There is more to Akhlaq Mohammad Shahryar than the beautiful lyrics of Muzaffar Ali’s 1981 classic “Umrao Jaan”. The poet, whose fourth death anniversary was on 13 February, can be seen through three different circles of fans, readers, and friends. All three can claim to know their Shahryar. The larger than life Shahryar of “Umrao Jaan” belongs to the outer circle of fans and music lovers who follow their songs on radio and television. Then there is the Shahryar known to Urdu readers and poetry lovers who passionately follow mushairas and other poetic gatherings. But there is also the intimate world of Shahryar’s close friends and family members. Fellow poets like Mahtab Haider Naqvi and critics like Prem Kumar belong to this close circle. It is to Prem Kumar’s credit that he brought to the surface the inner world of the poet in his book titled “Baton-Mulaqato mei Shahryar”. Many little-known facts about Shahryar help his fans know their idol better. Thus we learn that Shahryar was a good hockey player and would imbibe the sporting spirit from the game of hockey which would help him confront his personal setbacks sportingly.
Shahryar was not simply a poet but was also a professor of Urdu literature, a teacher having interacted with students of different kinds, and a serious reader of others’ work. Interestingly he mostly taught fiction and not poetry at the university. His opinions on literature reveal him as an astute literary critic. Thus the perennial question of the relationship between life and literature is expressed by Shahryar in the form of an epigram: “Literature and life are two parallel lines which remain together but are not likely to meet.” Shahryar here breaks away from the commonsense view of literature which in the Western tradition has given rise to expressive realism. It believes that literature reflects reality and that the mimetic and the expressive are inseparable. In our set-up it is commonly believed that literature does not lie, that it expresses truth and is the mirror of society.
Shahryar’s opinion about the form and content dichotomy is also expressed equally perceptively. Probably the poet in him refuses to separate form and content but the professor in him knows that for the sake of convenience we sometimes do separate the two. However, if he is forced to make a choice between the two, he would prefer content. Considering his avowed Marxist stance it hardly comes as a surprise; in Marxist accounts of literature a mere indulgence in form becomes a kind of falsehood. There is the view that formalism in criticism is a form of escape to avoid difficult questions of poverty, oppression, labour and injustice. Always one to sympathize with common people, Shahryar’s preference for content should be seen as his sincerity to not skirt and camouflage difficult questions.
Without actually using the term, Shahryar showed his impatience with postmodernism. He was of the view that the present age which is defined by consumerist ethos, a total confusion of values, and a constant state of maddening changes is not conducive for great poetry. He rather felt that ‘great poetry is born in an age when there is consensus on some values. And sometimes it is not the poetry as such but rather a particular time that thrusts greatness on poetry’. Shahryar believed that if it survived its times and is still considered great, it is great poetry.
Spelling out the difference between poetry and fiction Shahryar believed that even second-hand experience can create poetry but for fiction the lived experience of the novelist is a must. This opinion appears almost infallible as a good number of novels owe their existence to the writer’s lived experience.
Shahryar was an avid reader of fellow Urdu poets. A great admirer of Faiz, Shahryar put Faiz at par with Ghalib for the element of surprise in his poetry. He believed that a reader discovers new meanings each time he returns to Faiz, something that is not the case with Iqbal whose poetry impresses one and all but does not spring surprises. Shahryar considered Faiz above the politics of nationalism and was happy to note that he is no less respected in India than in Pakistan.
Shahryar is an integral part of the literary-cultural history of Aligarh. This literary-cultural history has had its share of politics, intrigues, bitter differences of opinions and controversies. It is an almost closed world in which everyone in the literary world knows every other person or where a close watch is kept on who has written what and about whom. This world also has a locus in the form of Aligarh Muslim University. A lot of criticism on Urdu literature suffers from the excess of anecdote over analysis.
Thus we learnt from Shahryar that in his anger against modernism, famous Urdu poet Moin Ahsan Jazbi even refused to see, let alone read, magazines. Jazbi considered poetry an act of inspiration rather than an act of craftsmanship and in his opinion reading and learning to write poetry was an act not worthy of a true poet. In fact, Jazbi had scant regard for N.M. Raashid, Akhtarul Iman, Miraji and Ali Sardar Jafri who constitute an intellectual tradition in Urdu poetry. On the other hand Shahryar reserved his highest praise for Ale Ahmad Suroor, a prominent Urdu critic. Shahryar also spoke candidly about Khalil Ur Rahman Azmi, a noted Urdu poet and critic and a prominent name in the Progressive Writers’ Movement. Shahryar acknowledged that Azmi wrote and published many ghazals for him to give others the impression that the budding poet seen with him had some poetic talent.
In thus expressing his opinions on fellow poets and critics Shahryar helped create Aligarh’s own Bloomsbury. Amin Ashraf, who taught English but distinguished himself as an Urdu poet, was described as “matchless” and as somebody who was “very well known outside Aligarh”. Wahid Akhtar, a professor of philosophy and a well-known Urdu poet, was “self-made and academically very bright” in his opinion. Shahryar also talked about his healthy rivalry with Rahi Masoom Raza who had been with him since his school days. Rahi worked as a lecturer in the Department of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University for a few years before leaving for what would turn out to be an illustrious career in film industry. Early in his career Rahi Masoom Raza wrote an article on Shahryar’s poetry, predicting a bright poetic career for him.
Shahryar certainly lived up that that praise.
(Mohammad Asim Siddiqui teaches English at Aligarh Muslim University.)
