Lucknow is the city where I was born ( though I grew up in Allahabad ), so I have a special affinity to it. It too is a kind of Prayag, which though having only one river, Gomti, became renowned all over India for being the centre of the Ganga-Jamni tehzeeb.
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Under its liberal Nawabs ( 1722-1856 ), who patronized art and literature, Lucknow became a great cultural centre of India, particularly after Delhi was sacked and plundered by the invasions of Nadir Shah ( 1739 ) and Ahmad Shah Abdali ( 1757 ).
Under the Nawabs of Avadh, Urdu poetry, kathak dance, Hindustani music etc flourished, and culture reached its zenith. This continued for a long time even after Avadh was forcibly and fraudulently taken over by the British in 1856.
However, recent decades has seen Lucknow fall a victim to crass commercialization, and it’s past cultural glory has fallen to rock bottom.
In this connection, paraphrasing the great Urdu poetry Mir Taqi Mir, I have composed these lines :
” Mir ko maazrat ke saath
Kya bood-o-baash poochte ho
Bharat ke saakinon
Hamein ghair mohazzab dekh kar
Hans hans pukar kar
Lucknow ek shahr tha
Aalam mein intikhab
Nawabon ne jise seench kar
Gulistan bana diya
Rehte the jahaan sukhanwar jaise
Mir Taqi Mir-o-Mir Anees
Usey falak ne loot kar veeran kar diya
Hum rehne waale hain
Usi ujde dayaar ke ”
I was shocked to see a picture sent to me by my friend Ali Sajid Husain of the pitiable, uncared for, condition of the mazhaar in Lucknow of the great Urdu poet Mir Anees, the Shahenshah of Marsiya Urdu poetry, surrounded by wild foliage and tall constructions :
This motivated me to write this article :
Following this, it was heartening to learn that cleaning and sprucing up the mazhaar began in right earnest by an organization of some energetic and spirited youth of Lucknow called the Mehdians Organization ( whose President is Kumail Abbas, email id [email protected], whatsapp number 91-9696111004 ) under the guidance of Ms. Mehlaqa Mukhtar, advocate, Lucknow ( email id [email protected], whatsapp number 91-96516-78608 ).
Subsequently, when the death anniversary of the great Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir was approaching on 20th September I wrote this article, expressing my deep distress at the shameful neglect of his memory by the people of Lucknow :
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This was followed by another article, this time jointly written by me, Ali Sajid Husain, and Mehlaqa Mukhtar, about the poetry and contemporary relevance of Mir Taqi Mir :
These articles seem to have jolted and awakened many people in Lucknow from their long Rip Van Winkle and Kumbhakaran type slumber. The Mehdians Organization in particular seem to have sprung into swift activity. They organized a very good function in Lucknow on 20th September, the death anniversary of Mir Taqi Mir
Also, Mehlaqa Mukhtar has organised an online symposium today 21st September on Mir Taqi Mir :
Today morning I received this message from Kumail Abbas of Mehdians Organization :
” Thank you so much, sir, for your kind words and encouragement. We all are very grateful.
All of us in Mehdians want to do much more for Lucknow and for the legacy of Mir. We also dream of creating a grand memorial with a library and research centre.
However, our biggest limitation is funds. We can only do as much as we are able to collect among ourselves. Even yesterday’s function was organised with great difficulty by collecting funds from our members and well-wishers.
Mehdians also runs a free clinic where consultation and medicines are provided free of cost. We only keep a nominal ₹10 per day medicine charge to avoid misuse. Our original plan was to open such free clinics and coaching centres in every locality, but due to limited funds, we have not been able to go beyond one clinic so far.
We have the will and the plans, and with the right support, we can certainly do much more. Your encouragement means a lot to all of us ”.
This has motivated me to write this article.
My vision is of setting up a grand Mir Memorial Institute in Lucknow ( the word Mir connoting both Mir Taqi Mir and Mir Anees ), which will be a body performing multiple functions to revive, preserve and promote Lucknow’s past cultural glory. It will have a library and research centre attached to it, a museum showing pictures of Lucknow’s past culture and its glory, and also a school to teach elementary Urdu to those wanting to learn this great language.
But, as pointed out by Kumail Abbas, this will need huge funds.
When we appeal for funds, we have to be very careful that they are strictly accounted for, and nobody should be able to lift a finger alleging embezzlement or other financial irregularity.
I have therefore requested Mehlaqa Mukhtar, advocate, Lucknow, to be the Chairperson of the society which will manage the Mir Memorial Institute ( of which I will be the Patron ). Kumail Abas of Mehdians Organisation will be the General Secretary, and Ali Sajid Husain an Honorary Advisor. All these persons have accepted my request, and I, as the patron of the Mir Memorial Institute, hereby appoint them on those posts.
The Chairperson will have power to appoint other office bearers like Vice Chairmen, Jt Secretaries, Treasurer, etc, in consultation with the General Secretary, and to run the Mir Memorial Institute.
I have asked her in particular to ensure full accountability of the money received and spent. All cheques issued in connection with expenditures by the Institute will be under the joint signatures of the Chairperson and the General Secretary, so as to ensure transparency and accountability.
I now appeal to the heritage conscious people of India, and in particular of Lucknow, to generously contribute funds for this noble cause. They may contact the Chairperson and General Secretary in this connection ( whose contact details have been given above )
