This exciting show from Radio Azim Premji University explores the life and times of Mirza Asadullah Khan, one of the most influential writers in Urdu, known to us by his nom de plume — Ghalib.

There are stories that Ghalib told, and there are stories told about Ghalib. 

Address your letter to ​“Ghalib, Delhi” and it will reach me, the great man is reputed to have said. Not a boast, because he was already a legend in his own lifetime. Yet, despite his accomplishment, he was in need of money. So the story goes that he applied for a job as a teacher of Persian. His conduct at the job interview, however, became the stuff of gossip in his time, and the stuff of legend in ours.

Hosting you through this absorbing series is Amit Basole, faculty in Economics at APU, whose pet passion for Urdu poetry found expression in a book, Thinking With Ghalib — Poetry For A New Generation, co-authored with Lahore-based writer Anjum Altaf.

Listen to this and more vignettes in this first episode.

Credits:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Beej, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar

Acknowledgements:

Letters read by Zia Mohyeddin 

Song: Ghalib Ke Khutoot | Album: Ghalib Kay Khutoot Vol. 1 & 3 | Artist: Zia Mohyeddin

Ghalib Ke Khutoot 13, غالب کے خطوط, Zia Mohyeddin

Ghalib Ke Khutoot 6, غالب کے خطوط, Zia Mohyeddin


Explore more:

YouTube | A Conversation with Anjum Altaf and Amit Basole, authors of Thinking With Ghalib — Poetry For a New Generation | Institute for South Asia Studies 

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