aek ALUPer ka duusre ALUPers se raabita

[Raj Kumar]

yaaraan-e-maHfil:

aaj kal Naseer sahib ne aek nayaa shaGhl iKhtiyaar kar rakkhaa hai --- voh yeh k ALUP ki puraani laRiyoN ki chhaan-biin kii jaaye aur un meN se agar kisi laRii ko aage baRhaayaa jaa sakay to is nek kaam ko puuraa kiyaa jaaye. agarche aisa hota to kam kam hi hai magar is kaavish ka aek Khush-gavaar nateeja jo maiN ne dil-o-jaan se maHsuus kiyaa hai, voh hai “puraane dostoN ki Haseen yaadoN ka az-sar-e-nau taaza hona”. is silsile meN, pahle Jamil sahib ka naam gosh-guzaar hu’aa, phir Umang Bali sahib ka, Kashif sahib ka, Nagesh sahib ka, vGh, vGh.

isi dauraan, ko’ii aur ALUP-dost aek puraani laRii ba-unvaan “A she’r by Iqbal” manzar-e-aam par laaye, jis meN Naheed Rana sahiba ne Iqbal ke aek she’r ki vazaaHat chaahi thi. maiN ne apni samajh-buujh ke mutaabiq us she’r ki vazaaHat kar di. voh azeeza is vazaaHat se is qadar mut’assir hu’iiN k yak-dam Khaaksaar ki “fan club” meN shaamil ho ga’iiN. aap haNsiye mat --- in dinoN na sahii, magar un dinoN hamaari bhi “fan club” hu’aa karti thi! :-)

ba-qaul-e-shaa’ir,

ham par bhi HaseenoN ka karam thaa ik roz
is qaum meN apnaa bhi bharam thaa ik roz
aavaara nigaahoN ki guzar-gaah hai ab
yeh chehra k nazroN ka Haram thaa ik roz

Khair, is ruuH-afzaa laRii ka mutaal’ea karne ke ba’ad aur bahut si yaadeN, jo deegar ALUPers se vaabasta haiN, zehn meN ubharne lagiiN aur jii chaahaa k in tamaam yaadoN ko aek fahrist ki shakl meN raqam-taraaz karuuN aur yeh fahrist aap sab ke saath ‘share’ karuuN.

maiN ALUP ke saath June 1998 se vaabasta huuN. beech meN, ko’ii 4-5 baras yahaaN se Ghair-Haazir bhi rahaa huuN ----- jab-k maiN Kashif sahib aur Shoaib Tanvir sahib ki ‘adabi sites’ meN un ka haath baTaa rahaa tha. jab idhar lauTaa to phir yahiiN ka ho ke rah gayaa. is saare arse meN jin yaar-dostoN ke saath mera Khusuusi taur se raabita rahaa hai, maiN unheN 4 categories meN taqseem karna chaahuuN ga.

Category A: voh dost jin ke saath na sirf e-mail aur telephone ke zariye raabita rahaa bal-k un se mulaaqaat bhi hu’ii --- yahaaN tak k un ke haaN aana-jaana bhi hu’aa, khaana-piina bhi hu’aa aur sab se baRii baat yeh k un ke haaN shab-basarii bhi hu’ii. goyaa, un dostoN ki tamaam-tar mahmaan-navaazi Khaaksaar ke naseeb hu’ii.

Category B: voh dost jin ke saath mulaaqaat bhi hu’ii aur thoRa bahut khaaya piyaa bhi --- yaa to un ke haaN, yaa hamaare haaN yaa kisi baahami dost ke haaN. is ke ilaava, kuchh raabita ba-zaria e-mail v telephone bhi rahaa.

Category C: voh dost jin se mulaaqaat nahiiN ho paa’ii, albatta e-mail aur telephone ke zariye achchha-Khaassa raabita rahaa.

Category D: voh dost jin ke saath raabita to hu’aa magar sirf e-mail ke zariye.

maiN kal, kisi vaqt, in chaaroN categories ke saath apne naye-puraane ALUP-dostoN ke naam bil-tarteeb darj karuuN ga aur aap se ‘share’ karuuN ga. dareeN-asnaa, Firaq sahib ne ma’azirat ke saath, arz hai:

yeh nakhatoN ki narm-ravii, yeh havaa, yeh raat
yaad aa rahe haiN Qais ko bhuule ta’alluqaat!

