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Whose mischief created a world of beseechers? Each petitioner is seen wearing a garment of paper
This line from the famous Mughul poet Ghalib refers to what he claimed to be ancient Persian tradition of petitioners wearing paper before entering the courts to get justice.
Indeed, for a country that has a low literacy rate, the written word is a central part of Pakistani society. All over Karachi, “wall chalking”, as it is called, lines the streets with announcements of political meetings, informal advertising and messages in support of or against political leaders.
Intelligence agencies and the press pick up writings that appear overnight as a show of political strength or indicators of political party infighting. Sometimes walls carry threats against specific people, such as “ainda na dehkoon” (this should not happen again) written by “bosses” to keep the local heavies in check. These are usually written in Urdu calligraphic style.
An unusual message stands out for its untidy spray painted phrase “Perfume Chowk” (perfume crossroads). Curious viewers discovered it was a message written by the heroic owner of a small stall selling attar (scented oil) in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, a suburb of Karachi, whose stall was regularly destroyed by people to whom he refused to give protection money.
A people’s narrative
Countries have many narratives: the official state narrative, the narratives of friends and allies, that of enemies, of moral custodians; and then there is the complex, layered narrative of a country’s people. These occupy sociologists, historians, literary critics, artists, film-makers, musicians, novelists and poets. Beneath the surface waves, one has to dive deeper to understand the true nature of the soul of a people, but occasionally the hidden becomes visible and lends itself to decoding.
This is most true of the place occupied by poetry in Pakistan. Classic forms can be of religious songs such as naats (a poem usually sung without music in praise of the Prophet Muhammad), qawalis (Sufi devotional songs performed by a large group of musicians accompanied by harmonium, drums and rhythmic clapping) and marsias (a poem of mourning and lament recounting the martyrdom of the Prophet’s grandson and his family at Kerbela).
But often poems are also more worldly love songs of film; colourful metaphors that take place during mushairas (public recitation of Urdu poetry) or poetry events. The preferred form of Urdu poetry is the ghazal, or couplet, which has its origins in Arabic literature via Persian poetry. Ghazals are composed as sophisticated conceits, ostensibly about love, longing, separation and loss, but imply commentaries that range from Sufi love of the divine, to local politics.
Hearing the voice of the individual
The decorated transport of Pakistan is much celebrated for its excessive colourful adornment and painted images. Less noticed are the embedded verses that are an essential part of all trucks, buses and rickshaws.
These are attempted conversations with “someone out there”, an amplification of one’s presence in a society that renders the common man invisible. “Whispering in our ears”, these writings express personal feelings, outrage or simply indignation, loss, desire, or a moment of reflection.
Hungarian philosopher Ferenc Hörcher has suggested that conversation “liberates the human self from the bondages of practical life and brings about a sense of equilibrium”. Intimate expressions are externalised in the public sphere addressing an assumed community. These writings symbolise an attempt to wrest authorship by marginalised citizens.
As Pakistani poet Noon Meem Rashid (1910-1975) wrote:
