Munawwar Rana: The Post-Modern Poet Who Celebrated Oriental Values

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 22 January 2024 His Poetry Transcended Borders Main Points: 1. Munawwar Rana was one of the most celebrated poet of Urdu after Independence. 2. He was the last of the most popular Indian Urdu poets after Bashir Badr, Nida Fazli and Rahat Indori. 3. After Wahshat Kalkatvi and Pervez, Shahdi, Munawwar Rana was the most prominent Urdu poet from Bengal. ------ Munawwar Rana/ANI ------ The picture of film writer and poet Javed Akhtar lending his shoulder to Munawwar Rana' s coffin was very suggestive. It was a meaningful coincidence that both the poets celebrated the Mother. It was the 1975 film Deewar written by Salim -Javed duo that had the famous dialogue: Mere Paas Maa Hai (Mother is my precious possession). Munawwar Rana had carried on the legacy of celebrating the mother in poetry and the summum bonum of his poetry was: Mere Paas Maa Hai. He was the first Urdu poet who sang paeans not to an imaginary doe-eyed girl but to the mother. He presented various shades of the life and personality of a mother: her sacrifices for her sons and daughters, her power of endurance, her love and affection etc. Munawwar Rana had started his poetic career during the 70s under the patronage of the senior poet Wali Aasi who turned Munawwar Ali Aatish into Munawwar Rana. Rana came and settled in Kolkata where his father ran a transport business. In Kolkata, Rana 's poetic imagination started soaring and soon his poetic calibre and charisma caught the attention of lovers of poetry. By the 1990s, Munawwar Rana became a well known poet of Bengal who was equally popular among the Urdu and Hindi audience. His anthologies were published both in Hindi and Urdu because his poetry transcended the boundaries of language and countries. His Ghazals and Nazms (poems) captured the emotions of general masses. His Ghazals expressed the joys and sorrows, trials and tribulations of the man of the 20th and 21st century. He did not subscribe to any Ism or ideology like the Progressivism of the 40s or the modernism of the 70s. He was a wandering minstrel of the post-modern era who composed Ghazals on every aspect of the modern life. Poverty, joblessness, opportunism, the fall of moral values, social evils, ill-effects of industrialisation and urbanisation and the psychological dilemma of modern man became the topics of Rana's Ghazals. The most important contribution of Rana's poetry to the contemporary Urdu poetry, particularly Ghazal is that his poetry brought the two major communities of India ---Hindus and Muslims closer and strengthened the cultural bond between them at a time when the poetry presented in Mushairas and Kavi Sammelans have increasingly been marred by communal undertones. Munawwar Rana's poetry celebrates the composite culture of India and the common values of Indian society. Though he also presents political satire in his Ghazals, he does not make incendiary and communal remarks like other poets of Urdu and Hindi. Munawwar Rana was the last of the four most popular poets of India after Independence. Bashir Badr, Nida Fazli, Rahat Indori and Munawwar Rana's poetry transcended boundaries. The demise of Rana leaves a big vacuum in the arena of Urdu poetry. Munawwar Rana's greatness lies also in the fact that he was one of the few poets of Bengal who had made their mark outside Bengal. Wahshat Kalkatvi was the greatest Urdu poet of Bengal in the pre-Independence era. He was known also as Ghalib-e-Thani and was a respected poet in the history of Urdu poetry. Pervez Shahidi was another poet of Bengal who made a mark by his unique style and depth of thought. He presented progressive ideas in modern style and diction. Munawwar Rana was the third poet of Bengal who won international fame by dint of his poetic art, creativity and flight of imagination. He covered the issues and topics hitherto untouched by Urdu poets. Hijrat (migration) has been a favourite topic of Urdu poets of the Indian sub-continent since the Independence. The partition of India and the migration following it was the most tragic event in the history of India. Both Hindus and Muslims suffered hugely during the migration but the Muslims migrating to Pakistan suffered greater psychological scars as they were called Muhajir (migrants) and were not assimilated into the mainstream of Pakistani society. They are still considered outsiders. Urdu poetry of India and Pakistan is replete with the expression of pain of leaving one's home and living the life of a migrant in a hostile country. Munawwar Rana's Ghazals also express the pain and psychological dilemma of migrants. His epic poem Muhajir Nama is an outstanding piece of poetic art that recounts the painful experience of those leaving India to migrate to Pakistan. Muhajir Nama is matchless in its style and diction. Munawwar Rana's poetry was a cultural bridge between the Hindus and Muslims. Unlike Urdu poetry of the pre-Independence era, his poetry does not have an Iranian atmosphere. His poetry is rooted in Indian culture. The language of his poetry is also not Persianised as is the poetry of other poets of Urdu. He speaks the language of the masses. This was the secret of his popularity as a poet of the masses. His death has left a vacuum in the Urdu poetic world. A voice that sang the song of love, harmony and human values has become silent. The mother of Urdu poetry is mourning the death of her beloved son. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. 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