All that hard work, slogging...

Humra Quraishi

Manjula Lal There have been not just earnest appeals that ground realities are highlighted but also that ongoing lament that there isn't enough projection by the media of the bigger tragedies dragged along by demonetization.
In fact, every single day I get to hear queries along the strain: Why don't we get to see on the television screens the conditions we are living in ? Why don't we get to read the tragedies taking place in rural India ? Why are more and more of our farmers forced to live pathetic conditions brought about directly or indirectly by the dictates of the political ruling class who live so far away from the g r o u n d realities?
Here let me point out that b e s i d e s i n t r u s i v e political strains there are some other realities too that today's media faces. In fact, journalist Manjula Lal's recently launched novel- 'That's News To Me! A Presswallah's Journey' ( Readomania ) - should be a must read for all those who want to grasp what a journalist goes through.
To an average aspirant there's little clue of all the hard work cum slogging and the undying perseverance that's on …ongoing. Not to overlook the stress and struggles, the maddening cut- throat competition that exists day after day. And in such a situation the journalist has got to not just survive but function on the various fronts - report , write , edit , comment , argue, put forth views and view - points .Ah , yes, also mingle and intermingle to know what's know what's going on , in and around .
Manjula Lal has managed to web and inter-web various dimensions in this racy read , which revolves around life and times of a young journalist,
Manush. Making the protagonist amply alive and kicking and in the midst of it slogging hard to survive on varying fronts. And to add an additional dash, she has not rooted him to one allotted time , nor to a fixed work frame.

This journalist "hops from a magazine job in Noida(in the year 2000) to a leading newspaper in New Delhi ( 2010 ) to a website in Gurgaon ( in 2020)." Yes, you have read correct - she has flung him around and ahead , much too ahead of our times, towards the so called futuristic scenario. And she has her reasons laid out.

To quote Manjula from the preface, "Inevitably for a first novel, the material is drawn from my own experiences in about 25 news organizations in the National Capital Region. I try to convey a sense of journalists being pawns in chess games which they do understand but can't win. We get glimpses of ruthless managements hand – in - glove with politicians. The protagonist's sex life and messy marriage keep us guessing about where he will land up in the end."

Perhaps , not wanting to leave the readers bleary- eyed , there's not just an ample dose of sexual and emotional want tucked in these pages but also a very definite story line.Also, she doesn't let go of the positivity to the profession. To quote her, "Despite the satirical approach , the novel is a tribute to a vibrant profession that gives equal opportunity to men and women, allowing us to explore new horizons and push new boundaries. The fraternity has a refreshing ability to call a spade a spade, use it to dig up some mud and then plant fruit- bearing trees."

Yalda night !

Here , in New Delhi , the Yalda night was hosted in December by the Iran Culture House and the India International Centre. And though the narration was primarily in Persian but nevertheless the richness of the tradition was not to be missed.Several Indians in the audience were not just marveling the grandeur but whispering loud enough : "Wasn't aware that such beautiful traditions exist in Iran …what a tradition of reciting of verse and thanking the Creator for Nature's bounty !"

Iranians around the world celebrate the Yalda night, which is one of the most ancient Persian festivals, relaying the arrival of the winter festival and the victory of light over darkness. …Coinciding with the beginning of the winter ,Yalda is an occasion to celebrate the end of the crop season and to pray for prosperity in the next year.
And apart from Iran ,Central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , Turkmenistan and some Caucasian states like Azerbaijan and Armenia share the same tradition and celebrate the Yalda night around the same time of the year.
Some of the basic frills to the Yalda Night- The 13th - century Iranian poet Sa'di writes in his book Bostan: 'The true morning will not come until the Yalda night is gone'…One of the other traditions of the Yalda night is recitation of the classic poetry of Hafez, the Iranian poet of 14th century AD. Each member of the family makes a wish and randomly opens the book and asks the eldest member of the family to read aloud. What is expressed in the poem is believed to be the interpretation of the wish and whether and how it will come true .This is called Faal – e- Hafez ( Hafez Omen ).'

Anthems of resistance !

After a longish gap , I sat re- reading - A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry : Anthems Of Resistance ( Roli Books ), where the two brothers, Ali Husain Mir and Raza Mir , have translated verse from Urdu to English . To say the least , this duo has managed get back to life the verse of Josh Malihabadi , Sahir Ludhianvi , Israr-ul Haq Majaz , Kaifi Azmi , Majrooh Sultanpuri , Faiz Ahmad Faiz , Makhdoom Mohiuddin , Ali Sardar Jafri...

The take -off is by these lines of Faiz Ahmad Faiz which lie well-sprawled over the red - stained cover of this book . "So what if my pen has been snatched away from me / I have dipped my fingers in the blood of my heart /So what if my mouth has been sealed ;I have turned /Every link of my chain into a speaking tongue . "

What had prompted Ali Husain Mir and Raza Mir to delve deep into progressive Udru poetry? "Our growing years were spent in Hyderabad in an atmosphere of couplets for each and every occasion . This particular couplet was rendered by my father even when we were woken for school - "Arise, and join the moving caravans /That have left several destinations in their wake."
And together with growing up in traditional settings , recent events of the changing world order seems to have also left a definite mark on their psyche . As they have stated in the very preface - "A Faiz poem 'Lahu Ka Suraagh ' ( Trace of Blood ) thus came to mind when an obscure statistic about September 11 2001 caught our attention. The United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that on the same tragic day when the towers came crashing down in our adopted city of New York , around 35,615 children starved to death across the world . This everyday routine tragedy quietly bypassed the world's consciousness .No editorials were written denouncing it, no flags flew at half mast, no impassioned speeches were made , no war was declared on poverty and hunger. Faiz 's poem compellingly drew our attention to this 'banality of evil' ."
With a sensitive grasp of the happenings in the world these two brothers immersed themselves in the Urdu verse of those turbulent years of the history of our country, when verse was written from the very heart and with passion …And as Ali Husain Mir had signed ' Zindabad' in my copy of this book , I 'd wish the deadened spirit in us gets moving along the zindabad strain , after reading this verse laden book !