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Remembering Aini Aapa
RANA SIDDIQUI
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The evening recalling Qurrutulain Hyder was not short on humour.
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A bond Qurratulain Hyder left behind a legacy of engaging literature.
Aini Aapa, as the Urdu novelist Qurratulain Hyder (January 20, 1926 – August 21, 2007), was popularly known, had a tremendous sense of humour. Fittingly therefore, Delhi-based publisher Women Unlimited organised an event to pay tribute to her a
t India Habitat Centre this week. But, unlike the usual sombre affair that such occasions turn out to be, this evening was kept light for “otherwise Annie Aapa wouldn’t have liked it”, said Ritu Menon of Women Unlimited.
It began with a recorded version of Aini Apa’s interview at Cincinnati in 1992, laced with humour.
It was followed by Tom Alter reading an extract from her famous magnum opus “Aag Ka Dariya”. In his baritone voice and theatrical style Alter, in between readings burst into laughter. He said, “I am hearing the words like ‘Bithal kar’, ‘attachi case’, after ages. Reading both its English and Urdu versions, I can make out that she never translated word by word, but thought by thought. An idea that she wrote in Urdu in six sentences, she translated that into English in just one!”
Pakistan International Airlines flew a special chartered plane, ostensibly for Aini Aapa but actually to extract maximum publicity for itself, recalled her niece Huma Hasan, the only surviving member of her family in India. In an informal style, she read out her paper that had the audience in splits. “When Ainee Khala came to Aligarh after her ‘Aag Ka Dariya’ raised a furore in Pakistan, Bollywood blockbuster ‘Ek Musafir Ek Hasina’ starring Joy Mukherjee-Sadhna was just being released. Our chef looking at her said, “Aap ye filim (film) dekh hee aaiye. Qasam se, jab Sadhna bolti hai to bilkul Ainne aapa jaise lagti hain…’ we all burst into laughter but she really felt embarrassed!”
From Ainee Aapa’s “A Night In Pali Hill” written in English, Kathak exponent Maya Rao gave a voice-over to a section and had the audience laughing at almost every turn. Sughra Mahdi, her companion told the audience how she would call her fans ‘pankha’ and how she would say she hated to go to ‘Amrika’ (America) and how she threw a party in the honour of poet Sardar Jafri when he got the Jnanpith award, several years after she did. And even feebly made him realise that she got it ‘much earlier’!
Praying for wisdom!
Syeda Hamida, social activist, said that Aini Aapa would always say that her well wishers should pray to God to grant her some ‘aql’ (wisdom) needed to solve money matters and other worldly affairs, but their prayers were never answered!’ And how as a child she had a huge doll house maintaining a strong hierarchy – from stable, to drawing to bed room and a cloth German doll as a ‘maid’ to her fair European dolls!
“She said to me once, if I had not born in a Muslim family, I would have been a great Bharatanatyam dancer. And If I weren’t lazy, I also would have stayed in ‘Oxford’ forever, you know!”
Shabana Azmi recalled, ‘Once she said that Progressive Writers were lucky that I wasn’t with them, otherwise…!” Classical singer Malti Rao recalled the great ‘musical bond she shared with the late Hyder, who was also a trained classical singer. It also highlighted as to how Aini Aapa was surprised that she never got a royalty of the book translated into different languages! ,
She devoted a fitting sher to her: Yun to kya kya nazar nahi aata, Koi tum sa nazar nahi aata!
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
