Shailaza's Blog

Tag: amir khusro

  • A never-ending love affair (On Amir Khusro part II)


    In most people, a passion such as this lasts for a few months or may be some years. After that, it fizzles out as daily problems and needs take their toll. However, that has not been the case with Pradeep Sharma Khusro. In the past 20 years, his passion and love for Khusro has only increased which he feels is nothing short of a miracle.

    Pradeep Sharma Khusro


    “I feel as if the passion that I have for Amir Khusro is actually a miracle because my life has been full of problems especially the financial ones. Despite this, this passion has been increased. Actually, I was never career oriented. It was as if I was hypnotized for this, as if my entire thought was for this passion. There is a price to be paid for everything. I have lost a lot of things. Today, still I am jobless. Had I not concentrated on Amir Khusro, I would have probably had a flourishing career. I have done my Bachelor’s in Fine Arts and Bachelor’s in Education. I started out as a cartoonist. I taught in schools after B.Ed. I kept taking exams so that I could work as a drawing teacher in government schools. However, since I was from the general category, I had no quota to support me despite a very good percentage in B.Ed. So, people who could use the quota got the job despite a low percentage. This made me realize that there is no value for good marks or talent in this country.


    Collecting treasures
    According to Pradeep, he has the biggest collection of works of Khusro in the world. However, he is still looking for more!
    “When I first started to collect works on Khusro, I could only find a few books. I talked to collectors and many such people. I also contacted antique dealers who deal in books and furniture. Each book that I purchased was of 20,000 INR which will be perhaps a lot more valued in the international market. Many scholars at the end of their days gifted me their collection of books since they knew that those books might be thrown out after their death. I made friends with students from different countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan etc and they helped me to procure books. I may not be the richest man in the world but I have the largest collection on Amir Khusro in the world. I have around 3000 books on 12 languages from 14 countries on Amir Khusro in Persian, English, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Multani, Punjabi, Uzbek and many more. I have about 300 audio cassettes, DVDs, CDs and audio cassettes. He wrote a lot of books in Persian and even Hindi. However, you don’t get many of his books written in Hindi language except for Khalik Bahari. He wrote a book on Krishna titled Halaat-e-Kanhaiya but I haven’t been able to procure that book till now despite all my efforts. I have a book by him titled Chehel Roza which not many people can lay their hands on.”
    “The interesting thing is Amir Khusro is perhaps one of the few Indians who is taught in most universities of the world in many of their departments like music, history, philosophy, Sufism etc.”
    However he feels that the politicians in India are not interested in anything unless it impacts their vote bank.
    “I have met most ministers of all the governments in India. One thing I have understood is that none of them are interested in anything except vote bank. If promoting Amir Khusro could help them to get votes, they would become the long-lost relatives of Khusro otherwise they couldn’t care less. Regardless of their culture or religion, the only god they worship is vote bank. They don’t ask how will something benefit the country; all they ask is how it will benefit them.”

