Read Book Online : http://www.archive.org/stream/essaysindianisla00khud#page/126/mode/2up

Download pdf Book : http://ia311004.us.archive.org/0/items/essaysindianisla00khud/essaysindianisla00khud.pdf

Selected Ghazals of Ghalib : http://www.archive.org/details/ghazals_ghalib_0809_librivox

Digital Rare Book : Urdu-i mu'alla (1908) By Ghalib http://www.archive.org/stream/urduimualla01ghaluoft#page/n3/mode/2up

Waitin to read GHALIB

Thank you for posting this wonderful collection.

Is this Mr S. Khuda Buksh the same person who established the famous Khuda Buksh Library of Rare Books in Patna? This library, together with the Razaiya Library in Rampur, is said to contain the finest collection of rare Urdu and Persian manuscripts anywhere in India.

Wow ! Thank you..thats amazing info. Btw...I have posted about these two libraries and their treasures on RBSI earlier this year.

thanks RBSI

the library at rampur has persian translations of the mahabharata and ramayana as well.

many many thanks Subbiah.

Subbiah,I have a beautiful leather bound book in gold & the cover is beautifully engraved called "Loyal Rulers and Leaders of the East"dated 1922.It is edited by the Earl of Carnwath with an introduction by Field Marshall Earl Haig.I t is an Edition De-Luxe & is specially bound by Zaehnsdorf Ltd.,bookbinders by appointment to His Majesty the King. Any idea if it is a rare book?I have seen many books in my life but never one so beautifully bound...........It is also in excellent condition.

Listen to this ghazal by Mirza Ghalib and sung by Talat Mahmood. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZmvADJXjf0

Uday Singh Jubbal : Not getting too technical here....but the very fact it was published 88 ago and that it is beautifully bound...and in an excellent condition would naturally make it quite valuable. Fine bindings by itself are a much sought after category in rare book collecting : http://www.raremapsandbooks.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=132

@Asad uncle: Originally a resident of Lucknow, the passion in Talat's voice is incomparable.

Digvijay: I think what you mean is not the word 'passion' - but 'soz'. (Sorry. I can't find an equivalent word in the English language.)

Well the literal meaning of soz is 'dil ka jalna.'Soz and Noh are sub-parts of the Marsiya genre of Urdu poetry....somewhat like 'In Memoriam' of Alfred Tennyson. Soz khwani as an art form reached it's zenith in Lucknow. There are few songs of Talat which are not really sad but the passion in his voice is intense.Soz would refer to 'lament' primarily.I could compare him to Jim Reeves in the west. Perhaps you are referring to the voice that emanated from him on account of soz that he was able to achieve. Doubtlessly he is an all time great.

Digvijay: I think your connotation of the word 'soz' may have been influenced by the Lucknow version of Urdu. Because of the rich Shia culture there, the sad component of soz may have been exaggerated. The word 'soz' is not quite the same as 'noh' in rekhta - the Delhi version. At least in English, 'soz' would come close to being 'a rather mild form of pathos'. Having said that, I must acknowledge that you are the boss in Urdu, as I have been detached from good Urdu for many years. Now I think in English - even dream in English. As a child, my mother used to joke with me that all the English she knew was "This is my finger, this is my thumb". She passed away many years ago, but I still dream of her occasionally. Whenever I do see her in a dream, believe me, she speaks to me in perfect English. King's English - I mean!

I am no 'boss' in Urdu Asad Uncle.You are being kind. I am more inclined towards the Rekhtaa of Delhi owing to my ancestor's geographical proximity to the capital.I am fluent in the dialect of Agra /Aligarh though on acc of having done my college from there.

Digvijay: You have a perfect command of Urdu. I learned my Urdu from my esteemed and favorite tutor Mr Shiv Varan Singh, who also belonged to the same area. I emphasize the area since I often listen to Urdu news from the BBC and the 'Urdu' accent of reporters from the Pakhtunkhua area is plain awful. It is like driving on a bed of rocks.

