Mirza Ghalib
Mirza Ghalib was much ahead of his times. He was a man of letters and one of the greatest poets of Urdu and Persian whose writing style has inspired generations of poets. Altaf Hussain Hali was his famous disciple who wrote 'Yadgar-e-Ghalib’, the first memoir of Ghalib.
His distinctive command on poetry and his verses that encompasses the gamut of human expressions, from subversive rebellion to mosaic of literary embellishment, to exquisite ballads that portray inner torment, hope, delusion, despair and turmoil, are inimitable in their brevity, poetic beauty and the profound philosophical insight in them.
Ghalib’s verses delve on the myriad themes of life, longing, angst, romance, the pain of separation, the joy of reunion and existential dilemmas.
Born to a nobleman of Turkish ancestry in Agra, he spent most of his life in Delhi, a city whose vibrant spirit he dearly loved and which poignantly became unrecognizable to him after the doomed uprising of 1857.
Post the failed rebellion that ended the Mughal rule, the culture of poetic gatherings, aristocratic refinement and cultural finesse was upended, bringing with it the torrential waves of calculative mercantilism overnight.
Ghalib was fiercely against societal hypocrisy and religious dogmas and obduracy of his age.
A freethinker and a man gifted with an assertively sharp mind, he had a trenchant wit and was known for his bon mots and quick repartee.
As a poet in the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar, he had a rivalry with Zauq, who was the chief poet in the Mughal royal court.
The temperament and disposition of the flamboyant, rakish and maverick Ghalib and the humble Zauq stood in stark contrast. Both strongly disliked each other.
Zauq, unlike Ghalib, had no aristocratic lineage and was the son of a common infantry soldier.
Yet at the funeral of Zauq the most florid and elaborate eulogy to him was penned by none other than Ghalib.
'Bana Hai Shah Ka Masahib Firre Hai Itrata' (Being an associate of the Shah, you are arrogant) is said to have been quipped by Ghalib when he was sitting along with a few of his friends and the palanquin of Zauq passed by.
Zauq heard it and complained about the insolence of Ghalib to the Mughal emperor, hoping that Ghalib will be rebuked.
But, Ghalib with his legendary wit, turned the tables and won applause in the court when he said what Zauq heard was only a first stanza of his latest sher.
Zauq was naturally livid, knowing that Ghalib is lying. The emperor then asked him to recite the second stanza as well, and impromptu Ghalib uttered 'Warna Is Shehr me Ghalib Teri Aabro Kya Hai' (Else what is your stature in this city, Ghalib)
There is another famous anecdote about his devil-may-care attitude and irrepressible sense of pride.
Heavily under financial debt, he was offered professorship of Persian at a college in Delhi by the principal who was his admirer. Ghalib went to the college on the first day but returned from the gate. On being inquired, why he did so, he said because no red carpets were rolled in his honour nor was there anyone to welcome him at the gate.
Ghalib knew how to enjoy every moment of life — despite the inconsolable grief that his brother was mentally unsound and none of his children could survive beyond infancy — and mangoes and his tipple of Old Tom whisky, which he bought in bulk from Meerut cantonment, were among the few simple pleasures that he delightfully savoured.