Within the walls of Shahjahanabad stands one of the oldest academic institutions founded in 1696 by an army general, Ghaziuddin Khan Firoz Jung, of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The magnanimous building of the Anglo Arabic School boasted of a rich heritage and the treasures of Farsi and Urdu literature, which were later ransacked and stolen by the British who tried to convert a Farsi madarsa into an English teaching institution by rechristening the madarsa as the Anglo Arabic college in 1828. The objective of the college then was to elevate the Dilli walahs through an infusion of English language and literature into the academics.
The famous anecdote we are reminded of while narrating the history of this college is that of Mirza Assadullah Khan Ghalib, the famous Urdu and Persian poet in the court of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zaffar. He was offered the job of a teacher in this college, but he refused the prestigious offer only because he was not greeted by anyone from the institution while getting down from his palanquin at the doorstep of the college.
On entering through this historic door, two allies lead into the courtyard of the beautiful madarsa overlooking a mosque and a beautiful garden in between. This was the setting for the evening. The beauty of the door inside and the steps were converted into a stage, beautifully lit. The lighting draped the monument into pink, the chhatris protruding above looked like the enlightened eyes of the monument – happy to see so many visitors beneath.
The majestic grandeur of the Indo-Islamic architecture of the school building welcomed a crowd of 300-plus people to witness a Dastangoi performance organised by Purani Dilli Walo Ki Baatein in collaboration with Wings Cultural Society. Purani Dilli Walo Ki Baatein is an organisation run by the residents of old Delhi with an aim to preserve and maintain the rich culture and heritage of the old city.
The presence of Professor Shahid Mahadi, the ex-vice chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi, as the chief guest – apart from the members of the media and the gracious presence of Ustad Wasifduddin Dagar, a 20th-generation dhrupad singer and his sister Qamar Dagar, a calligrapher par excellence – made the event even more splendid.
Dastangoi is a lost art form of Urdu storytelling (from the 13th century). This was performed by the Wings Cultural Society. The society had been conceived with the idea of raising consciousness about social issues through the medium of theatre and cultural activities. The Dastaan was directed by Tarique Hameed.
“Topi ki Dastaan” is based on a Hindi novel, “Topi Shukla”, written by Dr Rahi Masoom Raza. He began his journey from the small town of Ghazipur in Eastern UP, after which he became one of the favourite storytellers of Bollywood. Raza sahab’s writings are all about the emotions of love and hate and the camaraderie of inter-faith beliefs.
The performance attempted to recreate the tumult between two friends ‘Topi’ and ‘Iffan’ who belonged, as the name suggests, to the Hindu and Muslim communities. The two friends had grown up in a fanatic household environment before the partition and creation of the two nations. This Dastaan re-creates the feeling of perturbation and horror that existed between the affected communities.
Topi is a manifestation of pandemonium in a post-independent era. The Dastaan culminates with the circumstances of the two nations existing within one. Topi, a Hindu by birth, questions the formation of Pakistan. The Dastaan is an adept amalgamation of the interplay between culture, human relationships, politics and unemployment which procreates scrimmage between the two nations due to certain historical events.
The event was a great success under the able guidance of Rana Safvi, a historian and a staunch reviver of the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb.