key words: Love, Love-triangle, Love-livelihood, lover-beloved, yearnings, objective, excellence
Love in essence represents our emotional needs, and along with livelihood issues it has competing claim on each of us; and Ghlaib was no exception. However, we know that Ghalib paid little, if any, attention towards making arrangement for meeting personal material needs, and was under debt for most of his adult life. He devoted his entire life to his first and only love – writing poetry, wherein he expressed his observations and understanding about this existing world. He subscribed to the following:
The thought of beauty is akin to thought of good deeds
A gateway to heaven has opened in my grave
ہے خیال حسن میں حسن عمل کا سا خیال
خلد کا اک در ہے میری گور کے اندر کھلا
है ख़याल-ए हुस्न में हुस्न-ए अमल का सा ख़याल
ख़ुल्द का एक दर है मेरी गोर के अन्दर खुला
Hai khayaal-e husn men husn-e a’mal kaa saa khayaal
Khuld kaa ek dar hai meree gor key andar khulaa
Love can be better appreciated if we construct a love-triangle where the three vortex represent the lover Ghalib, his rival or outsider and the beloved. At the most immediate or physical level, the lover and the rival, both, are interested in the same beloved. However, in many couplets, the beloved of the lover Ghalib transcends far beyond this immediate physical level.
The lover Ghalib is an epitome of sacrifice and selflessness. He wanders in the infinite expanse of all-encompassing Nature, explores her secrets, tries to understand the world, and rebels against the unjust system and society. He is an incorrigible optimist who, even when faced with the bleakest of circumstances, remains hopeful for a better morrow because he understands that from negation, affirmation drips. That is, every situation or system has an inherent potential for advancement, for a better state.
The lover incessantly struggles, faces hostility and persecution of the conventional society, sacrifices everything willingly, and cherishes the path of love. The lover is prepared for the battles of life and to get martyred in the path of love. The lover’s purpose in life is to strive for union, and not its attainment. At times, the lover assumes the role of an ascetic (faqeer).
The lover’s rival is his antithesis. He is a hedonist, steeped in the culture of acquisitiveness, comforts and conformism. He is also described as outsider. He is not prepared to suffer or undergo any hardship, and excels at deceiving the beloved.
One normally tends to presume a female beloved of a male poet; and that may well be true in case of several poets and couplets, because all the poets were male (in the times under discussion). However, the beloved could be male as well. Moreover, due to the influence of mysticism (tasawwuf), beloved could also be a reference to God. There is no reason to restrict the beloved to ‘one’, and can refer to the people as a whole! In its broader sense, the cherished objective can also be termed beloved.
At one level, the beloved is variously described as heathen (kaafir) and oppressor (zaalim). At another level, the beloved represents ‘ultimate excellence’ in the chosen profession; and as the ultimate can not be achieved by the very definition, the poet continues his incessant strivings for the unfulfilled yearnings. To quote Ghalib:
Lot many, but still less, yearnings were fulfilled
بہت نکلے مرے ارمان لیکن پھر بھی کم نکلے
बोहत निकले मेरे अरमान लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले
bohat nikley merey armaan, lekin phir bhee kam nikley
ghalibkaarvaan 