When Anwar Nadeem did a Bollywood Cameo

An Interview with Anwar Nadeem on his Bollywood Sojourn

An Interview with Anwar Nadeem (1937-2017)

Poetry of Anwar Nadeem

By

Professor Sarva-Daman Singh

Director, Institute of Asian Studies, Brisbane, Australia

Anwar Nadeem’s poetry charms, as it challenges the reader to explore himself or herself, to turn the light of comprehension inwards, to chase one’s own true self. He invokes the blessings of God, whose names are indeed beyond any count; and at whose feet all distinctions disappear, human aspirations seek fruition and fulfilment; hope stirs.

Hindi and Urdu are two sides of the same coin, unidentical twins, made so by the infusion of Sanskrit in one; of Persian and Arabic in the other; by the adoption of Devanagari script by one; and of Arabic by the other. The grammar necessarily stays identical; syntax remains similar; the verbs are almost always the same. To the great credit of the poet Anwar Nadeem, he seeks to bridge this divide for the benefit of both. The Urdu of Nadeem is like a river in free flow; its broad bosom indicative of its rich maturity and inclusive capacity. And his poetry in his own words is like a kiss on the gentle face of Mother Earth. His poems are pearls of words chosen from Hindi and Urdu alike, with a musical cadence all their own, with an indescribable, untranslatable delicacy of phrases characteristic of his ability to give voice to the entire gamut of human emotions, Hindi and Urdu, do not belong to the Hindus or Muslims, but equally to both; and any artificial coinages will stifle both.

Nadeem is a keen and concerned observer of the human predicament; of the march of history will all is trials, which ‘cannot be unlived’; but from which we can pick up the pieces and strive for a better world, I which we do not just survive, but live with a purpose, with some passion to confront and confine, if we cannot entirely eliminate, suffering and despair caused by selfish greed and intolerance of difference. There is so much pain in life which cannot stay mute and must express itself; which engenders so much pessimism. Yet, hope is also everlasting; and a healthy sense of humour sustains it. The world is not perfect; but should we sit on our hands and do nothing? The poet is the voice of human conscience castigating the world for its insensate hatreds and eruptions of intolerant violence. Pride is like a little river that never meets the sea, and blights our understanding; constricts our sympathies; dries up the flow of compassion. Anwar Nadeem frets at the ineffectiveness and impotence of his protest, as it is hard to accept the unjust and painful realities of the world. The poem Main aur Meri Bātėin tells us that he has been speaking for years; people just listen and go their way! There are moments when he tires of his tirades against the insoluble issues of our lives:

Tum nahīṅ ho

Isī liyé tum khamosh ho

Main hūṅ

Kyoṅki main bol rahā hūṅ!

Main bol saktā hūṅ

Main bol rahā hūṅ

Isiliye ki main zindā hūṅ!

Mainé bolné ké liyé manch nahīṅ dhūndā

Tum sunné ké liyé méré pās nahīṅ āyé

Hālāṅki main boltā rahā

Aur tum méri bātoṅ se mahrūm rahé

Chāho to yé samajh lo aur khush raho ki

Tum mere khyālāt sé mahfūz rahé!

Main tumhāré sāmné boltā rahā

Aur samajh liyā ki mainé tum se har bāt kah dī

Magar abhi ék māmūli si bāt

Ek ghair māmūlī lafz ke sāth

Mujhé tum sé kahni hai

Aur vahī māmūlī si baat

Ek ghair māmūlī lafz ké sāth

Main tum sé kab kahūngā

Mujhé nahīn mālūm!

Main sach bolūn

Aur tum kadvé ghūnt piyo

Is sé bahtar hai ki

Āvaaz déin us hawker ko

Aur gol gap’pé khāéin!

Main pichhlé pachās saal se bol rahā hūṅ

Aur samajh rahā hūn ki log mujhé pasand karté hain

Hālānki log meri majbūri samajhté hain!

Main do, char, das, bees, logon ke darmiyān boltā rahtā hūṅ

Magar Kyon?

Mujhé un logon sé muhab’bat hai nā

Magar yé muhab’bat

Mujhé khamosh rahnā kab sikhāyégī?

Log aksar mérī bāt

samajh nahīn paté

phir bhi sunté rahté hain

isliyé nahīṅ ki unhaiṅ kuchh samajhnā hai

bas yon hi sunté rahté hain

mumkin hai sunté rahnā unki ādat ho

vo mujhe pasand karté hoṅ, aisā bhi nahīṅ

jab aur jahān chahté hain, alag ho lete hain

shāyad isliye ki

maiṅ unké kām kā ādmi nahīn hūn!

The world resounds with the words of religion; with the messages of many messiahs. They inform our understanding of life, and influence and regulate our conduct. But their main precept is love and compassion, and certainly not divisive conflict; universal brotherhood and not sectarian strife. The Rasuls or prophets seek to contain the ocean in a well of their revelations; and every revelation takes us forward to perfection; but the sword is by no means its instrument of dissemination. Hatred, intolerance and violence amount to a travesty of true religion, whatever its name. Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Muhammad and Nanak were all prophets of love, justice and human fraternity. The truth in its entirety cannot be contained in a single revelation. It is dynamic; it evolves; it expands; and the Divine Voice cannot ever fall silent. The messengers of God come to right the wrongs of every age. Anwar Nadeem is most succinct when he asks: “Who is it that comes close to me early in the morning to say, ‘where shall I find the final word, for I speak to every age.” Truth is the story of our spiritual evolution that knows no bounds and brooks no cessation. We cannot silence the voices that will go on expressing the Truth. Any prohibitions on free, exploratory and constructive speech detract from the scope of our certitude.

Poem entitled “Tauhīn” (Insult) tells us that ‘God is one and Muhammad is his prophet’, which is a message for our hearts! But there are those, alas, who have sought to write it on the sharp edges of their swords which, they do not realize, is an insult the great Prophet”

Allah ék hai

Aur Muhammad uské rasūl hain

Is paighām ko

Diloṅ méin samānā thā!

Magar afsos

Kuchh logoṅ né

Isī sachchāī ko

Talvaar ke naṅge badan par

Likh kar

Apne Khudā

Aur rasūl kī tauhīn kī hai!

In the same vein, poem “Jai Shrī Rām” says: ‘If you come with a sword in hand shouting Shri Rām, I shall not be able to join you and say Jai Shrī Rām. But if you come to me with the pious name of Ram illustrating the values he embodied, come with me, I shall not only be with you, I shall lead you!”

Tum agar

“Jai Shri Rām” ke khayāl ko talvār bana ke ayé ho

To āgé badho

Sar hāzir hai

Qalam kar lo!

Talvār kė sāmné mėri zabān sé

Ye tīn shabd Jai Shri Ram

Kabhi nahiṅ nikléingé

Lékin agar

Tum “Jai Shri Ram” ke pāvan mantra ke sāth āyė ho

To galé lag jāo

Phir méré āgé nahīn

Méré pīchhé pīchhé chalo

Tāki  main apnė dėsh kī sarhadon ké us pār bhī

Sārī duniyā kī ālūdā fazāon ko

Rām ké mubārak nām kī gūnj sė

Bhar dūn!

Poem Bāl Gopāl kī Azmatoṅ ko Salām is a paean of praise to Krishna, who was a saviour of the victims of oppression and tyranny; and who was a source of inspiration to poets Hindu and Muslims alike. As he himself said, he would come again and again. The last word is never spoken! Krishna’s message of love, fraternity and good behaviour, respect, sympathy and compassion is not for Hindus alone. These are universal values to be realized and expressed in our beliefs, thought and action.

Mirī muhabbat, mirī aqīdat, miré tasav’vur kī chand kaliyān

Abhī khilī hain, mahak rahī hain, miré Krishnā! Qubūl kar lé

Safīr-é-Shujā’at, anurāg vālā

Vo zulm-o-sitam ké liyé āg vālā

Vo baṅsī bajaiyā, sharārat kī dhārā

Vo chitchor sāré jahāṅ kā dulārā!

Usī ké janam kī ghadī ā rahī hai

Badī khūbsūrat fazā chhā rahi hai

Chalo āj kar léin usī kā nazārā!

Bālpan kī hadoṅ sé javānī talak

Har zamānā tahay’yurma’ābī kā hai

Jab zabāṅ kholtā hai to lagtā hai yé

Har ishārā taghy’yurma’ābī kā hai

Bāl Gopāl kī azmatoṅ ko salām

Islām ko sapné méin basāyé hué “Hasrat”

Rakhté thé Kanhaiy’yā ké ravaiy’yon sé aqīdat

Vo shāir-darvésh-sifat tāj nagar kā

Hāsil thī usé méré Krishnā kī muhab’bat

Bāl Gopāl kī azmatoṅ ko salām

Kyā khūb thā Gopāl ké bachpan kā tamāshā

Mākhan ké bahāné sé banā chor Kanhaiy’yā

Mūṅh khol ké duniyā ko dikhāyā thā ajūbā

Māsūm sharārat méin rasūloṅ ka ravaiy’yā !

