The city from here.

Byline: Anjum Altaf

THE amazing thing about Faiz Ahmed Faiz is that you can never leave him behind. Witness how he emerged in the midst of the recent protests in India with 'Hum Dekhenge' being sung in half a dozen languages to the point where flummoxed authorities were forced to treat a man, dead for a good 35 years, as a threat to national security.

These days the title of one of his poems, 'Yahan se Sheher ko Dekho' (Look at the city from here) has gotten into my head and is driving me insane. That is because, if you think about it, the 'here' in the title can blow your world apart. What it is telling you is that the city looks different from 'here' than it does from 'there.' And, knowing that can forever change the way you look at your city.

I was recently part of a panel where the participants laid a lot of stress on Faiz as the poet par excellence of hope. Personally, I don't relate to that as the lasting value of Faiz's poetry; to me his major gift is that of awareness. Once again, the 'here' and 'there' have salience. Faiz in the twilight of one's life works his magic differently than he did on first encounter with someone leaving his teens behind. Coming across 'Mujh se Pehli si Mohabbat Meri Mehboob na Mang' (Don't ask me for that love again) can be the first of those perplexing and shattering experiences that make one see a world much larger than one's self.

Awareness, followed by the desire to change the world, is what motivates the lovers of Faiz.

There is, of course, the solace at the inevitable setbacks on the way and the hope that all is not lost. But hope, without the awareness and the courage, is just an opiate. At my age, I wish more to engage with Faiz and ask him 'hum kya dekhenge' and 'hum kab dekhenge'.

Awareness, followed by the desire to change the world, is what motivates the lovers of Faiz.

What do we need to do to reach that ever-receding destination? How long do we have to keep walking on bleeding feet through these deserts before the flowers bloom?

All this has been churning in my mind ever since I received an otherwise innocuous email from a group to which I belong. Some members had hit upon the idea of putting together an e-book documenting their experiences during the prolonged lockdown due to the coronavirus. Two of the questions in the survey they circulated were the following:

- What new hobbies, activities have you tried, eg baking bread, gardening, learning a language?

- How are you amusing...