Yun Hota To Kya Hota? translates simply to ‘What If?’

This exciting new show from Radio Azim Premji University explores the life and times of Mirza Asadullah Khan, one of the most influential writers in Urdu, known to us by his nom de plume — Ghalib.  

There are stories that Ghalib told, and there are stories told about Ghalib. 

Address your letter to “Ghalib, Delhi” and it will reach me, the great man is reputed to have said. Not a boast, because he was already a legend in his own lifetime. Yet, despite his accomplishment, he was in need of money. So the story goes that he applied for a job as a teacher of Persian. His conduct at the job interview, however, became the stuff of gossip in his time, and the stuff of legend in ours.

Hosting you through this absorbing series is Amit Basole, faculty in Economics at APU, whose pet passion for Urdu poetry found expression in a book, Thinking With Ghalib - Poetry For A New Generation, co-authored with Lahore-based writer Anjum Altaf.

Listen to this and more vignettes in Episode 1 - The Man And His Times. 

Acknowledgements:
Letters read by Zia Mohyeddin 
Song: Ghalib Ke Khutoot | Album: Ghalib Kay Khutoot Vol. 1 & 3 | Artist: Zia Mohyeddin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqGSK17-Y30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mjsv_8lp1g 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1KiFOWGaEQ 

Explore more:

YouTube | A Desertful of Roses The Urdu Ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib
By Francis W. Pritchett 
Columbia University
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/

Ustad Ahmed Jawed's lectures 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rZeo-t7Q54&t=1023s

Anjum Altaf Website
http://anjumaltaf.com

YouTube | A Conversation with Anjum Altaf and Amit Basole, authors of Thinking With Ghalib - Poetry For a New Generation | Institute for South Asia Studies 
https://youtu.be/kepIWKB1Ma0 

Books by Amit Basole
https://www.amazon.in/Books-Amit-Basole/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AAmit+Basole

Credits:
Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar

Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota The world of Ghalib with Amit Basole - The Man And His Times (EP1)3rd Feb 2023

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Credits:
Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar