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Kashmir teacher on death, Urdu
and poetry of Ghalib
Released 01 April, 2015
While strolling through the narrow streets of old Delhi, I found Ishrat Ali in Jama Masjid waiting — waiting to catch his train back to Kashmir, his home. He was returning after finishing his exams at Aligarh Muslim University.
I struck up a conversation with Ishrat. He shares his views on the sweetness of the Urdu language, and his thoughts on a life lived well — which, according to him, is for the preparation of life after death. He also relates a poem by the eighteenth-century Mughal-era poet Mirza Ghalib and a funny story about King Haroon Rashid and Behlool the Insane.
Notice the way he tells of his age, which is cryptic and poetic at the same time. However, it sounds more beautiful in his native tongue of Urdu.
