Culture Touches in Twilight in Delhi by Ahmad Ali free essay sample

It is the most typical feature of the life of the Muslims of the subcontinent. Ali not only portrayed the feelings and emotions of his characters in this novel by using the Urdu poetry but also paved the way for the style of English language to be used by the future generations of writers from this area. Ali has rendered many classics of the Urdu poetry in easy and fluent English which introduces it to an international audience. The novel is therefore, a truthful articulation of the sentiment of people of the Indo-Pak subcontinent at a particular point in history when the sun set on the glory of the Mughal Empire in India. Ahmed Ali is the first Muslim to write a novel in English called, Twilight in Delhi (1940). He was one of the pioneers of the Progressive Writers Movement. Ali was a graduate from Aligarh1 and after the completion of education he availed himself of an opportunity of teaching at various Indian institutes. His education and his job facilitated him to understand both the English as well as Indian culture. He found a big gap between the both and tried to bridge it through his writings (Shamsie 1997). He decided to write in English but used Urdu poetry also in his writings and created a new style of writing in the subcontinent. This style resulted in the amalgamation of European realism and the Indian sensibilities. This technique of Ali caused a stir in the English literary circle of the Indian subcontinent. His first two dramas, The Land of Twilight (1931) and Break the Chains (1932) were widely appreciated. Even his Urdu short stories in Angaray2 (1932) were a special combination of European realism and Indian sensibilities in them. His first novel Twilight in Delhi appeared in 1940. His innovation of the style in English literature (especially fiction) was owing to the fact that he belonged to a conservative middle-class3 which considered Urdu poetry a license to express feelings associated with sex. An open description of sex was a taboo in the Indian society of that time. On the other hand the same poetry, which was used in the courts of kings and princess of India for expression of feelings and emotions at the time of their glory, had traveled down to the common man and had become a part of the middleclass Mughal4 culture, especially when the Mughals lost their empire to the British. This journey of Poetry from the corridors of the Mughal rulers to the streets of Delhi enabled even the laymen 1 2 Most of the students from this institution had progressive ideas. This can be translated as burning coals. 3 Normally was believed to the gentry and upholder of the social and cultural traditions. 4 Indian Muslim rulers who came from Central Asia including Akbar, the Great, Jehangir and Orangzeb Alamgir. 10 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 to use it for the expression of what he believed and felt. Even the beggars would chant poetic numbers to beg alms. For the Indian sensibility, poetry is an expression of human heart. It is an experience of the divine in human nature. It is a gift of nature given to the chosen few. It manifests the power of imagination and emotions in human life. Indian Muslim poets thought it was not only the greatest endowment of nature, but also the most ‘civil’ form of human behavior for men – in the street as well as in king’s court. The ideals of ‘genteel’ behaviour demanded of a man to be able to sing of ‘love’ and the ‘beloved’ – invariably a ‘courtesan’ in a purdah observing society. Such love was illicit, albeit the only one available. That was its main attraction and charm. That was its beauty and allure. It could not be sung without a defiance of the law which forbade it, and which was considered divine and not erasable by any human protest or blame. Such love nourished only outside the pale of law –both human and divine. It rested on a division of a man’s life ‘within the four walls of his house’ and outside world. Urdu poetry expresses the universe of emotions which the dichotomy of male desire entails, in all aspects and all spheres of life. It is basically about love and all hell which it may let loose, or heavens it might dream of. Among the Indian Muslims, singing about love is ‘civilization’ itself – as long as love is contained in poetic discourse. Outside the discourse it is a performative act between aristocrats and courtesans – the commoners relish it only through discourse. Such repression in real life, or denial of passion, created a scope for a wide range of themes associated with love to be treated in poetry – mainly in Urdu ghazal. This kind of poetry was being written and used in India when she was under the British occupation. As said above it was possible to show the feelings and impression ranging from love for woman to the revolt against the authority; poetry became the most popular as well as most understandable form of narrative. The sufferings of the ousted Mughal princes and princess along with that of the common man made it a popular vehicle for the ventilation of the oppressed emotions, the Indian Muslims harbored inside their