One of the best things that can happen while working for your own media portal is the numerous emails, phone calls and contacts that come to you unexpectedly from many different places. There is always something of interest, some spark of news that galvanizes you to take action and partake in it. This happened to me recently. Trying to go past the dozens of emails that come every day to us, my attention was drawn to this particular one that had in its subject heading, "Urdu Poetry in India from Classical to Modern Times" A talk by Dr. Naseem Akhtar Hines, Harvard University on April 12, 2003.

The email sent by C. Gopinath listed a lecture that covers the aspects of ghazals in the development of Urdu literature. Intrigued, I asked Gopinath if he could send me a summary. He forwarded the same to Bijoy Misra who then sent a mail to the speaker itself, Naseem Akhtar Hines. She is a preceptor in Urdu and Hindi in the Faculty of the Department of Sanskrit and Hindi Studies at Harvard University and we connected.

At the outset of our conversation, Naseem tells me that every spring she offers a course in Ghazals at the University. Next fall, a course in the Survey of the Urdu-Hindi Short Stories in English translation will be offered for students who do not know the language.However,students who know the Hindi Urdu languages will be supplied with the original stories to read. This she says, will lead to a meaningful discussion of use of words and style of writing 'shailee' "My aim is to allow the children here to appreciate Literature without being intimidated". Then, she adds in with a touch of humor” Wouldn’t it be boring to teach just Ka, Kha, Ga, Gha Na. This puts the spice to the Dal and Chawal”. Her students are not necessarily South Asian. One of her students studying Bhakti Literature is from England. Her students include both undergraduate and graduate students and she also helps students of Independant Studies.

The talk, which was part of the Outreach series focused on the origin and the form of the Ghazal genre and its salient themes, Patronage, and conventions of the ghazal performance- The Mushaira. It also covered transition of the Urdu ghazal from the confinements of the royal courts to the general public and the Survival of the tradition of the Urdu ghazal recital in Indian and Pakistani Diaspora. Themes of Ghazal and Qawwalis, it origin and form and the Mushaira tradition was one aspect and Naseem says "of course Qawwali gained popularity with exponents like Nusrat Fateh Khan". The traditional subject matters in Ghazals are dropped in favor of the needs of the times “ Naseem elaborates ‘this year the Rashtrapati padak was given to many singers one of them was the award winning new poet Manzar and she quotes from his poetry

“Ganga Tere Paani Ka Rang Badal Denge”
Yeh Pandit, Yeh Mulla Yeh Neta”

He is obviously not talking about love here she says’ he is talking about Ganga, the sacred river of the Indians. There are some things we need people to know about, she says earnestly; half of the people in Benaras are Muslims. People may not know this fact and the same thing about Hyderabad.Love is not the dominant force in Urdu Literature all the time. Evolution of Urdu Ghazal in the 20th century as the voice of the subaltern raised against the political, social, and economic injustice was one topic that I touch upon. We both agree since Naseem studied at Hyderabad and so did I. We realize that we had, at different points attended the same University and the talk immediately moves to the familiar places in Hyderabad. “This city is such a mix of culture and religion. To partake in Diwali and Eid with our friends was as fun as it could be. I always have fond memories of this place”.

Dr Hines is presently working on a translation of Chandayan' of poet Daud which is the pioneer work in the genre of Indo-Sufi love narratives. This work, completed in 1379, was followed by Mrigawati,Padmavati and Madhumalati. These works are composed in the Awadhi dialect of Hindi.

At the end of our conversation, Dr Hines invites me to attend the annual Poetry reading scheduled this week. For details check our local calendar.

Dr Naseem Akhtar Hines received her PhD in Asian languages and Literature from the University of Washington in Seattle. Her dissertation focus was on Bhakti Literature. She received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Washington in Seattle and from Hyderabad, AP India. She taught at the University of Washington in Seattle, at Washington University in St Louis,Missouri where she established a Hindi department, at University of California in Berkeley and is currently in Harvard University and lives in Cambridge. Dr Hines has traveled in major national and international academic conferences. Her scholarly articles, fiction and poetry have been published in several anthologies. Her work and travel experience have afforded her a deep insight into the literature, art and music and cultures of the world.

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