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar

[Zoya]

On Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 4:14:00 PM UTC-5, Zoya wrote:

> On Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 12:25:43 PM UTC-5, Raj Kumar wrote:
> >
> > maiN kal, kisi vaqt, in chaaroN categories ke saath apne naye-puraane ALUP-dostoN ke naam bil-tarteeb darj karuuN ga aur aap se ‘share’ karuuN ga. dareeN-asnaa, Firaq sahib ne ma’azirat ke saath, arz hai:
> >
> > yeh nakhatoN ki narm-ravii, yeh havaa, yeh raat
> > yaad aa rahe haiN Qais ko bhuule ta’alluqaat!
> >
> > Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar
>

> RK sahib,
>
> Khaayal bahut Khuub hai lekin zara yeh bhii ghaur farmaaiye ga:
>
> daavar-e-hashr mira naamaa-e-'aamaal ne dekh
> is meiN kuChh pardah-nashiinoN ke bhii naam aate haiN!! :-))

[B.G. M.]

“ ab aage is meN tumhaaraa bhi naam aaye gaa
jo Hukm ho to yahiiN ChhoR duuN fasaane ko?”

~”Qamar” Jalaalvi
======================

[Raj Kumar]

______________

***ghabraaiye mat, Zoya sahiba:

deevaane ki ik baat to hai baat patay kii
sab puuchhe haiN phir bhii voh tiraa naam na le hai! :-)

R.K.***

[Zoya]

On Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 5:53:09 PM UTC-5, Raj Kumar wrote:
>
> ***ghabraaiye mat, Zoya sahiba:
>
> deevaane ki ik baat to hai baat patay kii
> sab puuchhe haiN phir bhii voh tiraa naam na le hai! :-)
>
> R.K.***

Yes sir!

tilism-e-raaz na khul jaaye taNg-biinoN par
tumhaare naam se pehle hazaar naam liye !! :-))

[nageshsahib]

RK Sahib:

There is music in your prose, just as there is in your poetry. May your desire to communicate with us never falter!

Nagesh

[B.G. M.]

“याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
झूमती बहार है कहाँ हो तुम
प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम
..................प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम”

~Hasrat Jaipuri
=======================

[Raj Kumar]

Dear friends:

I now proceed to fill in the blanks across the 4 categories of ALUPers that I had listed in my previous post. In doing so, I’ll try to make entries in each category in the chronological order --- as far as I can remember. Moreover, for the economy of effort, I’ll presume that the addition of sahib/sahiba after each name is understood.

Category A: voh dost jin ke saath na sirf e-mail aur telephone ke zariye raabita rahaa bal-k un se mulaaqaat bhi hu’ii --- yahaaN tak k un ke haaN aana-jaana bhi hu’aa, khaana-piina bhi hu’aa aur sab se baRii baat yeh k un ke haaN shab-basarii bhi hu’ii. goyaa, un dostoN ki mukammal mahmaan-navaazi Khaaksaar ke naseeb hu’ii.

Umang Bali, Shoaib Tanvir, Sanaa Ali, BGM --- for a total of 4.
{jahaaN tak “khaane-piine” ki baat hai, vaazeH ho k “piina” sirf Umang Bali sahib ke haaN naseeb hu’aa, baaqi maqaamaat par saara zor “khaane” hi pe rahaa!} :-)

Category B: voh dost jin ke saath mulaaqaat bhi hu’ii aur thoRa bahut khaaya piyaa bhi --- yaa to un ke haaN, yaa hamaare haaN yaa kisi baahami dost ke haaN. is ke ilaava, kuchh raabita ba-zaria e-mail v telephone bhi rahaa.

Arshad Khan, Amit Malhotra, Kashif H., Nita Awatramani, Khursheed Ahmed, Abida Sultana, Naheed Rana, Kaamraan, Vijay Kumar, Vijay S. Bajwa, Jamil Ahmad, P K Swami, UVR, Vasmi Abidi, Syed Zafar Iqbal --- for a total of 15.

Category C: voh dost jin se mulaaqaat nahiiN ho paa’ii, albatta e-mail aur telephone ke zariye achchha-Khaassa raabita rahaa.

Tabassum Siddiqi (nee Hijazi), Ayesha, Zoya B., As’ad (from Middle East), Zia Baloch, Ali Minai, Sarwar Alam Raz --- for a total of 7.

Category D: voh dost jin ke saath raabita to hu’aa magar sirf e-mail ke zariye.

Hari and Manju Khanna, Saleem Khanani, Irfan Abid, Balvinder Singh, Naseer Qureshi, Padmanabhan Srinagesh --- for a total of 6.

With a grand total of 32 friendly contacts, I regard my participation in ALUP as a journey of ‘extreme enrichment’ for me. I hope other ALUPers will also draw such lists and refresh memories of their own friendly contacts. Whether they will like to share their info with others is entirely up to them.

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar

[nageshsahib]

RK Sahib:

Where do you live? And if you visit the SF Bay area, let me know. It will be my pleasure to entertain you.