    Why Khusro?
    Pradeep feels that his passion is a part of something bigger. He has no logic why he likes Khusro so much but believes that his passion which is nothing but love has a life of its own.
    “I have been able to sustain this passion because perhaps the universe wanted me to sustain it. Everywhere I go, whatever I do, I am only thinking about Khusro. My name is Pradeep Sharma Khusro because I believe I have some connection with Khusro. I did not consciously develop this passion. The circumstances, the people I met helped me to progress on this path. I didn’t pursue this with any thoughts of gain or loss. It is what Meerabai felt for Krishna. She did not think of anything else but Krishna. I feel it is a form of divine love for God.”
    Why are people like Lord Ram or Subhash Chandra Bose or Ram Krishna Paramhans or such people remembered even decades or years or centuries after they are gone? Why do we study about them in our books? Simply because, they came with a mission and a purpose in life. They lived for their mission and even died for it. My mission is about Khusro. Maybe years after I am gone, people will read my books and say that here is man who explored Khusro in a way that no one could dream of.
    A genius unrecognized
    Pradeep feels that a genius like Khusro should be a part of every syllabus in India.
    “A genius like Amir Khusro never got his due in his own country. He was not only a poet but also a writer, musician, singer, vocalist, astrologer, military commander and astronomer. After his death, for centuries no one really bothered to compile his work. The rulers became commercial and selfish and did not bother about preserving such works. Non-political people especially professors of India and Pakistan helped in consolidating his works. It was only in the 15th century that people started recognizing and consolidating his works in Iraq since the emperor of Iraq, Sultan Hussain Bayqara loved Amir Khusro’s work. He asked his court poet to check the royal treasury and count the books that they had on the poet. The court poet checked and said they don’t have much except 4-5 books. He ordered him to travel the world and consolidate all the books and works of Amir Khusro and bring them back. After 5-6 years, when the court poet returned, the emperor was ecstatic. However, when a Sufi mystic from Afghanistan asked him if had certain ghazals written by the poet, he couldn’t find them! So, he again commissioned an expedition around the world for Khusro’s work. The ensuing collection is the world’s biggest on Amir Khusro and is housed in St. Petersburg library in Moscow. Most of the works are from India but we can never get it back unless our government is interested in procuring it.”


    Spirit Talks
    Pradeep says that his dream conversations have not been just about the works of Khusro but helped him to gain insight about the life beyond death.
    “The people I talk to in my dreams are Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusro. They told me they had died in 1300s. They said that after they died, they had expected to meet their ‘Allah’ but all they found was a bright divine light which they couldn’t face. They said that this universe is actually made by light. In Sufism, there is only one power which runs the world. They said that this power loves play. It likes change and hence it creates everything in the world for its amusement.”
    The Road Ahead
    Pradeep feels he still has a long way to go on this path.
    “I am compiling the Hindi works of Amir Khusro. I am perhaps the only person in the world who has personally commissioned the translation of more than 5000 pages of Amir Khusro’s Persian works. I used the money I earned in the Aga Khan Foundation. I have been talking to my friends in Pakistan almost on a daily basis and they keep sending me Khusro’s works on email or WhatsApp because they share my passion about Khusro.”
    I am also researching on Khusro as a historian, a philosopher, as a Persian poet and Sufi mystic. As a historian, he not only wrote about the prevalent political scenario but also about the cultural aspects too. He extensively wrote about the animals, food, clothes, languages, religion, ethnicities in his era. He talked about the samosas and the masalas that were used in them and the kind of influences that were present in the Indian food. He also wrote about the makeup used by women, the festivals, the rituals followed in both rich and poor societies. As a musician, he contributed a lot to Hindustani music. There are many anecdotes of Amir Khusro which people are not aware of. I am writing about those too. He was a multi-faceted personality who was an astrologer and astronomer too. People say that no other poet has written so extensively. He has books that have 800-1000 pages each. I feel I am similar in that way because when I start writing from the morning, I continue it for 18 hours at a stretch. Infact, now I have started writing lyrics for Bollywood movies in the style of Khusro. I composed my first song in 2018 for a film titled ‘Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain’ which was directed by Harish Vyas and produced by Manav Malhotra, Bunty Khan and NFDC (National Film Development Corporation of India)”

    This article by Shailaza Singh was published in Rashtradoot Newspaper’s Arbit Section on 13 June 2021.

  • It is all about Khusrau!

    He lives Khusrau, he breathes Khusrau; so much so that he even dreams of Amir Khusrau, an Indian poet and a Sufi mystic who lived in the 13th century. For Pradeep Sharma ‘Khusrau’, the Sufi mystic has reached out to him beyond time and helped him to discover his calling.

    A man possessed
    I had only read stories like Laila-Majnu or Heer-Ranjha where people gave up their entire lives for the object of their affection. I had seen movies like Darr, where Shah Rukh Khan’s character does not stop at anything to gain the affection of the girl he is madly in love with. However, I could never imagine these stories in real life because after all, most of us are quite practical, worldly wise people who understand that we all need to work for a living. However, a meeting with Pradeep Sharma ‘Khusrau’ changed it all. He is ridiculed by his relatives but respected by many in the world. He may not be rich but his self-created ‘property’ is probably worth millions in the international market. Pradeep Sharma ‘Khusrau’ is not your ordinary collector; he is man in love with Amir Khusrau. For him, his day starts and ends with Khusrau.


