Ghalib is timeless, but he is equally very much a man of his times.

In this episode, we revisit the man in the moment. We eavesdrop on the days of his youth, a teenaged poet writing in chaste Persian. We hobnob with his coterie of disciples and patrons, friends and foes.

We hear from Ghalib’s contemporaries in the poets’ society, some of whom taunt him saucily for the apparent incomprehensibility of his verse. The most prickly of these rivalries, we learn, was with Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq, the court poet of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, as well as other luminous contemporaries like Amir Khusrau. Their war of words, by all means, makes for beautiful listening. 

With friends like these, one may ask, did Ghalib need enemies?

Of course, in the end, our favourite poet has the last word.

Credits:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar

Acknowledgements:

Misra uthaiye Hazrat

Naqsh Fariyaadi Hain Kiski HQ Mirza Ghalib Jagjit Singh post HiteshGhazal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqQrrwDIYdA 

8:12 to 9:02 - To Maulvi Abdul Razzak Shakir - on changing his style when he became older and attained “tamiz” (date unmentioned)

 Ghalib Ke Khutoot 11, غالب کے خطوط, Zia Mohyeddin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADtuHXHfQ8A 

Zauq passes by on his palki, Ghalib comments.

Mirza Ghalib Poetry - Movie Clip (Best Scene)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrNlIWVNXOk 

Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum

Mirza Ghalib - Movie Clip (Best Scene)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI7xMPnS_aQ&t=169s