Regards,

Nagesh

[Zoya]

On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 1:39:08 PM UTC-5, Raj Kumar wrote:
>
> With a grand total of 32 friendly contacts, I regard my participation in ALUP as a journey of ‘extreme enrichment’ for me. I hope other ALUPers will also draw such lists and refresh memories of their own friendly contacts. Whether they will like to share their info with others is entirely up to them.
>
> Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar

RK sahib,

Very nice. There is a reason we call it Alup family. :-)

Remember, right after your book 'Sehra Sehra' was published, you were supposed to visit me and we were going to arrange a special 'mehfil' in our city with you as the guest of honor. I can't recall why the plan didn't work out, but we definitely discussed it.

And now that you got me thinking, I have made my own list. I will not name names, but out of your list of 32 Alup friends, I have actually met 6 in person, talked to 3 on the phone, and have exchanged emails with 4. In addition to those, I have talked to 5 more on the phone, not on your list. So that is 18 total. What a blessing this group has been, great memories, amazing people.

aap bhii aaiiye, ham ko bhii bulaate rahiye
dosti jurm nahiiN, dost banaate rahiye :)

_______Zoya

[Afzal A. Khan]

This song is from the film "Patita", a 1953 film, produced
and directed by Amiya Chakraborty (or Chakravarti, a Bengali
writer, director and producer).

************

The song is picturised on Dev Anand and Usha Kiran.

************

Dev Anand had the God-given gift of looking young, handsome and
debonair for more than 20 or 25 years.

************

Usha Kiran looks pretty here. She acted in some hindi films like
"Madhosh", "DaaGH", "Aulad", "Musafir" etc. but somehow did not
quite become one of the top-grade heroines like Meena Kumari.
Nargis, Nutan and Vyjayanthimala etc.

Many years later, she was appointed Bombay's sheriff too --- it
was a largely ceremonial job.

************

Born in Hyderabad (Deccan) in 1929, she passed away in 2000, at
the age of 70. RIP.

Shortly before her death, I had seen her in a TV programme. She
had put on a lot of weight and appeared quite dark and not quite
pretty.
************

"Patita" had a couple of other nice song, one of which was
loosely based on Raag Bhairavi :

Kisi ne apna bana ke mujh ko, muskuraana sikha diya

The other song was :

HaiN sab se madhur woh geet jinheN
Hum dard ke sur men gaate haiN

Lalita Pawar played Usha Kiran's mother-in-law in this film and
would torment her daughter-in-law, like the traditional Indian
mother-in-law.

In the above song, Dev Anand is trying to comfort her.

************

The wordings of this song remind one of the famous lines
in Shelley's "Ode To A Skylark", written in 1820 :

We look before and after,
And pine for what is not :
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

************

Actor/comedian Agha also played a pivotal role in this film.
IIRC, the film begins with Usha Kiran (playing an unwed mother,
with an infant child in her arms)) trying to commit suicide by
falling off a hill --- but Agha saves her in the nick of time.

Surprisingly, Agha had as many as three songs picturised on
him in this film. I think one of these was shown twice viz.

Tujhe apne paas bulaati hai, teri duniya

The third song filmed on Agha was the following number :

Andhe jahaaN ke andhe raaste, jaayeN to jaayeN kahaaN

These Agha songs were sung by Talat Mahmood.

************

The story goes that Agha told Amiya that this film was on a
serous topic and, as a funster, there would be no place for him.
He was in fact trying to dissuade Amiya from casting him in this
film. But Amiya wouldn't hear of it. He not only cast Agha in
the film, but gave him three songs too.

************

In those days, it was Hemant Kumar who would give playback for
Dev Anand, e.g. "House No. 44", "Munimji" etc. Later, Kishore
Kumar became the regular playback singer for Dev Anand.



Afzal

[B.G. M.]

Waa..h! What a nostalgic journey, Afzaal saahab!

MaiN ne jab yeh film dekhii thi tab maiN qareeb das yaa baarah saal kaa thaa.
Yaad paRtaa hai kih ik KhuubSuurat geet was sung in a temple (mandeer) and it had beautiful words,

“MiTTii se khelte ho baar baar kis liye? .......Aa’ii thi do dinoN ki yeh bahaar kis liye?

Am I right?

Your reply will be greatly appreciated, sir!

=================================

[Raj Kumar]

***janaab BG sahib:

This much "filmi stuff" is already enough to put this thread off-track. Pleeeeeease do not prolong it any further. Thank you in advance!

At the same time, please do come back and comment on the central concept of this thread. Like Zoya sahiba, you may also let us know of your memorable contacts (without naming names, if you so wish).

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar***

[Afzal A. Khan]

B.G.M. Saheb,

You sort of "provoked" me to go on this nostalgic trip.

Yes, you are right --- I ought to have mentioned this song
too. It is such a beautiful melody !

Here are the complete lyrics. You may (of course) remember
them. But I am giving them for the information of other
friends :

MiTTi se khelte ho baar~baar kis liye

TooTe huwe khilonoN se pyaar kis liye


Banaa ke zindagani bigaaRne se kya mila

Meri umeed ka jahaaN ujaaRne se kya mila

Aayee thi do dinoN ki yeh bahaar kis liye


Zara si dhool ko hazaar naam de diye

Zara si jaan, sar pe saat aasmaan de diye

Barbaad zindagi ka yeh siNghaar kis liye


Zameen GHair ho gayee, yeh aasmaaN badal gaya

Hawa ke ruKH badal gaye, har ek phool jal gaya

Bajte haiN ab yeh saaNsoN ke taar kis liye


MiTTi se khelte ho baar~baar kis liye


The lyricist was Shailendra.


Afzal

[B.G. M.]

MaiN jaantaa huuN kih jab ko’ii yahaaN “thread” shuruu’ kartaa hai to usay us “thread” ke “central concept” meN hi rehnaa laazamii meHsuus hotaa hai.. magar..

The entire compendium of A.L.U.P. is replete with examples that diversions within the thread has produced some of the excellant discussions and very interesting information about Urdu, Hindi and Hindustani literary works in general and poetry in particular.

Aur yahaaN bhi yehii hu’aa hai, jo hotaa hai ( aur honaa bhi chaahiye)...

“ baat se yuuN baat nikaltii chalii ga’ii
thaa mudd’aa yehii kih nah thaa mudd’aa ko’ii !”
(Asad Multani)

KyuuN kih...

“ guftguu baNd nah ho, baat se baat chalay
SubH tak shaam-e-mulaaqaat chalay
ham pe haNstii hu’ii taaroN bharii yeh raat chalay!”
(Ali Sardar Jaaferi)

(Janaab-e-MoHtaram Afzaal Saahab kaa shukriya kih un ki badaulat hameN Shailendra kaa likhaa yeh m’aani-Khez
aur Shaandaar naGhmaa ( 1953) us ki puurii shakl meN milaa.)

to miri yahaaN dast-bastah guzaarish hai kih A.L.U.P ka yehi maaHaul bar-qaraar rakhne ki koshish ham sab ki jimmedaarii banii rahe ( Aameen.. Summaa Aameen!)

=======================

[B.G. M.]

Jimmedaari should be Zimmedaari ( typo?)

[Naseer]

On Friday, 17 July 2020 15:55:37 UTC+1, B.G. M. wrote:
> MaiN jaantaa huuN kih jab ko’ii yahaaN “thread” shuruu’ kartaa hai to usay us “thread” ke “central concept” meN hi rehnaa laazamii meHsuus hotaa hai.. magar..
>
> The entire compendium of A.L.U.P. is replete with examples that diversions within the thread has produced some of the excellant discussions and very interesting information about Urdu, Hindi and Hindustani literary works in general and poetry in particular.
>
>

> =======================

is silsile meN mujhe janaab-i-Raj Kumar SaaHib kii baat se nah sirf ittifaaq hai balkih hamdardii bhii hai. lekin kyaa kareN, zamaanah zaalim hai!

B.G.M SaaHib, maiN aap kaa nihaayat shukr-guzaar huuN gaa agar aap merii aur diigar aHbaab kii xaatir hameN "Hindi" bi_l3umuun aur "Hindustani" bi_lxusuus ke "literary works" ke baare meN kuchh ma3luumaat faraaham kareN. 3ain mumkin hai kih jab in mauzuu3aat par maazii meN baHs-o-mubaaHise hu'e hoN, maiN idhar-udhar chalaa gayaa huuN yaa yahaaN meraa us vaqt vujuud hii nah ho! is javaab ke liye aap ek na'ii laRii kaa aaGhaaz kar sakte haiN agar aap ko Raj Kumar SaaHib kii das-bastah darxvaast kaa ratti-bhar bhii iHsaas hai.

nek-xvaahishaat ke saath

Naseer

[Zoya]

On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 3:17:33 PM UTC-5, Zoya wrote:

> And now that you got me thinking, I have made my own list. I will not name names, but out of your list of 32 Alup friends, I have actually met 6 in person, talked to 3 on the phone, and have exchanged emails with 4. In addition to those, I have talked to 5 more on the phone, not on your list. So that is 18 total. What a blessing this group has been, great memories, amazing people.
>

> _______Zoya

Addendum: The additional 5 friends (not on RK sahib's list) that I mentioned were mostly from Mehfil-e-SuKhan. I think only a couple of them have been active on Alup, not all.

