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GROUND ZERO
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I can say without hesitation, these renderings of
Diwan-e-Ghalib by Kuldip Salil read better than I have read by any scholars of Urdu, be they Indian, Pakistani or
firangi
I
AM much beholden to Kuldip Salil in my
understanding of Urdu poetry. His latest offering, Best of Meer
Taqi Meer: Selected Ghazals, Nazams and Ribaiyat, with their
lyrical translation in English and in Roman script (Rajpal) further
adds to the debt of gratitude I owe him. I can do no better than
quote his own words in favour of the debt of gratitude we owe each
other. "Kuldip Salil specialises in translating Urdu poetry into
English, and has received accolades for this. Khushwant Singh has this
to say of Salil’s rendering into English, ‘I can say without
hesitation, these renderings of Diwan-e-Ghalib by Kuldip Salil
read better than I have read by any scholars of Urdu, be they Indian,
Pakistani or firangi,’". His English translation of Urdu
poetry are Diwan-e-Ghalib-A Selection, a Treasury of Urdu Poetry,
Best of Faiz, and Best of Faraz.
Kuldip Salil retired as a Reader in English from Hans Raj College, Delhi University. He was born on December 30, 1938, in Sialkot (Pakistan). He pursued a postgraduation degree in English and economics at Delhi University and has published four collections of poetry: Bees Sal Ka Safar (1979), Havas Ke Shehar Main (1987), Joh Keh Na Sake (2000) and Awaz Ka Rishta (2004) — the last three being ghazal collections. He has also published Angrezi Ke Shreshth Kavi Aur Unki Shreshth Kavitayen, an anthology of best-known English poems in Hindi verse translation. He was honoured with the Delhi Hindi Academy Award for poetry in 1987. Evolution of kissing
Kisses are private and
personal/ Born of emotion and passion./ Kissing as a romantic sense of
expression/ Initiated in India during the epic days of yore./ It
evolved from close sniffing which people indulged in/ Centuries ago as
a way of/ Probe-learning about each other./ They casually slipped at
some stage/ Landed up on the alluring lips/ And fancied it a lot
better./ For most of early human history/ Sense of smell was more
momentous/ To ascertain a person's disposition/ His well-being, his
social status.
What’s there to do with
money/ Spend it when you have it/ Or be bitter about it/ When you
haven't got it./ It’s a very limited commodity/ In which people
invest/ Their most extraordinary emotions./ It lets you enjoy life
thoroughly/ And not worry about tomorrow/ It siphons off some
bitterness — The only happiness you can touch. Prof RP Chaddah,
Chandigarh
A Bihari was working in Mumbai
and did not meet his wife for four years. His wife was in Patna. At
the end of four years, he distributed sweets among his colleagues in
office stating that his wife had delivered a son. His colleagues were
shocked and asked how this "happy event" happened when he
had not seen his wife for four years. The man says it is common in
Bihar that neighbours take care of the wife when men are away. The
colleagues ask him: "What name will you give to the son?"
The man explains: "If it is the second neighbour who has taken
care, then the name would be Dwivedi; if it is the third neighbour, it
would be Trivedi; if it is the fourth neighbour, it would be
Chaturvedi; and if it is the fifth, it would be Pandey." After
listening to this, questions follow: "What if it is a mixture of
neighbours?" "Then the boy would be named Mishra".
"And what if the wife is too shy to tell the name of the
neighbour?" "Then it would be Sharma." "But what
if she refuses to divulge the name of the neighbour?" "Then
the name of the child would be Gupta". "If she does not
remember the name?" "It will be Yaad-Av," he
says. "But who knows whether the child resulted from a
rape?" "Then it will be named Doshi." "If the
child happened because of the wife’s burning desire?"
"Then he will be named Joshi." "And if the whole
country had made efforts for the happy arrival?" "Deshpandey,"
he says. Vipin Buckshey, New Delhi
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This year with the expansion of the masterclasses, increasing interactions, and improved celebrity presence, the film festival might move a notch closer to other international festivals!
