Essential Romanticism

Bertrand Russell while discussing the perils of the machine age laments the lack of an impulsive life, as one where eventually ‘prudence itself becomes an impulse and the rest of his (man’s) instinctive life is atrophied’. The note ends with his usual, though tragic, satire, ‘This is not a fancy picture. It is the actual biography of nine average citizens out of ten in every civilized country’.

As I shall take the luxury of flirting with the word ‘Romanticism’ – I intend it not in the strict historic sense; of post-enlightenment Europe, nor do I wish to embark on the cumbersome task of a literary critic; deciphering the works of traditional Romanists’ like Wordsworth, Blake, Keats or Shelly. I, rather wish to put forward the obvious, and equally ignored, facet of the machine age – the monotonous rut man has landed himself into, and the escape route provided by the prism- that requires courage and hope in equal measure.

   

Man would like to imagine that his ideas and ethos emanate from sublime and abstract principles. He would fondly fall to the illusion, that in philosophy, as in biology; his mind rests well above his stomach. But, the students of human society find the notion a mass fancy. The ethos, philosophy, culture and ideas of man aren’t detached from his material surroundings. The surroundings that he inherits, the economic class he happens to be born into, the advancement in the means of production and distribution; all interact with ideas and ideologies, the living ethos and culture, and vice versa. Human societies are not constructed in a vacuum – It is the continuum and mutual interaction of ideas, economics and many other things – that eventually formulate a society.

Our present surroundings can be conveniently classified as – machine age. Talking of the machine age – Bertrand Russell, throughout his work, maintained that human psychology was a far greater factor in politics; than usually granted. He hammered that the unnatural lives humans have been subjected to in the present age – a life lacking zest and vigour, a life that rewards prudence over impulse; creates a huge, ever ready to burst, lava of unused instinct; that eventually results in a morbid, and sometimes sadistic, liking for hate and violence. The escape route he concludes is to ‘provide harmless outlets for the impulses which our remote ancestors satisfied in hunting.’

The rut of machine life has made man unbearably anxious, envious, and eventually unhappy. At best he seeks to reconcile with the system, as we reconcile to the weather. At worst, he wishes the unforgiving world around him to fall apart. In any case, his life remains a constant struggle between the world he wishes to and the world he has to, live in. While working for a world that is governed by cooperation, love and mutual amity is a worthwhile task. In the meantime, man must seek some escape from this machine life. There might be ground realities, from which we may lack the means, or courage, to fight – what must never be conceded though; is our humanness – that we may live in a machine age; but shall ourselves never become one. That, our kernels shall always seek human spontaneity and impulsive joy – broadly, I would call Essential Romanticism.

Wordsworth so aptly describes poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. And, where else to find the spirit and essence of Romanticism, than in poetry itself. Writing for a bilingual audience; saves me the travel of 18th century Europe, and affords me the opportunity to find Romanticism at home itself. Urdu poetry – like nothing else, embodies the spirit of Essential Romanticism. Like the proverbial bird that longs for the skies, it lays out emotions; powerful and rebellious. It is revolutionary, it is mystic, it is sweet and it is brave – it is romantic – it is beyond the social constructs of good and evil.

Hasrat Mohani; who managed to be a cleric and a Communist simultaneously, wrote:

‘dilon ko fikr-e-do-a’lam se kar diya azad 
tire junun ka ḳhuda silsila daraz kare’

While most would mistake prudence for wisdom, he was providing us with the elixir of life; which finds itself as the central theme of Urdu poetry – that after all, (such a) wisdom was not all that wise, and madness – not all together mad.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz would phrase it thus,

‘huzoor e yaar howi daftar e junun ki talab
girah mein leke ghiraybaan ka taar taar chale’

The form of Romanticism hereby advocated is a manual for a life full of humanness, spirit, love, zest, courage and hope. Like the rebel of Albert Camus; the rebellion of the Urdu poet is responsible – a responsibility that comes tagged along with the valour to see the world as a human. Perfectly suitable is to quote from Faiz’s ‘Do Ishq’ – which summarizes his love; both for man, and for mankind:

‘is ishq na us ishq pe nadim hai magar dil

har daagh hai is dil mein bajuz daagh e nadamat’

A case in point would be to quote his protégée, Ahmed Faraz; describing his poetic rebellion,

‘ab mera hunar hai mere jamhoor ki daulat
ab mera junun khaaif e ta’zeer nahi ha’

As the machine age gravitates ever more towards the mechanization of the human self. As it forces upon human ingenuity; rigid discipline and catholic reverence for the clock – the anarchic instincts of the human species will find innumerable ways to fill psychiatric wards and cannon mouths. For rays of hope to shine on man; a romantic spirit – full of individuality, humanness, spontaneity and creativity must be nourished; so that joy is found in conscious acts of creation and love, not subconscious outlets of war and hate.

Hafiz Banarasi rightly pins personal with the political; with poetic brilliance,

‘farzanun ka kya kehna har baat pe ladtay hain

diwane se diwana shayad hi lada hoga’

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