[Irfan Abid]

On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 2:39:08 PM UTC-4, Raj Kumar wrote:
> On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 11:14:19 AM UTC-7, B.G. M. wrote:
> > “याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
> > झूमती बहार है कहाँ हो तुम
> > प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम
> > ..................प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम”
> >
> > ~Hasrat Jaipuri
> > =======================
>
>
> Dear friends:
>
> I now proceed to fill in the blanks across the 4 categories of ALUPers that I had listed in my previous post. In doing so, I’ll try to make entries in each category in the chronological order --- as far as I can remember. Moreover, for the economy of effort, I’ll presume that the addition of sahib/sahiba after each name is understood.
>

muhtaram RK sb, aadaab arz hai!

kitaab-e-maazii ke auraaq palaTne aur hameN is varaq-gardaanii meN shariik karne kaa shukriya!

> Category A: voh dost jin ke saath na sirf e-mail aur telephone ke zariye raabita rahaa bal-k un se mulaaqaat bhi hu’ii --- yahaaN tak k un ke haaN aana-jaana bhi hu’aa, khaana-piina bhi hu’aa aur sab se baRii baat yeh k un ke haaN shab-basarii bhi hu’ii. goyaa, un dostoN ki mukammal mahmaan-navaazi Khaaksaar ke naseeb hu’ii.
>
> Umang Bali, Shoaib Tanvir, Sanaa Ali, BGM --- for a total of 4.
> {jahaaN tak “khaane-piine” ki baat hai, vaazeH ho k “piina” sirf Umang Bali sahib ke haaN naseeb hu’aa, baaqi maqaamaat par saara zor “khaane” hi pe rahaa!} :-)
>
> Category B: voh dost jin ke saath mulaaqaat bhi hu’ii aur thoRa bahut khaaya piyaa bhi --- yaa to un ke haaN, yaa hamaare haaN yaa kisi baahami dost ke haaN. is ke ilaava, kuchh raabita ba-zaria e-mail v telephone bhi rahaa.
>
> Arshad Khan, Amit Malhotra, Kashif H., Nita Awatramani, Khursheed Ahmed, Abida Sultana, Naheed Rana, Kaamraan, Vijay Kumar, Vijay S. Bajwa, Jamil Ahmad, P K Swami, UVR, Vasmi Abidi, Syed Zafar Iqbal --- for a total of 15.
>
> Category C: voh dost jin se mulaaqaat nahiiN ho paa’ii, albatta e-mail aur telephone ke zariye achchha-Khaassa raabita rahaa.
>
> Tabassum Siddiqi (nee Hijazi), Ayesha, Zoya B., As’ad (from Middle East), Zia Baloch, Ali Minai, Sarwar Alam Raz --- for a total of 7.
>
> Category D: voh dost jin ke saath raabita to hu’aa magar sirf e-mail ke zariye.
>
> Hari and Manju Khanna, Saleem Khanani, Irfan Abid, Balvinder Singh, Naseer Qureshi, Padmanabhan Srinagesh --- for a total of 6.
>

RK sb, mere liye yahii bahut baRaa aizaaz hai ki maiN is fehrist meN shaamil huuN, lekin janaab-e-aalaa, mujhe kam az kam ek paaidaan uupar to rakhiye. aap ko yaad ho ki na ho, aap se ek martaba phone par Khaasii taviil guft-guu huii thii jab ki aap ne mere shahr, shahr-e-Indianapolis se guzarne aur mujh se na mil paane par afsos zaahir kiyaa thaa. afsos to Khair mujhe aap se ziyaadah huaa thaa, lekin majburii thii ki mujhe aap kii aamad kaa pehle se ilm nahiiN thaa. jahaaN tak mujhe yaad hai, ek baar aur aap se phone par baat huii hai, lekin mujhe yaad nahiiN ki kab aur kis silsile meN. vaise aap ko khaane kii bhii daavat de rahaa huuN (piine kii ba-vujuuh-e-chand nahiiN de saktaa!) :) aap jald az jald yih daavat.naama qubuul farmaaiye taaki merii maziid taraqqii ho sake! :)

> With a grand total of 32 friendly contacts, I regard my participation in ALUP as a journey of ‘extreme enrichment’ for me. I hope other ALUPers will also draw such lists and refresh memories of their own friendly contacts. Whether they will like to share their info with others is entirely up to them.
>
> Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar

ALUP kaa safar mere liye bhii bahut mufiid aur yaadgaar rahaa hai. maiN ne shaayad yahaan pehli baar saal 2000 meN qadam rakkhaa thaa. pataa hii nahiiN chalaa ki kab yih bazm meraa duusraa ghar ban gayii aur aap log meraa kunba ban gaye.

niyaazmand,
Irfan :Abid:

[Raj Kumar]

_____________

> RK Sahib:
>
> Where do you live?

