INSPIRING: Litterateur led a revival, Sironj emerges as centre of Urdu literature
Shams Ur Rehman Alavi
NewsBits.in
BHOPAL: Once a historic town that was known as a trading centre in medieval India, Sironj, had slowly faded on the map and was reduced to a town.
The place that once saw Sir George Everest make it the base of his survey of the sub-continent in 1838, and was known for its fabric, Sironj was also unique because of its geography--it was a part of the Tonk princely state of Rajasthan, though far away from the princely state and located in today's Madhya Pradesh.
Today, this town is known as a centre of Urdu language and literature. It may appear a hyperbole but it's a reality that though the place had authors and poets in the past too, one man almost single-handedly blazed his way through the literary world and though it took decades, he took it upon himself a unique task--galvanizing the writers and holding events, publishing books and literary magazine.
The immense dedication and persistence is visible today. Saifi Sironji, who is a veteran poet and editor of the voluminous literary magazine Intesab that has been continuously being published from the town for over 40 years, set up his library and gave a push to innumerable writers across the world, through his magazine.
It must be understood that that when a person almost gets possessed and takes a huge task in his hands, totally devotes himself into it without bothering about criticism or the negativity that is spread regarding language and literature, he becomes Saifi Sironji. Ensuring that he connected with everyone--from the man on the street to the roaming poet, the scholar and the reader spread across the globe, and not just claimed but proved that Sironj was a fortress of Urdu, the unthinkable happened.
It is perhaps, one of the rarest of rare such stories, but it shows how a push and creation of an environment in a region, ultimately brings people from diverse background, come together and after years of persistence and hard work, the dream is realised. His close friend Anil Agarwal's daughter Stuti Agarwal, who was a topper in Urdu in the past, has come a long way.
Stuti plays an important role in running the magazines and has taken up charge as an ambassador of Urdu in the region. She is a literature buff and is on the editorial board of the magazine, 'Alami Zabaan' that has Wakeel Najeeb as its patron and Aafaq Saifi as the editor.
Skeptics remain but Saifi Sironji and his success can be clearly understood, only when people in historically rich and 'glorified centres' of Urdu literature, will come out of their privileged world, to visit Madhya Pradesh, and see how a life of struggle and extreme focus for the cause of Urdu, can turn the tables.
Over the years, his magazine became popular in India as well as among Urdu lovers in UK, USA and other countries. The poets and authors in those countries, were published in his magazine. Besides, locally, he organised events and brought together personalities of diverse backgrounds, in a way that Sironj became a hub of Urdu literature.
While the town has a population of barely 75,000, major cities like Indore and Bhopal that have population of nearly 30 lakh or 3 million couldn't produce a serious literary magazine that would run for such a long time and ensure its success across the Urdu world. After Intesab, 'Alami Zaban' was also published.
Saifi Sironji, who had started the literary journal when he had little resources, put everything he had, in his magazine. Ultimately, it became important enough that giants of Urdu literature went on to accept its uniqueness. Despite his poetry and compositions in different genres, autobiography and his contribution, the veteran poet is humble about his achievements.
His life is an example of how a person dares to dream and despite all odds, succeeds. Today, Sironj is synonymous with him. Apart from fame and recognition, he got literary awards. One of the biggest award of Urdu literature, the Alami Farogh e Urdu Adab Award was conferred on him.
