Abdul Ahad
"Azad"
The poet of
tomorrow
by Prof. K. N. Dhar
PHYSICAL exuberance of Kashmir is as
inebriating as its mental excellence. Herein, we
find a happy compromise between the prowess of body
and ingenuity of mind; To speak squarely in Kashmir,
we witness a living example of superb soul enshrined
in a superb body. Nature has been luxuriant here in
weaving a dexterous tapestry of rainbow-colored
flowers stretching over miles after miles. The
jingle of babbling brooks endows it with undying
seraphic music. Taking a cue from this physical eminence, Man here has not lagged behind in
providing a meaning to his land of buxom youth.
Man, here has always tried
to replenish this physical eminence with his
inquisitive mind ever-ready to bridge the gap
between his own self and the opulence around. Hence,
here in Kashmir, we perceive a veritable equation
between Man and his environ.
Therefore, to derive
inspiration from amiable surroundings as also to
groom it purposefully with the richness of mind over
here, Man has provided a silvery tongue to this
arresting panorama of enticing youthfulness; The
result has been exhilarating poetry vibrating with
the heartbeats of Nature and Man alike. So, it does
not sound as an exaggeration when Bilhana-the
celebrated lyricist of Kashmir Christens his
homeland, Kashmir, as the 'land of Divine Speech,'
from whose womb saffron and poetic prowess have
sprung up as real-brothers." Right from the
day, when Man planted his feet on this land, his
mental exercise has never cooled its heels. It has
been a continuous drill; Man, as such, could not
afford to be anything but a poet in such an
inspiring and soothing climate. Tools for scaling
such virgin heights were already there; it was now
left to Man to use these for his edification. The
denizen of this fairyland took this challenge in
fight earnest and a galaxy of philosophers,
chroniclers and poets have shone an its firmament.
In modern times 'Azad' has very laudably and all the
more, very loudly beckoned to man to derive
inspiration from the evergreen nature around him,
and consequently tame his animality to reach up to
such heavenly heights. He, essentially, is a poet of
human values bemoaning the shortcomings and
inhibitions under which Man is constrained to count
his days; but at the same time, inspiring him to know
his own self as well its his compatriot, which only
can usher in an era of mental peace and worldly
affluence for him. He has not woven songs of sorrow,
but has always wafted an aroma of optimistic rosy
future through his pulsating imagination. He has
consequently opted for finding an asylum in the
future, disdaining the unpalatable present. He may,
therefore be called a poet of morrow.
It might well be contended
that this kind of ostrich-like behaviour on the part
of the poet may sound as self-defeat and hence is a
left-handed compliment. Herein, it can be said very
conveniently that 'Azad' did not at all shut his
eyes towards the present red in tooth and claw; he
did not also own self-deceit--a salient trait of
Romantic poets. He was very sure of the ground under
his feet, but at the same time, he presaged a
meaningful future for the Man, though himself living
in the present. He was essentially a poet of Man
unscreening his wants and aspirations, unveiling the
satan underneath his fair complexion, portraying
most pathetically the man's dilemma being ground
under the weight of exploitation and oppression and
to crown all his faulty attitude of dividing man and
man on the basis of religious beliefs. These all
stigmatic characteristics of a mentally sick man were
obviously unbecoming of him- the crown of creation.
Therefore 'Azad' an ever awake artist could not all
the time afford to deride him, cultivating in him a
sense of irreparable frustration, and blunting his
initiative. As his ardent votary, he tried to
instill fresh hope in him for bettering his present
and on its contours build a happy future. He,
therefore, strove hard to keep the spirit of Man
alive and kicking. The distance between the actual
and ideal was to be smoothened by the Man himself.
In utter frustration and inner turmoil, be would
never rise to the occasion, hence the need to
sustain his hopes holding out economically secure,
fraternally amiable, socially agreeable and
politically undominating future to him, This, in
short, is what 'Azad' strove all his life to
accomplish. In all fairness to him, it cannot be
dubbed as self-defeat or self-deceit, it is
self-education and self-discipline. 'Azad' would
never like Man to bite the dust, but rise above it,
so that a future comfortable in every respect would
be guaranteed for him, This kind of attitude is the
forte of all poet-philosophers for them shadow has
never been a substitute for substance.
