What's in a name? Plenty, I think.

Let's start with Urdu and my First Name

The number of times my first name, Zaheer, has been written as ظہیر instead of زہیر - which is my actual name - is not so strange. Zoé is pronounced the same as Zay in Urdu. Of course, in Arabic Zay is Zay, but Zoé is Doé … Think of Eed-ul-Ad'ha, folks.

When I was at sea and ever travelled to an Arab speaking country and was asked for my name at the gate for a Pass, I said Zaheer and they always wrote زہیر ...

My father's name was Azhar (ازہر) and was written by many as اظہر for the same reason as mine was. Haven't you heard of Jaméul Azhar (جامع الازہر)?

Azhar and Zaheer with a Zoé comes from Zāhir (= obvious or seen) ... Remember اظہر من ال شمس?

Azhar and Zaheer with a Zay comes from a word meaning Light (روشنی)! Zahrā, the planet (زہرا) means the lighted one.

Azhar means the one receiving the light.

Zaheer means the one giving the light.

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Now to the English version of my Surname

Kidvai comes from a Turkish word and is derived as being the progeny of Kazi Kidva, a scholar and a judge who came to India with the Mughal king Babar.

Originally, of course, the names were written in the Arabic/Persian script, but Mustafa Kemal changed that and wanted the language to be written in the Latin Script (perhaps partly because it was easier to 'type' and partly because of his love for the West. I am not sure). 

This has led to many problems for a language that has to be written differently: many written pieces, prose and poems, will never get translated. Who has the time to do all this, after all. Imagine if we had to change Urdu into an English Script: Mir, Ghalib, Faiz and others of that ilk would get translated. Even many religious works would get translated. But what about the lesser writers and poets, who may have occasionally written a lovely piece? Will those ever be translated? Not at all.

As you notice, there's no Q (ق) but a K (Koran for قران is something many of you must have seen). Of course we even have Kasuri for قصوری but I don't know whether there's a Turkish connection or not.

Also the word W (و) has no mention. There is only a V. This is why we write Kidvai,

Many others write Qidwai, Quidwai, Kidwai, and even a Bengali friend who wrote Kidbhaee because he followed Pir whose surname was قدوایٗ. He translated that into Bengali and was then told by a Calcuttay-vāla that bh was not correct and he should use a w. 

Those who saw an Arabic version of the letters saw ق & و and used that. Those who felt that a Q cannot be by itself and must have a U after it, used that. And many Indians remember their Minster Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and automatically use that when writing my name and emailing me (when my email spells KIDVAI with a V). Some emails, I am sure, get lost in this process. Others have my email right and get to me :)

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Two funny tales:

1. When I was at sea and went to East Africa, I visited a Sindhi Doctor to check my health and gave him my name and home address. He wrote it down as Kidvani and thought I was a Sindhi, too. For years I kept getting letters from him about how Sindhis in Pakistan and India ought to get together and form a separate Sindhu Desh. After several letters I did write back and tell him I was a New Sindhi … and never got any mail after that. One of the top members from that group was Mumtaz Bhutto, a cousin of ZAB, who was also our Shipping Minister.

2. I once went to get a Notary Public Paper for myself and for my wife, Nuzhat. When the old Lucknowi man, with a tirchhi topi and a white kürta pyjāma asked me for my name I said Zaheer … with a Zay, please. He looked at me and then smiled and wrote it right. When he asked for my father's name I said Azhar … with a Zay, please. He smiled again and wrote that down right. Then he asked me my wife's name and I said Nuzhat. He looked up and said Shall I write this with a Zoād? 

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While I was in UK during my seafaring days I discovered this on a catalogue I was looking at and ordered it. It arrived and now hangs in my house. 

The Latin Script reads

Non Omnis Moriar

which means

I shall not altogether die

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I was told that it was placed in the catalogue by

Mubashir Husain Kidwai
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I am surprised that it reads Kidvai at the top

but he continued to write Kidwai with a w.

But that's up to him, I guess.

•

Ayk din Sabeen nay müjh say kahā …

"Dilchaspi to müjhay āj ki nazmoñ say bohat haé

                     — laykin koee achchi pürāni ghazal sünaiyay"

 

So here, Sab, is a random ghazal I played out from my tape* to you. 

 

The ghazal is by Ameer Rampuri, a student first of Shauq Kidvai and then of his brother (my  Great Grandfather) Vahid Ali ‘Abr’ Kidvai.

 

Ameer Sahab came to our house in Allama Iqbal Town (Karachi). That was a very rare and memorable occasion for us. Nuzhat and  I asked him to recite a few ghazals. Among others he recited was this one. 

Sabeen fell in love with his tahtul-lafz recitation and his wonderful language. I hope the readers will, too.

 

—————

 

* To people reading this: This was recorded on my 10” Revox Tape Recorder (NOT a Cassette Tape), which is how I have recorded most of my Poetry/Qavvaali/Prose collections.

It's Abi's 116th birthday today …

Dr. Azhar Kidvai:  11.04.1900 — 19.09.1963

•••••

For many days Nuzhat and I have been wanting to publish Abi's Prose and Poetry. Ragni and Sabeen wanted me to do so, too. In fact Sabeen said she'd publish it all at T2F's publishing house that, sadly, never began (and probably won't).

It was after Sabeen's assassination that I decided that I'd have Abi's works published in a website, so it is is now on the net and you can go there and see the beginnings that are complete. While his Ghazals and Nazms will be ready at some point this year — and they will be in his handwriting — his prose selection has been completed now.

Look under Naee Paod in the titles here. The pieces were written between 1936 and 1939 and were published in 1939 under the Shirkaté Adabiyah (Dehli) and printed at Dilli Printing Works (Dehli). 

There were 1000 copies printed and all (except 31 that were gifted by Abi to friends and family members) were sold at Rs 1 each. (Does the price surprise you? That was a good price, you know. I have Ustad Amir Minai's works, published in 1941, that cost Rs. 2 only.)

•••••

Oh, and while you are there, do take a look at Laghv Goi, his humorous verses written from 1924 to 1935. You might be surprised to know through one poem that what was then known as Aligarh Ki Zabaan is almost the same as spoken today … often known as Urdish.