    Reprogrammed
    A graduate in fine arts and a cartoonist, his tryst with Khusrau began when he happened to listen to a gramophone record titled, ‘The Multifaced Genius of Amir Khusrau Dehalvi’. As a result, he started developing interest in Khusrau and his works. However, he was diagnosed with neuro psychosis in 2006.
    Says Pradeep, “I was afflicted with neuro psychosis, a disease which has no cure in medical science. Till about 2010, I was bedridden and could not go anywhere. The doctors had no clue why I was afflicted with this disease. However, they had prescribed a lot of medicines which I had to take every day for the rest of my life. According to them, if I didn’t take these medicines, the next option would be a mental asylum. I used to either sleep for 20 hours in a day or be awake for days at a time. I lived on sleeping pills too. I was quite depressed that my life had taken such an unexpected turn. During this period, my father consulted an astrologer who said that I would be bed ridden for the rest of my life. For me, this was the most depressing period of my life.”


    The Magic in Dreams
    Pradeep had almost given up hope of leading a normal life again. He started getting bizarre dreams where he met a strange old man with a beard. Sometimes, he would be accompanied with another old man.
    He says, “In 2009, I started getting strange dreams during my sleep. I used to dream of sitting and crying in a deserted place with old monuments. In these dreams, an old man with a white beard used to talk to me. I kept getting these dreams repeatedly. The old man used to talk to me in English. He would always assure me that my current problems would soon be over. He said that medical science had no answer to my disease but he could cure my disease. When I asked him why was I facing such problems, I was told that these problems were as a result of my past deeds and this was a self-purification period. He said that my suffering will come to an end but I had to throw all the medicines given by the doctor because these medicines were making me dull. However, when I talked to my mother and doctor about this, they dismissed it as a bad dream and did not let me throw away the medicines.”
    Pathar Wale Baba
    “In 2010, I had visited the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin with a friend. I met a semi-nude fakir who was called Pathar wale baba, who rarely is seen by any visitors. He gave me a bottle with water and told me that to drink this water any time I felt depressed or sad. He told me that as I finish the water in the bottle, I will also be cured. The old man in my dream also advised me to drink the water.”
    Persisting Dreams
    We seldom remember our dreams when we wake up. For most of us, dreams are nothing but vague images and impressions that make no sense in the real world. However, for Pradeep, dreams became his guide. When he could not throw the medicines for the fear of his family and doctors, he dreamt about the old man again.
    “After about three months after I had the first dream, the old man visited me again. This time he did not have a beard. He admonished me and asked me if I really wanted to get well. He told me the doctors had no idea of what they were doing and asked me to throw the medicines. I ultimately threw the medicines but could not sleep for the fear of turning mad without them! However, I slept that night and got up at 11 am. My father who believed that I was merely using the illness to avoid work was quite upset about this. However, my mother was convinced of my problem because she knew the kind of medicines the doctors had prescribed. Soon, I started feeling well again. I no longer felt dizzy or scared again.
    Dream on
    However, this was not the end of these dreams. He kept getting dreams where he was instructed about everything.
    Pradeep says, “The dreams continued to guide me. In my dreams, the old man used to give me detailed instructions about whom to meet, where to go etc. I used to get up in the morning and write down all the details. Based on these dreams, I made a project report. When I shared this project report with professors and other senior people they were taken aback! They thought that this report was a work of some great professor. They could not believe that I made it! According to them, it was impossible for a common man who had not studied or learnt about Amir Khusrau in detail. I still get those dreams and receive instructions on what to do or how to proceed.”
    Family Matters
    As a result of his dedication to his passion, Pradeep had to face the ire of his family members. They felt that he was simply wasting his time on this frivolous pursuit on Khusrau and not earning any money.