'Azad' is inherently
possessed of uncommon consciousness of head and
heart. He has never elected to go into the shell
like other Kashmiri Romanticists. Instead, he has
tried to analyse Man in every sense of the word,
bereft of any curves or blind alleys. His approach
is direct, therefore sparing us the fatigue of
fruitless kite-flying in respect of the essence
contained in his poetry. We are saved the
embarrassment of solving puzzles and conundrums,
rack our brains in interpreting his message and
derive inferences intervowen in his poetry throbbing
with life. He most canadidly asserts that his
propitiation of the Muse is only a medium to focus
attention on Man. In this field, he wears his
profession on his sleeves:-
<verses>
"O! Adorer of
religious values, you have opted for puritanical religiosity; And I have elected for my own faith. You
resign yourself completely to the steadfast faith in
God, and my aim is to propitiate Man."
In other words, the poet
begins with the real and does not get lost in the
maze of ideal. Man was made after the image of God;
he is a macrocosmic representation of his
microcosmic spirit. Therefore, to propitiate Man is
actually to adore God. Azad believes in the
affirmation of life and not in its negation. For him
Man is not a solid bundle of flesh and blood only,
but a manifestation of undaunted vigour and
unvanquished spirit. He may have forgotten, or even
obliged to forget such sterling qualities for the
time-being, for which he is not only to blame;
Azad's poetic fervour has tried to re-kindle that
dead spirit in him. It is awakening Man to his
stature:-
<verses>
"This world is a thorn
of unfulfilled ambitions in my garden; And the
world- beyond is a blot of scare and fear on my
skirt. Therefore, I owe it to Man to usher in a new-
spring and bring back blossoming health to this
garden of his; So that Man like the flowers will
attain full bloom therein."
It can be conceded
forthwith that 'Azad' has no pretensions for being a
spiritual preacher. He is mainly concerned with the
material well being of Man. He does not make tall
claims for reforming the spiritual attitude of Man.
He does not go beyond the material contentment of
Man, He makes him conscious of his rights and
obligations, but does not dabble in awakening him to
spiritual consciousness alone. He has concern for
him on the material plane only. A hungry man is
always an angry individual.
When this anger against the
society has made him unbalanced, he can in no way
harness his faculties to reach up to the subliminal
heights. On the other hand, if he gets two square
meals without any fuss or friction, he can usefully
yoke his mind to achieve self, consciousness and
consequent self-realization; Stuck up in the mire of
material insecurity, his yearning for spiritual
edification will be an exercise in futility.
Self-consciousness presupposes mental peace and
equilibrium. If it is denied to Man, how can we
expect him to engage himself in self- search. He has
his frailties, be is not a super-soul adept in
self-denial. He would like to have his minimum wants
satisfied, hence abjuring world is foreign to his
genius in these circumstances. He is weighed down so
much by the oddities of life, that he is always
nursing a cramp in his back. With this physical and
mental ailment, his soul does receive bruises, hence
is incapable of unfolding its wings, without mincing
words, 'Azad' has elaborated his point of view in
this behalf, in these words:-
<verses>
"O God, I do not yearn
after riches and gold, but would implore you to show
me such a world in which Divine obedience is to
remember God within always, but not to pray to Him every time
for the fulfillment of each and every
want."
He would like Man to be
self- reliant, architect of his own fate. He has to
put in efforts incessantly for making his life
self-dependent and not to look to God for making him
materially secure always. Relying on the Grace of
God will naturally breed indolence in him and mar
his initiative, which 'Azad' would never allow.
God's blessings are reserved for those who help
themselves. For him the religion of Man is straight-
forwardness wedded to truthfulness. Hypocrisy
degrades Man:-
<verses>
"Even though holding
rosary in his fingers (A Mussalmaan), or donning the
sacred- thread around his neck (A Hindu), such a
human- being is diffident to speak the truth, can
well be called a 'Peer' among his flock, or a
Brahmin among his tribe." According to 'Azad'
be does not deserve the title of Man. He deludes
people by his outer appearance and exploits their
credulity. He is an imposter and and a pretender. He
lacks courage to call the spade a spade. It would be
better to quote the exact phrase used by 'Azad' in
this respect:-
<verses>
"Nature bad brought
you to life simply for disseminating love; instead of
it, O! Man, you converted your religion and faith
into a lucrative trade, a veritable device for
minting money."
