 1961 and the entire edition had sold out immediately after publication. In 1961, all the poets described in the book were alive.

Now when the book has been re-printed half-a-century later, only two–Malikzada Manzoor Ahmed himself and Natiq Aazmi are alive. Allama Niaz Fatehpuri had lauded the book wholeheartedly, specially Malikzada’s style of description of poets. The book is interspersed with anecdotes and the interesting incidents during Mushairas, that make it a must for any library.

“I asked Fana Nizami Kanpuri, why he never sent his poetry for publication in magazines and literary journals”. He said that once he sent his ghazal and the editor replied that, ‘Ghazal mil gayi hai mutmain rahiye‘ and I stopped sending my poetry to periodicals thereafter. ‘What was so objectionable in his reply?, asked Malikzada. Fana Sahab said, ‘You may not feel it anything in it but it is an affront to a poet, after all when he had received the ghazal he should have been mutmain, rather he asked me to do the same”.

You can order it from Seemant Nagar, Kanchan Bihari Marg, Kalyanpur (Lucknow) for Rs 200.

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The Delhi Urdu Academy has announced its annual awards for the year 2008. The All India Bahadur Shah Zafar Award (Rs 1.11 lakh) goes to Professor Syed Mohammad Aqeel Rizvi.

The prestigious Pt Brijmohan Dattatreya Award will be conferred on Anand Mohan Zutshi Gulzar Dehalvi. The award carries Rs 51,000 cash and memento. Mahfoozur Rahman and Som Anand, have been selected for the awards for journalism

Eminent writer Musharraf Alam Zauqi has been selected for the Award for creative prose writing. Professor Shamsul Haq Usmani and Professor Naseem Ahmad Khan have been chosen for the awards for criticism and research.

For poetry this year Nazmi Sikandarabadi & PP Srivastava Rind have been selected. Ataullah Akhtar (Calligraphy) and Taliba Khatoon (Teaching) are among other awardees

Journalist Som Anand has been associated with Siasat and UNI Urdu service. In the past, he worked alongside Faiz and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi. The awards will be given at a ceremony in March.

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One of leading Urdu poets, Manzoor Hashmi, passed away in Aligarh, reports reaching here said. He was born in Badaun in 1933 and after his matriculation from Haldwani, studied at Aligarh.

He did his graduation and PG from Aligargh Muslim University. Manzoor Hashmi retired as Deputy Librarian from Maulana Azad Library. He was published in reputed magazines including Ajkal and Shabkhoon.

His ghazals had a unique charm:

yahi to phailti hai bastiyoN meN
abhii jo aag dil meN jal rahii hai

yaqiiN ho to koii raastaa nikaltaa hhai
havaa kii oT meN hokar chiraaGh jaltaa hai

We will publish his Ghazals soon.

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Until a few decades back, Fikr Taunsvi’s ‘Pyaaz ke Chhilke’ was one of the most popular columns and the readers would wait for the newspaper every day just to read his piece and later discuss it.

Ramlal Bhatia, who wrote under the pseudonym Fikr Taunswi, also wrote ‘Teer-o-Nashtar’ for Biswin Sadi. Unfortunately not enough attention was paid to this great humourist after his death.

Dr Mehtab Amrohvi’s book ‘Fikr Taunsvi: Ek Motala’ is a comprehensive work on the life and achievements of this great writer. The book has 212 pages and throws light on various aspects of Fikr’s life, his times and works.

The book is a bit costly at Rs 300 but provides good information about the late Fikr. You can get the book from 304, Darbar Kalaan, JP Nagar, Amroha (UP).

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Hazrat Imam Husain

On the occasion of Yaum-e-Ashura, here is Kaifi Azmi’s Nazm
in the praise of Hazrat Imam Husain.

hurriyat ko aaj phir hai ibn-e-Haider kii talaash
vaqt ko phir hai karoRoN meN behtar kii talaash
zindagi ko phir ek jaaN-baaz rahbar kii talaash

phir javaanii khone ko hai voh nishaan-e-hurriyat
phir huii hai dosh-e-Abbas dilaavar kii talaash
phir hummiyat uThi hai phir hai izzat garm-o-kaar
phir huii hai zindagii ko josh-e-Akbar kii talaash

dekhnaa Kaifi nishaan-e-Hurriyat lahraaegaa
jab jahaaN ko azm-e-Sher-e-Karbalaa mil jaayegaa

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Renowned Urdu critic from India Waris Alvi and litterateur Mansha Yad from Pakistan have been selected for the 12th Alami Urdu Adab Award given by Majlis-e-Farogh-e-Urdu Adab (Doha, Qatar).

