|
By Deepak Budki
Urdu
literature is indeed indebted to writers like Mir, Ghalib, Iqbal, Prem Chand,
Mantoo and Bedi for their creative and original writings but one cannot
undermine the contributions of critics and research scholars like Altaf Hussain
Hali, Ehtesham Hussain, Aal-e- Ahmed Saroor, Qamar Rais and the like for
exploring the worlds of these writers in depth and preparing the common mind to
appreciate them. One such scholar is Dr. Brij Premi who despite meager resources
at his disposal explored the intricate world of Manto, a doyen of Urdu fiction .
In fact, it took Premi almost a decade to collect data about Saadat Hassan Manto
from different parts of the Sub-continent where Manto had either stayed for a
short time or lived for a longer duration, especially from across the border
i.e. Pakistan where Manto had ultimately migrated at the time of partition
never to return to the land he loved the most, viz Bombay, now rechristened as
Mumbai. Brij Premi set out to explore the virgin world of Manto at a time when
Urdu, Iqbal and Manto had become an anathema in India. The boldness, promiscuity
and notoriety attached to Manto, the D H Lawrence of Urdu Literature, had
invited the ire of self styled purists in both India
and Pakistan.
Brij Krishen
Aima was born in a lower middle class family in Kashmir Valley. He lost his
father at an early age and had to support his family when he was just fourteen.
He joined the Boy-service in the State Deptt. of Education after giving up his
education. As a teacher, he suffered as a result of transfers from one village
to another. His first pay packet was a meager sum of thirty rupees. Under such
circumstances it was but natural that he should join the bandwagon of
Progressive writers who were very active at that time.
His first
short story “Aqa” (The Master) was published in ‘the Amarjyoti’,
Srinagar.
Thereafter his stories appeared one after the other in a number of newspapers
and magazines within and without the state of Jammu and Kashmir. He adopted the pen name of ‘Brij Premi’
and established himself as a short story writer in the valley. He writes about
himself, "My literary life as a short-story writer started in the middle of
twentieth century. More often than not I used to pour out the pain and anguish
of my soul into my stories. Even now whenever my inner agony makes me restless ,
a story is born. In fact, short-story writing is my first love (Harfe Just-ajoo)."
Brij Premi’s
inner world was no different from the outer world in which he was constrained
to live. The peasants, the labourers and the artisans of Kashmir were
continuously being exploited by landlords and the capitalists, and consequently
rendered poor, starved and penniless. The sub-human conditions in which his
brethren lived haunted him day and night and hence he used his pen to depict
their plight. He drew inspiration from Prem Nath Pardesi, another progressive
writer who was popularly known as ‘the Prem Chand of
Kashmir’. Apart from Pardesi, Brij Premi
was influenced by the great romanticist, Krishen Chander, who had an emotional
attachment with
J&K State
and used to describe its natural beauty in mesmerizing narrative in his
short-stories . Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi too had influenced Brij Premi’s style to some
extent. Notwithstanding, the writer who most influenced Brij Premi in his later
life was the bespectacled, Liquor–addict workhorse known as Saadat
Hassan Manto. The latter had such an impact on his mind that he devoted his
rest of life to undertake extensive research on Manto . Premi not only wrote
‘Saadat Hassan Manto-Life and works’ and ‘Manto Katha’ but also
conducted research on several writers of J&K State besides other historical and
literary topics. Alas, the cruel jaws of death snatched him away at a time when
he was at his productive best.
While
talking of Brij Premi I must acknowledge the dedication and devotion of his
worthy son Dr. Premi Romani towards his illustrious father. I came to know
Dr.Brij Premi through his son only when I was beginning to enter the ‘Make
believe world of Literature’ from that of ‘Matter of the fact world of Science’.
Romani having noticed my flair for calligraphy asked me to write the final
copies of his father’s thesis .We used to sit till late in the night in his
house at Ali Kadal, Brij Premi used to give the corrected copy of his thesis
which I used to write legibly. However I could not keep my promise to the end
due to some personal compulsions and wrote about sixty percent of the thesis
only. Later Romani himself completed the rest. However, at the end, I
decorated the thesis by drawing caricatures of Manto at the beginning of each
chapter. My joy knew no bounds when only after 2-3 months I came to know that
Brij Premi had been awarded the Doctorate by the Univesity of Kashmir. Having
come to know Brij Premi so closely, I found him an unassuming, soft spoken and a
thorough gentleman who had devoted a life time to Urdu literature and Kashmir
History. He would not, however, display his knowledge by talking about it every
where which was a distinct sign of his humility. He was simple in his life
style, coy and modest and showed no signs of promiscuousness commonly attributed
to the poets and prose writers.
