Tracing the best of verse

Swati Rai

As you meander through historical check-ins pinned on social media, you realise that you can never have enough of the Capital’s heritage. Delhi and its history never fail to surprise. The reason, even after over three decades, the dedicated heritage trails are still as popular. These have now been whisked with poetry and photography, and the product is far more exciting — a walk to mausoleums and residences of Delhi’s greatest Urdu poets.

The walk, a great weekend activity, offers recitation of a few gems from prominent poets’oeuvre, and intends to take the participant down the poetic lanes. Through what’s left of the physical remnants — gallis, tombs and havelis — of these poets, the trail aims to take us on a time travel to the world rich in verse and talent.

From Mirza Ghalib’s last-occupied residence, which was originally Kaale Saheb’s haveli, in Galli Qasim Jan, Ballimaran to Shaikh Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq’s tomb in Qadam Sharif, Paharganj, the trail gives an insight into the life of these poets.

Also a part of the heritage tour is poet Momin’s residence at Kuccha Chelaan, Galli Momin, off Sir Syed Road, Darya Ganj. Momin was a contemporary and friend of Ghalib. The next stop is Kucha Ustad Daagh, the neighbourhood where Daagh Dehlvi lived. Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli village, South Delhi, forms a part of the trail too. It is the mirror to the culture of Mughal Delhi and its poets. Besides its political relevance, the city was also a muse for poets, and inspired many a verse — sometimes a lament and at others, an appreciation.

The trail is mapped as a reaction to Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and her Greatest Poets, a book, dedicated to the stalwarts of the metropolis’ Urdu poets by Dr Saif Mahmood, an advocate and activist. Sohail Hashmi, an academician and documentary filmmaker, and Anant Raina, a photographer, will spearhead the trail along with Mahmood. “Delhi’s indomitable spirit has inspired writers and poets for generations. Some have written out of love and others out of bewilderment,” says Mahmood.

Hashmi underlines the importance of such heritage walks to create awareness and skirt cultural appropriation. “As these spots are scattered all over the city, the heritage walk will be divided into two parts.”

In the past too, Hashmi has planned and executed similar heritage walks. Naturally, in the know of things, he rues the steady loss of heritage sites. “In 1920, Maulvi Zafar Hasan prepared a list of historical remains that existed in Delhi for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The list boasted of 3,000 structures. Much later, in 2010 around the Commonwealth Games, the ASI did another count. 1,000 of these couldn’t be found this time. Out of the 2,000 that remain, barely 22 per cent are protected.”

To document the landmark spots associated with poet luminaries, Mahmood scouted these all across Delhi and expressed a similar sentiment as Hashmi’s. Distressed over the gradual decline and disappearance of significant heritage sites due to sheer apathy, Mahmood adds, “Do we even have a vestige of pride in our heritage and history? Encroachments and neglect have taken a toll on these sites. There is an STD booth running inside Ghalib’s residence, a pack of cards lies strewn around in Zafar Mahal. ‘Reflection of the pride we take in our past’.”

Mahmood and Hashmi emphasise on the need for a meaningful and collaborative restoration process. They wish that experts and authorities, who may have disparate ways and methods of conservation, come together to discuss a more synergistic process. Hashmi also suggests that funds should be raised by adopting graded ticketing system for a visit to such monuments. Hiring informed guards and staff is another recommendation to boost tourism.

The heritage walk to the residences of Urdu poets may be a small step towards their conservation, but it is a significant one, considering their neglected condition.