‘Bol’, the Nepali people!

I first came across Faiz in the lanes of Lahore's Anarkali Bazar in the late 1970s. I was in search of a souvenir, a memento of my visit to the Lahore Engineering University. The owner of the record shop I entered recommended 'Nayyara Sings Faiz', for which the music had been composed by Arshad Mahamud. The lilting music and the nazms moved me immensely. To this day, Nayyara Noor's rendition of 'Intesaab: zard patton ka ban jo mera des hai', dedicated to his homeland, which he describes as 'this wilderness of yellowing leaves', remains one of my favourite songs. As all of his poems are masterpieces in their own way, one has to listen to them selectively as per one's mood at the time. I frequently hum lines I remember from Nayyara Noor's rendition of 'Return from Dhaka':

Kab nazar mein aayegi bedaagh sabze ki bahar
Khoon ke dhabbe dhulenge kitni barsaaton ke baad

And will there be a spring when the green is all unblighted
And how many rains must fall before the spots are washed clean

Till that chance encounter in Lahore three decades ago, I knew little about Faiz except a vague recollection of the Progressive Writers Movement of undivided India that had lingered from my student days. I joined Tri Chandra College, located just down the street from the then royal palace in Kathmandu, in 1951. It was a pivotal year for the country: over a century of Rana rule had just ended, long-exiled leaders who had taken part in the Independence struggle in un-divided India had returned, and talk of a constitution and democracy pervaded the city. Naturally, my friends and I were energised by the new atmosphere in the country, as were our elders. Drawing inspiration from the changes taking place south of the border, and what little we knew of movements such as that of the PWA, we constituted a Progressive Study Circle in Putali Sadak. We read a great deal at that time through informal gathering of friends, where socialism was in particular a favoured topic of discussion. In Durbar High School, a group of peers had already developed a fascination towards the Fabian society, in particular George Bernard Shaw. Later during my sojourn at the Bengal Engineering College, Sibpur, Calcutta (Kolkata), free-thinking became a favoured theme.