Abdul Ghani
Sheikh writes about Dr. Brij Premi, “Krishen Chander and Manto have a vivid
influence on the thought and style of Premi. His choice of words and felicity
of his diction are superlative”. I do not, however, entirely agree with AG
Sheikh. It is true that Brij Premi spent his life time on Manto and his works
and one can see the latter’s influence on Premi’s writing in later part of his
life but fact remains that most of the short stories written by Premi had been
penned down much before Manto had made any impact on his mind. Though Premi
wanted to write stories based on psychology and human behaviour in the
footsteps of Manto yet his own gentlemanliness and lack of exposure to what
Manto called ‘Sewers of society’ became a stumbling block for him. There were
no brothels to visit in
Kashmir,
no Saugandhis or Sultanas to keep him company nor were there any Babu Gopi
Naths to sacrifice everything for these forlorn castaways. Pushkar Nath, a
well-known writer from Kashmir comments, “Those days Manto started dominating
the literary scene and slowly Brij Premi got attracted towards him. Though he
could not write exactly like Manto since he did not have a similar environment
as Manto was beset in, yet he absorbed and assimilated each and every word of
Manto and ultimately it all fructified in the form of his thesis ‘Sa’adat
Hassan Manto Life and Works’.
‘Sapnoon Ki Sham’, a collection of short stories written by
Dr.Brij Premi contains sixteen short stories. Most of them are written against
the backdrop of beautiful lush green fields of
Kashmir
surrounded by blue snow- capped mountains but poverty and exploitation which
resulted in pestilence and consumption ultimately take over and expose the
delicate moth-eaten fabric of the society. In “Mansbal Jab Sookh
Gaya”
(When
Manasbal Dried), a helpless mentally delinquent servant stakes his life to
protect the property of his master. In ‘Larazte Aansoo’ (Trembling
Tears), a man seeking transfer on account of unhygienic conditions is asked by
his boss to send his daughter which enrages him and turns him into a
Socialist. “Hansi Ki Maut” (Death of a Smile) is a story of brave
educated and hardworking lady who struggles all her life to support her
unemployed husband and the child. ‘Bahte Nasoor’ (Festering
Sores) comprises three short short-stories or what we now call Mini stories. In
the first, Prakash seduces his girl friend and later sells her in
Bombay
red light area. In the second, a father loses his son for mere four annas which
he could not afford. In the third story two friends are compared, one who has
acquired riches while the other still remains a pauper.
‘Nanhi Kahanyan’
(possibly the word was coined to mean Mini
Stories)comprises two short short- stories. In the first the exploitation of
police is exposed while in the second a master kills his servant for not
supplying him his wife. ‘Ujhri Baharoon Ke Ujhre Phool’ (The
Withered Flowers of Wasted Spring) is a story revealed by a madman who loses his
wife and child as a result of unemployment and consequent penury and finds his
dreams shattered . In ‘Yaad’ (The Memories) the narrator keeps
watching the oarsman while crossing a river. The Oarsman is lost in his
thoughts trying to recollect his love-affair in youth. ‘Sharnarthi’
(The Refugee) is a story of a refugee who has lost his father defending his
village and is himself crushed mercilessly by a richman under his car.
Surprisingly, the richman is not booked by the police. ‘Chilman Ke Sayoon
Mein’ (Behind the curtain) is based on fetishism and has a distinct
imprint of Manto in its treatment. ‘Aansoon ke Deep’ (The Tearful
Farewell) is a story of a mother saying goodbye to a dying child.
‘Sapnoon ki Sham’ is a romantic story written in the style
of Krishan Chander in which an uneducated woman Saaji falls in love with a
village teacher who saves her life. She is later married to another person
Salaama. Saaji is drowned in the rivulet flowing by while trying to build a
bund on its banks to provide help to her husband. The village teacher offers a
wreathe of his tears to the deceased while sitting on the bank of the rivulet.
