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books By Sarwat Ali A few years after his death, Ghalib was being seriously considered as the most important poet of Urdu, the recognition that eluded him while he was alive. For there must have been a total shift in the intellectual perspective in the few decades that his poetry had started to appear to be relevant with the onset of colonial rule in India. The reasons have not really been explored with any degree of exhaustion. During his own lifetime, Ghalib was considered to be too difficult to go down well with the popular sentiment of what poetry meant. Probably it was tagged more with the perception that instant appeal is the cardinal virtue in poetry. In the tradition of oral rendition instant appeal is probably the only meaningful virtue, the rest lost as soon as the spoken word ceases to be uttered. Zia Mohyeddin column
Dial M for millennium Steig Larsson's trilogy is an adventure unlike none other By Huma Imtiaz
The Millennium Trilogy By Steig Larsson Publisher: Knopf The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Pages: 608 Price: Rs 460 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Pages: 576 Price: Rs 785 The Girl Who Played With Fire Pages: 512 Price: Rs 460
Had Larsson's creation, the enigmatic, cold and calculating young woman Lisbeth Salander, been a real character terrorist organisations around the world would have been lining up outside her door to recruit her. Unfortunately for them, and perhaps fortunately enough for the world, she only exists as the lead character in Larsson's highly addictive Millennium Trilogy. Set in Sweden, in the first book of the trilogy The Girl
With The Dragon Tattoo, one meets the one renowned and now disgraced
investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who is convicted as guilty of one
of the worst crimes an honest journalist can commit -- libel. Along comes an
intriguing offer by an eccentric Swedish man, who wants Blomkvist to
investigate the murder of his granddaughter that took place a few decades
ago. Blomkvist meets the young woman Lisbeth Salander in the process of his
relocation to a small town in Sweden to investigate the case in order to
clear his name as a journalist; Blomkvist offers her a job as an
investigator. What follows next is a whirlwind; Larsson takes the reader on a
journey of intrigue, deceit and mystery that comes to the end so soon that
one barely realises that its 3 AM and they have work in the morning. But what
really stands out in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is Larsson's description
of Salander and her personality. The troubled girl with a past she refuses to
speak The Girl Who Played With Fire, the second book in Larsson's trilogy picks up from where the first one ended. The book deals with Blomkvist's return to his journal, and ferreting out new investigative stories by young journalists. Unfortunately for Blomkvist, a double murder takes place of the young journalist and his wife, and in an odd twist, Salander is blamed for the murder. The rest of the book is a fast-paced thriller, as Blomkvist works with Salander to uncover who was behind the murder, and in the process, the reader learns more about the evolution of Lisbeth Salander, and how she came to become the person we met in the first book. But that's not where it ends, and the reader is left staring at the last page cursing and loving Larsson in equal measure. The third and final book, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, is perhaps my least favourite: while it ties up all the loose ends that left one sleepless at night trying to decipher what they meant, the book is a bit too far paced for even this self-confessed speed reader's taste. One feels that Larsson was trying to answer far too many questions, and perhaps the book should have perhaps just stuck to the answers, as opposed to creating all-new mysteries and solving those as well! While we come to know the secrets that have haunted Salander for years, and Blomkvist trying to aid her through the process, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest seems a tad too rushed, or perhaps one is overwhelmed by a sense of disappointment that this is the final book in the series, since Larsson died before the books were even published. But don't let that dissuade you, Larsson has truly created a masterpiece; and the book is one of the finest thrillers that I have come across in recent times, with characters that revile and fascinate the reader. And it's not just the action, the mystery and the intrigue that is so enthralling; one also gets an inside look at the workings of the Swedish government, police, judiciary and the mafia. Never has one been more excited to read the next book in a series since Harry Potter took on Voldemort for over six books. And lest we forget, Harry Potter was still a light read. Larsson's trilogy will leave your head spinning and still want more. Steig Larsson's The Millenium Trilogy is available at Liberty Books and The Last Word in Karachi and Lahore. Huma Imtiaz works as a journalist in Pakistan and can be reached at huma.imtiaz@gmail.com
