From Mountain Climber to Intrepid Poet
Wajahat Malik who is known primarily as an adventure buff and mountaineer has compiled a collection of poetry that is not only endearing but also gives personal insight on being humane. One wouldn’t have thought that an avid adventurer like Wajahat would have chosen a medium as ingenious as poetry but somehow it suits his daring spirit.
Wajahat’s style is devoid of artifice and he doesn’t use a predictable phrase structure – while he may not be an expert in the fine art of verse-making, his poetry has the ebb and flow of the outdoors life; the movement of the wind through trees and a glimpse of pretty flowers in a mountain meadow. It is honest and heartwarming, and at times risqué and rebellious—something that should appeal to anyone who call themselves a freethinker. Most importantly, Wajahat as a poet who writes in English, is not explaining his local experience to the ‘other’. Pakistani mountains or the Afghan sky are not described to the foreigner, it is as it is.
Therefore, Wajahat Malik’s writing is definitely a heartfelt response to his experiences; his poems attempt to capture a variety of emotions, yet he does not try to impress by using flowery language. His poems are sharp and satisfying, like walking up a mountainside and finding an awesome view at the top! Poetry demands that we look beyond the ordinary on one hand, while putting a spotlight on the ordinary in an artful manner. Wajahat does both without being too contrived—yet creating imagery that is not to clichéd.
‘I will drop the title of a zygote poet
join the poetry circus
and live like a clown for the
rest of my life and take myself seriously…’
Beyond the emotional poet, there is the justice-loving poet who dissects society as he sees it – and is disturbed by its failures. The hard-hitting words in his poem ‘Raped’ share the here and now of Pakistani gender-based violence and inequality – his feelings are real, they instigate the same anger in us.
‘When I heard the news of a woman raped
highways lost their soul
savage plazas exacted their toll
a callous policeman, predatory patriarchy
glaring misogyny, shameless hierarchy…’
Similarly, the poem ‘Little Men’ leaves little to the imagination as Wajahat critiques, what we can only assume, are power structures.
‘How do little men sleep at night?
they just do
how could they
that is not for you to say
in their suits, uniforms, boots and norms
with their tall hats, berets and wigs
their gavels, their sticks
up the nation’s arse
they sleep the night away.’
Beyond the political picture, Wajahat continues to delineate the personal, deliberating over romance and relationships, sometimes fulfilled and sometimes heartbroken – like in the poem ‘But it Seems’ (below) – he is really unsure. One assumes that since the poems have been written over a period of time, the emotions, failures and successes vary.
‘I know where love resides
but I don’t’ know how to get there
even though I wander the earth like a fool
Knocking on the addresses of hearts
I have never knocked on my own
I know where love resides
I think I am destined to wander.’
Charsi Nama is also an extension of thoughts as inspired by Wajahat’s alter ego Gul Zaman Charsi, a straight and outspoken personality who does not hold back in stating the truth as he sees it. Statements like: ‘The sound is deafening when mindless patriots blow their own trumpet’ are his trademark. Gul Zaman Charsi provides a mirror to society and in the solo Urdu poem in Charsi Nama titled an ‘Ode to Ignorance’, he addresses all Pakistanis and begs them (and if I can take the liberty of translating the gist of the poem roughly into English) says: ‘You immensely ignorant Pakistanis, who have the honour of achieving such a high status in ignorance … I have to ask you, O impoverished of the mind, please read, think and worry … don’t tie yourselves up to the decrees of mullahs …don’t read mindless lies…use your own brain, analyse, read, read and read some more and listen to your conscience.’
Wajahat Malik’s poems are a must-read for all those who enjoy subtle rebelliousness, a quirky sense of humour and a compassionate and inclusive outlook, not preachy, nor highhanded.
Wajahat Malik
Charsi Nama and Other Poems
Sang-e-Meel Publications
2021
