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Teaching Ghazals at college level to students choosing professional studies ahead is just?

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

Why im asked to elaborate a verse or verses from ghazals when im not interested either.Why should I remember THE whole Ghazals and poems against their respective poets,lest they're asked in exam.I don't see if I'd have to write love letters in future and the creepy ghazals gona help me.Is writing a letter to my father bound to the pattern written in my Urdu keybook?.What say,whether or not Urdu literature must be optional at college level? apart from the lessons which really convey a good lesson

Tags: Culture Education Urdu Career Lifestyle

Asked by: HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago | Answers: 9 | Views: 5856

Answers

1 votes

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

Why aint it fair?? Its part of our literature. And its not all romantic. This is how literature is taught across the world. And even if it is romantic why would it matter?

Answered by: Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

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Its part of our literature,why shunt it be fixed in particular for Humanities students? And I'd be really shocked knowing that a future engineer or a doctor loves to Elaborate verses in urdu paper.One thing,verses at college level are really not a tough deal,dont need to be elaborated at all,the other thing,mentioning my MEHBOOB in my paper spanning some 5-6 pages just to get 10 or so more marks,really cryptic.And Rebellion is against what is already settled in the lot,n I'd name it so; )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

I'd still say its only fair to teach that, I also studied this stuff till high school, Dude! people do doctorates in Iqbaliyaat too. Please dont undermine the amazing works of people like Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Momin Khaan Momin and Haider Ali Aaitsh among others in the name of Romanticism and Mehboob oriented poetry. They are the Yeats, Keats and Wordsworth of Urdu Poetry. Disliking it is something else, but it has its importance in our syllabi. I am not a big fan of poetry myself but i still think that it is kinda important to teach us the stuff that we study atleast upto high school.

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

I am an Engineer myself, and I did study all that stuff like everybody else does.

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

Iqbaliyat is what I support,I have nothing to do with what Keats,Yeats or Ghalib,Momin were.And I am not depreciating them,I am just not appreciating.I read it somewhere "when a nation starts producing poets in frequency,thinkers must get desperate of existence of the nation".

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

I opined that this stuff must be optional.You can go for it; )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

i dont know if we have some good poets in the present time, just a very few may be. The reason perhaps is the same, people dont usually want to study that stuff, what to talk of getting an inspiration and adopting it.
And what exactly did you mean by "when a nation starts producing poets in frequency,thinkers must get desperate of existence of the nation" ?? Sorry I didnt get it.
Anyways how can literature be optional, specially in lower grades?? We are taught that stuff alongside prose so its kinda mix of all genres of Literature.
I dont see any reason to oppose teaching that stuff but then again its just me I am talking about. Cant and dont need to convince anyone on my views.

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

"when a nation starts producing poets in frequency,thinkers must get desperate of existence of the nation" it is evident,take Mughals,wow for the poets attacthed to their darbaars.Then consider the saviour,Mahmood Ghaznvi,I dont see if he had any poets with him.When "Momins" would take place of "AL-Berunis" do you really think,Coming Mughals would be able to care a fig for their existence? What Bahadur Shah Zafar did? I aint a history student and lack refrences but at the same I can see the aftermaths of this shaayeri culture.Prose in our syllabus is way guiding and positive,and I think theres nothing wrong for it to be optional.

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

lol its interesting how you kinda suggested that poetry was the reason for the fall of Muslims in the subcontinent. Sorry yaar i cant agree to that. What Bahadur Shah Zafar did was negligence on part of an Emperor we can hardly blame poetry for that.
And what exactly is the shaayeri culture?? the culture that follows the work of Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Habib Jaalib or Parveen Shakir, I dont see it detrimental in any possible way to follow that.

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

Poetry isnt blamed for that,I said it is an indication usually,and I wonder how Ghalib,Momin can be put in same category as Jalib,Faiz.Excluding Iqbal was actually exception for all dropping under the tag.

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

I wont argue any further, My Friend!

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

Pleasure; )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

@Awais: I have voted up your answer because I liked your first comment, specifically this line: “Please dont undermine the amazing works of people like Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Momin Khaan Momin and Haider Ali Aaitsh among others in the name of Romanticism and Mehboob oriented poetry. They are the Yeats, Keats and Wordsworth of Urdu Poetry.”

Munahil Murrieum | 15 years ago

Thankyou :) Atleast someone agrees with me, thats something!

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

Yeah, I agree. But as I said.. there used to be 32 ghazals in our syllabus, there is no point in teaching so many to the students.

Munahil Murrieum | 15 years ago

hmmmmm.. thats upto the people who set the syllabus. Waisay we did use to skip preparing for a couple or may be more poets's Ghazals coz we used to have a choice in attempting the related Questions.

