Nazrul

A. R. Rahman's rendition of Nazrul's song is making the rounds:

  

Bangladeshis are very upset with this new rendition. But that's how they are. Very reactionary. Conservative in all its negative sense. The way they are sanctifying the tune of this song exposes the deep impression left by their Hindu past. The Hindu way is to sanctify anything and everything. But the reality is unlike Tagore Nazrul was not pedantic about the melody of his songs. For Tagore his melodies are integral part of his songs. Not for Nazrul. He was only concerned in preserving the verses.

But I do think that certain melodies do not go well with the overall mood of certain songs. This is the case here. 'The song to wreck Havoc' should invoke the feelings of wrath and anger. Should incite total and reckless rebellion. Rahman's new rendition has failed to do so at least to the Bengali ear.

But at the same time I'm happy that the universal appeal of Nazrul's songs is getting their due recognition, rather than being confined in Bangladeshi partisan politics. Certain songs have even become trademarks for certain political narratives. This is one of those songs. It was time to rescue Nazrul's songs from the political hijackers. Because Nazrul although controversial was never a man to peddle party politics.

In my view Nazrul epitomizes the Bengali Muslim's post colonial confused nature. I threw in the 'post colonial' part perhaps as a latest trend. Because I'm not sure this conflict and confusion in Bengali nature is a product of its colonial past. To know that I have to know how the people were before it got colonized. A task of a Historian. Which I'm not.

But I can confidently say that the colonial schemes of Muslim suppression and the dogma of divide and conquer has played an important part in shaping the Bengali Muslims' self-contradictory nature. After all Nazrul was a Murtad. And literally so. He married a Hindu. An act that excommunicates a Muslim out of the fold of Islam.

But a person cannot be judged with a single action or speech. Let alone someone like Nazrul. Taking into consideration his stellar rise against his humble background only adds to the confusion. Nazrul was a gifted talent but never got a proper education. In this Nazrul's upbringing depicts the story of a million Muslims dejected under the British Raj. Who knows, if Nazrul got a proper Islamic education he could surpass the likes of Omar Kahyyam or Sheikh Saadi.

Nazrul wrote religious hymns both for the Hindus and the Muslims. With equal passion. With equal skill. In that Nazrul perhaps tried to succeed where Akbar failed with his Dīn-e-Ilāhi. But he definitely angered the Muslims. I can't talk about the Hindus. But its noteworthy that the attempt to the so called Hindu-Muslim unity, perhaps an older version of the contemporary "Abraham Accords", did not come from a Hindu but from a Muslim.

This is significant. Because no matter the claim the non-Muslims never did anything significant to reduce the religious tensions fueled by the British invaders. In fact the tension was due more to political and economic reasons than to religious one. The Hindus shamelessly collaborated with the British occupiers. And have always tried to thwart any attempt favorable to the Muslim cause.

It is widely known that Tagore opposed the creation of Dhaka University. An institution that now worships him at the cost of those very Muslims, including the Nawabs, that endowed their lands, wealth, and everything to establish it. Tagore's animosity towards the Muslims is evident from his writings. That someone entitled as 'Universal Poet' never wrote of anything significant about the Muslims and their religion, whose poems mostly revolved around Hindu devotion and who never came out of the Bengali imagination and the confines of its sensibilities, bears proof that Tagore was more than a poet. He was part of the Hindu revivalist movement, covertly or overtly, at the expense of the Muslims.

Contrast that with Nazrul. His language transcends religious, ethnic and national boundaries. He enriched the normative Bangla language using more of Sanksrit, Urdu, Persian, Arabic words, infusing them in a way that's very palatable to the Bengali consciousness. Specially Muslims. Even today the Muslim devotional songs that he wrote has no parallel.

Although Nazrul got his reputation as a poet he is actually a song writer. Its said that he wrote more than thirty thousand songs. He was not concerned about intellectual property rights. So many of his works got stolen or got lost.

It must be said that songs are the reflection of the song writer's thought, its time, its personal and social dynamics. Compare this American song:

If you're having girl problems I feel bad for you son 

I got ninety-nine problems but a bitch ain't one.

 With Nazrul's:

Her eyes are filled with tears,

flowers sewn to her hem;

Flowers or tears,

I can't decide to take which one of them.

Or this one from the UK:

Oops, I got 99 problems singing bye, bye, bye

Hold up, if you wanna go and take a ride with me

Better hit me, baby, one more time, uh

 Against Nazrul's:

I spreaded out to the sky Oh dear!

My song-neklace, my flowery-speech,

I'll let you pick 'em up from there.

It tells us that for the westerners there is nothing beyond carnal desires. But where the western love ends the eastern love starts. To be explicit is to be western, to be subtle and implicit is to be eastern. To say "I love you" a thousand times is western. To not be able to say that feigning shyness is to be eastern. The westerners are single mindedly amorous but they lack sensibilities. They should take from Nazrul to learn new dimensions of love, of living, of devotion, of rebelling.

Lastly A. R. Rahman needs no introduction. I hope he spends time to internalize Nazrul's spirit. May be  with the help of Nazrul's songs Rahman can alleviate the widespread decay in Musical appetite.