नारी विमर्श

[Dark Saint Alaick]

That is what it feels like when you "get religion." The worry and
burden of life is gone. Somebody else has the responsibility and you
work with a light heart. It is the responsibility of life that kills
us, the worry, fear, uncertainty, and anxiety. How we envy the man who
works by the day, just does his little bit, and has no care! This
immunity from care may be ours if we link ourselves with God.

Think of Moses' mother! There she was hired to take care of her own
son. Doing the very thing she loved to do all week and getting her pay
envelope every Saturday night. So may we. God hires us to do our work
for Him, and pays us as we go along--the only stipulation being that we
do our best.

"I have shown thee, O man, what is good!" declared Micah long ago.
"What doth now the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love
mercy and walk humbly with thy God!" In "walking humbly, doing justly,
and loving mercy," there is no place for worry and gloom; there is
great possibility of love and much serving, and God in His goodness
breaks up our reward into a thousand little things which attend us
every step of the way, just as the white ray of light by the drop of
water is broken into the dazzling beauty of the rainbow. The burning
bush which Moses saw is not the only bush which flames with God, and
seeks to show to us a sign. Nature spares no pains to make things
beautiful; trees have serrated leaves; birds and flowers have color;
the butterflies' wings are splashed with gold; moss grows over the
fallen tree, and grass covers the scar on the landscape. Nature hides
her wounds in beauty. Nature spares no pains to make things beautiful,
for beauty is nourishing. Beauty is thrift, ugliness is waste,
ugliness is sin which scatters, destroys, integrates. But beauty
heals, nourishes, sustains. There is a reason for sending flowers to
the sick.

Nature has no place for sadness and repining. The last leaf on the
tree dances in the breezes as merrily as when it had all its lovely
companions by its side, and when its hold is loosened on the branch
which bares it, it joins its brothers on the ground without regret.
When the seed falls into the ground and dies, it does it without a
murmur, for it knows that it will rise again in new beauty. Happy
indeed is the traveler on life's highway, who will read the messages
God sends us every day, for they are many and their meaning is clear:
the sudden flood of warm sunshine in your room on a dark and dreary
afternoon; the billowy softness of the smoke plume which rises into the
frosty air, and is touched into exquisite rose and gold by the morning
sun; the frosted leaves which turn to crimson and gold--God's silent
witnesses that sorrow, disappointment and loss may bring out the deeper
beauties of the soul; the flash of a bluebird's wing as he rides gaily
down the wind into the sunlit valley. All these are messages to you
and me that all is well--letters from home, good comrade, letters from
home!

[Dark Saint Alaick]

God knew that some would never look
Inside a book
To know His will,
And so He threw a varied hue
On dale and hill.
He knew that some would read words wrong,
And so He gave the birds their song.
He put the gold in the sunset sky
To show us that a day may die
With greater glory than it's born,
And so may we
Move calmly forward to our West,
Serene and blest!


THE End

*** ***

[Dark Saint Alaick]

...and in the last ... e-Book - 'In Times Like These'.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

Feminism In Modern Urdu Poetesses

By: Ambreen Salahuddin

Edited and Translated from Urdu by : M. Ahmed Awan Alvi


“But if I wish to define myself, I must first of all say; ‘I am a woman’; on this truth must be based all further discussions.”

-Simon De Beauvoir

[Dark Saint Alaick]

URDU POETRY

URDU POETRY can be broadly divided into three eras. The first period was that when Urdu had the Hindu imprint on it. There are several hundred poets belonging to that period, and the prominent names include Quli Qutab Shah (1580-1611), Hassan Shauki, Ali Adil Shah Sani Shahi, and Shahi Bejapuri. In that period, Urdu was called "Rekh'tah" (Dialect of women). These earliest poets followed the style of Hindu poetry where a woman's feelings were expressed in a woman's idiom. I am using the term Hindu instead of Hindi because while Muslims also inhabited the Sub-continent (Hindustan) at that time, the poetry predominantly reflected the Hindu way of life, bearing their religious teachings and culture.

