On a warm late summer day in September (the 18th), 1921, she was born Myrtle Mary Washington Wood to Bailus Earl Wood and Pearl Wooten Wood. Catholic? Hardly. Her parents were Hard-shell Baptists of Dutch decent lost in the back woods of the Appalachian Chain.
In the time honored tradition of the mountain people of their era - their word was their bond. They labored in the fields under an alternately scorching sun and a bone chilling cold from sun rise to sun set six (6) days a week. The seventh day (actually the first by the calendar) was spent in the House of The Lord.
Leaving the fields on work days with just enough day light remaining to get the teams of mules rubbed down, fed, watered, and stabled for the night. Then there were eggs to gather, hogs to feed, cows to milk, and water to draw from the well before dinner - after which relaxation was found in sitting on the front porch and listening to the unique sounds of the night as the nocturnal life of the mountains scurried about in song and mating call.
There were no cars to zoom up and down a noisy highway... no chain saws interrupting the call of the whip-o-rill during the day... no pumped in sound displacing the symphony of crickets, katydids or frogs in the evening... no magic boxes with snowy black and white moving pictures competing with the big dipper and or the beauty of the fire fly against the black of the night sky... no street lights to disturb one's sleep when the body needed to be manufacturing and releasing melatonin.
Rosalie Myrtle was but one of eight siblings - three boys and five girls at a time when the larger the family the better it fared. Why? There were simply more bodies to accomplish more work.
Mechanism had not yet over taken the American Farm and the living, if good, was hard and if filled with love and trust, they were earned. Time had to be made to cut one's own heating and cooking wood. Henry David Thoreau had, after all, rightly observed that by cutting his own wood, a man was warmed by it twice. While the first warming experience may have been anything but comforting, the second time around - setting in front of the fire place - perhaps popping corn - sure was appreciated.
A young girl's mind races in the winter night when she should be sleeping, but darkness comes so early this time of year and the flicker of the dying flames in the fire place is pure magic. The flames create a wee bit of light that dances across the floor, hops around the walls, and runs about the ceiling. They cast shadows of one thing creating the appearance of another entirely different. It only exists in the ever active mind of the young and the innocent.
Christmas is on the horizon! What will Santa bring? She hopes for a stick or maybe even two of hoar hound candy, and maybe... an apple or an orange... and a banana sure would be nice. And, maybe Santa could even a leave few pecans or walnuts this year.
Though apples, pears, peaches, plums, persimmons, grapes, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries, water melons, walnuts, pecans, and mush melons are abundant in the summer and early fall, there is not much fruit around here in the winter she muses.
And snow! Yes, it will be Christmas, and we should have snow. Snow really lights up the night! It saves kerosene, too, she thinks as if trying to convince God while watching the last flickers of the fire and is sure it casts a shadow of Rudolph flying across the north wall.
But Rosalie Myrtle can't remain a little girl in flour sack dresses forever. Soon enough she is a beautiful and vivacious young lady in love with a good looking well tanned young Cherokee Indian - a farm boy across the mountain who had been encountered a time or two while on errands for her father.
The Wood's had no problem with the Indian boy who turned out to be better to them than their own children, but his family had picked out a young Cherokee Maiden to be his wife. Against the wishes of his family, Rosalie Myrtle married the young Indian just before he went off to World War II drafted as a white man. It was really easy to pass in those days and he wanted to give their children every advantage a Tennessee Mountain Man could in the world of the forked tongue so he never corrected the record.
She was the only one of the Woods girls to stay married to the same man until he died of coronary artery disease while in the prime of his life young life just like his father had before him. Her brothers enjoyed a more stable family life than did their other sisters.
Rosalie Myrtle, having lived most of her adult life at Rosalie, Alabama, who served honorably as the matron of two different families, went to meet her Lord and be reunited with her young Indian lover on December 12th, 2000 at the age of 79. That was appropriate as her beloved Cherokee had gone to his happy hunting grounds at Christmas some thirty-three years earlier.