A serious perk of being on the steering committee for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is that the festival itself (as well as some of the meetings) takes place in the salubrious environment of Goa. That, alone, makes it more than worthwhile! Yet, every year around this time the atmosphere around the festival is loaded with high expectation, perhaps because it had been originally shifted to Goa so that it could become comparable to the Cannes Festival. Now, just a month before the festival begins, it is time to measure it against that yardstick. Though it will still be a while before it reaches the level of Cannes, the piquant charm of the location makes it very conducive for creating a world-class event. If one wishes that it attract larger crowds and more cinematic talent this year, perhaps the hopes would not be entirely belied. However, apart from these two controversial crowd pullers, the main festival theme will also be focused on India — celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. Get ready, then, to view some of the best feature films ever made, from all over the country, including the few surviving reels of “Raja Harishchandra”. The festival will also have a wide variety of films displayed in special sections. One such will juxtapose the debut films of half a dozen Dadasaheb Phalke awardees, and enable us to compare them with the recent efforts of debutante contemporary filmmakers. Apart from the Indian films (including the Panorama section, which features the best of the latest in Indian cinema), the foreign section is equally substantial — and there will be a special package of excellent Turkish films, as well as another segment featuring award-winning international films. In all, over 200 films will be screened in the 10 days. We will face the obvious dilemma that most festival fans face: what films does one actually see? I can foretell there will be much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair! I know from past experience that no matter how beautifully one tries to select the films one wants to see, there are inevitably a few clashes that leave one devastated! However, this year there might be much more to enjoy, apart from the time spent inside the auditoria. The opening and closing ceremonies will be in a specially designed temporary auditorium, said to be the brainchild of the newly elected Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar. This will indeed be a welcome change from previous years as this new space will seat over 2,000 people comfortably and is said to be far better than the older spaces. Indeed, one of the biggest constraints regarding IFFI in Goa has been that barring the first year when it was transferred to Goa from Delhi, and when the first few cinema halls were built near the old Goa Medical College (coincidentally during Manohar Parrikar’s time), no new, much needed, infrastructure has been added. Thus even this time the festival has to manage with the existing space. The constraint, however, has also led to some genuinely innovative solutions, such as the planned temporary auditoria, as well as the proposed open-air screenings all over the state. However, given the CM’s personal interest in the venture, there is every likelihood that more cinema halls will now crop up, so that at least by next year one would feel a little less defensive about comparisons with Cannes. Truly speaking, festivals can never be completely satisfying, as they always leave one hungry for more. So perhaps this year with the expansion of the masterclasses, increasing interaction between older and aspiring filmmakers, improved celebrity presence, including the inauguration by Akshaye Kumar, it might move a notch closer to other international festivals! And it will be given a major boost through the art direction by Nitin Desai, whose contribution to set design in Indian cinema is legendary. This time he is doing the overall ‘look’ of the festival, and we can only wait now with bated breath!
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With the towering Hindu Kush Mountains as the backdrop and the idyllic Swat river meandering through verdant Himalayan valleys, the Swat region in Pakistan was once regarded as the ‘Switzerland of the East’. With an 18-hole golf course and sprawling ski resorts, it was among the world’s top holiday destinations prior to 1980. Since then though, the region has become a hotbed of Pakistan militancy, spawning some of the most radical and brutal Islamic groups that saw much blood flow down the Swat river.
Certainly, if the plans revealed this week by the festival team headed by the director, Shankar Mohan, are anything to go by, we should be able to look forward to 10 days of exciting cinema, starting from the 20th of November. And both the films that start and end the festival have an Indian connection. “Life of Pi” will be the opening film and though Ang Lee might not be able to attend, the expected presence of Tabu and Irrfan Khan, who act in the film, is bound to create a memorable red carpet event. And the closing film, directed by an old friend, the much talented Mira Nair, is her latest offering “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”. Coincidentally, both films are based on books appreciated for their literary merit, and so they will be viewed extremely carefully. Adapting from literature might be a challenging task; some people obviously find it easy. This is probably Mira’s third literary adaptation, after “Vanity Fair” and “The Namesake”. And, knowing her penchant for originality, it is certain she will pull out some fresh surprises.