While earliest Urdu poets adopted this poetic style, during the later period, their mode of expression changed with the increasing influence of the Persian/Farsi language on Urdu. This was the second period. The Iranian culture and Persian language (the then official language of Mughal Empire) became so dominant in the Indian sub-continent that Urdu poetry became just an extension of Persian poetry, in content, style and syntax. Mir Taqi Mir (1722-20th Sep. 1810) and Mirza Assad Ullah Ghalib (27 Dec. 1797-15 Feb. 1869) were the most important poets of that period, and other prominent names include Mirza Muhammad Rafi Saoda (1713- 26th June 1780), Jur'at (died 1810), Khwaja Mir Dard (1719-7th Jan. 1785) and Daagh (1831-1905). It could be argued, though, that Ghalib transcended from the second to the third phase of modern Urdu poetry, as one can see the seeds of modern Urdu poetry in his works.

The third phase started when, as a result of arrival of British colonial power, the Western influence was introduced in the Sub-continent. Generally when the term Modern Urdu poetry is used, it means the poetry written after the War of Independence (the 'mutiny') of 1857. After the war of 1857, along with the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, the influence of Mughal culture and customs also significantly faded. The social and ethical norms changed and that led to new political and social problems. In addition to have its political influence, it also strongly affected the writers and poets. Muhammad Hussain Azad (born 1830) and Altaf Hussain Hali (1837-31st Dec. 1914) broke the rigid mold of the traditional and conformist poetry. Urdu poetry shed its old, parochial skin because of these pioneers. One important name in modern Urdu poetry is Allama Muhammad Iqbal (9th Nov.1876-21st April 1938).

There is no doubt that in each era there were many women writers and poetesses. But in the world of literature, prose as well as poetry, we see very few women names, especially during the earlier periods. The reason was that men always were the custodians of the pen and they never liked the idea of seeing prominent women names in the world of literature. Mir compiled an anthology of poets but did not mention even one poetess, although his own daughter was a very good poetess. Similarly, Azad also compiled an anthology "Aab-e-Hayat" (Water of Immortality), but no single poetess is included in that work either. Over time, though, it became more and more difficult to ignore women of pen. Here and there, male critics started to write about women poetesses. Many poetesses before the dawn of the era of modern poetry were aware of the concept of universal human rights. But feminism in poetry came to more prominence in the poetry of modern Urdu poetesses.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

Like any other movement, feminism bears a variety of ideas. There is no single feminist ideology. The divisions commonly accepted among feminist ideologies do not make the views of these feminist poetesses different or contradictory. There are infinite similarities in different feminist assertions. The fundamental and basic ideas and concepts are shared among all of them. The definition that covers all feminist beliefs and attitudes, as given by David B. is as follows:
"Feminism includes any form of opposition to any form of social, personal or economic discrimination which women suffer because of their sex."('The Feminist Challenge': McMillan Press, London, 1989-Page-2)

All Feminists believe in the principle of equal value of all human lives. The term 'Sexism' carries the same meaning for all feminists. The term was used in the earlier days of the movement in the same way as the term Racism is used today. Feminists only differ about the origin of this term. All feminists use this term as a way of explaining the prejudices against women.

There are certain distinct schools in the feminist movement. The divisions described by Judith M. Bandwick in her book "Women in Transition" (The Harvest Press Ltd. Great Britain, 1980-Page 5) as 'Conservative', 'Mainstream' and 'Feminist' may be more or less analogous to those described by other feminists.

The 'conservative' feminists mainly devote themselves to progressive reforms. This is the 'orthodox' sect of feminism originating from of the 'Enlightenment Movement'. For them, there are no real villains. They think that the social education and behavioral learning of both men and women must change. They ask only for the restructuring of existing social and economic system in a more egalitarian way. The 'mainstream' feminists are mainly reformists. Nearly all of them want to change laws and modify existing institutions. For them, man is not woman's enemy but he is an instrument or agent of the system that exploits women. The 'radical' feminists believe in more fundamental and radical changes instead of just piecemeal reforms. They are strongly committed to an entirely female-oriented movement. According to them, men are the major rivals and they oppress women. To them, the whole current culture and traditions support this exploitation.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

'Patriarchy' is the term used by the radical feminists to describe the historical dominance of men over women. The theory of patriarchy labels all women as victims and men as oppressors. They believe that marriage is slavery for women and their most 'radical' demand is the elimination of the traditional role of mother, and thus erase the concept of a 'nuclear family'. Marriage for radicals is what capitalism is for the socialists. Matriarchal theory is another concept within the radical thought that holds that if the power is given to women instead of to men then this will lead to a less violent and less materialistic society. During a discussion about the theory of XYY syndrome being more prevalent among the violent criminals, a feminist expressed the opinion that she is more concerned about XY syndrome that affects half the human population.