That millennium Christmas must have been some celebration around the old tepee! Two young lovers wrapped in each others embrace with no shortage of flickering flames... no sickness and no shortage of candy, fruit or nuts... And, I would even bet that on Christmas Day the old Cherokee who went to war to defend his nation as a white man had his dearly loved Fleetwood Coffee with chickory and one of her home baked white coconut cakes - his favorite.
When I remember them together, I think of the old Mercury Record Label song, Running Bear.
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Selasa, 22 Mei 2012
Sabtu, 24 April 2010
Classical Definition of Ghazal
Ghazal ! The word originates from arabic, meaning, “way or mannerism of talking to or talking about women.” Thus in fact it s an expression of love! But in this ever changing world the ghazal has become a reflection of the life around us, and now there is hardly any sphere of human interaction which the ghazal hasn’t touched.
To better understand the finer nuances of Urdu ghazal it is imperative to understand the structure around which a ghazal is woven!
Classical Definition of Ghazal
Briefly stated Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s which follow the rules of ‘Matla’, ‘Maqta’, ‘Beher’, ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’. So to know what Ghazal is, it’s necessary to know what these terms mean.
To understand these terms easily , we will take an example.
1. koi ummid bar nahin aati
koi surat nazar nahin aati.
2. aage aati thi haale dil par hasi
ab kisi baat par nahin aati
3. hum wahan hain, jahan se humko bhi
kucch hamaari khabar nahin aati
4. kaabaa kis muh se jaaoge ‘Ghalib’
sharm tumko magar nahin aati
What is a Sher ?
It’s a poem of two lines. This definition is deceptively simple. Please note that, every Sher is a poem in itself ! A Sher does not need, anything around it, to convey the message. All the 4 stanzas in our example are independent poems, Sher’s.
So Ghazal is necessarily a collection of two-line-poems called Sher. [ So the Rafi solo “rang aur noor ki baaraat kise pesh karu” is NOT a Ghazal, as every stanza is of 3 lines, and not 2. ]
What are other restrictions ? Many, and important ones.
[ Any collection of Sher’s is not Ghazal. Some good examples are ; the famous Mukesh song from Yehoodi, “yeh mera deewaanaapan hai” ; and the title song of “dil apana aur preet parayi”. Each stanza in these songs can be considered as an independent Sher, but they are NOT Ghazal’s. To understand, why, we have to wait till ‘Kaafiyaa, ‘Radif’. ]
What is ‘Beher’ ?
‘Beher’ is the ‘meter’ of the Sher’s. It can be considered as the length of the Sher. Both the lines in the Sher *MUST* be of same ‘Beher’. And all the Sher’s in one Ghazal *MUST* be of the same ‘Beher’. There are 19 (!!) kinds of ‘Beher’. But in simple terms, ‘Beher’ is categorized in 3 classes. Short, medium, long.
Small :
ahale dairo-haram reh gaye
tere deewane kam reh gaye
[ Also Talat song, “dil-e-nadan tuze hua kya hai” ]
Medium :
umr jalwo me basar ho, ye zaruri to nahin
har shab-e-gam ki seher ho, ye zaruri to nahin
[ And by Gulzar, “ruke ruke se kadam, ruk ke baar baar chale” ]
Long :
ai mere humnashin, chal kahin aur chal, is chaman me ab apanaa guzaaraa nahin
baat hoti gulon ki, to seh lete hum, ab to kaaton pe bhi haq hamaaraa nahin
[ The filmfare winner, “Manzile apani jagah hai” !! Yes ! It IS a Ghazal. And the Shayar is Prakash Mehra !! surprise , surprise !! ]
So Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s of SAME ‘Beher’.
What is ‘Radif’ ?
In a Ghazal, second line of all the Sher’s MUST end with the SAME word/s. This repeating common words is the Radif’ of the Ghazal. In our example, the ‘Radif’ is “nahin aati”. [ Sometimes, the Ghazal becomes known by its ‘Radif’. eg. “jaraa aahista chal” sung by Pankaj Udhas. On RMIM we all know one Ghazal by the ‘Radif’ as “aahista aahista”, don’t we ? or is it 2 or 3 ?