Ghalib questioned nearly almost everything and was in the process of arriving at the vision of a worldview through the prism of diversity By Sarwat Ali A few years after his death, Ghalib was being seriously
considered as the most important poet of Urdu, the recognition that eluded
him while he was alive. For there must have been a total shift in the
intellectual perspective in the few decades that his poetry had started to
appear to be relevant with the onset of colonial rule in India. The reasons
have not really been explored with any degree of exhaustion. During his own
lifetime, Ghalib was considered to be too difficult to go down well with the
popular sentiment of what poetry meant. Probably it was tagged more with the
perception that instant appeal is the cardinal virtue in poetry. In the
tradition of oral rendition instant appeal is probably the only meaningful
virtue, the rest lost as soon as the spoken word ceases to be uttered. It could be that the new intellectual environment, more bent towards the written word, was responsible for a renewed interest in the poet branded as being too difficult to understand. He was set aside from other poets who had a gratuitous appeal, but considered to be less relevant than the poet who had problems communicating with the audiences in his own age. Ghalib was surely the last poet in the tradition that upheld in broad terms the thesis of wahdatul wajood. This poetic tradition matured in Iran and Persian poetry was transferred on to India as the basic preoccupation of a long list of poets. This sensibility nurtured in India by the poets and the sufia and was considered most of the time, as being at variance with the policy line that was being handed down from the court or promoted by the orthodox sections of society. The general impression is that Ghalib belonged to a classical tradition and classical culture, and that he was not really in touch with the latest developments till he visited Calcutta to contest his claim for pension. It was then that he fully realised the impact of colonialism not only in the political sense but more so on the intellectual front. It opened his eyes to the contrast and the difference between his old world and the new world that was upon India. But this may not necessarily be true, for he was associated with the Delhi College, which was primarily responsible for translation of European classics and texts into the vernacular, particularly Urdu. Then Ghalib was not averse to the intellectuals who were eager to learn and known about the new areas of knowledge which were introduced into India due to the colonial encounter. It is not known if he labelled all that was European as kufr, not to be touched even with a barge by the faithful. Actually he espoused the change and the widening scope of knowledge. He belonged to the circle that was intellectually equipping themselves and then the younger generation to face the challenges of the world that were very different from the one that they had suckled on. The likes of Maulvi Chiragh Ali and Sir Syed Ahmed were initially groomed in it. The important question to ask is whether the inclusive approach that was the basis of wahdatul wajood helped in preparing Ghalib to be more receptive to change or was it only the decision of an individual based on his deeper understanding of the situation. The difficulty is compounded by the highly stylised form of poetical expression. Ghazal does have its well wrought style, and breeds inwards, giving it the impression of a form that has remained unchanged over a period of time. The similarity of imagery too presents a worldview that is static in nature and has remained unchanged over a long period of time. Probably it had reached a certain high point and the rest of the journey entails keeping the course. Delhi, in more than one way, was under the dominance of the British East India Company. After the takeover of Delhi, in the first decade of the 19th century, the colonial power had stretched its tentacles to clutch the administrative and judicial authority so much so that the king too lived off a stipend offered by the Company. History syllabi in our schools and at undergraduate levels give the general impression that Delhi fell to the crown in 1847 is quite partial, for the truth is that the imperial Mughal court had only symbolic significance -- it had no political authority and the king was almost a prisoner in his own fort. Other than the mushairas and the mehfil mauseeqi most other activities were held outside the court where the outreach of the Company was getting wider by the day. Because of the idiom of ghazal, it appears that the old world was very much intact and that there was an overwhelming nostalgia for it and the change was more in references to separation and unrequited love rather than a narrative of documentation