The poet in 'Azad' is an
indefatigable crusader against inequality between
man and man in terms of his religious beliefs,
creed, social injustice and political exploitation;
but at the same time, he does not subscribe to the
theory of total annihilation as propounded by
Marxists. He advocates the view of total upliftment
called 'Sarvodaya' in Gandhian parlance. He does not
borrow foreign tools to make social order viable,
but prefers to remedy the ills rampant in Man and
his society by home-spun prescriptions. He is enamored
more of Gandhi than of Lenin or Marx:-
<verses>
"Even the ferocious
torrents can be arrested and tamed, if the man
plunges himself, with out any fear, into the
turmoils and tribulations of life and does not sit
on the fence. This very trait of self- suffering is
discernible in Gandhi--the Head of our Family, and
is completely absent in alien people and their ideology."
'Azad' is alive to the fact
that independence of India and that of Kashmir is in
the offing. It is a writing on the wall. At that
hour of political emancipation, our leaders shall
have to undergo an acid test. If they choose the
line adopted by our erstwhile rulers, the English,
then this freedom will have no meaning. It will mean
only change of masters. Indigenous political power
cannot be a synonym for corruption, but should in
its stead goad man on to sublimity. Political
leaders should personify detachment, never feel
intoxicated by the power they are supposed to wield-
a mandate and a trust from the people. It has often
been seen that the man loses his head at this time
of his political elevation and paradoxically enough
uses the same power given to him by the people,
ruthlessly against them. Therefore, he cautions the
future rulers of our land in these words:-
<verses>
"The foreigners have
now bolted away after doing a brisk business here.
It is the turn of our own kin now, but they also
appear to me as the shrewd tradesmen presiding over
their business-houses. O! Sylvan pine tree, who does
nurse you?" Their tricks of trade to exploit
innocent people are enumerated as under:-
<verses>
"These enemies of
healthy social order screen away the truth the
people by invoking religion, authority, God and His
Godliness and even destiny.
Even though 'Azad' was not
destined to witness the era of independence in its
fullness, but how prophetically he has pin-pointed
the behaviour of our rulers to be. He could smell
future in advance. In this predicament, the people
have no choice but to opt for slavery once again.
The self-centred leadership has monopolized all the
fruits of freedom, these have not been allowed to
trickle down to the masses at large. Being
disillusioned, the man would like to revert once
more to foreign domination. The so-called love and
concern by which these leaders swear is nothing
short of opium mesmerizing the thinking and vision
of the people, so that the unbridled rule of these
Political jugglers is perpetuated undisturbed:-
<verses>
"That poor soul can
never think of detached behaviour of fearless
self-denial; He, who is devoid of his mental as well
as physical balance, and to crown all, has planted
his feet on the pedestal of authority endangering
his equilibrium all the more, that so called concern
for the weal of man as professed by such leaders
actually dopes the dauntless spirit of man, denying
him to keep his bead high, and forces him to bite
the dust."
'Azad's' conviction in
Hindu-Muslim amity and consequent Solidarity is
marrow-deep. He abhors division of man into
parochial nomenclature. Human beings have one and
only one religion that is living up to human values.
The fruits of hard-won freedom should not be
frittered away on Hindu-Muslim squabbles. Humanity
need not be sacrificed at the altar of communal frenzy:-
<verses>
"Those who call Hindus
and Muslims as brothers, hand and glove with each
other, are strictly guided by the tenets of the
vedas and the Quran; they have no other Holy Book
for preaching this enlightenment. If God had to
segregate nations and creeds from each other, then
He would have provided them with separate earth and
Sky."
The children of God share
the bounties of the earth together; They are uniform
in body and soul. Why should their thinking get
muddled?
<verses>
"I, as a frail man,
took into account only the negative aspect of life-
the turmoil of the waves, friction and even man-
handling, The postive phase of life is contained in
the maxim unity amongst Diversity; But, I only paid
beed to the brewing of quarrels and the subsequent
bad-taste these leave in the mouth. Had there not
been oneness of Man how could such ignorant people
pull on with those gifted with reason? For me, life
is a continuous journey to reach up to that
ideal."
After going through the
entire poetic prowess of 'Azad' this inference is
irresistible that his attainments as a celebrated
Kashmiri poet were not a matter of days; It took him
years after years to find his feet and thus project
his message through rhyme and rhythm. Thus, we can
glean three patent stages in his poetry from start
to the end, in which his heart- beats have built
inch by inch the premise on which his innate
imagination indulged in playful sport. The first
stage may well he termed as the period of
initiation; Herein the poet has tried to harness his
talents in translating his emotions, feelings and
experience. This is the first attempt, hence cannot
be free from shortcomings. His poetic fervour at
this time was greatly influenced by the current
Persian trends in vogue in Kashmir. It is more or
less a Kashmiri rendering of Persian songs replete
with the symbolism of 'Gul' and 'Bulbul'! Not only
the content of his poetry is inspired by persian 'Gazal'
but even the form, the phrase, idiom and even
vocabulary has been borrowed from it. In this
behalf, it may be said that 'Azad' could not gather
moral strength to rise above the traditional trends
current in Kashmiri poetry till then. He could not
also afford to plough a lone furrow and extricate
his poetry from the traditional stamp of Persian
Muse. Therefore, his poetry at this stage could not
be expected to touch the highest water-mark of
independent thinking:-
<verses>
"I became fully
intoxicated after gulping down the wine of love,
even bordering on lunacy; This, I drank at the
tavern of Love, one goblet after another. He filled
my heart with inebriating warmth of love to the
brim, so that not a niche was available there to
lend car to worldly advice. I experienced a very
thin line between my life and death, presumably
having lost my head by excessive indulgence."
This kind of qensual and
sensuous poetry is not actually in the grain of 'Azad',
but he feels compelled to toe the line his seniors
had earmarked for themselves. Even the Persian
vocabulary has been freely used by him, which to
speak the least, has shorn the wings of his inherent
imagination. At times, such Poetry sound as
versified prose wafting the flavour of Persian
propensities:-
<verses>
"The heart, the life,
the love and the reason-The four bloodsuckers, in
their own way, torment the helpless and abject
feverish sentiment of irrestible call of
flesh."
In this stanza only 'chhi'
and 'Nali' are pure Kashmiri words, the rest being
Persian; such artificial poetic constructions,
initial attempts of a novice, can be profusely
multiplied.
'Azad' has very sincerely
confessed that at the initial stage of
poetry-writing, 'Mahjoor'; the Doyen of Kashmirs
lyricists, was his mentor. He used to get his poetic
compositions revised and correcied by him. We can
very safely assert also that at this time 'Mahjoor'
was also his model. 'Azad' has at times composed his
own verses on the pattern used by 'Mahjoor'; such
Poems even though not imitations strictly speaking,
are actually the models before him for undergoing,
constant drill to catch up with this 'Master of
Kashrniri Muse'. For example, 'Mahjoor' wrote the
famous poem is "karo bulbulo deedaari gul"
"O Buibul steal a glance at the flowers,"
and 'Azad' like a faithful apprentice composed a
poem with the caption "vuchh bulbulo darbaari
gul" "O, Bulbul witness the Durbar of
flowers." The construction of verses, their
meter, and the content are exactly similar. In the
same way, 'Mahjoor's' famous romantic poem "baagi
nishat ke gulo" "O Flower of Nishat
Garden, come unto me with exquisite fund of
coquetry," has been rendered by him into his
own picture-poetry like this "baagi naseem ke
gulo" "O flower of Naseem Garden, come
unto me with captivating babblings of a child."
However, after such a brief
honey-moon with this kind of poetry, on which
Mahjoor's influence was the loudest, 'Azad' was successful
in carving out an exclusive experimental
ground for his independent thinking, totally
divorced from the tradition and any extraneous
influence. It may well be called the stage of
experimentation,
'Azad' was rebel and a
reformer at the same time. His imagination pregnant
with new values revolutionary as well as altruistic
could not remain tethered to the hackneyed norms of
poetry for long. The force of circumstances, brought
out the real poet in him which was in content and
form home-spun and hand-woven, so to speak. After
undergoing excruciating travails of labour-pain,
when there was a twilight engulfing him disturbing
the exact equation between his head and heart, in
the second stage of his potic fervour, his
imagination got chastened, and his vision was
divested of faulty aberrations. He located his goal
with meticulous ingenuity. He was no longer a
dreamer weaving reveries of sound and sense, but a
vigilant sentinel of human values. He chose to
discover Man, and his environment contaminated with
contradictions. To him love, was not a sentimental
frenzy now but milk of human kindness saturating
meaningfully every phase of life with its attendant
vissicitudes:-
<verses>
"Love robs even high-statured
seers given to penance, and also the well- read
matters of knowledge; It tarnishes the innocent and
flower- bedecked bodies of fair-maidens. At the
threshold of Your Youth, you erred in selecting
opulent people as your companions, perhaps not
knowing that even the kings have been reduced to
abject penury and those who used to give change
hands with receiving alms."
