Taufiq Rafat was considered Ezra Pound of Pakistan.

Born in 1928 and

educated at Aligarh and Lahore, he was a towering Pakistani poet and author.
PAKISTANI IDIOM
Exposure to Western literature has taught us the language of the West but
what we fail to recognize is we have forgotten the true indigenous language
of our country. What is the language that the current Anglophone literature
fails to encapsulate? It is the Pakistani idiom. Through this instrument, the
language of English no longer remains that of the colonizer. It switches
connotation and it is a remarkable way of owning the language.
The idea was introduced by Taufiq Rafat, He was the one who initially
propagated the concept of our native identity that must reflect in the works of
Pakistani authors.
It does not mean that writers start employing Urdu vocabulary to further the
idea of Pakistani-ness in their writing, instead, it is the process of translation
and reflection of Pakistani culture, religion, heritage, nature, society and ethos
at large into the English canon. The weather, flora and fauna, sights and
smells and people are all so local, so indigenous to our heritage and country
that writers have given it all a new perspective while writing about it. A new
freshness and a new start. Taufiq Rafat wrote poetry collections called The
Arrival of Monsoon, Half Moon and Foothold which was a drama – they all are
reminiscent of a beautifully well-crafted Pakistani idiom that introduces the
country like no one could imagine possible. Inherent to India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and a few other countries, the monsoon season holds such a spell
over the writers that the West reads it and cannot help but be transported to
the sights and sounds of the season. The summer season and monsoon
weather happens to be a consistent phenomenon of Pakistani writers where
they talk effusively about rain. Taufiq Rafat writes in Arrival of the Monsoon:
“Alive, Alive, everything is alive- again./ Savour the rain’s coolness on lips
and eyes.”
The time of rain remains the most soul-inspiring and creativity-boosting of all
the seasons.
In one of his poems, Children Understand Him, another one of our cultural
treasures is wonderfully cherished. A grandfather is brought out as an image
of reliance and trust for his grandchildren. Exactly how it ideally is in our
culture where three generations reside together and flourish seeing one
another grow. The modern world has taken away even this cultural privilege
from us with receding levels of tolerance, integrity and patience. He writes,
“they understand him./ From man-roar, and friendly/ punches to the chest,/
and damp kisses on scrubbed cheeks,/ they sail to the harbour of his knees.”
In his drama, Foothold, Rafat explores the spiritual journey of Saleem and his
two disciples. The story begins at a busy railway station which symbolizes life
and the transitory nature of this world. Further, into the story, it is an
existentialist portrayal of Saleem’s life and his two friends, Mustafa and Ali.
Themes of bathos, suicide, extremism in society and eventually gaining a
foothold through the chaos are recurring themes. Stationmaster’s words ring
true,
“Mobs are easier to understand than individuals; generalities simpler to
define.”
Rafat shows the complexity of humankind and how much effort it takes to
understand each individual and take them on their own merit instead of using
sweeping generalizations. Local setting and idioms are used to convey
universal lessons. At one of the places the idiom used is “I scratched the dust
of the courts… in search for the bone of justice.” This is a direct translation
from Urdu and also the social dilemma of justice delayed to the needy and
underprivileged in our country. It is an attempt at battling the corrupt social
legacy left by the colonizer by using his own language and beating him at it.
Exposure to Western literature has taught us the language of the West but what
we fail to recognise is we have forgotten the true indigenous language of our
country. What is the language that the current Anglophone literature fails to
encapsulate? It is the Pakistani idiom.
CULTURE: