'haiN aur bhi dunyaa meiN suKhanwar....'

You can't run away from Ghalib--you can only idolize him as the world of Urdu has after him or try to pull him down (and get deranged, in the bargain)as the great 'Yaas Yagaana' Changezi did. When I quote Ghalib's celebrated 'misra'a'--"haiN aur bhi dunya meiN suKhanwar bahut achhe", I'm referring to some of the great lesser known poets of urdu, such as 'Rind', 'Sabaa', 'Aazurdah' 'qaayim', bayaan' and some of the other great masters, who are virtually unknown today. Mir Anees who immortalized the form of the 'marsiya', had 32 pupils or 'shaagirds', we're told.

Now, Anees was extemely selective about his 'shaagirds' and each one of these 32 shagirds must have been a highly accomplished poet for Anees to have agreed to be their 'ustaad' and yet, they're unheard of today. Who except connoisseurs of Urdu verse have heard of 'Shefta' Dehlavi or Mir Mehdi 'MajrooH'?
I can go on and on, but someone in the Sahitya Akademi,to whom I'd once written about this, especially since it's headed by Gopichand Narang, the reputed critic, should undertake a project on these masters, who have now lapsed into anonymity.
S