This is actually the hard
core of life and 'Azad' is now fully groomed to
analyse it. For him poetry is a potent vehicle to
unravel this bitter truth of life. It is neither
jugglery of words, nor an expedient to indoctrinate
people:-
<verses>
"Taking bold of a pen
and to write from beginning to the end cannot be
called a pleasing composition. It is nothing but
gold-coating on brass, simply to cheat the innocent
people."
'Azad' is now alive to the
fact that beauty has its limitations; ugliness
cannot be termed squarely as its antonym. These are
actually states of mind, a very thin line dividing
these. In the context of changing values, beauty and
ugliness can become complementary to each other, as
the sun and shadow in actual life. So, the poet has
to proclaim:-
<verses>
"To the wise love is
self-suffering, wrapping their boney skeleton
underneath their garments. People with diverse
intellectual dimensions call these either devices
for minting money, or highway robbery; only a few
can read true 'leadership' into it." True
leadership worships service before self. It has to
set an example for others to follow. 'Azad'
displaying courage of highest order took up the
challenge of the time, its stresses and strains, its
demands and obligations most seriously-:-
<verses>
"Having fully felt the
pulse of this age, 'Azad' is now composing these
songs in which the 'Flower', the Bulbul, the wine,
and their unquenching thirst are totally absent. Can
this kind of poetry commend itself to poets?"
'Azad' changed the entire
fabric of Kashmiri poetry, its woof and warp. He
deviated from the age-long tradition. With eyes wide
awake, he metamorphized the content as well as form
of Kashmiri poetry. He is alive to the fact that
this sweeping change will not earn him laurels for
the present, because it will be lacking in the traditional
attributes. He bemoans the content of
Kashmiri poetry in these words.-
<verses>
"Was it befitting on
your part to have bargained your faith and world for
fleeting sentimentality. You were actually nursing
with love those flowers which had lost their
fragrance. It was not becoming of you." This
attitude of the poet heralds the third epoch of his
poetry. Herein his imagination has become fully
baked, his outlook completely changed and his nerve
surprisingly enough quite strong to defy the
tradition and usher in a new way of life. He has
evolved a method of sweet persuasion punctuated with
direct approach. He beckons to Man:-
<verses>
"O Dullard! you bemoan
your lot, and blame your destiny least knowing that
this heaven or hell is the outcome of your own
actions."
Then what should be the
attitude of a perfect Man according to 'Azad':-
<verses>
"If you are very soft,
lying flat like the earth, the world will trample
you and also heap indignities on you. If you act
like steel, then remember, one day will come, when
you might have tamed lions by chains even, yet this
very trait of yours might also turn the steel in you
into a dagger or a sword."
The attitude of Man should
be middle of the road, neither too soft nor too
hard. In being too soft, there is every apprehension
of losing the image, and in being too hard there is
every chance of using that very steel against the
people which had earlier shielded them from tyranny
and oppression. Therefore, Man has to tread his
ground very carefully, paving a rewarding path
between these two extremes. He has to apply reason,
the guarded treasure of his, and not get blinded by
animality:.
<verses>
"O Man, you were
supposed to be the lighthouse of innate reason, but
you acted like a contagious fire. You have brought
discredit to humanity in the most callous way."
Man was modelled by Nature
to share the common weal and woe of his co-brethren;
but he reppropriated to himself all the good things
of life and thus starved his fellow-beings:-
<verses>
"Nature had uncovered
all her treasures for your free use. You had to
share these equally with others; but you elected to
become their sole guardian-cobra."
His clarion call to awaken
Man to his duties is quite understandable in the
background of communal disharmony, exploitation,
tyranny of foreign rule, appalling inequality and
monstrous behaviour of Man having lost his moorings.
