[Reader-list] Ghalib and the damn Muslim problem
mahmood farooqui
mahmood.farooqui at gmail.com
Wed May 7 21:36:43 IST 2008
Thanks Anand, for getting the point...now we need a point to point...or
point by point...
On 07/05/2008, Anand Vivek Taneja <radiofreealtair at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ghalib-e khasta ke baghair kaunse kaam band haiN?
> Roiye zaar zaar kya, kijiye hai hai kyoN?
>
> Sorry I could not resist succumbing to the temptation of an endless chain
> of
> Ghalib quotations. While this one seemed apt in the tongue-firmly-in-cheek
> way most of Ghalib is apt; I think the central problematic raised by
> Mahmood
> remains unanswered - which is to ask what it means that while one may not
> be a believer (in any religious or ritual sense); one is still identified
> (and identifies oneself) as a Muslim (or a Hindu) in a sense of
> political/community identity. The gap (or lack of) between one's
> confessional and empathic senses of selfhood and community; and the
> changing
> nature of this gap raises interesting questions, particularly in these
> fraught times when race, religion and identity are being fixed/contested
> through the biometric logics of surveillance states.
>
> Would the anecdotal story told of Ghalib (in the TV serial, to a British
> officer deciding on his exile from the city post 1857) that he was only
> 'half a Muslim' (because he drank wine but didn't eat pork) be possible
> today?
>
>
> Anand
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 9:34 AM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Can't say which "kaam" but Ghalib would say be different be unusual
> while
> > doing it.
> > "Raghon mein daudte firne ke ham naheen kayal, jab aankh hi se na tapka
> > to fir lahoo kya hai"
> >
> > If it seems beyond your usual physical powers, use will power "Jo haath
> > mein jumbish naheen, aankhon mein to dam hai...
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Raheema Begum
> > To: TaraPrakash ; reader-list at sarai.net
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 8:51 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Ghalib and the damn Muslim problem
> >
> >
> > I agree.Hain duniya bazeecha-e atfaal mere bhi aage.
> > par kya karein us kaam ka jo hai pada mere aage?
> >
> > Raheema.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 6:19 PM, Raheema Begum <
> > theunderscoredhood at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I agree.Hain duniya bazeecha-e atfaal mere bhi aage.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 9:27 PM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > Very appropriate.
> >
> > And he must be repeating constantly from his grave
> >
> > "Hota hai shab-o-roz tamasha mere aage."
> >
> > Only if he had not offended some regressive Islamists with his
> > unorthodox
> > and perhaps unislamic deeds ...
> > "Tujhe ham vali samajhte jo na badakhwar hota."
> >
> > (we would consider you a religious preacher if you were not a
> > drinker)
> > Apologies if the translation is not accurate. It's not my forte
> > anyway.
> > Regards
> > TaraPrakash
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Bain Al Satoor" <bainulsatoor at googlemail.com>
> > To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 5:47 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Ghalib and the damn Muslim problem
> >
> >
> > > Huye mar ke ham jo ruswa, huye kyun na ghark-e-dariya
> > > Na kabhi janaaza uthta, na kahin mazaar hota
> > >
> > > Ghalib.
> > >
> > > On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 9:19 AM, ambarien qadar <
> > ambarien at yahoo.co.uk>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Hi
> > >>
> > >> I'm not very sure if we can read what Hali wrote nearly a
> century
> > back,
> > >> with the same interpretative lenses today.
> > >> To me, Hali's piece on Ghalib (quoted in Mahmood's mail) already
> > reads as
> > >> a ceratin kind of break from the mores of traditional,
> > ritualistic,
> > >> wahabi
> > >> Islamic practices that he so brilliantly represented.
> > >> This rupture is particularly relevant in our times for it
> > reaffirms a
> > >> poetic possibility of dissent.
> > >> Moreover, it is Hali's version of how he 'saw' Ghalib. I'm not
> > sure if we
> > >> can comment on it in essentialist ways. At best, it can provide
> > possible
> > >> insights into the myriad ways the Poet and his times have been
> > written
> > >> and
> > >> understood.
> > >> The choice actually lies with us- to understand Ghalib through
> his
> > grief
> > >> at the plight of the larger muslim community (according to Hali)
> > or
> > >> through
> > >> our knowledge of his stunningly syncretic oeuvre...and think
> about
> > our
> > >> 'pareshani' or ways of countering it..poetic or otherwise.
> > >>
> > >> (No offences meant!)
> > >> Cheers
> > >> Ambarien
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> __________________________________________________________
> > >> Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
> > >> A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
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> >
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> >
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