Listening to the late Shri Jagjit Singh gives anyone Goosebumps, even today. I can imagine that the entire world has been divided into two groups: one consisting of couples united in love, and the other consisting of unrequited or incomplete love. In both cases, gazals play a pivotal role in either blooming, glooming or grooming. Every youth, sooner or later, accepts the haven of gazal, it is their destiny. The destiny ought to be embraced with all joys. So, let's take a plunge into the world of gazals.
Several writing pieces discuss the definition, components and well-known examples of gazals. So, that might be of little interest to you all. Hence, better skip that and turn to the crux of the matter. This article will point out some techniques of writing gazals with certain examples so that you guys can practice them if you are really interested in being a budding gazalist. Let's be the voice we want to be.
Learn to place Radif and Kafiya: As discussed earlier, our focus should be the technique of creating gazals rather than learning the components. But to understand this technique, we must know what Radif and Kafiya are. Radif is a repetitive word or phrase placed at the end of each sher in gazal and Kafiya is a rhyming world that precedes Radif. Now enjoy this sher from Galib.
दिल-ए-नादाँ तुझे हुआ क्या है
आख़िर इस दर्द की दवा क्या है
जान तुम पर निसार करता हूँ
मैं नहीं जानता दुआ क्या है
Now explore this wonderful gazal here and practice identifying the placement of radif and kafiya in the entire gazal.
Repeating the same word in a sher tactfully: Sometimes the gazalist repeats one word tactfully in the sher to create a kind of rhyme in the entire sher. Have a look at this sher by Umair Nazmi.
बिछड़ गए तो ये दिल 'उम्र भर लगेगा नहीं
लगेगा लगने लगा है मगर लगेगा नहीं
Want to explore the entire gazal? Click here.
Flip the words tactfully to create amazing rhyming effect: Several gazals express different emotions or thoughts in just two lines by flipping the same words tactfully. See, the following sher by Fehmi Badayuni.
"कोई दुनिया में चेहरा देखता है,
कोई चेहरे में दुनिया देखता है"
Select in-depth dictions: The dictions of a gazal make it more impactful; such dictions are irreplaceable. Let’s see this sher by the immensely popular shayar Late Shri Rahat Indori.
मेरे हुजरे में नहीं और कहीं पर रख दो
आसमाँ लाए हो ले आओ ज़मीं पर रख दो
In a popular comedy show, the shayar himself explains the meaning of the word ‘हुजरे’: it means a small hut where a sage resides. Now make an experiment using similar word like ‘झोंपड़ी’ or ‘कुटिया’ and read the entire sher again. You will realize which one is more impactful. The point is select the in-depth word that exactly matches your emotion.
To conclude, several techniques are helpful in practicing the format of gazals. This article has a glimpse of it. I recommend you to try them and you will realize that a kind of stream of creativity will flow in a natural manner. I really admire my readers and expect them to discuss other techniques in a comment box. The second part of this article will include all the meaningful comments and other techniques of practising gazal.