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The literary bond

Drawing comparisons is odious, but Jehanara Wasi may not compare unfavourably with the renowned Moghul princess, Shah Jahan's elder daughter, known for her beauty and literary skills. The noted French photographer, Raymond Michaud, once photographed her in a near-medieval costume in a haveli in Ballimaran - so taken up was he by the name Jehanara after visiting the grave of the princess in Nizamuddin and hearing the story of her life.

In a film, Jehanara, made several years ago, the princess is shown as having fallen in love with a poet in Agra who used to sit on the banks of the Yamuna, facing the Agra Fort, and write poems in her honour, a gesture reciprocated by the princess.

Maybe Raymond visited Agra and got the inspiration to photograph some likeness of the princess in present-day India. That opportunity came his way when he met Jehanara Wasi.

Oxford educated

Daughter of the noted educationist Muriel Wasi, she holds a degree in history from the universities of Delhi and Oxford. She is also a regular scriptwriter and presenter of programmes on All India Radio. She has also done voice-over commentary for TV films and documentaries.

Now in charge of the India International Centre library, Jehanara devotes all her time to reading and writing. One of her recent publications is "A Storehouse of Tales: Contemporary Indian Women Writers". In the foreword to the book, litterateur Malashri Lala says: "A taste of diversity is contained in this anthology of short stories. As changeable as the monsoon sky, as exhilarating as a ride on a village swing, as taut as the kite strings of Makar Sankranti ... these stories capture today's assertions and yesterday's nostalgia".

As Utpal K. Banerjee rightly remarks, Jehanara has been well equipped to capture this profile in diversity. "I had the rich exposure at Oxford in the late sixties," says Jehanara. "Those were the heady days of the revolution born out of the Vietnam War, the student riots in France, the Soviet aggression in Czechoslovakia, Oxford was in the vanguard of this social and cultural turmoil of the times, led by upcoming thespians Martin Amis and Philip Snow."It was her mother who ingrained in her a love for history and literature. "I remember as a child Satyajit Ray and M.F. Husain visiting our house. My mother steered a Thursday Club where the latest publications were animatedly discussed." Jehanara's latest publication is a biography of her mother: "Muriel Wasi in the Long Corridor of Time", a book that gives an insight into the life of that remarkable woman who worked with Maulana Azad and Professor Humayun Kabir in the Education ministry. After the early death of her father and later her mother, Jehanara has been left without her constant companion. But despite being solitary she has so many things to keep her busy and when she is back in Kirti Apartments, Mayur Vihar, she makes it a point to write a poem or two to give vent to her innermost feelings, just like Princess Jehanara, who also found ways to get over her loneliness. But there are no pigeons to carry her messages.

R.V. SMITH

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