***kyaa kaheN, Nagesh sahib, ---

"ham vahaaN haiN jahaaN se ham ko bhii
kuchh hamaarii Khabar nahiiN aatii"

To be a little bit explicit, I live in the nicest part of the nicest city of this country --- a mere two blocs from the Pacific Ocean. More info will be provided when you decide to visit me! *** :-)

>And if you visit the SF Bay area, let me know. It will be my pleasure to >entertain you.
>

***I see your point --- you are looking for a short-cut to jump from Category D to category A or B. ho sakta hai, aap ne Iqbal ka yeh she'r paRh rakkhaa ho:

ishq kii ik jast ne tai kar liye sab faasilay
is zameen-o-aasmaaN ko be-karaaN samjhaa tha maiN

kahne ka matlab yeh k, Huzuur, aap pahle category D meN se nikal kar category C meN to aaiye, aagay ka ba'ad meN socheN ge! :-)

vaise bhi, mere liye ab ghar se baahar nikalnaa aur duur-daraaz ke maqaamaat ka qasd karna qadre mushkil ho gayaa hai, vajah yeh k

ghabraa gaye haiN vus'at-e-kaun-o-makaaN se ham
jaate nahiiN haiN duur kahiiN aashiyaaN se ham
[Qais]

taaham, dunyaa ummiid par qaa'im hai!

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar***

[nageshsahib]

Your points are well-taken RK Sahib. I recently drove from SF to LA - a leisurely four day journey going down with stops at all points of interest. I plan on doing it again when COVID restrictions are lifted. I will call you then, and, having reached Category C with my call, I will invite you out to dinner and catapult myself into Category A :-)

The nicest town in the stretch of the coast that I traversed is Santa Barbara. I love San Diego too, but I think Santa Barbara stands out. Of course, the entire stretch of Rt 1 is to die for. Or, as Faiz put it:

'Faiz" thii raah sarbasar manzil
ham jahaaN pahuNche kaamyaab aaye.

Regards,

Nagesh

[Raj Kumar]

_______________

RK sahib,

Very nice. There is a reason we call it Alup family. :-)

***Indeed, Zoya sahiba, and I am pleased to recall that I was the one to introduce the term “ALUP-parivaar”!***

Remember, right after your book 'Sehra Sehra' was published, you were supposed to visit me and we were going to arrange a special 'mehfil' in our city with you as the guest of honor. I can't recall why the plan didn't work out, but we definitely discussed it.

***I do recall your kind invitation, but I also don’t remember the reason why it didn’t materialize. Sorry that, despite your initiative, you couldn’t rise above category C.*** :-(

And now that you got me thinking, I have made my own list. I will not name names, but out of your list of 32 Alup friends, I have actually met 6 in person, talked to 3 on the phone, and have exchanged emails with 4. In addition to those, I have talked to 5 more on the phone, not on your list. So that is 18 total. What a blessing this group has been, great memories, amazing people.

Addendum: The additional 5 friends (not on RK sahib's list) that I mentioned were mostly from Mehfil-e-SuKhan. I think only a couple of them have been active on Alup, not all.

***In view of the Addendum, your count of “ALUP contacts” stands at 13 -------- not bad at all.

B/W, I also had contact, at one level or the other, with 6-8 other Urdu lovers that participated in Kashif sahib’s Urdustan or Shoaib sahib’s bazm-e-suKhan (later maHfil-e-suKhan), but I didn’t include their names in the list posted here.***

aap bhii aaiiye, ham ko bhii bulaate rahiye
dosti jurm nahiiN, dost banaate rahiye :)

***na sahii apni mulaaqaatoN ka, yaadoN ka sahii ham se jaise bhi banay, rishta banaaye rakhnaa! :-)

Khair-aNdesh, Raj uncle***

[Zoya]

On Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 4:17:08 PM UTC-5, Raj Kumar wrote:
>
> ***Indeed, Zoya sahiba, and I am pleased to recall that I was the one to introduce the term “ALUP-parivaar”!***
>

> ***I do recall your kind invitation, but I also don’t remember the reason why it didn’t materialize. Sorry that, despite your initiative, you couldn’t rise above category C.*** :-(

Raj uncle, I remember the invitation was reciprocal, so there is still hope for me to get elevated to the A group. How about this, maybe we should plan a post Covid Alup get together "in the nicest part of the nicest city in the country, close to the Pacific ocean?" We can all meet at a place of your choice, tab on me, reserving my A spot! :)

I can always fly out West, probably a lot faster than Nagesh sahib will take to drive there. :) Maybe I can convince Khursheed maamu too, especially if I bring his niece Rafia with me, you know she is one of my closest friends here. Oh and between you and me, we might be able to talk another mutual friend or two into it too. Now that sounds like fun, doesn't it? :)

>
> ***na sahii apni mulaaqaatoN ka, yaadoN ka sahii ham se jaise bhi banay, rishta banaaye rakhnaa! :-)
>
> Khair-aNdesh, Raj uncle***

Thanks Raj uncle, for everything, your love and support and guidance over the years. I am blessed to have known you.

