One of the greatest Urdu poets of the last century, Raghpati Sahay ‘Firaq’ Gorakhpuri was born on August 28, 1896. Firaq (meaning 'separation' in Urdu) is bracketed with the three Fs of Urdu poetry of the 20th century: Faiz Ahmad 'Faiz', Ahmad Faraz, and ‘Firaq’. In these polarised times when even languages are being branded on the basis of religion, sects, and provinces, studying the poetry of Firaq is not just important; it's essential to disabuse ourselves of so many linguistic misconceptions that have, of late, eclipsed our spirit, society, sanity, and sensibility. In spite of having an astounding command over Urdu, Firaq never suffered from linguistic chauvinism. He taught English literature at Allahabad University and wrote with equal aplomb in all three languages, viz., Urdu, English, and Hindi. He never insisted on writing his Urdu poetry in chaste and abstruse Persianised Urdu. In his words, "Panpi hai zabaan meri iss sarzameen pe / Chaho toh kaho Urdu, chaho toh Hindi ise" (My language has thrived on this soil / You can jolly well call it Hindi or Urdu).

Firaq's Vision Of Hindustani

If Firaq was against the kind of Urdu laboriously embellished with the recondite and archaic Persian, Arabic, and Turkish words, he was also not in favour of Sanskritised Hindi. He says elsewhere, "Shayari wahi dil mein utarti hai / Zabaan na jab theth Hindi na Urdu hoti hai" (Only when a language is neither pure Urdu nor Hindi does it become intelligible to the readers). It can be safely observed that Firaq Indianised culturally indifferent Persianised Urdu and pared it down to intelligible Hindustani. According to Dr Khawaja Ahmad Farooqi, "If it were not for Firaq, the land of our ghazals would be dull; its ascension would not be more than a carbon........

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