Dekhā hai sadā āp né sūraj ko ubharté

Ham ne to haméshā yahī mahsūs kiyā hai

Dhartī ko aṅdhéroṅ sé karégā yahī āzād

Gopāl ké kirdār kī tasvīr hai sūraj

Bastī bastī, dwāré dwāré, jhāṅkī Krishna Kanhaiyā kī

“KhalqKhudā kī dékhan āī” Mīr kā fikrā yād karo

Ék yahī paighām sunahrā, Bhārat Varsh ké darshan kā

“Krishnā, Krishnā” kahté kahté apné man ko shās karo

Zamīn-o-ākāsh kī hadoṅ méiṅ jahāṅ bhī dékho méin doltā hūṅ

Tamām fikr-o-amal kī girhaiṅ, azal sé ab tak méin kholtā hūṅ

Bahut savéré, vo kaun méré qarīb āké, yé kah gayā hai

“Méiṅ harf-e-ākhir kahāṅ sé lāūṅ, méiṅ har zamāné méiṅ boltā hūṅ”

Jhalkiyāṅ fikr-o-nazar kī ashtamī kī rāh méiṅ

Anvar-é-khastā kī kāvish Krishna kī ik chāh méiṅ !

Pésh karké rūh mérī ho chukī hai shādmāṅ

Dil ko sab kuchh mil gayā āp kī is vāh méiṅ !

We should light lamps of love and hope, and never forget that we all belong to one race (Āo Phir Ék Khwāb Buneiṅ). The poet’s ears are straining to hear the voices of love and justice, but the only visible sight is that of fires of hatred.

Kyoṅ sāṅséiṅ tan ko chhūtī haiṅ

Kyā maqsad hai in sāṅsoṅ kā

Kuchh dér kā chintan détā hai

Sāṅsoṅ ké maqsad kā idrāk

Sāṅsoṅ ké tilismī ghéré sé

Sapnoṅ ké tohfé milté haiṅ

Tārīkh kī rachnākārī méiṅ

Yé tohfé rang jamāté haiṅ

Duniyā ko sajāné vāloṅ né

Duniyā ko mitāné vāloṅ né

Har daur méiṅ sapné dékhé haiṅ

Tābīr unhī ké sapnoṅ kī,

Tārīkh murat’tib kartī hai

Méiṅ sādhū vaṅsh kā shāir hūṅ

Jo kahnā hai, vo kahtā hūṅ

Kuchh sīdhé sādé shabdoṅ méiṅ

Is tāzā varsh ké mauqé par

Kuchh apné man kī bātoṅ ko

Kahné kī gharaz sé āyā hūṅ !

Har sāl ké bārah māsé méiṅ

Kuchh chāṅd sitāré khilté haiṅ

Kuchh bigdé kām saṅvarté haiṅ

Tūfāṅ bhī shor machāté haiṅ

Kuchh chāléiṅ tedhī padtī haiṅ

Kuchh log yé samjhé baithé haiṅ

Sab kuchh hai unhī ké hāthoṅ méiṅ

Kuchh log muqaddar ké qāyal

Thak hār ké sāṅséiṅ lété haiṅ

Phir bhī yé sadāqat raushan hai

Har kām nīyat par nirbhar hai

Bas rūh kā ék ujlā jazbā

Bharpūr irādā bantā hai !

Tum dékh chuké is duniyā ko

Hālāt kī bigdī sūrat ko

Āfāq pé tum ko chhānā hai

Tārīkh banāné vālé tum !

Ab rāh nikālo jīvan kī

Kuchh haṅsté gāté sapnoṅ kī

Kuchh āṅsū poṅchho ghurbat ké

Kuchh rāhéiṅ raushan hone do

Āfāq pé tum ko chhānā hai

Tārīkh banāné vālé tum !

Lo dūb gayā bārah māsā,

Kyoṅ us kī kadvī bātoṅ ko

Sīné sé lagāyé baithé ho

Ut’tho ki abhī to chalnā hai

Āfāq pé tum ko chhānā hai

Har sāl ké sundar mauqé par

Urdū kī ghazal kā iktārā

Saṅsār méiṅ har dam gūṅjé hai

Paighām sé apné bāṅdhé hai !

