जिस लाहौर नई देख्या, ओ जम्याई नई

by Asghar Wajahat

Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai (“One who has not seen Lahore has not been born”) was written in the 1980s. Set in 1947, it is the story of a Muslim family that migrates from Lucknow to Lahore and is allotted a haveli vacated by a departing Hindu family. Drama ensues when they find an old Hindu woman living in the haveli.

Asghar Wajahat’s classic was first performed by Naya Theatre under the direction of Habib Tanvir, who staged the play in Karachi, Lahore, Sydney, New York, Dubai and all over India. The play has also been performed by Ank Theatre group under the direction of Dinesh Thakur and by several other theater groups in various Indian regional languages.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Audiobook

82 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Syed Asghar Wajahat, popularly known as Asghar Wajahat (Hindi: असग़र वजाहत), (born July 5, 1946) is a Hindi scholar, fiction writer, novelist, playwright, an independent documentary filmmaker and a television scriptwriter. He has published five collections of short stories, six collections of plays and street plays, and four novels.

He was born on July 5, 1946 in the city of Fatehpur, in Fatehpur district, Uttar Pradesh. He completed his M.A. (Hindi) in 1968, and his Ph.D in 1974, also from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), later he did his Post Doctoral Research from Jawaharlal Nehru University (1981–83). And by 1960, while still studying at the Aligarh Muslim University, he had already started writing.

He joined Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi in 1971 as a Lecturer of Hindi, and later became a Professor and also the Head of the Department of Hindi in the university.

He has published 20 books including five novels, six full-length plays, five collections of short stories, a travelogue, a collection of street plays and a book on literary criticism.

He has also written film scripts and conducted workshops on screen writing. He has been placed among the top ten Hindi writers according to a survey conducted by Outlook (Hindi) magazine in 2007.

His work has been translated to many Indian and foreign languages

A collection of his short stories in English entitled Lies: Half told (ISBN 81 – 87075-92-9) has also been published. An Italian translation of his stories was published by Centro de Studio de documentation, Universitá degli Studio de Venezia, in 1987.

Apart from his fiction, he regularly writes for various newspapers and magazines. He was guest Editor of BBCHindi.com for three months in 2007. He has also been associated with reputed Hindi literary magazines like Hans and Vartaman Sahitya as guest editor for their special issues on ‘Indian Muslims: Present and Future’ and ‘Pravasi Sahity’.

Dr. Wajahat has also been involved in Hindi cinema as a scriptwriter since 1975. He is now working on a film script for filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi. He himself has made few documentary films including a 20-minute on the development of Urdu Ghazal.

He has been honored by several literary organizations for his contribution to Hindi literature. Katha (UK), a London based organisation gave him the ‘Best novel of the year award’ in 2005 for his novel Kaisi Aagi Lalaee.

Presently, he is Professor of Hindi, Jamia Millia Islamia. He was also the officiating Director, A.J. Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

Reviews

[Amit · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Jin Lahore nai vekhya, O janmaya hi nai"
(Who haven't seen Lahore, they haven't born yet).
There is a good deal of literature available on the theme of India-Pakistan partition. Manto, Khushwant Singh and several others have written a lot on the plight of common people in those chaotic times. This play by Asgar Wazahat tries to capture a slightly different landscape; the life of people after the partition.
It happens in the Punjab of that side. After partition, people who have left their homes to settle in the new country, are kept in refugee camps. Houses left vacant by the people who have fled to the other side, are being allotted to these Mohazirs, one by one. The central character, Sikandar Mirza gets a huge 24 bedroom haveli, which earlier belonged to a Jeweller family. Stepping in there, the children set out to explore the haveli, and the couple gets engaged in some casual talk. Then suddenly the daughter comes running; someone is living in this house.
The whole play is about an elderly woman, who has stayed back. Her love for the mother land and the treatment she gets in the changed Lahore, form the main themes of the play. Asgar has made an attempt to portray the ideas of common people about partition. At one place the elderly woman says, "Everyone was living happily. God knows who did what, and here, rivers of blood are flowing in the whole city."
Nasir Kazmi's shayari is a biting satire.
"Hai yahi aine wafa, dil na kisi ka dukha
Apne bhale ke liye sab ka bhala chahiye."
Highly recommended.

[Ashwani Mahoour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in my college days, and I absolutely loved it then, it was in our syllabus but I kept the book dearly because the play is beautifully written and the partition time and its struggles reminded me of this movie Garm Hawa which is based on a book by Ismat Chugtai.

[Sheece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking. Asks the question - what's the point of cultivating hatred?

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jine Lahore Nai Vekya, oh Jamya Nai- (Hardcover) by Asghar Wajahat- drama- This drama begins with a Muslim family having suffered painful displacement of partition is migrated from Lucknow to a Haveli vacated by a departing Hindu family in Lahore. They find an old Hindu woman still living in that Haveli. She refuses to be robbed of her home. This Hindu woman has lost her son and family in the riots that followed the partition of nation in 1947. The play is set in the city of Lahore and around the time of the partition. Many lives were lost and many families were separated overnight and despite the passage of more than sixty two years, those wounds are still fresh. The play deals with this delicate subject very sensitively. It focuses on a Muslim family, the Mirza's from Lucknow, who flee to Lahore after the partition takes place. They were allotted a Haveli erstwhile owned by a famous Hindu Jeweller's family, who was probably killed in the carnage. However, their matriarch and (old Hindu lady) still survives, and continues living in the Haveli, unnoticed by the looting goons, when the Mirza's arrive. A clash over the ownership of the Haveli ensues, and gradually the entire neighbourhood gets involved. In the end, she wins over the Mirza family and other neighbours' affection. They all with the help of their Poet neighbour and the local Priest (who preaches a tolerant Islam), rally around her and protect her from the local goons. There are many serious questions raised by this play. The biggest being, was all the bloodshed and trauma of the partition necessary or even justified? The audience gets haunted by this thought. The end of the play is not disclosed in this note so that readers are charmed to view the play. It is a thought provoking play. A good read for all.

[Maitrey Saurabh · Rating 3 out of 5]

हिंदुस्तान विभाजन पर आधारित इस नाटक का मुख्य पात्र वह हिन्दू बुढ़िया है जो लाहौर के बाहर से आने वाले मुस्लिमों को लाहौर की लाहौरियत से परिचय करवाती है। असग़र वजाहत की लेखनी अच्छी है लेकिन जब हर दृश्य के बाद एक ग़ज़ल आती है तो लेखन की स्वाभाविकता पर सन्देह होता है। दृश्यों के बाद जो ग़ज़ल आईं हैं, उनकी भावबोधि के आधार पर दृश्यों का निर्माण (लेखन) किया गया है? अगर हाँ, तो लेखन की स्वाभाविकता पर प्रश्न उठना लाज़िम है। क्योंकि दृश्यों की संवेदना अगर ग़ज़ल की मांग कर रही है, तो ही ग़ज़ल आये, कविता आये। जैसे हबीब ने आगरा बाज़ार में किया है।

[Deepak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goosebumps, emotional, heartbreaking, a well written play...a must read...

[Mahender Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

विभाजन की त्रासदी पर एक अच्छा नाटक

[Vipin Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

नाटक

भारत के विभाजन की त्रसादी पर यह नाटक लिखी गई है नाटक में भाषा का प्रवाह बहुत अच्छा है नाटक विभाजन के बाद शरणार्थियों के ऊपर लिखी गई है तथा इसकी कथावस्तु पाकिस्तान है

[Mohi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant writer...