What is ‘Kaafiyaa’ ?
‘Kaafiyaa’ is the rhyming pattern which all the words before ‘Radif’ MUST have. In our example the ‘Kaafiyaa’ is “bar”, “nazar”, “par”, “magar” etc. This is a necessary requirement. Something which is followed even in the exceptions to all these rules.
So Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s of same ‘Beher’, ending in same ‘Radif’ and having same ‘Kaafiyaa’. [ That’s the reason, why “yeh mera diwanapan hai” etc. are NOT Ghazals. There is no common thing which can be called ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’. ]
What is ‘Matla’ ?
The first Sher in the Ghazal *MUST* have ‘Radif’ in its both lines. This Sher is called ‘Matla’ of the Ghazal and the Ghazal is usually known after its ‘Matla’. There can be more than one ‘Matla’ in a Ghazal. In such a case the second one is called ‘Matla-e-saani’ or ‘Husn-e-matla’. In our example, the first Sher is the ‘Matla’.
What is ‘Maqta’ ?
A Shayar usually has an alias ie. ‘takhallus’ eg. Mirza Asadullakhan used ‘Ghalib’ as his ‘takhallus’ and is known by that. Other examples are ‘Daag’ Dehlvi, ‘Mir’ Taqi Mir, Said ‘Rahi’, Ahmed ‘Faraz’ etc. There is a Sher in a Ghazal, the last one, which has the Shayar’s ‘takhallus’ in it. [ A Shayar, can use the ‘Maqta’ very intelligently. He can “talk to himself” like one in our example. I have lots of favourite Sher’s which are ‘Maqta’ of some Ghazal. Some gems are
koi nam-o-nishan puchhe to ai kaasid bataa denaa,
takhallus ‘Daag’ hai, aur aahiqon ke dil me rehte hai
and
jab bhi milte hain, to kehte hain, “kaise ho ‘Shakil’”,
iske aage to koi baat nahin hoti hai
The first one uses the meaning of the ‘takhallus’ to create the magic, and the second one is just simple, simply beautiful. ]
To summarize, Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s (independent two-line poems), in which there is atleast one ‘Matla’, one ‘Maqta’ and all the Sher’s are of same ‘Beher’ and have the same ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’
To better understand the finer nuances of Urdu ghazal it is imperative to understand the structure around which a ghazal is woven!
Classical Definition of Ghazal
Briefly stated Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s which follow the rules of ‘Matla’, ‘Maqta’, ‘Beher’, ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’. So to know what Ghazal is, it’s necessary to know what these terms mean.
To understand these terms easily , we will take an example.
1. koi ummid bar nahin aati
koi surat nazar nahin aati.
2. aage aati thi haale dil par hasi
ab kisi baat par nahin aati
3. hum wahan hain, jahan se humko bhi
kucch hamaari khabar nahin aati
4. kaabaa kis muh se jaaoge ‘Ghalib’
sharm tumko magar nahin aati
What is a Sher ?
It’s a poem of two lines. This definition is deceptively simple. Please note that, every Sher is a poem in itself ! A Sher does not need, anything around it, to convey the message. All the 4 stanzas in our example are independent poems, Sher’s.
So Ghazal is necessarily a collection of two-line-poems called Sher. [ So the Rafi solo “rang aur noor ki baaraat kise pesh karu” is NOT a Ghazal, as every stanza is of 3 lines, and not 2. ]
What are other restrictions ? Many, and important ones.
[ Any collection of Sher’s is not Ghazal. Some good examples are ; the famous Mukesh song from Yehoodi, “yeh mera deewaanaapan hai” ; and the title song of “dil apana aur preet parayi”. Each stanza in these songs can be considered as an independent Sher, but they are NOT Ghazal’s. To understand, why, we have to wait till ‘Kaafiyaa, ‘Radif’. ]
What is ‘Beher’ ?
