One of you recently sent me a video of a folk group singing Babu Rajab Alis long poem, titled Aqal da Baag. Its like his review of Punjab — people, food, customs, professions, districts, and what not. He summed up everything he could think of happening in Punjab. A treasure with immense historical value. The style its sung in is also very gripping. Without instruments, the ups and downs of the their voices make up for the rhythm. Thank you so much, Tejpal. Now I knew about Rajab Ali, or Babuji as he was known, but hadnt read or heard his poetry until now. A friend of mine, a fiction writer, grew up in the same region where Rajab Ali settled after partition. Babuji appears in a couple of his stories. Lost. As someone whos present but absent. Like a new desi immigrant in the US. His world turned upside down. Reduced to zero. Babuji couldnt, they say, come out out of the past. How could he? The man, in 1940, quit a career in civil engineering for the love of Punjabi poetry! Punjabs partition didnt just result in the death of our loved ones, it shattered many a souls too, beyond repair.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 09:39:33 +0000
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