Alvi is one of the most oustanding modernist critics in Urdu. He is known for his straightforward criticism. The jury comprising Prof Gopi Chand Narang, Mazhar Imam, Khurshid Ahmad and Professor Sadiq selected him.

Eminent fiction writer Mansha Yaad of Pakistan has also got this year’s award. Every year the awards is given two writers, one from India, another from Pakistan.

The two writers will get Rs 1.5 lakh each apart form citation and memento. Both the writers deserve this award. On this occasion a letter in Waris Alvi’s own writing to Mansha Yad has been produced here.

The following writers have been honoured with this award in the past:

Qurratul Ain Hyder
Kalidas Gupta Reza
Joginder Pal
Shauat Siddiqui
Intizar Husain

Surinder Prakash
Aal-e-Ahmad Suroor
Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi
Nisar Ahmad Faruqi
Qazi Abdus Sattar

Abdullah Hussain
Asad Mohd Khan
Gopi Chand Narang
Muhganni Tabassum
Salahuddin Pervez

Bano Qudsia
Mukhtar Masood
Jilani Bano
Mohammad Khalid Akhtar
Mustansar Husain Tarar
Hajra Masroor
Ashfaq Ahmad

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Ghazal usne chheRi mujhe saaz denaa
zaraa umar-e-rafta ko aavaaz denaa

No autobiography in Urdu in recent times has hooked readers to the extent as Professor Ghaus Ansari’s ‘Umr-e-Rafta’, which tells the fascinating journey of the writer, his early days in Lucknow, his struggle and subsequent migration to Europe.

Such is his eye for minute details and his memory that the reader becomes a fellow traveller with him in his sojourns. Ansari, was born in 1929 in Firangi Mahal in Lucknow. He recounts how the caste-system was prevalent among Muslims to the extent that even in Madarsa, the students sat as per their caste and the son of a sanitary worker had to sit outside at the place where footwear were kept and had only the privilege to listen to the lessons and learn whatever he could hear.

Perhaps, these experiences played an important role in his life and he turned to leftist ideas, even joining Communist Party and going to jail after Independence. The account of his early life and teenged years make interesting reading. He was in the school when he started writing stories that were published in reputed magazines and he also brought out a couple of periodicals, one for children and the other was a semi-literary magazine on film industry.

Along with the events of his life, Dr Ansari’s detailed analysis of the communal polarisation and the politics in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the first half of 20th century give valuable insight to readers about the freedom movement. More so, his own association with leaders of freedom movement, interesting incidents and anecdotes make this autobiography unique.

However, the hopes were dashed after independence. Ghous Ansari was also disillusioned with the culture of sycophancy, bribery and the communalisation. A humanist to the core, Ansari who had umpteen close Hindu and Sikh friends, recounts the experiences of dealing with bureaucracy and later decides to leave for England.

His life in London where he stuggled hard to eke out his living and later his stay in Vienna (Austria) for his doctorate on Casteism in Indian Muslims, is truly inspiring. And makes the two volumes of Umar-e-Rafta, a must-read for any teenager or youth. An anthropoligist, Prof Ansari had stopped writing in Urdu after leaving India but when he wrote the autobiography recently, one can only marvel at his grasp of Urdu idiom. You can see the Lucknow of yore, alive in this khud-navisht (autobiography).

Besides, his long stay in Iraq where he taught in University and later in Kuwait, are also recounted in the second volume. His wife Vadia, hails from Baghdad. Ansari has also written about the politics of oil and the turbulent era in Middle-East.

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Two collections of ghazals and Nazms of Waseem Barelvi have been released recently.

‘Aankhon Aankhon mein rahe’ and ‘Meraa Kyaa’ has brought the best of Waseem Barelvi.

