Embers

Bhadka rahen hain aag lab-e naghmagar se hum

Khamosh kya rahenge zamaane ke dar se hum

• Sahir Ludhianvi

 

The publication of a book which was instrumental in the creation of one of the greatest literary movement –PWA (Progressive Writer’s Association) in Indian history and was so far unavailable in English language, should call for a big celebration. Hence, the moment I saw the English translation of Angarey (translated from the Urdu by Vibha Chauhan and Khalid Alvi, Rupa, 2014) up for pre-order at one of the more popular e-commerce sites, I immediately placed my order. Originally published in Urdu in December 1932 by Nizami Press in Lucknow ,the book containing nine short stories and a play, was banned within 4 months by the government for insulting the religious sentiments of the people (Doesn’t that sound familiar?). The four young contributors - Sajjad Zahir (5 short stories), Ahmed Ali (2 short stories), Mahmuduzzafar (1 short story) and Rashid Jahan (1 short story and 1 play) however refused to apologize and Mahmuduzzafar even wrote an article ‘In Defence of Angarey’ (April 5, 1933) for the newspaper The Leader. The Press was by and large critical of the book and once the book was banned by the government, all copies of the book were destroyed (set on fire). Undeterred by the criticism Sajjad Zaheer, who had emerged as the leader of the group decided to use literature to challenge the social ills and orthodoxy prevalent in Indian society and went on to form the PWA in 1934 along with Jyotirmaya Ghosh, Mulk Raj Anand and Mohammad Tasir. He received full support for this endeavor from many stalwarts of Indian literature like Premchand and  Maithilisharan Gupt.

Only five copies of Angarey survived. However, the microfilm of the book had been preserved in the British Museum in London and once it was brought to India, the stories were edited by Khalid Alvi (who teaches Urdu at Zakir Hussain College, Delhi ) and the book was re-published in Urdu in 1995. It received tremendous response and has run into several editions since. Why no one thought of translating this landmark book into English since 1995 is something which the publishers need to ponder. However, a chance discussion between Khalid and his colleague at Zakir Hussain college, Vibha Chauhan (who teaches English) laid the foundation for this translation. Both need to be complemented for their effort in translation as well as their concise introduction in the book which gives the reader a background to the significance of the book.

Great literature has often been described as one which transcends time and even though the stories in this collection were written more than 80 years back many of the themes in the stories are still relevant today. Be it the lowly peon Jumman (‘A Summer Night’) or the exploited house help Dulari (‘Dulari’) there will be no redemption for them from their miserable existence. In ‘Heaven Assured!’, Sajjad Zahir has taken on the clergy head on and I am sure this one must have offended the conservatives the most. ‘Masculinity’ and ‘Behind the Veil:A One-Act Play’ are a lament to the poor state of women in our society

The stories also broke new grounds as far the writing techniques in Indian literature were concerned. We see use of ‘narrative techniques like the stream of consciousness and the interior monologue’ and as Nadira Babbar (daughter of Sajjad Zahir) mentions in her Foreword to the book-‘Qamar Rais often discussed the impact that Angarey had on writings of other writers of the PWA like Premchand and Manto’.

Not having read the original Urdu text I won’t be able to comment on the quality of translation but just going by the credentials, I am sure they have done full justice to the original text.

Even as I write my blog, another translation of the book is about to hit the stores (this one by Penguin). So I guess finally the book is going to get a wider readership and recognition it so rightly deserves.

Money Mania

 ‘People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome’

George Orwell

All those who have seen Yash Chopra’s films must be familiar with the Tulip Gardens of Netherland where many a heroes of Yash Raj films have serenaded heroines with melodious songs. However, few people would know that tulips are not indigenous to Holland. They were brought to Holland in the late 1550s from the Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey).Though tulips may be easily available in Holland nowadays, it was always not so. When they first reached Holland it sparked off such a mania amongst the local population that it plunged the Dutch economy into a crisis. Initially the prices sky-rocketed but like all bubbles it was only a matter of time before the prices crashed. Such interesting anecdotes starting from the economy of the Roman empire abound in Bob Swarup’s Money Mania-Booms, Panics, and Busts from ancient Rome to the great meltdown (Bloomsbury India) which tries to make sense of various financial crisis  over the ages. It is amazing to read that even though a financial crisis in some form or other have been recurring with regularity right from the beginning of our civilization, we do not learn from these and continue to make similar mistakes again and again. The reason behind this cyclical pattern concludes the author is that at the end of the day, humans are at the heart of any financial institution or social order and it is but natural that any decision taken by a human being would be subject to the cognitive biases which are inherent to human behavior and will always remain so. These include ‘Aversion to ambiguity’, ‘Cognitive Dissonance’, ‘Extrapolation’, ‘Illusion of Control’, ‘Overconfidence’ etc. all of which prevent the human beings from taking a rational and logical decision whenever an opportunity to make money arises. The author obviously has a good grasp of the subject (he is a London based financial analyst who has been on the boards of several hedge funds and private equity firms) and towards the end the author attempts to offer practical solutions to prevent or at least mitigate the effect of any future financial crisis. I am sure many learned men have thought about these steps earlier and may even have implemented a few. But can the implementation of these prevent us from another financial crisis? I am not so sure about it. The book may not appeal to a casual reader but those with a bit of interest in economics or financial markets  or with some basic understanding of these subjects would definitely find this anecdotes laden book interesting and appreciate the insights offered by the author.