The Ghat Of The Only World

Jkbose Class 10^th English notes

By: Tariq Ahmad Malik

    The Ghat of the Only  world

Q 1 :What were the common things between Ghosh and Shahid ?

Ans: The common things between Ghosh and Shahid include a huge roster of common friends in India ,America and elsewhere .Both had a shared love for rogen josh, Roshan Ara Begum and Kishore Kumar. Both had indifference to cricket, and an equal attachment to old Bombay films.

Q 2 : What are the things that Shahid loved ?

Ans : Shahid loved to have parties in his living room. He loved that people should come and there was always food .He loved the spirit of festivity. He would do this to have no time to be depressed.

Q 4 : Who is James Merill?

Ans : James Merill is a famous poet.It is this poet who was to radically alter the direction of Shahid’s poetry. It was after meeting this poet that Shahid began to experiment with strict metrical patterns and verse forms.

Q : who facilitiated Ghjoshy to fulfill his pledge? How did it help him?

Ans : It is the various conversations with Shahid that Ghosh recorded in his diary for a few months that helped him to fulfill his pledge .Besides this Shahid had spent enough time with Ghosh in America so this all helped Ghosh to write all Important details about Shahid’s life.

Q : what does the Ghat of the only world mean?

Ans : The Ghat of the only world is actually the title of the famous poem written by Aga Shahid Ali in the collection of his poems “ Rooms are Never finished “. In this poem, The poet remembers all his beloved ones who have died and journeyed into another world.

Qno.3. How does Shahid face death? Describe the hospital scene.

Ans. Shahid faces death very boldly. He knows that his death is certain in near future. He is alive to the seriousness of his ailment. He, however, tries hard to fill life into the hours which he has before hand. He arranges feasts for his friends. He makes all efforts to be cheerful. He wants to be among his friends making all the merriment he can.

 At hospital Shahid had to undergo some surgical procedure that was intended to relieve the pressure of his brain. His head was shaved and the shape of tumour was visible upon his scalp. While leaving the ward , a blue uniformed escort arrived with a wheel-chair. Shahid waived him away declaring that he was strong enough to walk on his own .He was, however , weaker than what he had thought. His knees buckled after no more than a few steps. Instead of feeling sad , Shahid felt delighted to see his friend along his sister holding him aright waiting the escort to return with the wheel-chair. This time Shahid gave a beaming smile to the hospital orderly and asked him about his homeland. On discovering that he was from Spain, Shahid clapped in exclamation saying that he always had an  urge to learn Spanish just to read Lorca.

Qno.2. Pick out the elements of humour in the lesson ‘Only ghat of the world’.

Ans. Shahid was never subdued by Sadness. He could create humour out of every thing. That is why his living room was never seen without friends and relatives. His nakhras in the class, and his conversations on phone would be full of humour.

The episode at Barcelona Airport was also full of humour. Here a woman security guard stopped Shahid for questioning. To every question Shahid answered with humour saying that he was a poet and was, in Spain ,for writing poetry .The guard got angry and asked if he had got anything dangerous with him. Shahid clapped his hand to his chest and cried, “only my heart’’.

The humour did again come to the fore when the hospital orderly came with an arm-chair for the dying man, and the dying man learnt that he was from Spain. Shahid cried out of exclamation that he always needed him to teach him Spanish in order that he could study Lorca    . Shahid , while dying felt deprived for not learning Spanish which was but humourous.

                  

 Character Sketch Of Shahid Ali: 

Shahid Ali was a famous Kashmiri American poet Who earned tremendous name and fame for   his English poetry.He started his early education in Kashmir and pursued his higher studies at Delhi University.

Shahid authored several collections of poetry books. “The Country without Post Office” is the most remarkable of his book.

Shahid’s poetry was much inspired by James Merril. As a poet he never embraced the role of the victim that could so easily had been his. Shahid was would call himself a genuine poet , schooled in the fierce and forgiving art of language. Although respectful of religion, he remained a firm believer in the separation of politics and religious practices.

Shahid had always a recurrent dream in which the padiths had vanished from the valley of Kashmir .His dream surfaced in his poetry. The poet in him pathetically complained his pandith friends for having painted him as their enemy.

Shahid had always his own ways. He was full of wits. He was infallible before calamities. Despite having recurrent black-outs due to incurable tumour, he never declined to live. With all vivacity he would arrange feasts for his friends, and keep them around him .He was a great lover of cooking. He loved to cook Kashmiri dishes in pandth style. Rogen Gosh was his favourite dish. He would spend hours chalking out cooking programmes.

Shahid worked as the professor of English language at many American universities. His art of teaching was marvelous. From beginning to end he would be sparking deva. He was so favourite to his students that they once published a separate issue of university magazine in his name.

Shahid had many great promises to fulfill for his mother land .He was the great lover of Faiz ,Begum Akhter, and old  Bollywood films. But, like all noble souls, Aga Shahid Ali died young. It was on December, 8, 2001 that he breathed his last.      

Q. How was Shahid’s reputation as a teacher among his students?

Ans. Aga Shahid Ali had groomed himself into a great reader and poet.He was much sociable and would give great regard to his friends, relatives and students. When Shahid would enter his class he would always display decent behaviors. His students would feel honored to have him as their teacher. He was such a sort of teacher who would keep the curiousity of his students always alive.From start to end he would act as sparking diva.His style of teaching had enough of laughter and nakhra.He would show tremendous favour for the students hailing from the Indian sub continent. His students would adore him invariably and had recognized his great expertise at teaching by printing a magazine and  dedicating the issue to him.Though Shahid knew that his days were numbered ,he never allowed this affect his teaching any way.