chests. This made Urdu language lingua franca in the northern and southern part of India but Urdu poetry gained its glorious status when Urdu became a court language in 18th century. This status of Urdu influenced the social and political life of the Indian Muslims. People started to use it as a form of communication in the tradition of the Arab culture where the best form of communication was poetry. Poetic gatherings and competitions of poets were held at the state expenditures for the recitation of poetry. This gave much boost to the use of poetry among the Indians. Mughal patronization further popularized Urdu language and poetry. Among the royal classes it was considered a cultural activity to take lesson from an Urdu poet and then to write and recite poetry on various occasion. Several Mughal princes and princess have been noted for their poetic skills. The disintegration of Mughal Empire, because of the invasions of Nadir shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali5, caused much harm to the patronization of Urdu poetry and the sense of loss caused melancholy among the local people. Fears, doubts, and uncertainties crept in the minds of poets and the poetry. An effort was made by them to revive their culture and traditions through their 5 The names of the most famous and frequent invaders who came from Afghanistan to exploit the resources of India. 11 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 literature and in this way renaissance of Urdu poetry took place after the 1857. Niazi supports the point of view in the following words that the uncertainties of the time caused many to raise questions and a revival of the arts and literature, a sort of renaissance period, ensued for India in the 18th century (Niazi). One of the reasons for the growing interest of the Indian Muslims in poetry was their inability to cope with the external realities of life and their desire to confine themselves in to their own cocoons. With the passage of time most of them were unable to continue with the practical life because of the British policies to subdue Muslim in India. This inability led them to find refuge in the poetic expressions and recitations. We can say that one way or the other almost all the society sought refuge in poetry. Almost all type of people including, the British, the Hindus, the elephant drivers, the sultans, the rich, and the statesmen, developed a taste for poetry, and made it an essential part of their routines (Kausar 1993). This tendency seeped into the lower stratum of Indian life and the masses also showed their interest in poetry by attending the poetic gatherings partly to see women present there but also because the recitations were in Urdu which they could understand. In this way, Urdu Ghazal and other forms of Urdu poetry started to take definite shape. This contributed and increased the role of Urdu poetry in the life of Indian Muslims. The social norms reached the religious places also and it was sung at the shrines of the holy saints in the form of qawwalli6. As a result, Urdu Ghazal acquired a marvelous popularity and it was sung in every gathering and every home and house because it was in harmony with the thought and emotional demands of the age and reflected the contemporary spirit (Kausar 1993). The second most important factor in popularizing and making poetry a tool for the expression of the self came in the shape of elegies sung by the Shiite Muslim sect. Elegies are mostly sad in nature and this is most preferred way of expressing ones grief over the death of ones near and dear ones. A large majority of the Muslims liked to listen and to sing these elegies to observe their sense of loss at the martyrdom of Hazarat Hussein and his family. The same is believed by Kausar that in that period, the tradition of reciting elegies played a major role in popularizing and adopting poetry (Kausar 1993). These trends flourished further when the people found poetic gatherings and recitations an ideal place for get-together and to share their feelings. These poetic gatherings were patronized by many princes and the noble men. These poetic gatherings not only satisfied the taste but also developed civilization and critical aspect of the language and literature (Kausar 1993). The above said factor developed another aspect of the Muslim civilization in India which was to use poetry in each and every piece of conversation and made it a most popular genre of literature. Not only the poets but also their readers enjoyed poetry. Ali was also deeply interested in writing and reading poetry. He believed that without the use of Urdu poetry, a sense of completion of expression could not be achieved. He selected English novel as the best genre for his expressions and to further enhance his expression he used poetic instances in his prose (Rehman 1991). 6 A forceful poetic chant of the group of singers and musician, especially on religious events. 