South African novelist Marion Molteno paid tribute to the evergreen poet, Ghalib, by revising the book The Famous Ghalib: The Sound of My Moving Pen which was originally written by Ralph Russell. She tells Arjita Mishra that she is glad to have fulfilled the dream of Russell through this book
Hum ko malum hai jannat ki hakikat lekin, Dil ko khush rakhne ko Ghalib ye khayal accha hai…(We know the reality of Paradise, However for consoling the idea is good, Ghalib). The above line is one of the most famous lines from the ghazal of Ghalib - the famous Urdu and Persian poet.
Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan or Ghalib was a great poet of his time. Even today, his poetry has the same affection and is loved by everyone. Many famous singers like Jagjit Singh, Abida Parveen, Mohammad Rafi, Ghulam Ali and Begum Akhtar have sung his ghazals. And not only the singers but also the filmmakers have paid tribute to him through their films.
This time, South African novelist, Marion Molteno paid tribute to the great poet by through her book The Famous Ghalib: The Sound of My Moving Pen. This book was originally written by Ralph Russell and is the collection of selected ghazals and is explained by him. Molteno has revised the book, “Ralph always wished to revise this book but he was not able to do so. After his death, it became my responsibility to fulfill his dream,” said the author. She told us that it is a great honour for her that she has been able to achieve what she has promised to Russell.
Russell was mentor of Molteno and taught her Hindi and Urdu. On asking her that from where does she got an interest in learning these languages, she said, “I used to teach English to the people from India and Pakistan in the UK. I always heard them speaking Hindi and Urdu and my interest was developed from them.” Further adding to this, she said, “I could not get a better teacher than Ralph to teach me these two languages.”
“I could read Hindi very well but I was not able speak the language very well. So, when I met Ralph I asked him to teach me the language and that is how I started learning and after spending a lot of time with my teacher (Russell), I developed a great interest in Hindi,” she pointed out.
Remembering her past memory with Russell, Molteno told us that she has spent 26 years with him. My children didn’t know anything about their grandparents so, he was like their grandfather.
Russell was widely recognised as the western world’s leading scholar of Urdu. He headed the Urdu department at the SOAS, University of london for more than three decades.
On asking about the selection of ghazals she has picked, the Molteno said, “The ghazals which are being described in the book were selected by Ralph. I have just revised it.”
The main aim behind translating this book was to connect readers who want to read Ghalib but could not read it because of lack of knowledge of Urdu. “Readers from different countries like to read the ghazals of Ghalib but is hindered by the language, that is the reason why Ralph chose to translate it,” said the author.
Half part of the book contains the same work which Russell did in his book and half part is the revised version.