Surrealism in Urdu Poetry
Black Wind
Surrealism in Urdu Poetry
Let me first explain for the uninitiated, what Surrealism stands for.
Surrealism is actually short for 'super realism' i.e. in art and
literature the expression is for depiction of super-conscious thought
or such interpretations. In art it is characterized by arrangement of
things in an enigmatic manner resembling a dreamlike fantasy. There is
a kind of stillness, of freezing of time. The movement was started
abruptly by Georges Chericho around third decade of twenteeth century,
whose painting of a town scene frozen in time had a curious man peering
at you enigmatically. One of the foremost painter of this genre was
Salvadore Dali (Expired recently in last decade of previous century),
whose painting 'Persistence of Memory' is regarded as the most
representative of this movement. If you search google with this name,
you are most likely to see this enduring image of a leafless tree
growing out of a cement platform and pictures of melting watches with
frozen time. My personal favorites are indeed Salvadore Dali and Paul
Cezanne ( pronounced SizaaN) of Impressionism. So in short Surrealism
stands for enigma, frozen time and dreamlike fantasy.
Some outstanding ash'aar of this genre are :
Zamaana baRe shouk se sun raha tha
HameeN so gaya daastaN kahte kahte.
Maine sharab le kar hawa main uchaal di
Phir zindagi ki yuN na kisii ne misaal di
Sadsaala daur -e-charKh tha, sagar ka ik daur
Nikale jo maiqade se , duniya badal gayi
Har hoNth par tabassum tha mer qatl ke b'aad
Jaane kya soch ke roota raha qatil mera.
Darta huN asamaan ka jadoo na toot jaaye
Lab par koii sawaal sa aaya hua to hai
shaam se hi so gaye log ankheN mooNd kar
kiska darvaazah khulega, kis ke ghar jayegi raat!
shahar maiN kis kis se lete inteqaam
ghar meN aakar sab se pahle so gaye!
kitna naadaan tha maiN doob gaya aur jal bhi gaya
wo bahut kahta raha aag ka dariya huN maiN
and last but not the least:
sirhane 'Mir' ke aahista bolo
abhi tuk rote rote so gaya hai
Since my knowledge of Urdu is pretty pedestrian, therefore this is a
small collection. You are of course welcome to add to this. Look for
enigma, fantasy and inanimate manzar and post those wonderful ashaar.
Black Wind
Vijay
For a second I had this surreal feeling that A. Kala sahib is writing
under this 'nom-de-plum' of Black Wind:-) Anyhow, here is a she'r, a
favorite of mine, that has a certain 'surreal' feel to it:
shaam bhii thii dhuuaaN dhuuaaN, din bhii thaa udaas udaas
aise meN kucch kahaniiaaN, yaad sii aa ke reh gaiiN!
Regards,
Vijay Kumar
Zoya
under this 'nom-de-plum' of Black Wind:-)"
Me too, exact same surreal feeling!
_______________Zoya
Black Wind
baraNg-e-jaras tujhse door huN tanha (47)
Khabar nahi hai tujhe aah kaarvaaN meri!
rah ki sunta na tha yaaN raah maiN maaniNd-e-jaras
shor sa karte jaate the ham, baat ki kisko t'aakat thi( 39)
Shahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
I ragard life as one organic whole which while always evolving also
keeps shedding chunks that are no longer useful. Thus the childhood is
actually one part which detached from me a long time back. Even though
it once was part of me, I am quite unable to identify that part with
myself anymore. Therefore that little kid is memory of just a child and
strangely whenever I visualize him I feel surge of protective emotions
towards that very vulnerable and inarticulate child.
When I saw this movie the first time I was just a little kid. I
perceived the film as a horror movie rather than an emotional but
serious commentary on a crumbling decadent feudal order. The Black &
White medium suited its hushed conspiratorial dialogues and added
intensity to that experiance. It's disjointed story with abrupt turns
like sudden popping up of GhaRi Babu on the screen laughing
uncontrollably in a fit of insane frenzy only added horror to queer
happenings. All this bizarre happenings quite incomprehensible to that
little kid left him terrified. Since little boy couldn't make anything
out of the dialogues as well as slow drift of the story, he came back
home hating men who were cruel or rude to women. What however endured
was that viscereal experiance of haunting openning song playing in the
background of a darkened crumbling haveli. It was so soluble and
transcending that even today I have no difficulty in re-living that
experiance. So when people say that Lata Mangeshkar's "KahiN deep jaale
kahiN dil...' is the ultimate haunting song, I tend to disagree. For me
the mother of all haunting melodies is Geeta Dutt's
'Koi door se awaaz de chale aao....'
Black Wind
The mask fell off rather easily. I guess, I'm not really good at
camouflage, therefore need some urgent tips from master of drama Shri
Roshan Kamath for character makeover. However, seriously Black Wind
isn't about trendy names. It has to do with some self-loathing and the
need for catharsis. You see, as a youth I had my share of reading books
from Franz Kafka, Munshi Prem Chand to Ibn-e-Shafi, B.A.( Jasoosi
Duniya). I wasn't a voracious reader but was dogged enough to finish
books whichever came my way. In the process I read all kinds of books
including Parry Mason and the kind "Down South They Call Me Sudden". In
these books invariably native American characters had bizarre names
like 'Fiery Wind' or 'Blue Lightening'. Now I realize that gross
injustice was meted out to these people by literal translation of
names. Obviously Black Wind doesn't connote the same meaning as Anil
Kala ( Anil in Sanskrit means Wind, Air)
A.Kala
P.s. I see some daal maiN 'Kala' here. As soon as Black Wind posts
message here, Zafar sahab ko ' kaalaa, saaNwala aur gora yaad aa gayaa!
Apna to ye usool hai k jab tak masoom na saabit ho jaaye, fard
gunehgaar hai. Ise coincidence to nahi khaa ja saktaa. Aur ye kaise
yaqeen se kah sakte haiN ke 'Kala' ka 'rang' bhi kaalaa hai aur 'dil'
bhi?
Black Wind
you.
ignore it.
A.Kala