Remembering Kader Khan In These Horrendous Times Of Degenerated Languages
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
21
September 2023
A few days
ago, I bumped into an actor in Poona who was once a student of actor-comedian
Kader Khan. Khan taught him Urdu diction and the nuances of the language. The
Hindi of that actor was passable and his Urdu was tolerable, considering the
general level of Hindi and Urdu spoken by the film stars who just cannot read
scripts in Devanagari, let alone Urdu. When that actor mentioned the name of
Kader Khan, a deluge of memories overwhelmed me.
Actor
And Script-Writer Kader Khan
------
Till 2010,
people of Poona would often see the late actor and script-writer Kader Khan
have a stroll at Koregaon Park, Wanowrie and Kondhwa of Poona. Kader Khan loved
Poona and its ambience. Though ostensibly gregarious, Kader Khan's real-life
persona was diametrically opposite of his image on the marquee, where he
appeared to be a comedian and at times, a tad frivolous. An extremely well-read
man, Kader Khan would always carry a fat notebook and a book of poetry. Though
he had an Engineering degree and taught at a College in Bombay, his first love
was literature and one would always find him engrossed in reading and writing.
While
teaching at a reputable film institute, where he briefly taught dialogue
delivery, he'd begin his lecture with the standard refrain: 'Aap Jo Zabaan
Bol Aur Sun Rahe Hain Woh Adab Se Koson Door Hai. Yeh Bambai Ki Zabaan Hai Aur
Aap Ko Adabi Zabaan Seekhni Hai' (The language you speak and hear is miles
away from literature. It's Bombay's lingo and you're expected to learn standard
language).
Kader would
regale his students with jokes but not a single joke was vulgar or had a double
meaning. I once asked him, " Why did he never use puns in classrooms the
way he spontaneously used them on the silver screen? " His answer made me
think, "Ye Atfaal-E-Naadaan Hain. Inhein Abhi Se Zabaan Ka Naazeb
Pahloo Dikhana Mere Zameer Ke Khilaaf Hai" (The students are very
young and impressionable. I don't want to show them the not-so-refined aspect
of a language). He'd often say that there were other better things to learn
about a language than learning the tongue-in-cheek expressions.
That was his
nobility very few are aware of. Hailing from Kabul, Kader had an enviable
command of Pashto, Arabic and of course, Urdu. His English was also excellent.
Despite being so famous and respectable, he was disarmingly modest and would
never hesitate to call me up whenever he'd baulk at a Pashto or Dari (Afghan
variant of Persian) word, knowing that I learnt and spoke the languages like a
native speaker.
Kader Khan
would often say, "Main Apne Naam Ko Jeeta Hoon" (I live up to
my name). Though his name in Arabic, predominantly means 'Powerful' (Qadir), it
also means 'green' and 'innocence.' He had both. His ideas were forever verdant
and he had a childlike innocence.
Interestingly,
Kader in Pashto means 'unfazed' and 'unperturbed.' He was truly unperturbed. Despite
having seen so many upheavals in life, he remained unfazed and would often say,
"Zindagi Jahad-e-Musalsal Hai Tamasha Toh Nahin/ Jeene Waale Hi Rahte
Hain Toofaan Ke Qareeb" (Life is a perpetual strife. It's not a
charade. Those who love live to the hilt live cheek-by-jowl with the tempests).
One more
endearing quality of Kader Khan was his accessibility. Anyone could approach
him and ask for autographs. His interactions were always peppered with apt and
apposite Urdu, Persian and Arabic couplets and he'd immediately render them
into his flawless English.
But he
seldom flaunted his mastery over English, which I believe was as good as that
of a professor of English language.
Kader
called himself a teacher, a teacher of languages. Bad language would get his
goat and fine language would evoke his admiration.
Though I
didn't meet him frequently in Poona, whenever we'd meet, we shall discuss all
things barring cinema and his dialogues!! But he's hardly remembered today. By
the way, he felt very lonely towards the fag-end of his life. He passed away in
Toronto on December 31, 2018.
In these
rotten times of WhatsApp language when even leading newspapers are fraught with
grammatical and orthographic errors, when almost everyone writes and speaks
weirdly, I ruefully remember Kader Khan and his love for languages. Alas, no
one speaks that way.
------
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/kader-khan-horrendous-degenerated-languages/d/130723