Ghazals are the most well-known gence of Urdu poetry. Their widespread popularity owes a great deal to the soulful composition and renditions by great singers such as Begum Akhtar, Farida Khanum, Amanat Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, and a host of other artists. This book is a collection of 101 of the most loved ghazals sung in these melodious voices.
Along with the original text of the ghazals, there are their transcreation in English rhyme and QR codes which enable the readers to access videos of musical rendition of these ghazals.
This is a unique book which would provide the readers a delightful, immersive and enlightening experience.
Sanjiv Saraf an Industrialist, investor and social entrepreneur Sanjiv Saraf juggles many roles, but his passion for Urdu poetry is what is closest to his heart. He set up Rekhta Foundation-which hosts the world's largest and most popular resource for Urdu language and literature-apart from doing extensive work for preservation of texts and propagation of the language among youth through festivals and events.
An alumnus of the Scindia School (1975) and a graduate from IIT Kharagpur (1980), Sanjiv was involved in business and industry for over thirty years during which he founded Polyplex Corpn. Ltd., an Indian multinational, Manupatra, India's leading legal database, and other ventures in the green energy space. Thereafter, he turned his energies towards Urdu literature and is now fully involved in what he considers 'the most satisfying work of my life, so far.
Sanjiv is a recipient of several awards and honours, including the distinguished Doctor of Letters (D. Litt.) degree by Maulana Azad National Urdu University Hyderabad in 2016, the National Sir Syed Excellence Award 2018 by Aligarh Muslim University for his contribution to the cause of preserving and promoting Urdu and the Madhav Award as an Old Boy of Eminence for the year 2020 by the Scindia School for his outstanding work through Rekhta Foundation.
Ghazals are without a doubt, the most popular form of Urdu poetry for people of and from the Indian subcontinent. Apart from the innate beauty and depth of its poetry, a well composed and ren- dered ghazal can transport one to soulful realms. This genre of poetry has been made popular by singers who have rendered ghazals in their unique voices and styles. This was true even in the times of Mirza Ghalib whose verses gained popularity amongst the masses due to their being sung by courtesans of that age.
In our times, early famous exponents of this art form were K. L. Saigal, Begum Akhtar, Noor Jehan, Iqbal Bano, Farida Khanum, Malika Pukhraj, Amanat Ali Khan. Habib Wall Mohammad, Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Talat Mahmood and of course Jagjit Singh among others. The other well known artists include Nayyara Noor, Tina Sani, Rita Ganguly, Munni Begum, Pankaj Udhas, Hariharan, Radhika Chopra, Talat Aziz and many more. It is also heartening to note that very large number of talented and upcoming singers are embracing the ghazal art form.
My earliest encounter with this beautiful genre happened when I was very young. I remember my father playing records- first the 78 rpm bakelite platters and then the 33 1/3 rpm vinyl records. His favourites were from the pantheon of the early ghazal singers listed above. I was lucky to grow up in an environment suffused with the soulful renditions of the most touching poetry of great poets by these amazing artists. That first love is what brought me towards Urdu. This book is primarily aimed at those who are interested in having in one place the very best of the crop of the ghazals that have been set to music or recited melodi- ously. In this collection I have selected some of the ghazals I love best, as well as some of the most popular ghazals that have been sung or recited.
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