Of good literature and soulful music
I would like to share with you, two interesting and reassuring encounters of recent times.
After a session of SWD ( Short Wave Diathermy ) at the military hospital, I came to the officers' waiting room to put on my shoes before leaving the premises. A pleasant surprise awaited me there. On the table before me was a beautifully printed paperback edition of a classic, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. There was a bookmark at page number 110.
I told Seema Anil Sehgal, my better half who had accompanied me, that there is still hope for good and meaningful literature to survive.
I was lacing up my shoes when a handsome, tall, fair Indian Air Force officer entered the room, wearing an olive green flying overall. I noticed he was wearing the rank tabs of a Wing Commander, on his shoulders. The right side of the overall carried his name tab: Amit Khullar.
My seniority is visible through my demeanour, which prompted him to pay his salutations. "I am looking at this title after nearly four decades! I was telling my wife about my astonishment that such books are still read by the armed forces officers", I complimented.
I also told the officer, Wg Cdr Amit Khullar: Most of the books I lent to my friends were never returned to me. But, this title is an exception. Whenever someone borrowed it, he came back to return it, within a short time! I knew the borrowers found it tough to understand!", I reminisced.
"Undoubtedly, it is not a book for everyone, Sir. It requires serious and patient reading. Not many would like to continue after a few pages", remarked Amit.
We exchanged a few pleasantries and our mobile phone numbers before he departed.
It may not be out of place to mention that The Pilgrim's Progress is a Christian allegory, which catapulted its writer to international fame and adulation. An author of some 42 books, John Bunyan is best remembered for this book, which has since been translated into a record 200 languages.
According to Wikipedia, The Pilgrim's Progress "is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature".
Literary editor Robert McCrum says that:
"there's no book in English, apart from the Bible, to equal Bunyan's masterpiece for the range of its readership". It speaks volumes for the acceptability and popularity of the book that, like Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali, it has never been out of print.
Now, on to the second encounter.
We were guests at a get-together at the house of Brigadier Faiz Ahmed, a renowned neurophysician. The polite, helpful and compassionate doctor had invited the cream of the senior armed forces officers available at Jammu, to his spacious bungalow. The elite gathering was ample proof of his huge popularity. The occasion was the celebration of the festival of Eid.
Most of the guests were unknown to us and I happened to be the senior most officer, as far as age is concerned. The host was kind enough to introduce us to individual guests.
As he introduced my wife to a charming young Punjabi lady, she excitedly exclaimed, "Of course, I know my favourite singer! Often, I listen to her soulful renditions on YouTube! ".
The lady is Mrs Gunnit Kaur, wife of a doctor ( Colonel Tanveer Singh), posted at the local military hospital. Before her marriage to the well-known anaesthetist, she was an actor having acted in a few television serials and films, like Tanu Weds Manu and its sequel, besides a few television serials on Sony, SAB and Life O K channels.
A trained theatre enthusiast, Gunnit holds a master's degree (with a gold medal) in theatre arts from Punjab University, Chandigarh. She likes the singing style and melodic contents of the renditions of Seema, especially her renditions of ghazals of Mir Taqi Mir, revered as the "God of Poetry". Mir is perhaps the most profound poet of Urdu. Through simple diction and words, he is able to convey deep thoughts.
Mir may not be as popular a poet as Mirza Ghalib, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Joan Eliya or Nida Fazli. But, he is a class apart. So are his listeners and readers. Even famed Mirza Ghalib praised him thus:
reḳhte ke tumhīñ ustād nahīñ ho 'ġhālib' /kahte haiñ agle zamāne meñ koī 'mīr' bhī thā //
( You alone are not the master of Urdu language, O "Ghalib" /There used to be someone called " Mir" in the times gone by // )
I feel enthused when a young lady in her 30s tells me she is enamored by the poetry of a classical poet like Mir Taqi Mir. Incidentally, Gunnit is a self-taught admirer of Urdu language.
I think there is a definite hope for survival of good literature and soulful music, as long as we have the likes of Amit Khullar and Gunnit Kaur around us. They are the beacons of light that awaits across the tunnels of despair.
I recall Urdu poet Asrarul Haq 'Majaz':
_ab us ke ba.ad sub.h hai aur sub.h-e-nau 'Majāz' / ham par hai ḳhatm shām-e-ġharībān-e-lucknow_ //
(Hereafter is the dawn; dawn of a new morrow, O 'Majaz' ! / We are the last bastions of despair //)
Lovers of poetry and music may like to listen to this remarkable ghazal of Mir Taqi Mir: