Remembering Kader Khan In These Horrendous Times Of Degenerated Languages

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 21 September 2023 A few days ago, I bumped into an actor in Poona who was once a student of actor-comedian Kader Khan. Khan taught him Urdu diction and the nuances of the language. The Hindi of that actor was passable and his Urdu was tolerable, considering the general level of Hindi and Urdu spoken by the film stars who just cannot read scripts in Devanagari, let alone Urdu. When that actor mentioned the name of Kader Khan, a deluge of memories overwhelmed me. Actor And Script-Writer Kader Khan ------ Till 2010, people of Poona would often see the late actor and script-writer Kader Khan have a stroll at Koregaon Park, Wanowrie and Kondhwa of Poona. Kader Khan loved Poona and its ambience. Though ostensibly gregarious, Kader Khan's real-life persona was diametrically opposite of his image on the marquee, where he appeared to be a comedian and at times, a tad frivolous. An extremely well-read man, Kader Khan would always carry a fat notebook and a book of poetry. Though he had an Engineering degree and taught at a College in Bombay, his first love was literature and one would always find him engrossed in reading and writing. While teaching at a reputable film institute, where he briefly taught dialogue delivery, he'd begin his lecture with the standard refrain: 'Aap Jo Zabaan Bol Aur Sun Rahe Hain Woh Adab Se Koson Door Hai. Yeh Bambai Ki Zabaan Hai Aur Aap Ko Adabi Zabaan Seekhni Hai' (The language you speak and hear is miles away from literature. It's Bombay's lingo and you're expected to learn standard language). Kader would regale his students with jokes but not a single joke was vulgar or had a double meaning. I once asked him, " Why did he never use puns in classrooms the way he spontaneously used them on the silver screen? " His answer made me think, "Ye Atfaal-E-Naadaan Hain. Inhein Abhi Se Zabaan Ka Naazeb Pahloo Dikhana Mere Zameer Ke Khilaaf Hai" (The students are very young and impressionable. I don't want to show them the not-so-refined aspect of a language). He'd often say that there were other better things to learn about a language than learning the tongue-in-cheek expressions. That was his nobility very few are aware of. Hailing from Kabul, Kader had an enviable command of Pashto, Arabic and of course, Urdu. His English was also excellent. Despite being so famous and respectable, he was disarmingly modest and would never hesitate to call me up whenever he'd baulk at a Pashto or Dari (Afghan variant of Persian) word, knowing that I learnt and spoke the languages like a native speaker. Kader Khan would often say, "Main Apne Naam Ko Jeeta Hoon" (I live up to my name). Though his name in Arabic, predominantly means 'Powerful' (Qadir), it also means 'green' and 'innocence.' He had both. His ideas were forever verdant and he had a childlike innocence. Interestingly, Kader in Pashto means 'unfazed' and 'unperturbed.' He was truly unperturbed. Despite having seen so many upheavals in life, he remained unfazed and would often say, "Zindagi Jahad-e-Musalsal Hai Tamasha Toh Nahin/ Jeene Waale Hi Rahte Hain Toofaan Ke Qareeb" (Life is a perpetual strife. It's not a charade. Those who love live to the hilt live cheek-by-jowl with the tempests). One more endearing quality of Kader Khan was his accessibility. Anyone could approach him and ask for autographs. His interactions were always peppered with apt and apposite Urdu, Persian and Arabic couplets and he'd immediately render them into his flawless English. But he seldom flaunted his mastery over English, which I believe was as good as that of a professor of English language. Kader called himself a teacher, a teacher of languages. Bad language would get his goat and fine language would evoke his admiration. Though I didn't meet him frequently in Poona, whenever we'd meet, we shall discuss all things barring cinema and his dialogues!! But he's hardly remembered today. By the way, he felt very lonely towards the fag-end of his life. He passed away in Toronto on December 31, 2018. In these rotten times of WhatsApp language when even leading newspapers are fraught with grammatical and orthographic errors, when almost everyone writes and speaks weirdly, I ruefully remember Kader Khan and his love for languages. Alas, no one speaks that way. ------ 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/kader-khan-horrendous-degenerated-languages/d/130723 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