Agar koī charāgh phir

Jalā sako to bāt hai

Nahīṅ to ziṅdagī hai kyā

Bahut aṅdhérī rāt hai

Hamī né apnī zāt ko uthā liyā hai dosh par

Hamāré iṅtzār méiṅ yé sārī kāynāt hai

Yahāṅ vahāṅ, idhar udhar

Sabhī sé mil chuké magar

Jo ajnabī hai āj tak

Hamārī ék zāt hai !

Agar koī charāgh phir

Jalā sako to bāt hai

Nahīṅ to ziṅdagī hai kyā

Bahut aṅdhérī rāt hai

Ut’tho ki abhī to chalnā hai

Āfāq pé tum ko chhānā hai

Tārīkh banāné vālé tum

Āfāq pé chhāné vālé tum !

Anwar Nadeem is saddened by the painful reality of caste distinctions and discrimination; the use of platitudes without substance; and the hypocrisy of appearances at variance with actual attitudes when members of one’s own family seek to bridge the painful gulf of separation. The poet invites us to demonstrate our spinal fortitude with the courage of our conduct and candour. Hypocritical espousal of equality from a distance will not suffice!

Two autobiographical poems, one of which provides the title for a collection of his poetry, Yė kaun mėrė qarīb āyā, illustrates the poet’s own progress in the pursuit of this ideal; his inter-communal marriage and its experience highlighting the hollowness of social divisions, bringing communities together. The love of a Jāt girl and a Pathān poet sanctified in wedlock serves as an example to a society torn by painful divisions. To a son born of this union, the exemplary love of his parents for each other should be the greatest legacy despite the puzzlement which has marked his growth to maturity and manhood. He opened his ears and eyes to a scene of cultural and inter-religious harmony in his parents’ home, remained free from religious rituals and narrow doctrinal constraints; and grew up to be a scholar and intellectual in his own right.

Hamāré māzi méin janm lékar, vo ék ladkā javān huā hai

usé yé gham hai ki usné kaisé ajīb logon méin ānkh kholī

Koī batāyé ki bāp térā vafā ké naghmé sunā rahā hai

Koi batāyé ki téri mān bhi prém nagari méin gāmzan hai

Koi batāyé ki téri hasti kuchh æsé rishton ko chū rahi hai

Ki jin sé pahlé milan kī kir’néin fazā ko raushan na kar saki thīen

Kahān ijāzat milī thī ab tak ki jāt ladki kī ārzūéin

Pathān hāthon kā sāth lékar vafā kī rāhéin gulāb kar déin

Kahān pathānon ki sarzamīn se vafā kā parcham uthā ké niklā

Muhabbaton kā amīn-é-khushtar, latīf jazbon ka ék paikar

Kahān salāmatravi kī daulat milī hai æsī kahāniyon ko

Kahān qabīlé ké dāyaron méin kisī ne æsā qarār dékhā

Hamāré māzi méin janm lékar, vo ék ladkā javān huā hai

usé yé gham hai ki usné kaisé ajīb logon méin ānkh kholī

Usé to mālūm hai ki jāton ké dil kī dhadkan méin bāp uskā

Ajīb dilkash muqām lékar, misāl-é-ulfat banā huā hai

Tamām dānishkadon méin uskī azīm mān ki misāl ab tak

Jalā rahi hai jidhar bhi dékho, muhabbaton ké chirāgh paiham

Yé kam nahīn hai muhabbaton kī azīm daulat ka ék varsā

Kisī kī hastī ko ābrū dé, kisī kī rāhon méin phūl bhar dé

Magar yé chhotī sī bāt, Anvar! Samajh kā his’sā banégī kaisé?

Hamāré māzi méin janm lékar, vo ék ladkā javān huā hai

usé yé gham hai ki usné kaisé ajīb logon méin ānkh kholī

There are poems of patriotism, tributes to Mother India and Mahatma Gandhi; and an invitation to Pakistan to live with India in a spirit of peace and good-will, being cognizant and appreciative of our shared history and socio-cultural values. A beautiful poem (Jīné kā Hunar) describes how a river sustains life, cradles culture, and nurtures history. The poet looks at the river Gomati quietly flowing across the city of Lucknow, the silent witness of many upheavels, of so much joy and pain, inseparable ingredients of laughter and song, of life itself with all its cries of anguish and delight, of poetry reciting ‘saddest songs’, side by side with lifting laugher!

Tahzīb ké sāré galiyāré

Parbat, sahrā, jangal ké

Āj talak ābhārī haiṅ!

