Chahek
smartenglishnotes Staff answered 4 years ago
The author knew about Shahid’s work much time before he truly met him. Shahid’s acclaimed collection, “The Country Without a Post Office” published in 1997 unequivocally influenced him. The writer also makes reference to that Shahid was an incredible writer and intriguing from various perspectives.
The essayist incorporates that in 1998, he cited a line from The Country Without a Post Office in an article that touched briefly on Kashmir. That time he just understood that Shahid was from Srinagar and had studied in Delhi. He had also learned at Delhi University that time, nonetheless, they had never met.
The writer and Shahid had various common friends and one of them put him in connection with Shahid. Starting now and into the foreseeable future, they had a couple of exchanges and even they met a number of times.
When they come to understand each other they found that they shared various common things. Both had a major list of common friends in India, America and else. Both loved the music of Roshanara Baigum and Kishore Kumar. Both shared the fondness for rogan josh and diverse nourishments. Both detested cricket and both had an equal interest in Bollywood films.
Shahid had a sudden blackout in February 2000. The tests revealed that he had a threatening cerebrum tumour. On 7 May 2000, the writer went to Shahid, where he taught as a teacher.
Agha Shahid Ali, a Kashmir exile, asks Amitav Gosh to write something about him and his verse when he dies. Amitav is confused by this strange demand of Shahid. He could think for some time of nothing to the state. He searches for words in which one guarantees a friend that after his death he will pen down on him. At last, he concurs and says that he will expound on him.
An indomitable emptiness fills the mind of the author.”So brief a friendship ” results in ” so tremendous a void. ” Both Shahid and Shaheed—”witness and martyr “— blended and melted everlastingly. Now, to satisfy his pledge, Amitav Gosh reacts with this wonderfully warm piece of writing in which he not just discussions about the universe of Agha Shahid Ali’s poetry but also about his own experiences he shared with him.
