I was pointed to this Willy D's latest essay in Outlook India, which is basically a preview of a soon to be published book on Bhadhur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal.

I had actually come upon a version of it as a word document (thanks to Google) a couple of months ago when I was trying write about poetry jams across Indian languages in the good old days, and for this trying to trace some background information on the final, and perhaps mythical, mushiara (gathering of poets) in Delhi as the flames of the 1857 Mutiny engulfed the city. All I could find then were a review of a performance of Kaifi Azmi's play called Aakhri Shama, and another essay of Willy D that appeared in the Guardian. Also if any kind reader can point me to an online source where I can find more information on this final gathering of the great Delhi poets, I will be much obliged.

In the Willy D's essay, writing about the casual destruction and disappearance of old buildings in Delhi, he comments, "Occasionally there is an outcry as the tomb of the Mughal poet Zauq is discovered to have disappeared under a municipal urinal or the haveli courtyard house of his great rival Ghalib is revealed to have been turned into a coal store; but most of the losses go unrecorded." While this is sad, I think the souls of the poets must take a perverse pleasure in what fate, or more precisely the great Indian Indifference, had in mind regarding their houses, and then, perhaps, would have come up with a suitable ghazal (as I am tempted to) to sum up these matters.

Ghalib's Delhi was a fascinating place, where it appears that everyone from the old emperor to a young wrestler were turning out shers and nazams, as they drank French wine in 24x7 taverns, and visited courtesans. But what of Ghalib's Ballimaran ki Gali and his haveli today?

Google brings up a couple of interesting articles (a, b, c) about visiting the haveli after it had been somewhat prettified by the Government. Flickr also has <a href=flickr.com">few photos of the interiors as they can be seen today. So go take a virtual look, and then read a sher or two of Ghalib. You may also view clips from the movie "Mirza Ghalib" (1954) (scripted by mad Manto!) to get a filmi feel of Ghalib's Delhi.

www.saudiaramcoworld.com

..."The Last Candle of Delhi," by Farhatullah Beg, is a semi-historical account of a royal musha'arah attended by 59 poets, including the masters Ustad Zauq, Mirza Ghalib and Momin Khan, and their student followers...