Looking forward to 2021, please take care of yourself.

baqaul Basheer Badr:

jahaaN vaadiyoN meiN naye phuul aaye
hamaarii tumhaarii mulaaqaat hogii :-)

Best regards,

_________Zoya

[nageshsahib]

I promise to drive out to "the nicest city" for a meeting with people I admire greatly.
Regards,

Nagesh

[Raj Kumar]

On Friday, July 17, 2020 at 8:51:51 AM UTC-7, Naseer wrote:
> On Friday, 17 July 2020 15:55:37 UTC+1, B.G. M. wrote:
> > MaiN jaantaa huuN kih jab ko’ii yahaaN “thread” shuruu’ kartaa hai to usay us “thread” ke “central concept” meN hi rehnaa laazamii meHsuus hotaa hai.. magar..
> >
> > The entire compendium of A.L.U.P. is replete with examples that diversions within the thread has produced some of the excellant discussions and very interesting information about Urdu, Hindi and Hindustani literary works in general and poetry in particular.
> >
> >
> > =======================
>
> is silsile meN mujhe janaab-i-Raj Kumar SaaHib kii baat se nah sirf ittifaaq hai balkih hamdardii bhii hai. lekin kyaa kareN, zamaanah zaalim hai!

*** Thanks, Naseer sahib, for your kind words of understanding. As regards your comment "zamaana zaalim hai", I am reminded of an ibrat-naak she'r by janaab Ibrat Gorakhpuri (the father of Firaq Gorakhpuri); farmaate haiN k

zamaane ki gardish ka chaara nahiiN hai
zamaana hamaara tumhaara nahiiN hai!***

> B.G.M SaaHib, maiN aap kaa nihaayat shukr-guzaar huuN gaa agar aap merii aur diigar aHbaab kii xaatir hameN "Hindi" bi_l3umuun aur "Hindustani" bi_lxusuus ke "literary works" ke baare meN kuchh ma3luumaat faraaham kareN. 3ain mumkin hai kih jab in mauzuu3aat par maazii meN baHs-o-mubaaHise hu'e hoN, maiN idhar-udhar chalaa gayaa huuN yaa yahaaN meraa us vaqt vujuud hii nah ho! is javaab ke liye aap ek na'ii laRii kaa aaGhaaz kar sakte haiN agar aap ko Raj Kumar SaaHib kii das-bastah darxvaast kaa ratti-bhar bhii iHsaas hai.

***your suggestion to BGM sahib is a pretty good one. Let's see when (and if) he acts upon this suggestion and starts a NEW thread encapsulating "excellent discussions and very interesting information about Urdu, Hindi and Hindustani literary works in general and poetry in particular", as emanating from "filmi geets"!

Very likely, that will be a rare thread "initiated" by him, for generally his comments on ALUP rarely go beyond "waah, waah" on threads initiated by others!

As you have noticed, my request to him was very polite ------ look at the number of 'e's I used in the word "please" --- but the slap I received back was phenomenal, to say the least. Very likely, BGM sahib doesn't realize when a diversion is relevant to the topic of the thread and when it is not. May be, he'll realize it better when (and if) he himself starts a NEW thread and other people throw diversions into it!

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar***

[B.G. M.]

Janaab-e-MoHtaram RK “Qais” saahab, aadaab va salaam-e-aqeedat!

Aap ki post paRh kar mujhe bahot buraa meHsuus hu’aa aur maN ne phir se meri woh post par dubaarah nazar pherii.
Ab mujhe Theek pataa chalaa kih kyuuN meri post aap ko “terse” si lagii!
It was surely “ terse” and “un-diplomatic” indeed!
MaiN baRii sharmindagii se aap se mu’aafii kaa talabgaar huuN.
Aap to hamaare baRe haiN, buzurg-o-MoHtaram haiN..aur maiN yaqeenan ummeed-waar huuN kih aap meri is Khataa ko darguzar kar hi deNge.(🙏)

Ab, jab maiN aap se miluuNgaa to aap ke pair Chhuu luuNga!
aur aa’indah aisi Harkat kabhii nahiiN karuuNgaa!

Haqeer-o-nadeem

apni Khataa pe sharm-saar
aap ki navaazish ka shukr-guzaar
aap ki mustaqil dostii ka talab-gaar
aap ki shafqat kaa ummeedvaar
be-saleeqa-o-be-she'aar
aql se 'aarii  

============B. G.==========

[Raj Kumar]

On Friday, July 17, 2020 at 6:07:10 PM UTC-7, Irfan Abid wrote:

muhtaram RK sb, aadaab arz hai!

kitaab-e-maazii ke auraaq palaTne aur hameN is varaq-gardaanii meN shariik karne kaa shukriya!