12 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. ntjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 The novel Twilight in Delhi (1940) is a manifestation of the writer’s belief that literature can be used to portray the reaction of the Indian Muslims against the colonialism7 of the British in India. His novel provided a Muslim view of the colonial encounter (Shamsie 1997). This trend of the writer continued even in his next two novels Ocean of the Night (1964) and Rats and the Diplomats (1986). His style gives a linguistic background to the novel in such a way that the novel appears to be totally of and about the subcontinent. This is because of plentiful use of Urdu idioms, words and the poetic instances. Ali therefore was able to give birth to a new variety of English, which later on has become a universal language of Pakistani English fiction these days. This paper intends to highlight the efforts of Ali whereby he tried to make his novel more acceptable to the Indian and English reading community through the use of culture bound Urdu poetry in his novel in English. This made the language of the novel Twilight in Delhi (1940) appear English but with a generous sprinkling of Urdu Poetry in it. The use of Urdu poetry by Ali became a powerful literary device of his narratives. Urdu poetry treats the relation of man with universe in a philosophical, liberal, and humanistic perspective. As such it becomes a secular repository of thought and a most precious use of Urdu in the secular context. As a distinguished gentleman of refined taste and manners, Professor Ali had a deep appreciation for Ghalib and other great poets of Urdu at that time. He was deeply concerned with the change in the local culture taking place because of the advent of the British. He voiced this concern over the decay of Muslim culture and the injustices of colonial powers in his writings in English. He used Urdu poetry in his novel because he believed that his fiction will be read by the English speaking readers in world also. The mind and reaction of the local population could not be communicated with exact meaning unless there was a good use of the Urdu poetry. Ali wanted to communicate to the reader by giving a better expression of him. Similarly the international readers of this novel would not get a full view of Indian culture unless they were acquainted with local aspects of culture, including language. The reviewer Maurice Collis wrote in Time and Tide (London) that it may well be that we may not understand India until it is explained to us by Indian novelists of the first ability as it was that we understood nothing of Russia before we read Tolstoy, Turgenev and the others. Ali may well be the vanguard of such a literary movement (quoted in Wikipedia). Twilight in Delhi (1940) was written at a time when the English still ruled India. At that time Ali could use only English language but he felt incomplete without the use of Urdu poetry because of the above cited reasons. Neither the Indian culture nor the individual responses could be explained or understood fully by any one, whether he was Indian, or an English audience if it was not expressed in poetry. In the use of Urdu poetry in his fiction, Alis attempt was an original one. However we may not forget that even at that time, the writers like Forster, Kipling, and later on, Orwell, had done the same thing, in spite of the fact that they were English. They also used Indian expressions and words to make their writings more self explanatory and to sound more Indian rather than English. Indian cultural constraints had compelled them also to write in a fashion of the Indians and to include much of the Indian Idiom to make their audience understand them well. They had already laid the foundation of such a linguistic variety of English on which later Pakistani writers in English have developed more to suit their time and 7 The process of occupation of various territories by the Imperialist European forces like Britain. 13 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 taste. Ali went one step ahead and not only used the Urdu words but also used poetic instances with an ease and in great number in this novel. He translated the Urdu and Persian verses and incorporated them into his story. It was actually a fashion among the young and the old Muslim and Hindu Indians that they would use a lot of poetry of the local poets to express, to explain and to color their language. Ali also took poetic instances from the great classic poets of that time including Ghalib, Mir and Zafar. The poetry of these poets was sung by the Indian people to articulate various feelings of the heart and, especially after the elimination of Muslim rule, all and sundry used poetry for the ventilation of their suppressed thoughts. The above said social trend is abundantly available in the writings of Ali. This trend is especially employed in Twilight in Delhi (1940) because it was supposed to describe a world of the beaten out and worn out Muslims when all the properties of the Muslims had been confiscated and many had been killed. In such a miserable condition, they had nothing to fall back upon and had no choice other than joining the service of the British. The British were hated by the Muslims because of such political reasons. Muslim men and women, though taking up jobs