The articles of master poets of the past including Nushoor Wahidi, Shamim Kirhani and Firaq Gorakhpuri on Wasim’s poetry have been included.

Nushoor Vahidi has written that from Meer to modern day poets, there is meloncholy in voice of varying degree in the ‘kalaam’ of various poets but the sadness in Waseem’s couplets is not only enchanting but is also sweet to an extent.

maiN bujh gayaa to hameshaa ko bujh hii jaauungaa
koii chiraaG nahiiN huuN ki phir jalaa legaa

Critics have largely ignored Waseem Barelvi but for masses he is a great poet. Read his ghazal at Best Urdu Ghazals and Nazms

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The closure of two more monthly Urdu digests has not been noticed in mainstream Urdu press, as they were magazines that catered to popular interest.

The two Urdu digests, “Sadha Rang’ and ‘Talash’ ceased publication. Earlier, Chahar Rang, Hazar Rang, Aalami Digest, Aatish-e-Gul and Nikhat-e-Gul disappered from the market due to decline in readership.

Now Huma remains the only digest along with Pakiza Anchal of the same group. Two other women-oriented digests Mashriqi Anchal and Mashiriq Dulhan are still publishing. But the trends suggest that their days are also numbered.

In the 80s, suddenly digests had appeared in the market and due to the collection of international stories that were translated in Urdu, they achieved success. In the past there were Shabistan and Mehrab among other digests.

Critics may not take these magazines and digests seriously but it is Jaraem, Pakiza Anchal, Khtoon-e-Mashriq, Biswin Sadi and similar popular magazines that are the first step of reader towards acquiring the literary taste.

Even literary magazines are gasping for breath. Among the few surviving are Ajkal, Aiwan-e-Urdu, Shair, Insha, Kitabnuma, Naya Daur, Naya Waraq and Zehn-e-Jadid. Though Sahara group’s ventures and the publication of Arindam Chaudhary’s The Sunday Indian in Urdu have brought fresh hopes.

But the sad truth is that unless there is a commercial viability, nobody is going to publish Urdu magazines. The cost of paper is rising and advertisements re hard to get for Urdu periodicals/newspapers. With fewer Indians (read Muslims) familiar with Urdu script and the figures dwindling fast, the future is not at all bright for Urdu publications.

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Urdu lovers are shocked with the news that the Maktaba Jamia’s Mumbai branch will be finally closed on November 30. For six decades Maktab that had a vast treasure of books, was a centre for Urdu-lovers and had become an institution under Shahid Ali Khan.

Reacting to the decision, Nida Fazli said that Government should take the branch in its custody. ‘The names of Nehru, Azad, Zakir Husain and great personalities of yore have been associated with it’, he said.

Once it used to be a sort of pilgrimage for aficionados of Urdu literature to walk from Iqbal Chowkk to Mohammad Ali Road that had shops like Alvi Book Depot, Kitabistan, Haneef Book Depot, Usmania Book Shop, Iqbal Book Depot and other bookshops.

Almost all the important Urdu poets and writers gathered at Maktab Jamia Urdu’s branch. Nadeem Siddiqui says that from Maulana Shahab Malerkotvi to Abdul Ahad Saaz, this place has seen every literary figure of Uroos-ul-Bilad (Mumbai).

Yusuf Nazim recalls how Surendra Prakash, Baqar Mehdi and Sikandar Ali Wajd would arrive at the shop and sit for hours, discussing literature, art, politics and the young generation of writers learnt the nuances of writing and poetry by listening to these discussions.

Former General Managers of Maktab, Shahid Ali Khan and Yusuf Khatri have also expressed shock. Khan recalls that he used to get Rs 7,000 per month and it was a branch in profit. He wondered that how it could be in loss now when the present General Manager gets Rs 30,000 per month as salary.

In Inquilab Urdu daily, Inayat Akhtar has written that there was hardly a famous Urdu writer in the country who hadn’t visited the place. It was here that my political, social and literary consciouness developed like hundreds of other youths of my generation.

