Newspeak vs Oldspeak

I read George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, many years ago.

Orwell painted a chilling picture of a dystopian superstate, Oceania, in the book. I could not imagine then, that I will return to the book in a few years, to better understand the prevailing socio-political milieu in my country.

Some days back Central Board of Secondary Education removed excerpts of two poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz – one of the most talented poets of twentieth century who wrote in Urdu – from the curriculum of 10^th and 12^th classes.

I read this news with horror as I recognised the similarity between Oceania of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and our present. Rulers of Oceania have designed a completely new language, the Newspeak, and want to erase the old language, the Oldspeak, from people’s memory. ‘All real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. … (it) will exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually changed into something contradictory of what they used to be,’ an official of Oceania explains. ‘The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought. … The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now.’

I am a huge fan of Faiz. Some years back I translated a few of his nazms, in an attempt to understand them better. His anthology of complete verses, ‘Saaare Sukhan Hamare’ occupies a conspicuous slot on my book shelf and I read it often. I had read the Nazm which had been axed but did not remember it clearly. I extracted the volume and read the nazm, ‘आज बाज़ार में पा-ब-जौलाँ चलो,’. It is a beautiful nazm. Faiz was once, during his incarceration at Lahore jail, taken to a dentist’s clinic, with his feet in fetters, on a horse-cart. People recognised him and lined the streets. On his return to the jail Faiz wrote the nazm. It had slipped my attention earlier.

I copy the nazm here, followed by my translation. Those who enjoy poetry will savour such treasures of the Oldspeak; before the deluge of Newspeak threatens to obliterate them.

 

आज बाज़ार में पा-ब-जौलाँ चलो ⁴

फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़                                            

 

चश्म-ए-नम¹ जान-ए-शोरीदा² काफ़ी नहीं             

तोहमत-ए-इश्क़-ए-पोशीदा³ काफ़ी नहीं               

आज बाज़ार में पा-ब-जौलाँ⁴ चलो                         

 1. Moist eyes        2. Frenzied life

3. Accusations of secret love

4. Shackled feet

 

दस्त-अफ़्शाँ⁵ चलो मस्त ओ रक़्साँ⁶ चलो               

ख़ाक-बर-सर⁷ चलो ख़ूँ-ब-दामाँ⁸ चलो                  

राह तकता है सब शहर-ए-जानाँ चलो

 5. Hands freed  6. Dancing and carefree

7. Head dust-smeared 8. Bloodied clothes

 

हाकिम-ए-शहर⁹ भी मजमा-ए-आम¹⁰ भी             

तीर-ए-इल्ज़ाम¹¹ भी संग-ए-दुश्नाम¹² भी                 

सुब्ह-ए-नाशाद¹³ भी रोज़-ए-नाकाम¹⁴ भी              

 9. Rulers of town  10. Common folks

11. Arrows of barb  12. Stones of abuses

13. Gloomy morning  13. Unsuccessful day

 

उन का दम-साज़¹⁵ अपने सिवा कौन है                 

शहर-ए-जानाँ में अब बा-सफ़ा¹⁶ कौन है               

दस्त-ए-क़ातिल¹⁷ के शायाँ¹⁸ रहा कौन है               

 15. Well-wisher

16. Pure, clean

17. Murderer’s hands  18. Worthy

 

रख़्त-ए-दिल¹⁹ बाँध लो दिल-फ़िगारो²⁰ चलो          

फिर हमीं क़त्ल हो आएँ यारो चलो

19. Harness of heart  20. Sore heart

Today, let’s walk the market lanes with feet in chains

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

 

Silently braving, distraught life, tearful eyes, is not enough

Quietly abiding, Secret love being despised, is not enough

Today, let’s walk the market lanes with feet in chains

 

Walk with swinging arms, all fears drained

Walk with dusty hair, clothes blood-stained

Walk on! town's eyes are on us engrained

 

Walk with rulers, with men in street

Walk in shower of blame, in abusive sleet

Walk on cheerless morns, on days of defeat

 

For, today who is their soulmate, but for us

In city-of-beloved, who is chaste, but for us

Murderer’s lust, who can sate, but for us

 

O wounded hearts! pull the harness and depart

And let our lives, in murderer’s arms, be torn apart