Mamta Kalia

in it. But remember one thing–A person
who’s in love with blind dedication will
come to nothing. For a man to have
varied interests is a big deal, at least
he should have human interest.’
Firaq Sa’b, taking courage from the
context, shall I ask you another question?
‘Why not my dear girl, you can ask
ten’, seeing Firaq Sa’b in good mood,
I dared ask him.
‘So much is famously said about you
that it seems as if you’ve become a
legend in your own time, going by all
that, don’t you think you look somewhat
an unbalanced personality?’ He was ready
with the reply instantly. ‘I’m not
unbalanced, I’m unhappy. Because I’m
unhappy, I use this scurilous language.
Had I been happy, I would have deemed
speaking loudly an offence; using
scurilous language an incivility–My ideal
is eight-year old Munia, Ramesh’s (an
intimate acquaintance’s daughter, who
had been living with him) wisdom plus
innocence. Innocence adorned by
knowledge.’
For a while Firaq Sa’b got lost in
the thought of Munia playing with a
rabbit in the courtyard. This aspect of
Firaq Sa’b was unheard of and unknown.
For a long time, we let him be. He soon
returned to his usual self from that state.
‘I hold one thing highly sacred–and that
is home. So I somehow tried to set up
a household. That turned out to be the
bitterest and saddest incident of my life.’
We knew this episode and hence
changed the subject immediately to bring
him out of this unsavory memory.
Firaq sa’b has been very controversial
because of his views on Hindi. Without
circumlocution, we shot a straight
question–will Hindi be able to take the
90 :: April-June 2010
status of national language?
Nodding his head in a distinct style,
he said, ‘Sounds difficult, the thing is
that the well-wishers of Hindi themselves
present Hindi in an unattractive way.
What is language which is not spoken?
That which is spoken is language alone.’
‘Language should be fluent; it should
be spontaneous; that is to say, to continue
the discussion, I added. Firaq Sa’b’s large
eyes widened further. ‘Not only–the
spontaneity it should be selective’, I
couldn’t get what he meant.
‘I mean the first thing is to reduce
the number of compound alphabets. Such
as ‘Kha’, ‘Dha’, Da’, Bha’. Yes, forget those
that are audibly pleasant e.g. ‘Bha’, like
in Tum Bhi (you too). The second is
to do away with alphabets like ‘Dha’,
‘Ta’, and ‘Da’ which are unpleasant on
ears. They should be spared for use.
Thirdly insist on the use of non-
Sanskrit equivalents of Sanskrit words,
and not on their Sanskritised version.
Also the current Persian word in your
language will have to be accepted. Say
not ‘Bas’, rather say ‘Jor’.
And at last, your personal choice.
Language shouldn’t sound strained.’
But Firaq Sa’b when the thought is
deep, the language would be a little
difficult–
Absolutely not, when you start losing
from all sides, you start saying–the
thought is sublime. The more
impoverished the thought is, the more
difficult the language would be. We feel
we are greater than we know–tell me
which word in the sentence is not
understandable even by a seventhgrader?
But ask the meaning to be
unraveled, even an MA student would