‘Is this what the desperate call a life?’ Four ghazals by Amrit Lal “Ishrat” Madhok
Photo: Karan Madhok
‘Are we mere companions, or do we swim / Together in the fountains of heaven, waters blue?’
- Translated by: Karan Madhok
Translator’s note: Amrit Lal “Ishrat” Madhok (1930-1989) was an Indian poet, professor, and historian. A number of his Urdu ghazals—written roughly between 1955–1975—were published in both the Urdu and Devanagari scripts in the collection Yaadgar-E-Ishrat (“Memories of Ishrat”) in 1994.
Amrit Lal “Ishrat” Madhok
The ghazal is a strict format, a collection of shers or couplets ideally intended for verbal recitation or performance. Its value and aesthetic quality depend almost entirely on its formal structure. The repetition of key words adds a rhythm to the recitation of the ghazal, and prepares the listeners to focus not just on the word that is repeated, but the rhyming word that precedes it.
It is common for shers or ghazals to end with a couplet that incorporates the poet’s penname, or takhallus. Madhok's takhallus was ‘Ishrat’—meaning ‘joy’ or ‘delight’—and the poet rarely let a ghazal end without this wink to himself.
In translating Ishrat’s ghazals into English, the challenge was to keep both the strict, repetitive format of the form while not losing its essential meaning. The translations below are a result of the synthesis of those tugging approaches. You can find more about the poet and this translation project in my essay, “Amrit Lal Ishrat and the Urdu ghazals of self-consolation.”
*
The afternoon clouds brought forth the evening for me,
In my chalice, the raindrops began scheming on me.
She was tender while her chalice was still filled,
Then she thundered with the wrath of all seasons on me.
Indeed, it was a difficult harvest of roses,
But why must autumn spill with treason for me?
When I see your reflection in the light of the sea,
Khayyam’s verses sang my visions for me.
In memory, she flashes a stray smile at me,
And promises became curses for me.
At first, I offered my best efforts, my life.
In failure I bow, fate immerses upon me.
Ishrat, she rises, a statuesque goddess
Like dawn in Banaras, beaming for me.
(July 1965)
*
Closer to my destination, I came,
A life in opposition, I claim.
Your shroud is a gust of the eastern winds
In misfortune, there stationed, I remain.
Dishonoured in wine cellars or
Lost nightingale in gardens, the same.
Distanced from the one I chased,
To the last blood in my vessels, I strain.
She should taste flowers on her lips, Ishrat
To the dew-drops, so fated, I remain
(July 1955)
*
My heart believes your promises are true
No matter if you forget one or two.
Now why are you sitting there sulking so, huzoor?
There may be no torment for me and you.
Are we mere companions, or do we swim
Together in the fountains of heaven, waters blue?
Subtracted by your absence, my condition
Absents all, the world abandons me, too
Stars wander over the jungle this night,
Morning threatens death, direction renewed.
Perhaps ignorance is your answer, Ishrat, so reflect:
A poet, a smile, and my youth.
(October 1958)
*
Is this what the desperate call a life?
Is this what the heartbroken call a life?
At night’s end, when they break,
Is this what the stars call a life?
Meandering to no destination,
Is this the only path for my life?
Beneath the warm blossoms of the season,
Is this what the scattered thorns call a life?
In the last breath before winter dawns,
Is this what blooms of spring call a life?
Devoted to these flowers, Ishrat
Showers of rose-petalled faces, a life.
(May 1965)
***
Amrit Lal “Ishrat” Madhok (1930-1989) was an Indian poet, professor, and historian. He published nearly a dozen books on his lifetime, focusing on subjects of Iranian history, literary criticisms, and the history of Urdu shayari. Outside of his academic work, he published several of ghazals in Indian literary journals, most prominent of which appeared in Bisawi Sadi. A collection of his ghazals were published in the collection Yaadgar-E-Ishrat (“Memories of Ishrat”) in 1994.
Karan Madhok is a writer, journalist, and editor of The Chakkar, whose fiction, translation, and poetry have appeared in The Literary Review, The Bombay Review, The Lantern Review, F(r)iction, and more. He is the founder of the Indian basketball blog Hoopistani and His sports journalism has been published for NBA India, SLAM Magazine, Firstpost, Scroll, and more. A graduate of the American University’s MFA programme, Karan is currently working on his first novel. Twitter: @karanmadhok1
