Rayees Ahmad Kumar
Dr Gulzar Ahmad Wani apart from being a Lecturer in school education department, is also a distinguished litterateur of valley. He has tried his luck in almost every genera of Urdu literature.
Hailing from Tengpuna village of Pulwama district, Dr Gulzar Wani has gifted so for almost fifteen well compiled books to the world of Urdu literature. Dr Gulzar is a popular critic, researcher and a well-known essayist also. He is a fiction writer too and regularly participates in poetry sessions organized by various literary bodies. In addition to this, he is also a skillful poet. He writes poems, Ghazals and occasionally composes naats too.
I have reviewed a couple of books authored by Dr Gulzar. At present the book which is under my review is ‘Gard-e-Safar' a collection of 73 beautifully written poems of varied themes and Central ideas. ‘Gard-e-Safar' is a poetry collection spread over 112 pages and is published by Adeeb Publicatios Pulwama. It's cover page is adorably designed and the paper used inside is also of superior quality.
With the buggies of love, Dr Gulzar has dedicated this beautiful creation to builder, litterateur and critic of Urdu Prof Manzar Hussain. The proem of the book is written by Dr Mohd Ashraf of Ghorakhpur UP. He says Dr Gulzar is an extraordinary sensitive person who feels the pulse of his immediate dwellers. He understands their pain, agony and bliss.
To respond them and help them in coming out of the misfortunes or predicaments and to share their times of bliss, Dr Gulzar makes the use of his skill and talent of composing either prose or poetry pieces to give the moments a literary shape. It is indeed the job of a common literary figure. Dr Gulzar is also performing in the same way. In his foreword under ‘Apni Baat' Dr Gulzar writes on page 12 “ poetry is one of the precious gifts and blessings from almighty. I have written these poems of different natures depicting my past.
These reflect the ups and downs of my past. From 1995 to present, I have gone through many events in my life and to recall those events or to remind them to lead a successful life ahead, I have tried to wrap them in my poems. ‘Bahar Aane Tak' this is the opening poem of the book found on page 15. Dr Wani writes “Mosam Dave pawoun aate aur aakar chale Kate gain, Par koi apni zardi bikhra kar jata hai.
This reflects Dr Gulzar's unique technique of composing poems in comprehensive language. Another one ‘Zindagi ae Zindagi' on page 20, Dr Gulzar writes “Titliyon ki bas ik chamak hai, kya aarzouan kya walwale hain. It shows Dr Gulzar's way of describing things and ideas through the literal language of a poet. ‘Zadi Rah' this one on page 23 is so nicely woven that it sends shocks down the spine of every conscious mind because one definitely feels the pain of a traveller devoid of every belonging.
About the sorry state of valley and it's ever worsening conditions Dr Gulzar has compiled a beautiful poem ‘Jane Khuda ab Aage' on page 32. ‘Muhabat' on page 37 one's love has been so skillfully crafted in a poem that it has been compared with the moon when one intends to catch this beautiful heavenly body, it moves away from him with the same pace leaving him all alone.
About the resplendent beauty of Kashmir and its ever flowing crystal clear water bodies, Dr Gulzar has written an excellent poem ‘Sarzamini Abshar' on page 53. On page 62 Dr Gulzar has written an adorable poem ‘Sadak' reflecting the beauty of a road which remains there for centuries helping it's passersby to reach their destinations and the trees on it's two sides providing them some relief from the scorching heat of sun during hot Summes. ‘Meri Manzil Kahan' this one on page 75 depicts one's state of feeling loneliness when during fast asleep he is in delima where to proceeded.
Whether to wake up from the fast asleep or to further rest in the bed in dark black night. ‘Gulab' on page 82 is written so nicely that it seems the fragrance of this king of flowers is spread and felt on pages of the book too. Chinar is the heritage tree of ours.
We are closely related to this mighty tree which is found all over the valley in gardens, parks, yards of religious places and on road sides. It's georgous leaves are so beautiful that litterateurs of every language have compiled odes for it. Dr Gulzar too has performed his duty of reflecting it's role of giving pleasant relief to people resting in it's shade specially during hot summer days. He has written ‘Saye Chinar ke' on it's page 84 highlighting the glory of this beautiful tree.
There is a common saying that words never die. Words which one has either said or written can be traced back in their original form surely one way or the other. So one must be cautious while saying or writing words. Same has been said by Dr Gulzar in ‘Lafz kabi marte nahi' on page 88. ‘Hosla Rakhna' on page 94 reflects Dr Gulzar's intellectual abilities to provide wit to a desperate person who has lost all hopes and living a melancholic life. ‘Naguzir Sach' on page 99 too is beautifully crafted to show how the passage of time infuses new life in dead and barren lands. ‘Aitraaf' this one the last one on page 109 is so nicely and Adorably compiled that every reader craves to read it multiple times as it depicts author's hapless entity before his Lord the omnipotent, omnipresent and all sovereign.
He craves for the repentance and forgiveness of his evil-deeds in this beautifully written piece. Dr Gulzar Wani has beautifully made use of his intellectual and literal abilities to add a fantastic contribution to Urdu literature. He is a profound writer and knows well how to make blissful literary creations.
An example of this is his Gard-e-Safar which I suggest for every urdu lover to give it a read and then the feedback. It would be a big appreciation to the author.
