Author: Ariel
Publication: Dawn
Date: March 19, 2003
URL: http://www.dawn.com/2003/03/19/fea.htm#4
A cursory look at Pakistani publishers'
catalogues or a visit to Urdu Bazaar in Karachi should take book-lovers
by surprise. Scores of books on ancient India, Hindu mythology, religion,
philosophy, epics and the Bhagti movement are nowadays available in Urdu
- either in translation or original.
Quite an interesting departure.
Titles on Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharat, Bhagwad Gita,
Tulsidas, Bhagat Kabir, Mirabai, Guru Nanak and even on revivalist movements
within Hinduism such as Arya Samaj are available. It is a good sign that
while passing through one of the most tense periods in Indo-Pak relations,
our publishers are publishing books on Hinduism.
Knowing our publishers as one ought
to, it is but natural that they are publishing such books only to meet
a demand in commercial quantity. Whatever be the reason, even Indian publishers
are busy cashing in on an increasing demand for Urdu books on Hindu religion
and philosophy.
Knowing that a good book creates
an hunger for piracy, some of the publishers encourage swap deals - one
Indian title in exchange for one Pakistani without being fussy on other
details knowing that technicalities of the IPRs (intellectual property
rights) in the book trade don't go well with the authors.
Relations between Pakistan and India
are so sore at the moment that there is no possibility of having any ideal
atmosphere for IPR's compliance so a free- for-all atmosphere is helping
less-known living Urdu writers across the borders.
In case their works tantalize the
book pirates across the borders they would prefer their works to reach
out their readers even though no financial benefits accrue to them. As
for dead writers, it is only the publishers - like the Darul Musannifeen
or the Khuda Bakhsh Literary Publications - which could point their fingers
at the pirates only to get some response in return as has been the case
with the Darul Musannifeen.
So, without caring about the exact
legal status of the explosion of books which provide 'knowledge' about
our big neighbour but also about the religion of our Hindu compatriots,
I think it is a good sign. Now there is hardly any Veda or an introduction
work on the Upanishads or the Puranas or epics such as Ramayana or Mahabharat
- or the Arya Samaj classic Satyarth Prakash, a resourceful bookseller
could satisfy readers' thirst for literature on Hinduism. I have got hold
of different editions of Kabir, Mirabai, Guru Nanak's Dohas, Bhajans and
Ashlokas, a Karachi publisher has brought out beautiful books on Kabir
and Mirabai, and it could be said that production-wise they are the best.
Now after having said it all, the
question arises whether it is the stand- off between India and Pakistan
(which is still on in spite of statements to the contrary) which has possibly
created the desire to know what is, after all the corpus of knowledge to
which most people living on this side of the border have not been well
disposed so far.
Ever since Emperor Akbar's effort
to get some Sanskrit classics translated followed by Dara Shikoh's translation
of Upanishads - Majma-ul-Bahrain (Meeting of two seas alluding to Islam
and Hinduism) - scores of Hindu poets composing Persian poetry and Muslim
poets composing poetry in Brij, Avadhi and other regional dialects have
made their presence felt so far. Who can forget the Hindu poet Chandar
Bhan Brahman, composing the historic dialogue in Persian between Baba Lal
and Dara Shikoh, at Batala, a place 60 miles east of Lahore.
Now the stand-off has successfully
given rise to a radical shift towards knowing our neighbour, whether it
be our friend or tormentor. The fact remains that each one of us has shaped
the psyche of the other. The 'love-and-hate' relationship between the two
neighbours evokes memories of the Mahabharat with a contemporary Lord Krishna
exhorting one to have a go at the other.
The city of Lahore, named after
Laho, son of Rama, is witnessing an interesting upsurge in publications
on Hinduism in the faint hope of filling in the vacuum caused by an ominous
stand-off between the two countries of the subcontinent. Who knows the
mind, fed on this minor renaissance of a specific nature, should learn
to behave more self assuredly dispelling 'fear' which keeps on creating
one stand-off after another.
