ASAD - 60

Originally posted on rec.music.indian.misc in 1995

har mulaaqaat ka anjaam, judaai kyuN hai ?
ab to har waqt, yehi baat sataati hai hame

All good things come to an end, and so must this series ! I know, I am flattering myself, but please allow me, as this is the last installment of this "A Sher A Day" series.

It has been a wonderful experience in compiling this series. I love GHazals, it's my obsession, so I loved talking about it. But it takes a lot of time to pick a good Sher which is easy to understand and at the same time, easy to appreciate, and then write an enjoyable article on it. And then it has to be relevant to RMIM ! This and Chitrahaar leave me hardly any time to get engaged in real music related discussions as I used to. The work pressure in the office is also increasing. Therefore in the past few days, the frequency had gone down, to the extent where the name of the series was becoming more and more irrelevant. So at least for the time being, I am calling it a day for this series.

but_kadaa = house of the beloved (quite apt !!)

ab to jaate hai, but_kade se, 'Mir'
phir milenge, agar KHudaa laayaa
- Mir Taqi Mir

I won't claim that I discussed all the important aspects of GHazals. But I did try to give a sample of many. From the singers and the Shayars to the versatality of the topics found in GHazals. Not all topics were discussed. And not all great Shayars were discussed either. The Shayar most neglected by this series was GHalib himself. Ironic, as the name of the series was forcibly related to GHalib's real name. There remains lot more to be said, I could have said all those things. Perhaps I will start again. But that will be after a long break. I had planned only 25 articles in the beginning. But then the series was liked by RMIM. Thanks to the encouragement, I could get till 60 articles. I should take this opportunity to all those who supported this series. Not everyone liked it though !

But as GHalib himself said ...

vaaiz = orthodox/pious

'GHalib', bura na maan, jo vaaiz bura kahe
aisa bhi koi hai, ki sab achchha kahe jise
- Mirza ASADulaakhan Ghalib

The series unnecessarily became a reason for some unpleasant posts. But at least it proved for once and all that RMIM really likes to discuss finer aspects of Shayari. I am really glad for all the support I got.

I intended this series as an enjoyable introduction to the treasure of Urdu Shayari in general and GHazals in particular. I did not want to write only for those who already like GHazals, but also for those who are still outsiders, but are potential GHazal lovers. I hope, I succeeded in creating some awareness about this very much Indian treasure and it's relevance to the sphere of Hindi Movies and Lyrics.

So once again, thanks to you all. It was a very very enjoyable experience overall, and I loved it. Thanks a lot !

- Abhay.
zamaanaa bade shauq se sun rahaa thaa
hamiN so gaye, daastaaN kehate kehate
- Saaqib