Yadon Ki Baraat [यादों की बरात]

by Josh Malihabadi, Hansraj Rahbar (Translator)

साफ़ और सीधी बात कहने वाले, जोश मलीहाबादी ने अपनी आत्मकथा उतनी ही साफ़गोई से बयां की है जितने वे खुद थे। 1898 में अविभाजित भारत में मलीहाबाद के यूनाइटिड प्राविन्स में एक साहित्यिक परिवार में उनका जन्म हुआ और नाम रखा गया, शब्बीर हसन खान। जब उन्होंने शायरी करनी शुरू की तो अपना नाम जोश मलीहाबादी रख लिया। जोशीले तो वे थे ही और सोच भी शुरू से ही सत्ता-विरोधी थी। ‘हुस्न और इंकलाब’ नज़्म के बाद उन्हें ‘शायर-ए-इंकलाब’ कहा जाने लगा। 1925 में उस्मानिया विश्वविद्यालय में जब वे काम करते थे, तो उन्होंने हैदराबाद के निज़ाम के खिलाफ़ एक नज़्म कही जिसके चलते उन्हें हैदराबाद छोड़ना पड़ा और उन्होंने कलीम नामक पत्रिका शुरू की जिसमें अंग्रेज़ों के खिलाफ़ लिखते थे।
विभाजन के बाद जोश कुछ समय तक भारत में रहे। 1954 में उन्हें भारत सरकार ने पद्मभूषण से सम्मानित किया। लेकिन उर्दू ज़बान के कट्टर समर्थक जोश मलीहाबादी ने महसूस किया कि भारत में उर्दू ज़बान का पहले जैसा दर्जा नहीं रहेगा और इसलिए 1958 में वे पाकिस्तान जा बसे और आखिर तक वहीं रहे। 1982 में 83 साल की उम्र में उनका निधन हुआ।
जोश मलीहाबादी की ज़िन्दगी जितनी विवादग्रस्त थी, उतनी ही उनकी यह आत्मकथा चर्चित रही। आज भी जोश मलीहाबादी का नाम ऊँचे दर्जे के शायरों में शुमार है और उनकी नज़्में और शे’र बहुत लोकप्रिय हैं। यही कारण है कि उनकी आत्मकथा को आज भी पाठक पढ़ना चाहते हैं।

Genres: Poetry

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1975

About the author

Josh Malihabadi was born as Shabbir Hasan Khan on 5th December, 1898 at Malihabad. He did his senior Cambridge from St. Peter's College, Agra in 1914. In 1918, he spent about six months at Shantiniketan. He studied Arabic and Persian. Due to the death of his father, Bashir Ahmed Khan, in 1916, Josh was unable to avail of a college education.

In 1925, Josh started work at the Osmania University, supervising translation work. He was exiled from the state of Hyderabad for writing a nazm against the Nizam. He then started the newsletter/magazine called the 'Kaleem' in which he openly wrote articles in favour of independence and against the British. Soon, he was being called "shaayar-e-inquilaab". He also got actively involved in the freedom struggle and became close to quite a few of the political leaders of that era, specially Jawahar Lal Nehru.

On the advice of director W.Z.Ahmed, he also wrote songs for Shalimar Pictures. During this time, he was staying in Pune. After independence, he became the editor of 'Aajkal'. He was later honoured with the Padmabhushan. Josh spent the latter part of his years in Pakistan. He passed away on 22nd February, 1982 in Islamabad. Some of Josh's important works are: Shola-o-Shabnam, Junoon-o-Hikmat, Fikr-o-Nishaat, Sunbal-o-Salaasil, Harf-o-Hikaayat, Sarood-o-Kharosh. His autobiography is titled "Yaadon ki Baraat".

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yaadon ki barat is labelled as a controversial book but even after going through it again and again I was unable to find cause of people's distaste towards it.As far as its authenticity is concerned it is perhaps one of a few autobiographies in urdu based solely on truth(truth is something most of the ppl arent able to bear).Author should've omitted certain accounts of events and adorned it with fiction in order to gain favour of reades (as it is done in most of the autobiographies).But sadly this book lacks something that we call 'maslihat'.
Anyway it should be read because;
1-Eloquent style of narration
2-It improves vocabulary
3-Accounts of historical events from 1900 to 1947 or so on by a person who abhored foriegn rule and beleved in equality of mankind

NOTE;
Biased people cant get anything out of it.
In order to enjoy this masterpiece one should put aside his/her set of principles,ideologies or etc.

[Satwik · Rating 5 out of 5]

वाह! क्या जीवन लिखा है। अद्भुत जोश साहब!

[Kaynat Ayub]

so today started to read soo lets see ......... yeh book kesi hai :)

[KishMala Islam · Rating 3 out of 5]

for my taste it was sinfully vulgar and inappropriate/ But the writing was good and the poet had led an interesting life so it was a fun read

[P · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a horrid, degenerate hooliganesque man! His memoir is filled with nonsensical tangents, delusions of grandeur and senile fantasies of self-importance. Other contemporaries actually did amazing feats to achieve independence from colonial rule during this period but not this imbecile. Judged by his exploits recounted here, he was the dregs, violent and exploitative towards anyone who he could abuse, rape-y and leering, demanding fawning acknowledgement from people who actually did work (like Nehru when he was PM from whom Malihabadi demanded a personal reply to his own message!). Furthermore, his poetry is laughably mediocre and shows his utter disinterest in education and learning in general. The pictures he paints of beatings delivered to servants and lower caste passersby (who fail to bow to a young Malihabadi), murders of women in purdah for daring to glance down from the stairs (celebrated as a sign of cultural refinement) and random molestations of British women (is this meant to prove his commitment to the anti-colonial cause?) only persuade me that he and his associates deserve to be excoriated. Although lacking in any self-awareness, this memoir is useful as an unwitting portrait of a parasitic landed Muslim gentry that expected the privileges of a courtier class with a complete unwillingness to adapt to the rapidly changing terrain of a new economic order post-independence.

[Zubaa Abdulkhaliq · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading "Urdu mili Farsi" was such a treat! The language was impeccable despite the fact that the reader really needs a thesaurus beside him. I hope that when reading Josh's poetry, I don't remember his life because that would make a lot of difference. The writer was quite honest, it was like he just spilt every bad and good memory of his life without thinking much about how the reader would judge his character.

[Mhd Xia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book.

[Rashid Abdur]

nice book

[Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Muhammad Huzaifa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for musanif's honesty,