    In Pradeep’s words, “My parents aren’t very encouraging when it comes to my passion. My father threw me out of the house twice. However, I came back. He felt that my passion towards Amir Khusrau was nothing but madness and it was not letting me concentrate on building a good career. But during that time, I was in a state where I could not understand what my parents were trying to tell me. I was totally oblivious to their admonitions and was only focussed on Amir Khusrau.”
    “I was married twice. The first time, I got married to a lady who demanded 10 lakhs within 2 months of being married. When I refused, she filed a dowry and domestic violence case. Ultimately, I had to shell out around 3 lakhs rupees to get out of it. The interesting thing is that I or my parents hadn’t asked her for anything yet I feel she was a woman who made a living by marrying unsuspecting guys and then using the dowry law to extract money. I didn’t want to marry the second time but my parents pressured me into it. However, this marriage also did not work as a result of fights between my parents and wife and my financial problems. I have a son who stays with my wife. We are separated for the last 2.5 years.”
    “Even today, my relatives, my cousins keep calling me and tell me that I am ruining my life. I believe no one has the right to judge anyone. They are not feeding me or fuelling my passion in anyway. I don’t listen to them. I believe whoever has become great in the world was first ridiculed for his passion. I love Khusrau and that is what my purpose of life is.”
    Happy days
    For most of his life, Pradeep Sharma Khusrau has spent money on acquiring works of Khusrau from various parts of the world and faced backlash from his family. However, there was a time, he was paid for working and researching on Khusrau. He says that was the most beautiful period of his life because he was getting money to follow his heart.
    “In 2012, I received a phone call from Hazrat Nizamuddin from a gentleman called Farid Ahmad Nizami. Everyone at the Dargah knows me as Pradeep Sharma Khusrau. The gentleman told me that the Aga Khan Foundation in Delhi is looking for someone to help them in their research on Amir Khusrau. At that time, I was working as a drawing teacher in a school with a salary of 20,000 INR. The next day, I attended an iftar party with some of my friends. I was talking about Khusrau in a group, when I was approached by a gentleman from Agha Khan foundation who said that they had been looking for me after they got to know about my passion and expertise on Khusrau. He told me that they couldn’t find anyone though they had approached well known professors and experts and even given advertisements in newspapers. He said that though the people who came were qualified but none of them had the relevant expertise when it came to Khusrau. He asked me to come to his office the next morning. I was interviewed by a panel of 5 people who asked me about 50 questions on Khusrau. They were so impressed with my answers that they immediately gave me an appointment letter as a researcher on Amir Khusrau.”
    “However, I told them that I was working as an art teacher and needed to serve the notice period. I talked to the principal who did not agree to relieve me. When I shared my predicament with the people at Agha Khan foundation, they offered a part time arrangement. So, I used to get up at 5 am, go to the school to teach. At 2 pm I used to go to the foundation and work there till 8 or 9 pm. The project became bigger and finally I was asked to join full time. I explained my problem to the principal and I was relieved after my notice period. Then I joined the Aga Khan foundation at a salary of 70,000 INR. Initially the project was for two years. However, they liked my work so much that they asked me to work with them for two more years. These four years were almost like a golden era for me. I travelled to 22 states in search of Khusrau, organized concerts, programs, symposiums and seminars. I was immersed in Amir Khusrau day in and day out. My folks also did not trouble me because they were happy with the money coming in. After four years, I was given another year-long project on Mirza Ghalib and Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan.”
    Office Politics
    Pradeep’s golden days were soon riddled with office politics and colleagues who resented his success.
    He says, “Soon people started resenting me for my knowledge and work, I had a tiff with my senior who wanted me to take the short route for everything. I couldn’t do that because Khusrau was a passion and I wanted to do everything properly. So, she started sending negative reports about me. As a result, I was asked to leave. So, I worked till 2018 and since then I worked in two schools and today, I am unemployed. However, I am still working on spreading Khusrau’s work and words.”

    • This article was published in Rashtradoot Newspaper’s Arbit section on 12 June 2021

    …To be continued…

    By Shailaza Singh