Insān ké nāzuk zahnoṅ par

Tārīkh ké raushan panoṅ par

Dariyā kī ajab fankārī hai!

Yé bahtā pānī dhartī ko

Har daur kī chābukdastī ko

Jīné kā hunar sikhlātā hai!

Saṅsār ké jitné dariyā haiṅ

Sāhil pé un hī ké ziṅdā haiṅ

Jazbāt ké sundar tāj mahal!

Dariyāoṅ kī sārī jaldhārā

Lagtī hai haméshā banjara

Sadiyoṅ ké safar kā darpan hai!

Ham Gomti vālé sunté haiṅ

Jo gīt vafā ké bunté haiṅ

Vo dūr talak chhā jāté haiṅ!

Kuchh mandir rāj gharānoṅ ké

Tārīkh ké raushan his’soṅ ké

Āsār hamārī nagarī ké!

Ham Lakhanpur ké bandé haiṅ

Ham haṅsté gāté phirté haiṅ

Jīne kā hunar sikhlāté haiṅ!

A powerful poem, Vābastagī refers to the poet’s curiosity to know the world and understand its ills. He reads, he listens, he sees, and he writes with the conviction that someday his message will spell something useful to the world.

Main akhbār barsoṅ se padh rahā hūṅ

Khabaréin roz hi suntā hūṅ

Kitābéin aksar chhūtā hūṅ

Kabhī padh bhī létā hūṅ

Aur apnī khulī āṅkhoṅ sé

Zindagi kā sach samajhné ki koshish kartā hūṅ !

Apni or badhné vālé

Kisī māmūlī ādmī ké chéhré ko

Dévtā samajh lénā, mérī purānī ādat hai !

Aur apné sé khichné vālé

Dāman bachāné vālé

Kisī bhī aflātūn sé

Kosoṅ dūr bhāgnā méri fitrat hai !

Kuchh logoṅ kā khayāl hai

Samāj né mujhé apné sé alag kar diyā hai

Kuchh log samajhté hain

Main apne samāj sé kat ké rah gayā hūn

Méré bāré méin āp yahī yād rakhéingé

Main haméshā likhtā rahā hūn aur sochtā rahā hūn

Mumkin hai mérā qalam, mérī shāirī

Kabhī méré samāj, mérī duniyā ké kām āyé !

The custodians of customs, the guardians of religion, the dividers of humankind stifle love and its free expression. The lovers of true life have no time for the speculative, elusive, nebulous hopes of heaven. They belong here, and can teach you to live and love!

A great poem, Shabdāvali (Vocabulary) talks of time, interminable, bearing witness to the vicissitudes of humanity; the transience of all human expressions; the dashing of hopes; the taste of defeat and despair; and also humanity’s ever recurring dreams. We make of our lives what they are. People are who they are because of their history. The past is of course gone, and is yet always with us!

Vaqt, ék rishtā-é-tanzīm sé vābastā hai

Vaqt, tasvīr-é-azal aur abad kī manzil

Vaqt, mohtāj kisī nām kā hotā hī nahīṅ

Vaqt, tārīkh ké awrāq méiṅ chhuptā hī nahīṅ

Vaqt, tahzīb kī jāgīr méiṅ ruktā hī nahīṅ

Vaqt, fankār ké hāthoṅ sé saṁbhaltā hī nahīṅ

Vaqt, tahrīk kī talvār sé martā hī nahīṅ

Vaqt, dīvār-o-dar-o-bām sé dartā hī nahīṅ

Dīn ké shīshmahal, izm ké kālé parbat

Vaqt ké ék ishāré pé bikhar jāté haiṅ!

There are poems which comment on the harsh quotidian concerns of daily life (Kirāyé kī Chhat); and on the contentment of happy human relationships mocking want and social injustices (Jī Bahltā Hai).

The poem Pratīkshā pays a tender tribute to woman, who embodies the capacity to wait for love. Her sense of respect transforms this earth into paradise; and her beauty and bliss put even paradise to shame. She raises a man from the animal plane to human; and beckons to heaven with her ideals and dreams thereof. Who has seen heaven or hell beyond this earth? It is here and here alone that the heavenly fragrance of feminine grace will suffuse our lives.

The poetry of Anwar Nadeem reflects all the colours of life’s rainbow; and echoes his consuming concern for human fellowship transcending the narrowness and intolerance of all creedal considerations. Love, charity and compassion provide the sole basis for human harmony and fulfilment!