A Forgotten Elegy
THE elegy I want to recall today is not a poem. The author uses syrupy prose, and I tell you it is sticky. The man who wrote it, "Address of Condolence: Her Majesty the Queen Empress of India ."
It was written on February 2, 1901, the day Queen Victoria (who had died on January 22) was to be buried. It was published as a supplement to volume IV of Farhang-i-Asafia , the famous Hindustani dictionary of its time. The distraught author was Syed Ahmad Delhvi, "compiler, Hindustani dictionary Farhang-i-Asafia , Haveli Nawab Muzaffar Khan, Delhi ."
It is too sugary for me to translate, but let me try and give you a few excerpts here:
Our affectionate mother, Empress of India , Queen of England , where were you and where have you gone? Not India and England alone but the whole world is in mourning. During days of famine when your subjects were starving, you would stop eating; because you knew that was the only way to know what the hungry were going through was to be hungry yourself. You would cry with the orphans; because you yourself had been orphaned while quite young. You would comfort the widows; because you yourself had been widowed in the prime of youth.
Every community considered you its head, and regarded your reign as that of a goddess. You were Zubaida Khatun for the Muslims , and a goddess worthy of worship for the Hindus . Where shall we find such a Maharani now? German , French , Latin, and towards the end, Hindustani , had become your mother tongues. You turned to Hindustani in your 70th year and for eleven years you spoke to Indian notables visiting England in this language.
Who can forget the blessed day, May 24, 1819, when you were born or 1840 when you were married? Who can forget the year of sorrow, 1861, when you were widowed? Who can forget the year of universal joy, 1877, when you assumed the title of Empress? The memories of silver, golden, and diamond jubilees were still fresh in our minds when the full moon began to wane on January 19, 20, and 21 until it ascended the highest heaven. Today, on February 2, it will set forever. That is why there is a pall of gloom in India , England , and elsewhere. It is a cloudburst of sorrow drenching everything with tears.
You are in such peaceful slumber, generous mother, Queen of England that you do not wake up even at the request of your beloved children. It is said:
Jahan mein jinko hukoomat heh unko neend kahan
Keh lagney deti nahin fikr bandobast ki aankh
(Roughly: those who wear a crown can't go to sleep because of the worries that go with the running of affairs of State .)
Today, where is your concern and compassion? We cry but you hear not. Look at your beloved, the Seventh Edward . Look how tears stream down his cheeks. Your sons and daughters, your grandsons and granddaughters, your great grandsons and great granddaughters look at your with yearning but without hope. Dear Queen , is love dead forever? You are silent and we are in a state of shock. In the end Syed Ahmad gives a quatrain, " Qitaa-i-Tarekh-i-Eesvi ." The last lines of such quatrains contain the year of death of the person for whom they are written.
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IT WAS reported ( Dawn , section 2, January 19) that the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) would be given Rs. 500 million to launch another colony to overcome housing shortage in the Punjab Capital.
According to its vice-chairman, Aslam Gill, the Prime Minister had directed the federal and Punjab governments to contribute equally to the grant needed by the LDA. Now, the question is: Why another colony in Lahore ? Does the Punjab have no other city where more people can have more houses? How about Sahiwal, Okara , Sheikhupura, Pattoki or Kasur ?
Why must we choke Lahore ? The city is already unmanageable. It can't be kept clean; its roads are clogged. For instance, it is now impossible to reach the Mayo Hospital from any side in an emergency. All roads around one of the biggest hospitals of the country have been allowed to turn into Landa Bazaars. Rattan Chand Road, Hospital Road, Railway Road, Nisbet Road, and Napier Road--the five arteries, which lead to the Mayo, are now virtually unmotorable. If you are lucky to negotiate Hall Road , you will find Katcha McLeod Road even more intractable and on Rattan Chand Road, you would want to tear your hair out.
And it is not a question of congestion alone. Even more dangerous is the issue of pollution. Air pollution created by vehicles, especially those having two-stroke engines like rickshaws and vans, by horse manure; noise pollution caused by honking vehicles and yelling men, and pollution caused by men and women. The roads named above are open gutters and dustbins. Anyone can throw anything anywhere and no question asked. What can the Municipal Corporation do when the citizens are bent upon destroying their own environment? Actually, I think, we should launch a Save the Mayo campaign. I have given you one example. All of Lahore apart from a few islands of affluence is coming apart at the seams. It is becoming uglier by the day. It is becoming more and more polluted by the hour. It is becoming more and more unliveable by the second.
Why give it another housing district? Why are we bent upon turning it into another Karachi ? Years ago, a friend had described Lahore as a bloated dead body floating in a cesspool. I wonder how would he describe it today. Save the Mayo ? Why, we must launch a Save Lahore campaign!
Friday, February 2, 1996