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

Yeah, we were not left with much options :P I remember learning only first six ghazal's tashree and fortunately one of the choice was from those six ghazals :D

Munahil Murrieum | 15 years ago

lol ok

Awais Amjad | 15 years ago

woww,she also agrees wth me; )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

1 votes

Zainab Hussain | 15 years ago

I agree, there should be a choice or rather they shud have a subject on Iqbal's poetry/writing, that cud helps us to understand our history and to improve us as human.

Answered by: Zainab Hussain | 15 years ago

1 votes

Munahil Murrieum | 15 years ago

I don't know what is the system now, but in 2nd Year, I remember there were like 32 ghazals in our course. Ok, we should be taught some of them, but whats the point of 32 ghazals?? As others said, Iqbal's poetry should be taught, and in detail, but learning tashree of 32 ghazals is like a punishment for students. :S

Answered by: Munahil Murrieum | 15 years ago

1 votes

Nabeha | 15 years ago

OMG I used to get so annoyed by these ghazals esp romantic ones. They are soooooo hard to understand (for ppl like me) .. I definitely think that they should be optional as everyone is not interested in poetry.

Answered by: Nabeha | 15 years ago

0 votes

Osama Afzal | 15 years ago

thats the way it is .. i use to hate it as well ... even sindhi in 9th standard .... ! but its the part of the course ... !

Answered by: Osama Afzal | 15 years ago

Comments

teaching language apart,that can be done through prose and constructive poetry rather than ROMANTIC ghazals.

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

agree ...

Osama Afzal | 15 years ago

0 votes

Khawaja Naveed Haider | 15 years ago

Well i don't like any kind of poetry. So i used to hate the ghazals as the part of course.

Answered by: Khawaja Naveed Haider | 15 years ago

Comments

good; )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

0 votes

Faiq Latifi | 15 years ago

Well Well... I don't find any harm in teaching ghazals ..its part of our culture and we should be taught with them... and as far as interest is concerned, everyone has his/her own subjects of interest...someone like chemistry, some hates it , some ppl hate history ...etc so we can't make the course a customized one...

Answered by: Faiq Latifi | 15 years ago

0 votes

Aasiyah Espina | 15 years ago

Solzhenitsyn once said: 'To destroy a people, you must first sever their roots.'
I think poetry, as a part of a culture, is essential in preserving the culture itself.
But, the lack in appreciation for this poetry at college level, I guess, stems from the fact that a piece of literature that is introduced as an academic requirement instead of a piece of literature has way less appeal.
As for the proliferation of romantic poetry, well... there should be balance in the choice of poetry.
Not all poetry is romantic. Most are political, philosophical, religious and they are by far more liberating and educational than their romantic counterparts. I think romantic poetry, in all it's decorative language, should be reserved for lexicographical purposes, like the enrichment of the Urdu language per se by increase in vocabulary.
Bottomline: Poetry should stay but the quality should be set at sky-high standards.

Answered by: Aasiyah Espina | 15 years ago

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Ghazals Unfortunately are what I said: )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

Well, weren't there poets who challenged the recurring romantic theme of the ghazals? It may slightly be different but I suppose the form and the measure are the same. Take Agha Shahid Ali for example. Some of his works may be in English but he takes the ghazal in a different direction.

Aasiyah Espina | 15 years ago

I don't know who he is,there's no single Ghazal by him; )

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

Hahaha. :) You know, I look up to Urdu poetry so much but I am a biologist and that too a Filipino. For what it's worth, I think if ghazal is only based on love, there are several kinds of love. Maybe, those romantic poets do not only allude to a woman. Maybe, there's something in between the lines. And maybe this is what I like about literature, in general, it gives space for your mind to inquire, question, be inspired because of the absence of hard facts of the natural sciences. It's one of those mental exercises for me on critical thinking.

Aasiyah Espina | 15 years ago

tell you what,none of the examiners is interested in what a student thinks about a particular verse,they only want a pre-written material,courtesy to the keybooks.For instance,in first year xams,I tried to produce something out of me,and the result was like 58%.When you're 90% in the rest of the subjects,how does it feel like having this.

HaroOn Dilshad | 15 years ago

Seriously, none of our educators has nailed it. I came from a pretty liberal university. Such things don't happen when it's literature we're talking about. But, in some universities, even in high school, they experienced what you experienced. Hence, the growing resentment. Something is very wrong. Poetry can't be evaluated like how you evaluate other subjects.

But, poetry, for me, is still indispensable.

Aasiyah Espina | 15 years ago

0 votes

Anonymous | 9 years ago

awessome

Answered by: Anonymous | 9 years ago

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