A RARE BREED

A prince-poet who refused to leave his motherland goes down memory lane with a flourish along with with India Today's Uday Mahurkar.

Imamuddin Khan Babi, 90, the former ruler of the small principality of Pajod near Junagadh in Saurashtra and a well-known poet in Urdu and Gujarati, is a rare breed. When almost all Muslim rulers of Junagadh region, including the rulers of Junagadh, Manavadar, Mangrol and Sardargadh, decided to go along with Pakistan after 1947, Babi boldly told Sardar Patel: "This is my motherland and my subjects are like my children. I am rooted to the land of my birth. How can I leave my mother and my children?" Babi still remembers that a moved Patel patted him on the back and his ministry directed the then Saurashtra Government to sanction him an annual honorarium of Rs 10,000 in appreciation of Khan's patriotism which he receives till this day.

Significantly, Babi decided to merge with India despite the fact that he was closely related to many of the local Muslim rulers, most of whom had decided to go along with Pakistan. In doing so, Babi's patriotism ranked second only to Major Mohammed Ali Shaikh, the younger brother of the Nawab of Mangrol (near Junagadh ) who not only chose to stay in India when his elder brother and the then ruler had decided to go to Pakistan but laid down his life while fighting the Pakistani forces in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

In fact, Babi and his family are rarest of the rare breeds in today's world. Before independence, when Babi was the ruler, he started a sports club in Pajod and made a Harijan women its secretary. He also formed a volleyball team of his state and trained two Harijans to become members of the team. After independence, he joined the Congress Seva Dal and was highly respected in that organisation. Whether he was laying the progressive platform in his erstwhile state or grappling with his Pakistan-borne relatives, Urdu and Gujarati poetry have all along remained his constant companions.

His Urdu collection is titled Madira and his Gujarati collection Meena. These two collections have some of the finest ghazals. Some of the ghazals are quite romantic while others reflect the eternal humanitarian values. One of his romantic ones has sent many into
raptures: "Mujse Milake Aaankh Yun Naa Dekhna, Mitti Pe Kyon Ulatte Hon Bottle Sharab Ki ( Don't look down after looking at me, why do you want to empty my bottle with such fine liquour on the ground).

Babi has inspired quite a few in Gujarat to take to poetry and three of them stand out: Amrut Bhatt alias Ghayal, Ali Khan Baloch alias Shunya Palanpuri and Manoj Khanderia alias Barbad. Kahnaderia was a product of of an amateur association of poets called Milan which Babi established in Junagadh several years ago. Says Babi, who writes under the pen-name Ruswa Mazlumi and stays with his son Ayaz Khan, the director of the known public school, Raj Kumar College, at Rajkot:
"These poems reflect the philosophy of my life which is based on love, compassion and true humanitarian values"

Like patriotism, true secularism too is ingrained in Babi's family.
The Hindu wife of Ayaz Khan, a librarian with RKC, retains her Hindu name, Kirtida. The couple's daughter again has a Hindu name, Neha. One of Babi's Urdu couplets precisely reflects his philosophy: Aadmi Amal Se Khud Apna Faisla Kar Le, Ek Kadam Par Dozakh Hain, Ek Kadam Par Jannat (Let man decide by his deeds where he wants to go, on one side is hell and on the other is heaven).

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