Roshnai and Roshandaan - Urdu books that throw a light on Bombay and more

Sajjad Zaheer 1905-1973

Bombay was an important centre for two crucial movements in colonial India - the pan-Islamic Khilafat movement and the All-India Progressive Writers' Association (AIPWA). Both were nurtured (and flourished) in Bombay because of the city's commercial prowess. The Muslim merchants financed Khilafat, and the Hindi film industry drew writers and poets from smaller towns and cities to the studios of Bombay. I read Javed Siddiqui's Roshandaan and Sajjad Zaheer's Roshnai together at Rekhta. Both were my first attempt to read books in Urdu from front to cover. Haltingly, but determinedly, I finished both because they filled a huge knowledge gap for me. Both these books give us a peek into some important aspects of these movements. 

Roshnai was less challenging to read than Roshandaan. Sajjad Zaheer's book published much earlier than Siddiqui's was quicker to read as he deployed much easier words. Roshandaan has masterful sketches of people Siddiqui interacted with over the years. This includes Zahid Ali (son of Khilafat leader Shaukat Ali), Abrar Alvi who wrote for Guru Dutt, Sultana Jafri and others. Siddiqui has used his pen with great felicity and throws light on the afterlife of Khilafat movement, Bombay’s Urdu newspapers, Hindi film industry and general social life in Bombay. Siddiqui’s brush with Bombay police’s Pathan branch and how journalist Ghulam Arzoo (father of Sarfaraz Arzoo) scooped the news of Stalin’s death in Hindustan tells us of the days gone by. How did an Urdu newspaper break the news of Stalin’s death much before heavyweights like Times of India and Indian Express? I shall leave that for those curious to read Roshandaan and discover it themselves.  

Siddiqui is a perceptive observer of people and I liked the fact that he mentions people like leftist journalist Lajpat Rai, Habib Tanvir, and poet and writer Aziz Qaisi among others. Hailing from the family of Khilafat leaders Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, Siddiqui came to Bombay from Rampur, worked at the Khilafat newspaper, started his own paper and ended up as a successful screenwriter and dialogue writer in Mumbai. Thankfully, Siddiqui, who is also a playwright, turned his attention towards books and we now have a good body of literature in Urdu from him.    

Similarly, a fair bit of Sajjad Zaheer's book is about Bombay. Zaheer, was a prime player in the Progressive Writers' Movement and his Roshnai is an effective chronicle of the movement. Zaheer uses the Lucknowi hum in the text throughout and surprisingly calls Bombay’s Taj Hotel badshakl. Zaheer was the son of Sir Wazir Hasan and one of his brother Syed Hasan Zaheer had joined the ICS in 1923. What I liked the most about Roshnai is the idiosyncrasies of literary giants that he recollects. Josh Malihabadi would regularly correct the pronunciation of people around him. Malihabadi insisted that just like it is fifth of January in English - and not five - it should be paanchvi January and not paanch January! Zaheer represented the bloc that was anything but orthodox about language usage.   

Javed Siddiqui and Noor Zaheer, the multi-faceted feminist who is the daughter of Sajjad Zaheer. Pic: Danish Khan

In Bombay, Zaheer saw the potential in Khwaja Ahmed Abbas and is all praise in Roshnai for his industriousness. The PWA attracted the best, but some like Manto and Meeraji were not regulars at their meetings. PWA branches sprung up across the country and conferences were held in different cities. Premchand addressed the first meeting of the AIPWA in Lucknow in 1936 and in later years writers of various shades and colours came to be associated with the body. Zaheer's observations about K M Munshi and the stabbing of AIPWA 's Parsi secretary during a communal carnage are some of the many instances that show Bombay's connections with Sajjad Zaheer and AIPWA.   

Roshnai and Roshandaan are good sources for social, literary, film and cultural history of Bombay. For me  they also show how non-English sources can be effective in filling gaps in our understanding and knowledge. Can you guess the DCP of Bombay Police hosting Begum Akhtar? Or ways to think about the afterlife of the Khilafat movement.