‘aajizi sikhi, GariiboN se mohabbat siikhi
yaas-o-hirmaaN ke, dukh-o-dard ke maanii siikhe’

He recalls how most of the collection of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu which was burnt during the riots after partition and the remaining books were purchased by the Jamia. All those books were rare even in 1947 but if the price mentioned was Rs 3 on a book then the same price was charged even in 1967 by Shahid Ali Khan unlike other shops that revised prices.

The annual earning was Rs 1 lakh which went up to Rs 10 lakh during his period. Even today Maktaba Jamia has 2.5 million cash (Rs 25 lakh) in the form of Fixed Deposit in bank. From Sardar Jafri, Akhtarul Iman, Sahir Ludhianvi, Jaanisar akhtar, Krishan Chander, Aziz Javed, Mahendra Nath, Rajinder SIngh Bedi and Aziz Qaisi to Abdus Sattar Dalvi, Sardar Irfan, Haidar Asad, Ibrahim Rangla, Sabir Dutt, Anwar Qabar, Sajid Rashid, Fuzail Jafri, Tasadduq Seoharwi, Anwar Khan, Ali Imam Naqvi, Abu Bakr Merchant, Mahmood Chhapra and hundreds of others were frequent visitors to the place that was a galaxy of writers and literature.

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A unique Mushaira was organised in Sholapur in Maharashtra recently where only the non-Muslim poets of Urdu recited their poetry.

Mahendra ‘Ashk’ presided over the Mushaira and gave an introductory speech about Urdu language, literature and the tradition of Mushairas. Shyama Singh Saba, a poetess, recited the Naat.

She read out a few ghazals also including the particular verse with the couplet:

dar-badar kyuuN bhaTaktaa hai aakhir
chaaNd bhii kyaa koii bhikaarii hai

Ashok Sahil’s couplet received huge applause from the audience:

Urdu ke chand lafz haiN jab se zabaan par
tehzeeb meherbaan hai mere khaandaan par

And when he recited this couplet, thunderous applause enlivened the atmosphere:

merii Urdu ko dahshatgard jisne bhii kahaa hogaa
use to apnii maaN kaa doodh bhii kaDvaa lagaa hogaa

The poet from Muzaffar Nagar, won over the audiences. Archana Nigam from Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) got praise for her ghazals. Her couplet:

faqat nazar se nazar milii hai, zabaaN se kuchh bhii kahaa nahiiN hai
badan meN kyuuN kaundhti hai bijli, abhi to usne chhuaa nahiiN hai

And then veteran poet Mahendra Ashk, who hails from Bijnore, rendered his couplets:

jise navaazaa usii shaKhs ne jaDeN kaaTiiN/shajar kaa saaya ghazab ho gaya shajar ke liye
meraa bigaaDegii kyaa tez dhuup raste ki/gharibi oDh ke niklaa huuN maiN safar ke liye

Ved Diwana, who came from Punjab, rendered romantic ghazals.

Khushk aankheN ho gaiiN, gham bhii puraane ho gaye
aa tujhe dekhe hue kitne zamaane ho gaye

And Archana Shrivastava, the poet from Seoni (Madhya Pradesh), came up with humours lines. Devendra Kafir also recited humououes poety and changed the mood. Kafir’s couplets:

ishq ek aasmaan hai pyaare
apnii apnii uDaan hai pyaare
husn to dunyaadaari sikh gayaa
ishq ab tak paThaan hai pyaare

He was followed by Taruna Sagar who recited her ghazals. She came from Amravati.

guloN kaa rang jal gayaa, mazaa nahiiN bahaar meN
taDap rahii huuN raat din tumhaare intezaar meN

After the culmination of the first round, the second round started that continued till well after midnight. Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh inaugurated the mushaira. He lit the ‘Shama’ (lamp).

Dharam Singh who is son-in-law to Sholapur, spoke at length and recited several couplets. A host of dignitaries were present. The Urdu Hindi Ekta Manch had organised the event. Earlier, in the presence of Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde the Manch that had come in existence early this year.

(Report courtesy Muhib Kausar)

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The BBC Urdu team visited three cities in India recently to promote its website. At all the three places the response was overwhelming. It was a good initiative despite lack of adequate preparedness at local level before organising the event.