***You are welcome, Irfan sahib! ***

RK sb, mere liye yahii bahut baRaa aizaaz hai ki maiN is fehrist meN shaamil huuN, lekin janaab-e-aalaa, mujhe kam az kam ek paaidaan uupar to rakhiye. aap ko yaad ho ki na ho, aap se ek martaba phone par Khaasii taviil guft-guu huii thii jab ki aap ne mere shahr, shahr-e-Indianapolis se guzarne aur mujh se na mil paane par afsos zaahir kiyaa thaa. afsos to Khair mujhe aap se ziyaadah huaa thaa, lekin majburii thii ki mujhe aap kii aamad kaa pehle se ilm nahiiN thaa. jahaaN tak mujhe yaad hai, ek baar aur aap se phone par baat huii hai, lekin mujhe yaad nahiiN ki kab aur kis silsile meN.

***janaab-e-man, jab maiN ne apni ‘post’ meN naam bhare the to mujh par yeh vaazeH nahiiN ho rahaa tha k aap se baat-cheet kis zariye se hu’ii thi. is be-yaqeeni k aalam meN maiN ne yihii socha k mujhe yeh sa’aadat ba-zariya phone kahaaN naseeb hu’ii hogi, ba-zariya e-mail hi hu’ii hogi. ab aap ke yaad dilaane par, maiN ne apni ‘phone book’ ke auraaq palTay to aap ka phone # maujuud paayaa --- jis se zaahir hai k meri aap se baat phone hi pe hu’ii hogi. lehaaza, maiN ne apne zaati records meN aap ka daraja category D meN se uThaa kar category C meN rakh diyaa hai! :-)

ab mujhe yeh bhi yaad aa rahaa hai k hamaari duusri guft-guu tab hu’ii thi jab aap ne ittefaaqan Dilli ke maah-naama “BiisviiN Sadii” ke kisii puraane shumaare meN mere irsaal-kardah ash’aar --- ba-unvaan “hijr” aur “visaal” --- paRhe the. tab aap ne, un ash’aar ki pasaNdeedagi ka izhaar karne ke liye, mujhe phone kiyaa tha.

Khair, jaate jaate, yeh bhi arz karuuN k meri phone book meN aap ka phone # hi nahiiN, bal-k aap ke Daulat-kade ka pata bhi hai. is ka matlab yeh nahiiN k mujhe vahaaN jaane ka Sharaf Haasil hu’aa ho --- haaN, yeh zaruur ho sakta hai k maiN ne aap se aap ka pata is Gharaz se liyaa ho taa-k maiN aap ko apni kitaab SS ki aek ‘complimentary copy’ bhej sakuuN.***

vaise aap ko khaane kii bhii daavat de rahaa huuN (piine kii ba-vujuuh-e-chand nahiiN de saktaa!) :) aap jald az jald yih daavat.naama qubuul farmaaiye taaki merii maziid taraqqii ho sake! :)

***ab to sochnaa paRay ga, sahib. agarche mujh meN aap ki da’avat Thukraane ki taab nahiiN hai magar kyaa karuuN --- Khud apne hi aek she’r ke haathoN majbuur huuN. arz hai:

jis aNjuman meN tashna-labii kii davaa na ho
us aNjuman meN Qais kaa jaanaa fuzuul hai! :-)

haaN, agar aap hamaare haaN tashreef laane ki zaHmat gavaaraa kar sakeN to hameN bharpuur Khushii hogi aur is taraH hamaari tashna-labii ka ‘ilaaj bhi hota rahe ga! *** ;-)

ALUP kaa safar mere liye bhii bahut mufiid aur yaadgaar rahaa hai. maiN ne shaayad yahaan pehli baar saal 2000 meN qadam rakkhaa thaa. pataa hii nahiiN chalaa ki kab yih bazm meraa duusraa ghar ban gayii aur aap log meraa kunba ban gaye.

***Huzuur, aap ki is baat se mujhe solah aane ittefaaq hai; tabhii to jis maHfil ko aap ne apna “kunba” kahaa hai, maiN kayee barsoN se use apna “parivaar” kahta aayaa huuN!

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar***

[shoaib...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 2:39:08 PM UTC-4, Raj Kumar wrote:

> Umang Bali, Shoaib Tanvir, Sanaa Ali, BGM --- for a total of 4.

ٰ
I am delighted to learn today I am among the select few who have had the great privilege of having you as a guest in our homes, besides out hearts.

> {jahaaN tak “khaane-piine” ki baat hai, vaazeH ho k “piina” sirf Umang Bali sahib ke haaN naseeb hu’aa, baaqi maqaamaat par saara zor “khaane” hi pe rahaa!} :-)

To be fair RK sahib, though we could not partake or participate in your date with bint-e-angoor, you must acknowledge that we did facilitate your dalliances with her. :-)