BOOK REVIEWS
ENGLISH
THE
NOCTURNAL COURT: Sidq Jaisi (Tr. Narendra Luther); Oxford
University Press,YMCA Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001;pp 61+ 95;
Rs.295/-.
“The opulence
of the lives of kings, potentates and nobles is beyond the common people like
us, so distant, separate and strange from our lives. Their living style, food and drink, joys and sorrows, loves and
hates, interests and hobbies, indulgences and sports, their treatment of
relations close to them, their ceremonials connected with birth and deaths,
their generosities and largesse, their cruelties, their worship and their
festivities, their day and night – all are larger than life, technicolour and
extra-ordinary.”
Sidq Jaisi (Mir Tassaduq Hussain, in real
life) was in the court of the Junior Prince (second son, Muazzam Jah of the
Nizam VII, the last ruler of the Asafjahi dynasty) as an honorary courtier and
had a ringside view of the happenings of the royal court. He records truthfully his recollections of
the “forbidden territory” from very close quarters, free of any bias, always
keeping the dignity of the Prince and the royal etiquette in view. As he himself admits, he has not spared
himself and does not spare others.
The incidents occur mainly in the first half
of the last century during the reign of the Nizam VII. The Junior Prince was a poet himself and
gathered around him local poets and those from ‘Hindustan’(mainly UP and North)
who include such noted poets of that time, as Josh Malihabadi, Najm Affandi
(the Poetry tutor of the Prince) and Fani.
The Prime Minister Maharaja Kishen Pershad was a lover of poetry himself
and encouraged the luminaries of Urdu poetry to the court of Hyderabad and even
paid them allowances from out his personal funds, to those who could not be
readily provided with jobs in the State service. Sidq was provided with a job in the Education Department and was
therefore an honorary courtier while many others were paid courtiers. The nightly
court of the Prince commenced with the assembly of courtiers at around 7.30
p.m. in Hill Fort Palace (the residence of the Prince) and lasted till the wee
hours, when the Prince went to sleep.
It consisted of well known poets, psuedo-poets, those that hired poets
on the sly and passed off their poetry as their own, and others who ordered
poetry from a Ghazal Manufacturing Company and plain sycophants who considered
it their duty to raise any verse of the prince to great heights. Ummak Jung and Dhimmak Jung were prototypes
of this genre. There was Khammo, the Superintendent of the public
gardens, who was a great stickler to discipline and was duty minded. He is credited to have ordered a waterman
not doing his duty on a rainy day to pour water to the plants using an
umbrella!
This book, a translation of Darbar-e-Durbar
of Jaisi by Mr. Narendra Luther, who does an excellent job, adding to the
spice of the reading with his Introduction explaining the historical and social
life of that time and ample footnotes which clarify the subtler points in the
narrative. Mr. Luther, himself a writer
of repute and a connoisseur of Urdu poetry has a great sense of humour. Most of the Poems of the poet were
translated quite ably by him and put along with the text, in a racy style. He, however, leaves some alone lest their
beauty be spoiled.
All this
increases the readability of the book many times over. Right from his arrival at the Kachiguda
railway station in 1923, till his departure in 1953 Jaisi gives a highly
fascinating account of the happenings of the nightly court of the Junior Prince
bringing out vividly the splendour, pomp, the intrigues and the pettiness of
the courtiers and general mood of merriness of the court, as compared to the
rigid and frugal atmosphere of the ruler (the Nizam VII) father of the
Prince. It is a rare experience to
the readers to savour the royal spread
of dinner, the delights of the royal company and their prejudices, their
customs and superstitions. One of the
superstitions of the court was that when one’s eye gets irritated one has to
rub both the eyes in the royal presence.
Another one: Any article touched by a commoner is not used again by the
royalty. A servant happens to touch a
diamond studded smoking pipe and it is given away to him by the Prince. When the Prince goes to visit Bombay, a
waiter in the Hotel tricks the servant into parting with it and he becomes a
millionaire, while the poor man languishes as a servant.
Some of the
pranks played in the Court are interesting.
Such as the impending feigned death of Piya, the raconteur. And the
Iranian, whose knowledge of Urdu was put to ridicule with his inability to
pronounce correctly the hard ‘t’ in the word ‘chot’. One is reminded of Tenali Rama’s wit and
presence of mind in the court of Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar empire.
One is
delighted by such episodes recalling the eccentricity and munificence of the
Nizam VI (Mahboob Ali Khan) the Prince’s grandfather. The noted poet Dagh spends 10 years in Hyderabad before he
manages entry into the Court of the Nizam.
The Prince goes on a hunt and Dagh is called. In a moment of flippancy, the Nizam asks Dagh to show his
horsemanship. The unruly horse
throwsdown Dagh and bolts and the king
and the courtiers have a hearty laugh.
The Nizam enquires of Dagh of his stay at Hyderabad, and immediately
appoints him to the court on a salary of Rs.1,000/- and orders the Prime
Minister to pay him immediately arrears of the past 10 years. The next day the amount in gold and silver
is carted in bags to Dagh’s house!
Sidq’s
compositions include some marvellous pieces such as the one he has recited
before Najma, the beauty from Bombay:
“Zulfon peh kabhi phool se chere par nazar jaai
Kyaa waqt hai who bhi
jo huzoori main guzar jaai”
“Gaging at your tresses or ogling the flower face
Ah! The time spent in your attendance!”
which
completely captivates not only the Prince, but also readers like us.
The portrait
of the Prince that emerges is very much real and alive. The Prince prides himself of his descent
from his grand father than his father.
As usuall, the father gifts him with a newly stitched sherwani for
Eid. The Prince conveys his displeasure
to his father and the Nizam tells him that his sherwani is also made of the
same material. The Prince conveys his
displeasure to his father and the Nizam tells him that his sherwani is also
made of the same material. The Prince
replies that it is Okay for the Nizam as he has no father. But he, the Prince, has his father
alive! The Nizam is silenced by this
argument.
Here is a
book that one rarely comes across, depicting as much History as of poetry and
lives of the Kings and their courts. A
very valuable addition to any or anyone’s library.
- Vemaraju Narasimha Rao
India! Speak up!! Dr. T. H. Chowdary,
Sahitya Niketan, Kesava Nilayam, Barkatpura, Hyderabad; Price: Rs.125/-
; US $5/-; pp:342.
Dr. T. H.
Chowdary, who is well known for his scholarship as well as forthrightness in fearless expression of his views has rightly titled the
book “India! Speak up!!” This book is a collection of the author’s
essays written on wide-ranging topics contributed to various publications
during the last three years. It is a
companion volume to his previous publication under the title ‘India Under
Strain’ which was brought out in 2002.
The book in
question contains seven sections and the articles covered under these sections
are thought-provoking and of public interest, bearing a testimony to the
author’s rich experience, understanding and insights into the areas of
education, literature, social problems, science and technology etc., He covers
subjects of national importance and pressing problems that the Indian society
is facing these days.
In chapter IV
on Terrorism he discusses the Naxal problem, LTTE – Srilankan imbroglio, Israel-Palestine
issue and Kashmir. In the Essay “Education Divide” he takes cudgels against
commercialisation of education where in most of the educational institutes do
not comply with the stipulations laid down by the designated authorities. He also expresses his concern about the
falling educational standards and laments
the lack of quality in professional education.In another essay he
elaborately discusses the urgent need of revamping and revitalising
Intermediate Education and suggests some
reforms to overhaul BIE which is now in doldrums.
The cover
page is designed beautifully. The book
has a wealth of information coupled with constructive criticism.
I. Satyasree