Still, people came in large numbers in all the cities. Many were not familiar with web. But they came and showed interest in the initiative. People were informed about the proposed ‘Your Edition’ of BBC Urdu website.

The team led by Waheed Mirza, the familiar voice from India Shakil Akhtar, Aliya Nazki and Nadia, Notwithstanding the problem of font on the website, bbcurdu.com remains a leader and has been getting millions of hits.

The website should continue its efforts and hold such programmes in India in future also. India has tremendous potential for Urdu site as Urdu-speakers are now getting computer-literate, albeit slightly late. Hoping that BBC will organise similar programmes in future also.

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Hardly any novel in Urdu has generated so much heat in recent years as renowned litterateur Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s ‘Kaii Chaand thay Sar-e-Aasmaan’, which is probably the first literary work in Urdu published by Penguin.

Faruqi’s literary standing is such that Urdu world naturally expected a magnum opus from him. The fact that he is a critic, a poet, a linguist and former publisher of the now-defunct Shabkhoon, apart from having received awards like Saraswati Samman, it is not unjust that we expected the novel to be truly outstanding.

At the function to release the novel sometime back, encomiums were poured on the novel, which Ahmad Mahfooz termed as a ‘Jadeed Aab-e-Hayat’. Syed Hamid said that it will help the reader in understanding the Indo-Islamic culture.

The central characters of the novel are Yusuf Saadakar, his daughter Wazeer Khanum and their family. It starts from Yusuf’s grandfather Makhsus Ullah and the last generation is Wazeer Khanum’s grandson Waseem Jafar.

The novel starts from Kishangarh where Makhsus Ullah, an artist lived, and one day he draws the picture of a woman ‘Bani Thani’ (bedecked woman), which has a strange resemblance with the daughter of the Maharawal. It remains a mystery how the painting has such resemblance with the photograph of Manmohini.

The family is forced out of the princely state and they move from Uttar Pradesh to Kashmir. The story continues with Makhsus Ullah’s son Yahya Badgami and later his sons Dawood and Yaqoob. Circa 1803, British take upon themselves the task to rescue Emperor Shah Alam from the ‘captivity’ of Marathas and the brothers fight on the side of the English.

The families of Dawood and Yaqub are killed and only the latter’s son Yusuf, who is a 10-year-old survives the war. A tawaif, Akbari, brings him up and marries her daughter Asghari to him. Asghari’s daughters, Anwari, Umda Khanam and Chhoti Begam, take the story forward.

The eldest gets married to Maulvi Nazir. Nawab Syed Yusuf Ali Khan Bahadur liked Umda Khanam and she went to live with him without marriage. The youngest of the three, turned out to be a rebel. Due to the death of her mother, she was closer to her grandmother and this naturally influenced her ways. She says to her sister, ‘Jo mard aayega, chakhungi, pasand aaya to rakhungi’.

She starts living with an Englishman Morriston Black. They plan to marry in 1829 but he dies in a riot. She returns from Jaipur to Delhi and is sought by Resident William Fraser and also Nawab Shamsuddin. She goes with the latter and they have a son Nawab Mirza. After Shamsuddin is exectured for suspicion of killing Fraser, she gets married to Mirza Fakhru, who had his upbringing in the Qila-e-Moalla in the era of Bahadur Shah Zafar…

Faruqui is unquestionably the biggest name in Urdu linguistics and the ease with which he has brought the language used in 18th and 19th century to the pages of the novel written in 21st century, is simply amazing. The depiction of the era especially the exploitation of Indian peasantry and masses during British rule, is remarkable.

Such is his mastery in depicting the sexual encounters and love scenes that if the novel was written in modern Urdu, it would have sold by lakhs, says Haider Qureshi, an eminent poet. As it is a novel about Indo-Islamic culture and Mughals, the finest couplets of Urdu and Persian poetry abound in the book.

In fact, the novel enlivens the entire culture and the bygone era in front of the reader. The book is published in Pakistan also where it has attracted the Urdu lovers. ‘Kai Chaand the Sare Asman’ is a novel worth buying. You can get it from Shabkhoon Kitabghar, Post Box Number 13, 313, Ranimandi, Allahabad 211003 (Uttar Pradesh) India.

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