An Evening with Mirza Ghalib in Toronto
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Saturday, May 28, 2011 (5 pm to 7 pm)
Venue: 1120 Finch Ave. West # 202, North York, Ontario.
Admission: Free (By Invitation Only)
This event is sponsored by :
Mirza Ghalib
There’s a genius that the world of Urdu knows as Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869). A poet of extraordinary linguistic talent and poetic depth! Never before Ghalib had anyone in the Indian subcontinent raised questions of philosophical and metaphysical content using words firmly rooted in Persian, Arabic and Hindi traditions. Ghalib’s poetry is profound, irreverent and dazzlingly eloquent.
Ghalib was the pen name of Mirza Asad Ullah Khan. He was court poet to the last Mughal Emperor in Delhi. Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra to a Turkish family that had originally relocated to Samarkand to avoid political upheaval in Turkey. His grandfather then moved to India in the late 1700s. His family became a military family, his grandfather, father and uncles all serving as officers in the Indian army.
Ghalib's father was killed in battle when Ghalib was just a boy; he was subsequently raised by his uncle and other distant relatives. Ghalib was married at a young age, apparently not a happy marriage, and all seven of his children died in infancy.
These terrible sorrows seem to have inspired his interior exploration, through doubts and grief, but also to moments of profound clarity and artistic beauty.
Ghalib's life bridged several cultures, traditions, languages, and social strata. He is called the last of India's classical poets, and the first of the moderns. He was of Turkish descent, but an Indian poet. He was a court poet who often wrote in the courtly language of Persian, but he is best known for his couplets written in the popular local tongue of Urdu. He wrote at the end of the Mughal Empire and the beginning of British rule in India. His poetry spoke to Muslims and Hindus alike.
> Read and Listen to Mirza Ghalib's poetry
> Listen to Ghalib's ghazals by various artists
> Mirza Ghalib bio on Wikipedia
Khuda Bux Abro & Mirza Ghalib
There’s a brilliant artist that the world of Pakistani art knows as Khuda Bux Abro. He is a painter, a calligrapher, a designer, a poet, a thinker and an ardent admirer of Ghalib. The 19th century poet is his mentor and friend, his guide and mate, his subject and object… all at the same time.
Hum anjuman samajhte hain khalwat hi kion na ho
(Man contains multitude Even in solitude he’s a world unto himself) Abro works for Pakistan’s largest and most respected English newspaper, Dawn, as a visualizer. This provides him with a daily dose of information, pleasant and unsavory alike. The artist in him often exhibits his art in the form of politically charged and socially aware illustrations and caricatures in the newspaper as well as in its magazines. But even in an ostensibly professional exercise he doesn’t let Ghalib out of his sight. He knows the ephemeral nature of the news and transience that’s inherent in man. Ishrat-i-qatra hai darya mein fana ho jana
Dard ka hud se guzarna hai dawa ho jana
(A droplet’s mirth lies in merging with the river
Unbearable pain eventually becomes a panacea) Abro has dabbled in most genres of art. But his love of calligraphy stems from his understanding of the sanctity of words (and colors, for each word to him represents a shade). When he draws Ghlalib, he doesn’t just draw an interpretation of a particular couplet, he tries to paint a multilayered image, brimming with meaning. Hasti ke mut fareb mein aa jayeo Asad
Alam tamam halqa-i-daam-i-khayal hai
(Don’t be duped by existence Asad The universe is but a thought’s slave)
"The colors that Abro uses in his calligraphic attempt to pay homage to Ghalib are solid and bold. He brings into play orange, blue, green and black, signifying that Ghalib’s poetry isn’t as abstruse as many think he is. As a result, Abro comes up with an extraordinary body of work. Together, the artist and the poet, make a great team, just like a Ghalib couplet."
- Peerzada Salman
MORE INFORMATION:
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Email:
idreamentertainment2010@gmail.com
Tel:
647-300-3247