found in Ghalib's letters. If this is the case, then the other contemporary poets too were expressing the same feelings in the same idiom, the only difference being that since they did not write prose as in the case of Ghalib's letters, it is not backed by parallel expression in prose. It then becomes unfair to criticise them for being living in the ivory tower of their poetry, not really concerned with the political takeover around them, probably they were just as agonised over their subjugation as Ghalib was, but they did not have the means to expresses themselves. They were too much under the weight of their own traditional expression. It may mean that the premise on which wahdatul wajood was based was no longer relevant and that another paradigm had to be evolved or developed. The subsequent poets like Hali and Iqbal abandoned the premise on which wahdatul wajood was based on and directed poetry to a road or destination that can in retrospect be labelled as qaumi. The entire scope of the poetic endeavour was reduced and made more specific in comparison to the wider sweeps of the classical poets. Dagh, who continued to write poetry in the classical idiom and in the same tradition, probably also realised the changing paradigm, for in his poetic depth, the scope was tightened and words employed more literally. The entire well wrought idiom of love was probably narrowed down to physical relationship between human beings. This physical aspect may have been the starting point of ghazal imagery, but in the end it meant so much more. Ghalib probably had an inclination for an inclusive world view, but he was also aware that the previous paradigm on which wahdatul wajood was predicated upon had lost its relevance. The overwhelming mood in his poetry was that of enquiry and interrogation, he questioned nearly almost everything and was in the process of arriving at the vision of a worldview through the prism of diversity. He was acutely awareness of the shared destiny of mankind and also knew that there were many paths that lead to that end. He never hoped to show a preferential bias for any one particular path. "Her rung main bahar ka asbaat chayiyeh."
Classics and Classism (part II) In the execution of a raga, a singer or an instrumentalist executes note patterns in straight sequences or in oblique patterns (or a combination of both), but it is the manner in which the notes are linked and embellished that matters the most. Those who have not been able to attune their listening ability to the melodic nature (and discipline) of a raga fail to receive the ecstatic -- and ineffable -- pleasure engendered by an inflection before or after an articulated tone. India too, has a large army of gods and goddesses who have given birth to a plethora of myths which, in turn, have inspired many classical works of art – Geeta Govinda, to name but one. Personally, I am not enamoured of the temple architecture of India. I find it too introverted to give me any sense of solace. I admire the Taj Mahal not for its marble, or the romance attached to its location, but for its Palladian qualities: balance, restraint, geometry, perfectly proportioned domes, niches, and the sense of overwhelming calm that it exudes. Talking about the art of "Classicism," Sir Kenneth Clark, one of the most erudite aesthetes of the 20th century, once remarked, "If we object to the restraint we are simply objecting to the classicism of classic art." The classical architecture is full of symmetry and proportion. It has an orderly arrangement of columns, pilasters and pediments. The Romans learnt a lot from the Greeks. The post-medieval Italian architecture (Palladian) is a more orderly and an even more refined form of the Greek models. It quickly spread throughout Europe and Russia. *** For those of us who know no Greek or Latin it is the translations (into English) that enable us to find out what classical writers say, mean and what that means to us. Translations of ancient authors have played a major part in delivering the ancient world and "Classics" to the modern world. Many of those who read Greek or Latin works in translation became classicists in their own language. The two most famous examples are Keats, who knew no Greek and Shakespeare, who, too, was Greekless. Our experience of "Classics" is invariably influenced by those who have gone before us. We experienced "Classics" in the light of what previous generations have said, thought and written about the ancient world. The classic cultures of Athens and Rome were themselves influenced by the Semitic and African cultures that were their neighbours. Part of the contemporary appeal of "Classics" lies in the way that ancient writers confronted traditions of their world. In their works we see them debating, what we now call, the multi-culturalism of their own societies. What we do not see is any comment on the existence of a vast number of slaves that existed in Athens and later in Rome. It is interesting to note that no