‘Mere Bache Ki Saalgirah’ (The Birthday of my Son) is a story of
dreams and apprehensions with romantic narrative in Krishan Chander style. The
story touches the personal life of the progressive writer who is congratulated
by his friends prophesying that ‘Mao’ had taken birth in his
house in the shape of his child. Needless to say that the writer must have felt
proud dreaming his child to be a Mao in the making at a time when Socialism was
regarded as the ultimate goal of a civilized society. ‘Amar Jyoti’
(The Eternal Flame) is another story influenced by Socialism where a Russian
lady honours a dead body by digging a grave for him under the cloud of bullets
and canons. Later on she lights a flame on his grave. ‘Lamhon Ki Rakh’
(The Embers of Time) is a nostalgic recollection of the narrator’s past love
affair with
Almas.
‘Teesein Dard Ki’ (Writhes of pain) is a story of an apprehensive
husband who always doubts his wife for her affair during the premarital days. On
the contrary, the wife is magnanimous to look after her husband during his
sickness unmindful of the treatment meted out to her by him earlier.
‘Khwaboon Ke Dareeche’ ( A Peep into the Dreams) is a story based on
sadism and Voyeurism and has a clear stamp of Mantovian style on it.
As per
Abdul Gani Sheikh, “Brij Premi nurtured his writings with his blood and never
bothered about the returns from such writings”. Moti Lal Saqi is of the opinion
that “Premi’s stories describe men in bone and flesh. They transgress the
romanticism of middle class and venture into the areas of spiritualism and
realism together. On the other hand, Prof. Manzoor Azmi believes that “ He(Premi)
creates stories by describing a chain of events but does not believe in
unnecessary conflicts between the events and characters in order to give it a
melodramatic effect.”
One thing
must be admitted here that Dr.Brij Premi picked up his pen at a time when the
world of Urdu fiction was dominated by stalwarts like Krishen Chander, Bedi,
Manto, Ashq, Ismat Chugtai and Qurratulain Hyder. The centre of activity had
shifted to
Bombay
after the exit of Prem Chand and ‘futwas’ were being issued by writers’
organisations who would not entertain any new comers. Under such circumstances,
Dr. Brij Premi had a herculean task to get himself recognized while sitting in
a remote corner of India. Further the local problems focussed by him were not
considered as mainstream problems of India and therefore overlooked completely.
Worse still, his state was the first state announcing land reforms bestowing
‘land to tillers’ which left no ammunition with the progressive writers of
the State. Though the political instability witnessed by the state could have
provided raw material to Dr. Brij Premi yet he could neither afford to take
sides with such elements who were responsible for creating such instability
nor could he afford to subscribe to their subversive politics. It would also
mean that he had to stake his job for a cause to which he did not subscribe. But
then Dr.Premi sublimated his inner desire by turning towards research work
and exploring the maniacal world of Manto.
Coming back
to Premi’s research on Manto, Premi had to understand Manto’s mind in three
phases ; first, the socialist Manto, second,the Freudian Manto, and third, the
real Manto. Brij Premi had already been groomed in socialism and had studied
Russian writers like Gorky, Dostoevesky and Chekhov. He had also familiarized
himself with the writings of the french writer Maupassant who left an indelible
impression on the mind of Manto. Premi had to learn the basics of psychology
and other behavioral sciences to understand the bulk of Manto’s stories like
‘Thanda Gosht’ and ‘Hatak’. Last of all, Brij Premi
had to internalize the pain and agony of migration caused as a result of the
division of the country and understand stories such as ‘Khol Do’
and ‘Mozelle’. Nevertheless, Dr. Premi has lived upto the
expectations of the Urdu fraternity by documenting the life and works of Manto
with deftness and dexterity.
As I said
earlier, we lost Dr. Brij Premi at a time when he was in the prime of his life.
The best was yet to come from him. Alas, nightmarish turmoil in the valley and
consequent migration to inhospitable plains took its toll and snatched us of an
inquisitive soul. May God bestow peace up on the departed soul.
*Sh. Deepak Budki is a noted Urdu short story writer and is
presently working as Chief Postmaster General, Jammu and Kashmir Circle. Born on
February 15, 1950, the writer did his MSc. B.Ed. from
Kashmir
University and later graduated from National Defence College. He is also an
associate of Insurance Institute of India. More than sixty short stories have
been written by him till date which have been published in India, Pakistan and
other European countries. Reputed Urdu magazine, "Shair" issued a special number
(Gosha) on him in September 2005. Two collections of short stories viz '"Adhoore
Chehre" (Urdu and Hindi Editions) and "Chinar Ke Panje" (Urdu edition) are to
his credit till date. Another collection of short stories,
"Ghonsla”, and a collection of essays on criticism
entitled "Asri Tehreerein" are in the pipeline.
| 
