Ghalib's verses mark heritage fest

NEW DELHI: It is heritage in the form of music, poetry and a way of life. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture chose the poetry of Mirza Ghalib to celebrate a part of Delhi’s ‘intangible’ heritage on World Heritage Day on Monday. A film, an exhibition, a play and a ghazal recital were part of the celebrations at India International Centre (IIC).
Bringing back the culture that was associated with the monuments, is part of the restoration process, argues Ratish Nanda of Aga Khan Trust, who is heading the Humayun’s Tomb-Sunder Nursery-Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Urban Renewal Project.“Ghalib is as much world heritage as Humayun’s tomb,” he says. A group of youths from Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti who, as ‘heritage volunteers’, conduct heritage walks in the area put up a play. Amir Ahmed, Mohammad Umair, Farhan, Ikramuddin, Nabeel Khan and Musheer Ahmed – all in their early twenties – put a play together on the life and works of Ghalib. Ikram did most of the research-- reading, speaking to other poets and consulting a retired professor of Persian. He also played, despite a prominent stubble, Umrao Begum, Ghalib’s wife while Amir Ahmed played Ghalib. They also sang a song by a UP-based shayar on the Urdu language.
The group of volunteers took Urdu classes a few months ago and is currently taking lessons in story-telling. “We didn’t know Urdu and could speak only Hindi and English,” says Ahmed. Visitors to Nizamuddin Basti’s monuments liked what they heard, says Deeti Ray, one of the organizers, and the plan for a full-length play was conceived.
Other poets of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti were featured in an exhibition of artwork that illustrated the texts of poetry. Original illustrations of the works of Amir Khusrao (1253---1325) and Amir Hasan Sijzi (1254---1337) --- both disciples of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya --have been brought from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA. The illustrations date back to the 16th century in case of Khusrau and 17th century for Hasan. The last of the greats to be featured is Mirza Ghalib (1797—1869). Pakistani artist Syed Sadequain Naqvi illustrated Ghalib in 1977; the exhibition also traces the evolution in illustration art.
The celebrations were kicked off with the screening of Sohrab Modi’s National Award winning Mirza Ghalib (1954) with Bharat Bhushan as Ghalib and Suraiya as his lover. The classic film (the story was Saadat Hasan Manto’s) comes with a heavy-duty disclaimer emphasizing its ‘historical-fiction’ status. A ghazal recital by Begum Muneer Khatoon was the final touch to the event.