I agree wholeheartedly. Urdu is spoken with such heavy vernacular accent in Kashmir , Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistani Punjab that it has been made mockery of it's original self. It is only pertinent that we engage in a discussion on Rekhta on a RBSI post and a picture of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib who embellished Urdu the most.He is the most quoted poet of this language and shall forever remain one.His poetry is philosophical and I daresay almost prophetic. Pakistan has divested Urdu of it's simple nature removing all simple Hindi words and replacing them with Persian.It sounds theatrical and as if it is a language meant for warning or war only.It is a natural outcome because Punjabi and Urdu are as diff as chalk and cheese.Punjabi and adab are mutually exclusive. The simple beautiful Urdu spoken by my elders is not in common currency anymore.It was a pleasure listening to them when I was younger and quite a few of them were still around.They spoke it so beautifully and effortlessly.It certainly never sounded theatrical and pretentious as the Rekhta of Lucknow always does to this day.Maybe the Lucknowallahs wanted it that way because of their traditional rivalry with the Mughal court in matters of religion and their supposed superiority on acc of being Persians and Syeds unlike Mughals whom they always considered of lowly stock. I am definitely not discounting the rich contributions of all these places in embellishing the prose and poetry and literature of this most beautiful of all languages but in speech it has been made a joke of.The Brij bhasha which was part of the Delhi Urdu with words like 'kabhu' etc have also vanished forever. I have never met anyone who had a word to say against this language.It has suffered primarily in the country of it's origin on account of it being declared the state language of Pakistan. It suddenly acquired a 'Muslim status' while in point of fact it never was a Muslim language.The Muslims of south India (except Hyderabad and Deccan) Gujarat and Bengal and the north eastern states like Assam have never had anything to do with it. I maintain that Urdu is the most musical languages of the world.It is India's most priceless 'living heritage' more valuable than the Koh-i-noor and the Taj Mahal.It is essentially a language of love and sophistication/refinement and those two can never go out of fashion so neither can Urdu, the Urdu academies and their pitiable efforts to revive it notwithstanding. Hindi in the electronic media and the print media (except in newspapers) is already in decline and is in a precarious condition. Rich magazines like Kadambini and Dharmyug in Hindi from my childhood have vanished so have Urdu risalas like Kshama which was published from Delhi.Amitabh Bacchan speaks the most chaste Hindi now in the TV serrial 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' sadly otherwise it is all Hinglish now. Ghazals have survived the onslaught of Americanisation/ Californication of our culture.The literal meaning of a Ghazal is 'conversing with one's beloved' .Ghazal is the soul of Urdu literature and most popular form of Urdu poetry in comparison to Madah, Hamd,Manqabat, Marsiya,Masnawi,Munajat,Na't, Musaddas, Nazm,Qasida,Qata,Rubai 'ee, Salam , Sehra, Sher Ashob,or Wasokht. The other form which remains ever popular is Qawwali because it's immediate appeal as it touches the heart. Can conversing with one's beloved go out of fashion in any age or generation ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryjOB2ngvVU

Many thanks for sharing this link. Let me share an interesting episode with regard to Iqbal Bano and a live performance of hers that I attended in Jaipur in the open air theatre of Ravindra Manch of Ramnivas Bagh twenty five years ago. She came dressed in a sari and diamonds in such profusion that even looking at her was an effort because of the blinding light that bounced off her huge danglers, necklace and bracelet. She started the performance with a stuti and then a dadra "Ram karay kahin naina na uljhain" which was brilliant which was followed by a thumri "Ab ke sawan ghar aaja" It was mid October and monsoons had long departed but it began to rain which was nothing short of a miracle. Although I love the ghazals of both Farida Khanum and Iqbal Bano I would still rate Begum Akhtar's gaayiki superior by any day.She never enjoyed state patronage as these two other stalwarts and certainly not their kind of wealth either. The pathos in the voice of Akhtari bai Faizabadi's voice was un-parallelled. She was doubtlessly the greatest icon and maestro of the semi-classical genres of Ghazal, Thumri, Dadra, Holi, Sawan and Gul alongwith Ustad Baday Ghulam Ali Khan who was more into classical (shahtriya sangeet) and hence his status was more exalted by any day. Begum Akhtar is my all time personal favourite and her Ghazal renditions in which accompanying music has been provided by Naushad are mater-pieces of Hindustani semi-classical (shastriya sangeet) which I can listen to time and time again.