Plato, no Horace, ever found anything the slightest bit odd in a democracy which was based on slavery. "Classics" doesn't simply enlighten us, it also jolts us out of our erroneous perceptions about certain epochs. It is because of "Classics" that we are able to look at an era and understand its rulers and their paranoiacs. A perfect example is that of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq who ruled India for twenty six years (1325-51). We learned at school that the Sultanate of Delhi attained its maximum size under Tughlaq. Not until the reign of Akbar (two hundred years later) would so much of India be again united under one rule. Tughlaq was a highly cultured and generous king, a most accompanied calligrapher, well-versed in Persian poetry; he also had a thorough knowledge of mathematics, logic, physics and Greek philosophy. We were taught all this, but when we read Ibn-e-Batuta, ("Classics") whose antecedents as a historian are as valid as Thucydides, we discover that "contrasting with all his brilliant qualities Tughlaq had traits which made him terrible and incomprehensible." Describing his court, Ibe-e-Batuta records, "To reach the interiors of his palace one had to pass through three doors. Outside the first door were a number of guards and also trumpets and flute players… Outside this door were also the platforms where the executioners sat: when the Sultan ordered a man to be executed the sentence was carried out here and the body left lying for three days and nights. Thus anyone approaching the palace would come first on corpses; heaps and mounds of them were always lying there. Everyday hundreds of people, chained, pinioned and fettered, are brought to this hall and those who are for execution, are executed, those for torture tortured, and those for beating beaten." Thucydides too, had given us a powerful account of the failure of Athenian democracy. He denounced Athens as 'Tyrant city', fed on extortion and responsible for wholesale massacre of fellow Greeks and, when expedient, cynical genocide. In their marvellous little book on "Classics," Mary Beard and John Henderson, write that the classical has been defined as the calm restraint exercised through the Apollononian influence over a savage and grisly world. "The bulk of Greek art and literature," they point out, "was of images of wildness, mania and Dionysian ecstasy." The Romans conquered Greece and absorbed a great deal of Greek influence. After the fall of the Roman Empire classicism more or less died. It was not until the Italian renaissance, centuries later, that classicism made an appearance. Trade with Islamic cultures had a lot to do with it. The Muslims brought a flood of knowledge about and from the ancient Greeks plus their own contribution to mathematics, geography, physics, medical sciences, logic and celestial mechanics. Renaissance classicism introduced a lot of new elements into European culture. What was considered to be classical was now more orderly, more structured. As a result, schools of art and music were formed. The period also brought revival of ancient classical art forms including Greek tragedy. It is always worth bearing in mind that Shakespeare was a product of renaissance. The rediscovery of Greece in the 18th & 19th centuries was the rediscovery of Western culture as a whole. Greece gave Western culture common roots that people could share. "Classics" came to be regarded as a preserve of the West. For many people in England "Classics" only meant the highly scholastic three year course for a degree at Oxford or Cambridge. It was in the 20th century that the West conceded that East too, had its share of Classicism. What we inherit from the past is ennobling and salacious. The salacious is often expunged though privately we relish it in the knowledge that our wise ancestors were human after. The trouble is that we are always taught "Classics" as high moral purpose and this is what alienates us from the "Classics."
(Concluded)
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about is not just cold and calculating; she's a brilliant investigator with a
skill for hacking that would make real-life hackers die of shame. Larsson
also reveals his love for attention to detail; no object or person that
Blomkvist and Salander come across escapes Larsson's attention. And it is
perhaps in Larsson's description of Blomkvist and Salander's personalities
that one falls in love with the books; more than the plot or the intrigue, it
is how they both come to life in the pages. Blomkvist's dedication to being
an ethical journalist and Salander's passion for solving a mystery, whether
it's via a computer or sniffing out details in a newspaper's archive room is
almost tangible, and one ends up envying them. It is here that one
understands that it takes a journalist to create a convincing fictional
character of a journalist, according to research, Larsson based Blomkvist's
character on himself, and one can draw parallels from their lives.