‘Beher’ is the ‘meter’ of the Sher’s. It can be considered as the length of the Sher. Both the lines in the Sher *MUST* be of same ‘Beher’. And all the Sher’s in one Ghazal *MUST* be of the same ‘Beher’. There are 19 (!!) kinds of ‘Beher’. But in simple terms, ‘Beher’ is categorized in 3 classes. Short, medium, long.
Small :
ahale dairo-haram reh gaye
tere deewane kam reh gaye
[ Also Talat song, “dil-e-nadan tuze hua kya hai” ]
Medium :
umr jalwo me basar ho, ye zaruri to nahin
har shab-e-gam ki seher ho, ye zaruri to nahin
[ And by Gulzar, “ruke ruke se kadam, ruk ke baar baar chale” ]
Long :
ai mere humnashin, chal kahin aur chal, is chaman me ab apanaa guzaaraa nahin
baat hoti gulon ki, to seh lete hum, ab to kaaton pe bhi haq hamaaraa nahin
[ The filmfare winner, “Manzile apani jagah hai” !! Yes ! It IS a Ghazal. And the Shayar is Prakash Mehra !! surprise , surprise !! ]
So Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s of SAME ‘Beher’.
What is ‘Radif’ ?
In a Ghazal, second line of all the Sher’s MUST end with the SAME word/s. This repeating common words is the Radif’ of the Ghazal. In our example, the ‘Radif’ is “nahin aati”. [ Sometimes, the Ghazal becomes known by its ‘Radif’. eg. “jaraa aahista chal” sung by Pankaj Udhas. On RMIM we all know one Ghazal by the ‘Radif’ as “aahista aahista”, don’t we ? or is it 2 or 3 ?
What is ‘Kaafiyaa’ ?
‘Kaafiyaa’ is the rhyming pattern which all the words before ‘Radif’ MUST have. In our example the ‘Kaafiyaa’ is “bar”, “nazar”, “par”, “magar” etc. This is a necessary requirement. Something which is followed even in the exceptions to all these rules.
So Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s of same ‘Beher’, ending in same ‘Radif’ and having same ‘Kaafiyaa’. [ That’s the reason, why “yeh mera diwanapan hai” etc. are NOT Ghazals. There is no common thing which can be called ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’. ]
What is ‘Matla’ ?
The first Sher in the Ghazal *MUST* have ‘Radif’ in its both lines. This Sher is called ‘Matla’ of the Ghazal and the Ghazal is usually known after its ‘Matla’. There can be more than one ‘Matla’ in a Ghazal. In such a case the second one is called ‘Matla-e-saani’ or ‘Husn-e-matla’. In our example, the first Sher is the ‘Matla’.
What is ‘Maqta’ ?
A Shayar usually has an alias ie. ‘takhallus’ eg. Mirza Asadullakhan used ‘Ghalib’ as his ‘takhallus’ and is known by that. Other examples are ‘Daag’ Dehlvi, ‘Mir’ Taqi Mir, Said ‘Rahi’, Ahmed ‘Faraz’ etc. There is a Sher in a Ghazal, the last one, which has the Shayar’s ‘takhallus’ in it. [ A Shayar, can use the ‘Maqta’ very intelligently. He can “talk to himself” like one in our example. I have lots of favourite Sher’s which are ‘Maqta’ of some Ghazal. Some gems are
koi nam-o-nishan puchhe to ai kaasid bataa denaa,
takhallus ‘Daag’ hai, aur aahiqon ke dil me rehte hai
and
jab bhi milte hain, to kehte hain, “kaise ho ‘Shakil’”,
iske aage to koi baat nahin hoti hai
The first one uses the meaning of the ‘takhallus’ to create the magic, and the second one is just simple, simply beautiful. ]
To summarize, Ghazal is a collection of Sher’s (independent two-line poems), in which there is atleast one ‘Matla’, one ‘Maqta’ and all the Sher’s are of same ‘Beher’ and have the same ‘Kaafiyaa’ and ‘Radif’
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