Why Living With Mediocrity Is Always So Tragic And Painful

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 11 July 2023 Way back in 2002, the legendary English scholar of Urdu, Sir Ralph Russell said at Oxford that Mirza Ghalib destroyed nearly half of his Persian Ghazals because people were unable to understand his abstruse Persian poetry. Even his Urdu poetry, laden with archaic Persian words, was difficult to decipher. So, one can imagine how recondite his Persian poetry may have been. The same fate befell Allama Iqbal, whose Persianised poetry is still quite difficult to understand. Interestingly as well as ironically, masses liked and quoted all (comparatively) mediocre Kalam (writings) of the two greats! What they (Ghalib and Iqbal) themselves considered to be ordinary, became extraordinary to the people! Did you know, towards the fag-end of his life, Faiz Ahmad Faiz got so angry with the overwhelming admiration of his Ghazal, 'Gulon Mein Rang Bhare Baade-Naubahar Chale' (immortalised by Mehdi Hasan) that he'd often say, "Maine Aur Bhi Kuchh Likha Hai Aur Mujhe Lagta Hai Ke Iss-Se Behtar Likha Ha" (I've written something else and better at that). Ahmad ' Faraz' had the same grievance, nay exasperation, when the masses quoted 'Ranjish Hi Sahi Dil Hi Dukhane' (again immortalised by Mehdi Hasan) ad nauseam. He wrote better Ghazals and in fact, Mehdi Hasan also sang better Ghazals. But people forgot those gems and remembered only those they could relate to. Rafi's finest songs like 'Kaise Kategi Zindagi Tere Baghair' (Unreleased film, 1963, composed by Madan Mohan and written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan), 'Baazi Kisi Ne Pyaar Ki Jeeti Ya Haar Dee' (Nazrana, composed by Ravishankar Sharma and penned by Rajendra Krishna Duggal, 1961), 'Mujhe Tum Se Muhabbat Hai Magar Main Kah Nahin Sakta' (Bachpan, Hasrat Jaipuri, composed by Sardar Malik) or 'Ghame-Hasti Se Bas Begana Hota' (Film: Wallah Kya Baat Hai, Anand Bakshi, music: Roshan Lal Nagrath, 1962) are practically unknown to the hoi polloi. Rafi as well as perceptive music critics considered these numbers to be his very best and would cringe when his popular songs like 'Ye Mera Prem Patra Padh Kar' (Sangam, 1964), 'Koi Jab Raah Dikhaye' (Film: Dosti), 'Jaane Walo Zara Mud Ke Dekho' (Dosti ) or 'Akele Hain Chale Aao' (Film: Raaz, 1967) were praised and elevated to the seventh heaven. Alas, Rafi's Paan-Shop songs became his signature numbers and exquisite ones were forgotten by the mediocre listeners with no ears for fine music. Why does this happen? Nearly a millennium ago, Sheikh Sadi (now the western world calls him world's first psychologist) observed in Gulistan that what masses liked would never be appreciated by the classes and vice versa. Masses are always more in number and classes are very few. Where there's a quantity, there cannot be any quality. Masses can never be true arbiters of finesse. Legendary poet-lyricist Shailendra's brilliant film ' Teesri Qasam ' (1966) and Sunil Dutt's internationally acclaimed movie ' Reshma aur Shera ' (1971) failed miserably as the cine-goers rejected them outright because they didn't understand. Shailendra committed suicide. Though the masses didn't like the films, critics and connoisseurs always appreciated these two cinematic creations. General people often lack interest in substance. This is the irony and this has been happening right from the beginning. The crowd cannot digest nuanced things. No offence meant, there's a famous Turkish adage. Let me state that: A dog cannot digest pure honey and ghee (clarified butter). Mind you, this is not an analogy, just a metaphor to drive home the point. What's gaudy, garish and tawdry will instantaneously appeal to their senses. In this age of utter mediocrity, all truly creative people have to live with those, having plebeian tastes and rank substandard proclivities. This is the tragedy, nay curse, of creativity. Let me articulate my angst with this couplet in Urdu, "Zubaan Samjhe Woh Humzubaan Na Mila/ Mere Ilm Ka Koi Qadradaan Na Mila." ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/living-mediocrity-tragic-painful/d/130183 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism