Poets like Ghalib are intellectuals and their poetry ought to be appreciated for the knowledge and mental content material it incorporates. Nevertheless, we have a tendency to understand such poetry for aesthetic somewhat than mental causes.
Dr Anjum Altaf, an economist and the primary provost of Habib College, who additionally wrote a e-book on Ghalib titled “Considering with Ghalib”, made the remarks on Monday whereas discussing Ghalib’s poetry with literary scholar Hijaz Naqvi at T2F on Monday.
Introducing the subject, Naqvi stated that the good poets of our area should not solely poets but in addition philosophers and profound thinkers whose verses present solutions to primary questions of life. On this context, he requested Dr. Altaf how he, being an professional in economics, ended up writing a e-book on Ghalib.
Dr Altaf stated that as a social scientist, he discovered studying Ghalib extraordinarily helpful as his poetry continually raised questions on every part. He stated that important considering is a should for social scientists and studying Ghalib helped to assume critically.
He lamented the decline of social science schooling within the nation, saying that every one the concentrate on science in our curriculum has made our college students inflexible of their considering and unable to understand totally different views on a topic as a result of science usually gives fastened solutions to questions. downside, whereas the social sciences entertained the potential for a number of solutions.
Concerning his e-book, Dr Altaf stated he wrote it to assist college students develop important considering utilizing Ghalib’s verses. He recited numerous Ghalib couplets during which the poet questions and challenges preconceived notions.
“Kya Farz Hai Keh Sab Ko Mile Aik Sa Jawab/Aao Na Hum Bhi Sair Karen Koh-e-Toor Ki” was a couplet during which Ghalib acknowledges the potential for a number of solutions to an issue, the writer stated.
He quoted one other verse, “Laazim Nahin Keh Khizr Ki Hum Pairvi Karen/Maana Keh Ik Buzurg Hamen Humsafar Mile”, and defined that in it Ghalib teaches to not settle for an thought based mostly on authority. “Ghalib would not even need us to observe him blindly,” he remarked.
He stated that Ghalib’s poetry is filled with questions starting from very primary questions in regards to the existence of the universe like “Sabza-o-Gul Kahan Se Aaye Hain?/Abr Kya Cheez Hai Hawa Kia Hai?” to disturbing existential questions like “Na Thaa Kuch To Khudaa Thaa, Kuch Na Hota To Khudaa Hota/ Diboya Mujh Ko Honay Ne Na Mein Hota To Kya Hota?”. He was of the opinion that Ghalib’s poetry helped us to make the act of considering pleasurable.
The speaker additionally famous that though Ghalib usually requested questions, he hardly ever answered these questions. He stated that Ghalib wished his readers to consider his questions and arrive at their very own solutions.
The abundance of questions and the absence of solutions in Ghalib’s poetry made him the best poet of our custom by way of upsetting thought by means of poetry, stated Dr. Altaf. He added that different mental poets of our area like Kabir, Bulleh Shah and Iqbal additionally raised questions but in addition gave solutions to them and this distinguishes them from Ghalib.
The speaker stated that the benefit of studying poets like Ghalib is that they convey deep ideas in only one couplet. He appreciated the Ghazal type and stated that the disjointed couplets within the Ghazal enabled the poet to convey a number of concepts in a single type.
Dr. Altaf admitted that when he tried to learn nice thinkers like Hegel, Kant or Heidegger, he couldn’t perceive them as a result of one needed to be a scholar in philosophy to grasp the texts written by these giants. Equally, he stated he had ‘wasted’ a few years studying Foucault and Derrida however not understanding them. In distinction, thinker poets like Ghalib would current a single thought in just one couplet in an aesthetic approach, and the knowledge of their verses was extra accessible to frequent folks than the knowledge within the books of philosophers like Kant, he stated.
