Desiring Obscurity

(In my article: “desiring Obscurity” published in The Tribune dated July 28, 1996, I had mentioned four names: (1) De Gaulie (2) Noorjahan (3) Bhai Vir Singh and (4) Jahanara Begum, who desired to be forgotten after death. But in this-up, I have included two more names i.e. Mirza Ghalib and Sir Dirk Bogarde, the British movie legend and also added more material relevant to the subject.)

It is the irresistible desire of everyone to get name and fame, power and glory and a permanent place in history without realizing that everybody is to eventually meet his waterloo at last.

“Kithe ne oh raje rane

rang mahal si jinha malle? ”

(Where are the kings and potentates, the rulers of empires, the inhabitants of cosy palaces?). In the ultimate analysis, everything is transitory and nothing is permanent. It is dust to dust for all of us in the end. History provides a few exceptions to the inherent desire of a man to become unforgettable. As per my humble knowledge, six persons gladly chose obscurity.

        De Gaulle Charles Andre Joseph Marie, (1890-1970) renowned soldier, writer, statesman and architect as well as the President (1958-1969) of the fifth Republic of France, made the following Will dated January 16, 1952, expressing his wish as to how his funeral should take place: 

“I desire my funeral to take place at Colombey –Les – Deux – Eglises. If I die elsewhere, my body must be taken home without any public ceremony whatever…. My grave shall be that in which my daughter Anne lies and where, one day, my wife will also rest. Inscription : Charles de Gaulle (1890) … The ceremony shall be arranged by my son, my daughter, and my daughter – in – law, assisted by members of my personal staff, in an extremely simple manner. I do not wish for a State funeral. No President, no ministers, no parliamentary delegations, no representatives of public bodies. Only the armed forces may take part officially as such, but their participation must be on a very modest scale without bands or fanfare of trumpet calls. No oration shall be pronounced either at the Church or elsewhere. No funeral oration in parliament. The men and women of France may, if they wish, do my memory the honor of accompanying my body to its last resting place. But it is in silence that I wish to be taken there.”

His wishes were meticulously carried out in every detail.

Mehr-un-Nisaa, later renamed Noorjahan by her husband, Jehangir, was gifted exquisite beauty, a piercing intellect, a versatile temper and sound common sense. She enhanced the splendor o the Mughal Court. After the death of her husband and capture of her son – in – law, Shahryar, he influence of Noorjahan declined. She retired into privacy at Lahore, wore the white robe of mourning and led the life of seclusion cherishing the memory of her late husband.

With characteristic humility, she desired that on her tomb, no one should light a lamp or offer flowers so that neither moth burns his wings nor does the nightingale wail. The Persian couplet inscribed on her tomb in Lahore, when translated into English reads:

“On the grave of us poor

Neither a lamp nor a flower

No month singes its wings

Nor a song of the nightingale.”*

 * ‘Bar mazar-e-ma ghariban/Nay chiraghe, nay guley/Nae par-e-parvana sozad/Nae sada-e-bulbule.’

        Bhai Vir Singh(05.12.1872 – 10.06.1957), the renowned saint, writer, poet and exegetist par excellence, and a brilliant product of the Sikh renaissance while apostrophizing himself as a violet flower, wrote:

“How I wish to conceal my fragrance to end the journey all obscure. Alas, despite my entreaties, my wish remains unfulfilled.”

Dr. Bhai Vir Singh, according to the New Encyclopaedia Britannica, was a Sikh writer and theologian who raised the Punjabi language to a literacy level never before attained and his versatile pen extolled the Sikh values of life and Sikh ideals. As per his thought, the twin emotions of pride and ego require to be conquered before one can reach communion with God. He obviously shunned name and fame as is clear from his following lines:

“Mere chhipe rehan di chah

Chhip tur Jaan di

Poori hundi nahn

Mein tarlae lae reha.”

(My desire to live obscure and leave the world 

 unknown is beyond   fulfillment and keeps me imploring.)

The fourth person is Jahanara Begum, the attractive sister of Aurangzeb Alamgir. Shah Jahan had four sons – Dara Shikoh, Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad – and two daughters, Jahanara, who sided with Dara Shikoh and Raushnara who joined the group of Aurangzeb. When Auranzeb imprisoned his father Shah Jahan at the Agra fort under the special care of a tyrannical eunuch who took pleasure in inflicting petty indignities upon the captive monarch, Jahanara tried in vain to get the treatment befitting her Emperor father at the hands of her brother.

Jahanara Begum(ornament o the world) highly educated, well – read in Persian and Arabic literature, served her father during his sun set days with utmost devotion and dedication. When th unhappy Emperor Shah Jahan died at the age of 74 on January 22, 1666, Jahanara was by his bed side.

In the spirit of resignation, Jahanara Begum expressed her last desire:

“Let green only conceal my grave as grass is the best covering for the tomb of the meek.”

Mirza Ghalib(27.12.1797–15.02.1869), who is universally acknowledged as one of the top poets in Persian and Urdu was appointed in 1850 as the poet laureate to the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar (B.1772-D.1862), Reigned (1837-1857) Ghalib, the precursor of India’s renaissance, wanted his end to take place in these terms:

“Rahiye ab aisee jagah chal kar jahan koee n ho

Hum  - sukhun koi n ho aur hum – zuban koee n ho

Be – dar – o deevar sa ik ghar banaya chahiye

Koee humsaya n ho aur paasban koee n ho

Padiye gar beemar to koee n ho teemardar

Aur agar mar jaiya to noha – khan koee n ho.”

(I long to go away

And live in a forsaken place where no one would be my confidante

Nor would I meet anyone who speaks my tongue

There I shall built a house

Without door and without walls

There will be no neighbours

Nor there any sentinel

Should I fall ill

There would be none to attend

And should I die

There would be no mourners for me.)

Sir Dirk Bograde, the British movie legend, who died on May 8, 1999, was a screen – star recluse. His stature was recognised with a knighthood in 1992. For him to get a place in history was not a priority. His last desire was:

“I don’t care if I’m remembered or not. It doesn’t matter on your grave – stone, does it? “I have said that in my will: no funeral, no memorial service… Just forget me.”

These six persons appreciated the transitory nature of name and fame, power and glory and wanted to die unsung, unwept and unnoticed gladly resigning themselves to the haunting limbo of oblivion. However, as in life, so in death, they had the last word. A detached majesty and simple grandeur accompanied them to the grave and beyond. Although, they desired to be forgotten, yet history willed it otherwise – they became immortal and unforgettable.