MODERN URDU POETESSES



MODERN URDU POETESSES have been strongly influenced by feminism. Their poetry has been, overtly or subconsciously, at least partly inspired by the feminist movement in the West. Urdu poetesses can also be divided into the conservative, mainstream and radical schools. The earliest poetesses were CONSERVATIVE feminists. The reason for that fact was mainly the existing cultural norms of that era. Those cultural norms still exist, but certainly it has become easier for a woman to say ‘no’. The pioneer poetesses had to struggle hard just to be acknowledged as poetesses by their male peers. The conservative tradition exists and continues even today.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

The earliest prominent poetesses were Zahida Khatoon Sherwaania, Zeb Usmania, Haya Lakhnavi and Safia Shamim. The feminist imprint can be perceived in the poetry of Zahida Khatoon Sherwaania (1894-1922), who was generally known by her pen name ‘zay-khay-sheen’ (her initials in Urdu alphabet). Her published work of poetry comprised of two books, namely, ‘Aaeina-e-Haram’ (literally ‘The mirror of harem’ or The inside story) and ‘Firdous-e-Takhayyul’ (Utopia). The religious, social and ethical reformation of women was the most important subject of her poetry. The translation of some passages from “Aaeina-e-Haram” is follows:

I can speak, so why should I not reveal my inner self?
I too have a heart on my side and a body with a soul!

Forever have I withstood all those piercing swords,
I am not just a woman; I am an embodiment of steel.

It’s no intention of mine to bring down the man,
For a woman always must please her husband.

Yet you mustn’t forget that the Prophet Muhammad,
The glorious ray of light was born to a woman.

For how long the looks of hatred and scorn?
For how long women must lament to the heavens.

Next, we see Ada Jaffery (August, 1924- ). One can see the influence of new ideas and trends in her poetry, and yet at the same time her poetry is excellent representation of the old, tradition style of writing. She maintains a balance between expression of self and personal experiences, and giving voice to the social problems that she observes women face in daily life. She effectively uses the beautiful poetic language of traditional poetry, so her poetic expression creates a strong impression. Her first book was published in 1952. There have been significant social advances in the Indian subcontinent during 19th to 20th centuries, but there has been very little change in women's conditions during this period. The women who have the ambition to make significant contributions to the advancement of their society face the same problems today as they faced in the past. It remains a very difficult task for women to develop awareness about their capabilities. Only after developing this self-awareness would they be able to realize their potential, improve their own conditions and the conditions of the world around them.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

The women who rose on the literary scene faced many problems. The society in general did not approve of their new status as literary women. Their struggle to be acknowledged and recognized as distinct individuals was very hard. Ada Jaffery certainly was one such woman who faced these hardships. In her poetry, we can see the struggle she had to go through, and what the women, especially those who had some creative talent, underwent in the course of their lives:

For so long did we watch the directions of the winds,
Took us long to acquaint with the riches of the pen. .

I must protect my candle in the palms of my hand,
For the dawn yet exists in the legends and the myths,

She has used the similes and metaphors that are feminine. These are well known symbols for women in this part of the world. Metaphors like ‘Choorian’ (Bangles), Mehndi (Henna), Anchal (scarf used to cover head and upper body) ‘Orrh’ni’ or ‘Chador’ (shawl or larger sheet of garment used to cover head and upper body) are repeatedly used in her poetry.

My eyelashes are so drenched
With the color of my ‘Anchal’,
Now whatever be the season,
I do still see the flowers.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

Her poetry portrays the misery and distress of all women who had strong passion and intense feelings. It reflects the awareness that the women had achieved about the attitudes and behaviours that prevailed in their society. Along with this awareness that we see in her poetry, there is also a sense or feeling of utter helplessness. There was only one option available to the women at that time, and that was to obey. Even thinking freely about one’s own self becomes a forbidden fruit for a woman. The lives of nearly all women are spent in the constant state of desiring and hoping. In the following passage from her writings she talks about how even to think about her own name or seek her own image is an achievement she is barred from seeking.

The Instrument of Poetry is just a Tool

Surrounded by clouds of dust,
Be it morning or the eve,
Can I see you?
Even see my own reflection —
Or to think about my own name,
I can’t dare.
All my questions staggered down,
And so did my thoughts, too
Restless I am, and beaten down,
Flame of love is my only cover,
My whole fortune –
Is just one word – Desire,
That one word – Desire,
My whole life –
I wrote it in a hundred ways,
My whole being is a restless stare,
A stare that is shackled at the feet.