Majnoon Gorakhpuri's first article Roone Wala Falsafi (the weeping philosopher) was published in 1921. It was on Schopenhauver - a German philosopher whose ideas on Art and India had influenced the post - 1885 generation. I am referring to the post-1885 generation on purpose. The year 1885 is the year of the birth of the All India Congress Committee which is today ruling the Center in India along with its coalition partners. It is also the year when the Vogue of modern education had picked up momentum and was only two years away from Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.
Majnoon Gorakhpuri was a short story writer and critic and he, along with Firaq Gorakhpuri did the seminal work in bringing Mushafi into focus. Hardly any attention was paid to Mushafi before Majnoon and Firaq.
Mushafi brought enthralling sensuousness to Urdu Ghazal and we can feel it from Hasrat Mohani to Faiz Ahmed Faiz regardless of the fact whether their poetic lineage could be traced back to Mushafi or not.
May be it was Schopenhauer's peculiar influence which drove Majnoon Gorakhpuri and Firaq Gorakhpuri to the appreciation of Mushafi - a poet full of colours - the colours of spring and other euphoric qualities common to aesthetics' predilections.
Mushafi stands fully revived - rather gratefully remembered - in spite of Muhammad Husain Azad's deregratory comments. Azad's was a highly urban sensibility and didn't look upon regional vocabulary in Urdu poetry with favour. Therefore, he neglected Nazeer Akbarabadi altogether and had a snipe at Mushafi for his 'Amroha-pan' thereby meaning - vocabulary which didn't carry the stamp of the approval of Delhi school. Now who could ignore Nazeer Akbarabadi because it was he who was the pioneer in introducing the Indian festivals and motifs in his poetry. He is, perhaps, the first Urdu poet who has introduced 'the female gender' as is sweetheart. The credit for this innovation is given to Akhtar Sheerani which is far from being correct. Hasrat Mohani - and even Maulana Hali, in some of his ghazals, have addressed their love-poetry to the female gender. The credit should, therefore, go where it is due. It is Nazeer Akbarabadi and then Mushafi who, besides following the usual tradition, have broken new ground.
Majnoon Gorakhpuri was one of the regular contributors of monthly 'Nigar' and he wrote poetry and short stories as well. Some of his short stories were the harbingers of the Romantic Moment in Urdu which was a reaction against Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's simple and didactic prose.
His book on aesthetics, Tarikh-i-Jamaliat was the first book of its kind in Urdu, but it was his article Adab Aur Zindagi, along with Dr.Akhtar Husain Raepuri's Adab Aur Inquilab, which changed his destination. Urdu criticism became Majnoon Gorakhpuri's forte in late 30s. He devoted less and less attention to poetry or short story. It won't be wrong to say that he revolutionised Urdu criticism. He had a unique style and a comprehensive grasp over world literature. The more Majnoon was attracted toward criticism the more his bosom friend, Firaq Gorakhpuri, felt himself compelled to devote his attention to poetry. Both were called phrase coiners and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had, at one time, made them responsible for drafting the AICC Resolutions. They commanded great respect from the Anglo-Phils of their day.
Majnoon migrated to Pakistan in 1967 after having edited the first volume of the Aligarh University's Tarikh-i-Urdu Adab which raised a lot of eyebrows for its printing errors. In Pakistan his contribution was 'Ghalib'. Shabnam Roomani, Sehba Lucknawi and this writer worked as a team to publish Armaghan-i-Majnoon Gorakhpuri which, I believe, is quite an important contribution to Majnoon Gorakhpuri studies.
Majnoon Gotrakhpuri was remembered by the Academy of Letters this years. It proves that the Academy thought it worthwhile to focus on a very important critic of Urdu literature. He worked all his life for 'enlightenment' and 'modernity'. Perhaps the government's emphasis on 'enlightened moderation' and 'progressivism' have been imbibed from the works of the progressive movement of Urdu literature. Quite a right step. The means serve the ends. How could we ignore writers who have preached the gospel of tolerance in a society which is full of tensions and strifes.
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Jeelani Bano
Jeelani Bano came to Karachi, stayed for a few days and had to rush back to Hyderabad (A.P) to see her ailing brother who was reported seriously ill.
Jeelani Bano is a front ranking short story writer of Urdu. She has been translated into many Indian and International languages. Having been honoured with many awards including Bazm-i-Farogh-i-Urdu Adab Alami Award, Doha three years back she has had a chequred career spread over 50 years.
Some of her stories for example, 'Moam Ki Guriya,' 'Main,' and 'Khail Ka Tamashai' would surely survive even in a short list of 20 stories. Quite an achievement. She has written a few novelettes and novels as well. But it is the genre of short story which has made Jeelani Bano a high priestess of Urdu fiction. She is quite as productive as Qurrat-ul-Ain Haider but not as fond of exhibiting her "sense of history". She has never tried to work for a fame resting on 'scholarship'. She is a good, rather acute, observer of insignificant details which work wonders for her.
Jeelani Bano attaches great importance to events happening around her. Qurrat-ul-Ain Haider's comment on Gujarat tragedy explains what it means. Ms. Haider is of the opinion that the Gujarat tragedy couldn't have happened had the progressive writhers been effective. Ms. Haider has confessed that she couldn't do anything to prevent the Gujarat tragedy from happening. One doesn't know if she was referring to the damage which the neutrality of writers was capable of causing to the humanistic norms at a given time.
Irtiqa Adabi Forum's function to honour Jeelani Bano, presided over by Hajira Masroor, Urdu's senior most short writer today, was well attended.
Jeelani Bano said a few words about her short story writing. She said that the best short story was still eluding her. It had not been written as yet but she would keep trying. Shehnaz Shoro and Zahida Hina readout their short stories. Zahida Hina is an accomplished short story writer and she had written her story against the background of Afghanistan tragedy. Shehnaz Shoro dealt with our rural life and her story was also indicative of the fact that a wide-awake writer was one who cared for humanity in distress.