Ghazal Project
Apr 24th, 2014 by mbprasad
Watch my video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLugq3OGuQ8&feature=youtu.be
As usual, when we read many of the stories in class, I draw comparison to Hindu traditions that I am familiar with. The week that we read Sindhi-Urdu poems, I felt inspired by the combination of Islamic and Hindu themes to praise God. I felt that this embodied the cultural studies approach that we talk so much about in class. Moreover, I felt that it encapsulated that Hindus and Muslims can live in harmony and that their religions should not be the source of feud that many claim they are. When writing this ghazal, I wanted to once again combine Hinduism and Islam to create a series of rhymed couplets that demonstrated the passionate love and yearning one can have for something divine.
I thought about famous couples from Hindu mythology that could lend symbols of yearning and love to this story, because after all, some ghazals indicate that other types of love are precursors to love of God. I chose Rama and Sita’s story of separation to enhance my depiction of a believer’s love for God.
To me, Sita epitomizes the devout lover who yearns for Rama but always remains faithful to him despite the demon king Ravana’s attempts to attain her. Rama similarly is a devout lover and suffers for a year trying to find Sita and rescue her. Though the journey is difficult, they never give up and suffer many hardships because of their love.
In many ways, Rama and Sita are reflections of each other because both are unwavering and committed to the other, just as Sufi tradition allow for believer and God to be reflections of each other. That is why the couplets show Rama’s perspective at times, Sita’s perspective at times, and neither one’s perspective at times. I used imagery from the story of Rama and Sita’s separation like demons, the forest, and purity. I also incorporated classical Sufi imagery like drunkenness, wine, the unity of God, the pain of love, and the heart as a mirror. I then incorporated Indian elements of beauty like paleness as beauty.
There is ambiguity that these themes come from Rama and Sita and who Rama or Sita would be in the God-believer relationship. As you listen to the poem, look for the radif “into eternity” and the qaafiya (go, woe, though…). The radif should remind us all that the bond between believer and God lasts a lifetime.