His nature-poetry should also be construed in that
very perspective. He most consciously injects love
of motherland and humanity into the dead veins of
Man, bringing him back to robust health; Love for
land and love for man are the two most predominant
ingredients of Azad's poetry:-
<verses>
"The sweet warbling
Bulbuls and cukoos girdle round my motherland
dissemmating love and harmony. The flowers of this
fairyland hold cups in their hands; How auspicious
and thought provoking is my land of birth!
In the very second-breath,
he weaves this arresting panorama of bountiful
Nature:-
<verses>
"The 'Dal lake' with
its full-grown crop of lotuses is steady and silent,
as if to preserve its ego of immensity,
Nevertheless, the violent water-falls rush down from
the hill-tops in frenzied ecstasy; How auspicious
and thought-provoking my land of birth is?
His love for Man with
unparalleled catholicity can be conveniently
inferred from this verse:-
<verses>
"You proclaimed
yourself to be tbe pillar of religious obligations
in terms of Hindus and Muslims; Actually you were
least concerned with it. Seeing your actions, the
entire humanity is in consternation."
The religious labels
dividing Man from Man have no relevance to the
demands the universal values of brotherhood are
making at present. This kind of inconvenient luxury
is out of date now. We had to pay through our nose
by this artificial division between the sons of the
same soil in the days of yore. This lapse needs to
be rectified now:-
<verses>
"It is verily the man
who constructed the temples and who also laid the foundation of
'Kaba'. Therefore, O you believer in
tbe Quran, what fault do you find with the Gita."
Change is the sauce of
life, monotony its poison. 'Azad' has explained this
universal truth like this:-
<verses>
"What is life? It is a
folic depicting change. Oneness of God was the
harbinger of oneness of His creation; The unity of
Man is the consummation of that oneness. The real
purport of life is continuos turmoil, and the
essence of turmoil is change."
This is the message of 'Azad';
continuous struggle against odds. Actually life had
never been a bed of roses for him. He could only get
a petty pittance of Rs. thirteen per month as a
teacher. Despite this economic discomfiture, be
never grumbled. He could hardly keep the wolf out of
the door, yet he was more keen to drive away the
wolves of exploitation, social inequality and
political aggrandisement. His poetry is not
individualistic. It is the dirge of the underdog
scattered over length and breadth of this globe. He
does not weave his own sighs into heart-rending
poetry, but laments the woes of Man-a fallen angel.
He would like to rehabilitate him, restore his
pristine glory. Self is absent throughout his
poetry. He sings for whole humanity. His entire
poetry is a saga of human consciousness; He does not
pretend to be a preacher, a mystic, or a
romanticist. He is the conscience-keeper of man.
Even though, the present,
he was destined to face, was thoroughly unpalatable,
yet he disdained it only to build a rosy future out
of it debris. Ignoring his own to-day-inhospitable
and discomforting, he, like a valiant crusader only
looked towards the bright to-morrow, when Man would
recognize his own self and get rid of all the ills
which irk him at present:-
<verses>
"The revolution in the
thinking of Man will bring back to life the doped
Bulbuls, the flowers- gardens will be in fall bloom.
Those who are bereft of head and heart will be
looked after by this sweeping change."
But 'Azad' died a martyr to
his own idealogy; burning love or humanity consumed
his blood every day in and out, and at a
comparatively younger age of forty five he had to
drop down his mantle. His 'to-day' was physically
over; he had discarded it mentally since long, so it
made no worthwhile difference to him; Yet his
'morrow' dawned with all the brilliance he had
endeavoured all his life to bestow on it. The poet
in 'Azad' can never die because his imagination is
wedded to the immortal human values; The soothing
touch of his poetic-alchemy will resurrect him in
the morrow-the vocal champion of which he was
throughout.
He is, to speak precisely,
a poet of to- morrow. He only feigned to count his
breath in to-day, actually his heart lay in the day
following. Therefore, it was not without meaning
that 'Mahjoor' his tallest senior, mentor and model
paid him this glowing tribute:-
<verses>
"Oh! 'Azad' has
concealed himself from this world; or the cup of
life has eluded him. 'Mahjoor' would like to unfold
his heart over his death by saying that the
sweet-throated Bulbul has opted for silence."
|