Publisher : Roli Books, Rs 350

The life and works of great poet Firaq Gorakhpuri need no more elaborations after reading this book. There cannot be a word more to be said or a word to be omitted; it is very much apparent that the book has been so painstakingly compiled, writes KK SRIVASTAVA

I am a Hindu by conviction; there is hardly any religious thought or philosophy in the world, whose roots cannot be found in Hinduism and other natural theologies”

| Firaq Gorakhpuri as quoted by Ajai Mansingh

let a personal anecdote begin this review. I met Firaq Gorakhpuri in late Seventies when he was staying in Gorakhpur, his hometown. Accompanied by my uncle, Ganesh Prasad Srivastava, who used to write Urdu poetry, I reached Firaq’s house at about 7 pm. It was a hot summer day and Firaq sahib was laying on the ground. A dark, impressive man, he was drunk. He regained his consciousness when helped in getting to the bed. Meanwhile, a few more people came to visit him. On my uncle’s request, Firaq sahib recited some of his poems and then switched over to the poetry of Wordsworth and John Donne; while he continued to sip his drinks. While leaving when I touched his feet, he blessed me and said, “When you are in the company of people some of whom may not be equal to you, behave in a manner that makes them realise that they are equal to you”. He was a thought-provoking man whose words weighed heavily. His politeness was not easily visible, but his respect for others was clear from his behaviour.

Raghupati Sahay, whose pen name was Firaq Gorakhpuri, was a great poet, academician and above all, a human being with all the virtues and vices as situations in one’s life are bound to stimulate . He was loved, respected and adored by all. Though not amidst us, he persists in the memories and hearts of thousands of well-wishers and admirers and in his creations in the world of Urdu poetry.

He was well thought of and he cared for in his family too. The fact is amply disclosed by the biographical compilation titled Firaq Gorakhpuri The Poet of Pain and Ecstasy a tribute one of his nephews Ajai Mansingh has paid to his celebrity maternal uncle. It has taken, by his own disclosure, much more than half-a-century for him to collect, compile and then to correlate the various facts about the multi-faceted life of the great poet in all walks of his life.

Ajai Mansingh has aptly cited from the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud confirming that it is hazardous to derive the true personality of a poet from his poetry as the poet is imaginative and figurative and an artist’s creativity ‘has a causal origin in the psychic realm’ but Firaq sahib believed otherwise and expected his readers to ‘search for him by diving deep into his ghazals and nazms’.

The life and works of the great Firaq Gorakhpuri need no more elaborations after reading this book. There cannot be a word more to be said or a word to be omitted. It is very much apparent that the book has been so painstakingly compiled, admittedly by the active participation and involvement of a team consisting of members from both inside and outside the family. Under the guidance of Mansingh, it gives an abstract picture of the life and the vivid and diverse roles the poet played in it. Though more than amply qualified to adore a civil service post of the highest stature and even getting selected for one, the poet and the literary genius inside him urged him to choose a different course in life.

He was very much active in politics and political movements, in association with the greatest political leaders of his time viz, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi etc, who were at the helm of the freedom movement, which was gaining momentum with each passing day. But he was not inclined to be a political poet. Instead, he was acknowledged as a preacher of free love love for mankind. He also made his mark and distinguished himself as a literary critic revealing his literary genius.

One of the most complementing feature about the book is the foreword by the renowned authority on Urdu literature, Padma Bhushan Gopi Chand Narang, who describes Firaq sahib as ‘a poet of the labyrinths of emotions, the sensuousness and transcendence of beauty’. In the most befitting and eloquent words, Narang has drawn a beautiful pen-picture of the great personality and his different moods by aptly quoting, at appropriate junctures, some of the poet’s own verses. The foreword is a jewel in the crown.

When sitting down to write something about the great personality of Firaq Gorakhpuri, one is at a loss for words. For all that can be said or is there to be said about Firaq Gorakhpuri is already there in this book. So even an attempt in that direction would only end up as a futile venture. Still one thing can be said in favour of the poet. Even though posthumously, he has got more than a fair treatment at the hands of his biographer. From what can be derived from the narrations in the chronicle, the poet was a complete family man.

In one of his famous poems, Hindola, Firaq sahib recounts his childhood experiences and laments ‘cruel act of destiny’ making him a bitter man who was slowly moving towards the path of ‘intellectual loneliness.’ An admirable aspect attributable to this work is the honesty, sincerity and openness with which the author has dealt with his subject while compiling the details and presenting the facts. His patience, control and sense of civility and balance with which the words, phrases and even the style of presentation have been selected are most commendable. This is most evident when the narration reaches the stages when the author has to bare certain not-so-pleasant phases in the life of the poet. One can only easily identify the dilemma and pain he may have experienced when having to select and put to words those scandalous episodes. But not for once has he made a slip anywhere anytime. This may be because he himself was an eminent man of letters, with quite a few creations to his own credit also.

The motivation for the author to bring out such a book was the appearance in the print as well as the visual and other media of many versions about certain spans and phases in the life of Firaq Gorakhpuri, which were always half cooked or baseless.

The life and works of the great Firaq Gorakhpuri have been arranged under four different headings starting from the origin and branches of the family tree, his family life, professional life and finally depicting the person in him. His last days and eternal journey have also been portrayed in minute details in a touching manner. The strength and weakness of the personality have been given a fair and unbiased treatment without even a hint at exaggeration at any point of time.

Winner of Sahitya Akademi Award in 1960, Jnanpith Award in 1969, and Ghalib Academy Award in 1981, the poet has now been bestowed with an award from his family, friends and well-wishers — this biography. This book by itself is a tribute and monument the poet much deserved. Even for those who had not known the poet either in person or through his works, this book would serve as a guide and reference book on someone who had in his own way contributed to the freedom movement in India, by his close acquaintance with the great leaders of his time and their party. But above all, he will be living in the hearts of his innumerable admirers for a long time to come through his ghazals, rubais and love poetry in Urdu.

It is indeed sad to end this resume in a melancholy note. Ajai Mansingh was not fortunate enough to see his flower bloom to it’s glory. As Providence would have it, he was called to his heavenly abode in November, 2011. In a way this book serves as a tribute to not one but two the subject and the chronicler. So strange and often unpredictable are the ways of this world and the decisions of Almighty that we mortal humans can only stand back and wonder at it’s complexities and unfathomable depths.

Mansingh faces a question in between ‘Only time will tell, how long Firaq sahib will live in fast changing society.’ Mathew Arnold once remarked that to understand a poet, one should have the heart of a poet. Echoing these sentiments, Walt Whitman said that to have superior poets, we must have superior audience. As long as human beings have superior hearts, there will stay alive Firaq and poets of his ilk. Firaq Gorakhpuri through his poetry and literature has attained immortality and Mansingh has in his humble and noble way helped to showcase it.

KK Srivastava is a poet and Principal Accountant General, Kerala