provided by the English, were unable to forget their cultural heritage including Urdu poetry (Shamsie). These Muslim men and women wanted to preserve their culture along with their survival. With this backdrop came the influence of the Progressive Writers Association which was a by product of the efforts of Sir Sayyad Ahmed which had initiated the Muslim renaissance in India. All the above said reasons necessitated the need of using Urdu poetry in English writings because it was being used by the educated and non-educated Muslims as a sign of the reawakening of the Muslim culture. It also triggered a socialist ethos and developed an anti-imperialist attitude among the young Indian writers like Ali. By the twentieth century, Urdu writers had started to perceive literature as a viable medium for social and political comment. Furthermore, the socialist ethos of the Russian Revolution provided young nationalist Indians with a powerful modern, egalitarian, and anti-imperial creed (Askri qtd in Annual of Urdu Studies). The language of the fiction of Ali, therefore was to be English but at cultural level it was to be the Indian to give voice to the love and comapssion of the writer for the land and culture of India. Urdu Poetic instances in his novel add and extraordinary flavour of Indian culture and taste. His linguistic strategy was innovative and courageous, a hallmark in efforts to translate one culture8 into the language of another culture, a colonial and imperial power, namely, English (Askri). Alis writings were immensely simple for the ordinary English reader but he was also conscious of the fact that he was recreating a world with colours, nuances, and rhythms alien to native English speakers. He tried to overcome the problem by incorporating Urdu poetry into the English text. He also mixed English and Indian words to create street-sounds, such as the chant of mendicants, for example: Dhum! Qalander, God will give, Dhum! Qalander, God alone; (Ali, 17) These two lines, a beggars cry in the novel, are reported through the transportation of Urdu, and English meaning for the reader. One can read it as a representation of popular Muslim belief in 8 This included Urdu and Persian images and traditional Indo-Muslim culture 14 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 not only God but sainthood of men; but also the writer conveys all the contradictions inherent in the belief and practice which maintains that God is the sustainer and provider of everyone, and yet saints are worshipped with all the zest and their name helps them to extort money from the people. In spite of the belief that God provides for even those who remain ignorant of the world and surrender their ego into the will of God, the sources for the fulfillment of their worldly needs are human beings. That is why the beggars chanted these words before knocking at any door. Here the readers of Ali find it easy to understand the feelings of the beggar and that culture in which people would want to give to these beggars in the name of God. The writer has used the Urdu words also to portray the mind of the mendicant and the English words to make his readers understand the meaning of the mendicant. The mendicant is chanting the name of one saint (Qalandar) but at the symbolic level it means that the culture and land of India may be destroyed but the name of God will survive. He seems to assert that the efforts of English to eliminate Indian culture may not succeed because God is their protector. However, Ali wanted to go beyond sub-continental sounds and words, to convey the quality of the long standing traditions of Indo-Muslim culture, in which poetry plays a pivotal role – in conversation, in songs of celebration and of mourning. He used English translation of these verses to incorporate the poetic images of Urdu and Persian literature in his English prose. This translation of Urdu poetry into English is so easy and fluid that it becomes a part of the text and not only the local readers but also the foreign readers feel at home while perusing the novel. This intimacy of the reader with the text of the novel makes reader understand the culture and cultural associated sensibilities of the writer all the more easily. Rehman (1991) says, Ali’s use of English is very skilful. He translates many idioms and phrases from Urdu in such a way as to create the feeling that one has entered the realm of a different culture. This authenticity of diction and the detailed description of daily life make the book a valuable sociological description of a dying culture. (Rehman 1991) Another characteristic of Ali’s translations from Urdu poetry is that these are faithful to the original. Although it was very difficult task because of the deep association of Urdu poetry with the history and culture f Indian subcontinent yet Ali has done a marvelous job in using poetic translation in his novel. Rehman also believes that Ali has not only given translations from the classical poets of Urdu but has also written what amounts to a competent history of Urdu poetry (Rehman 1991). The poetry used by Ali was selected from a variety of classic Urdu poets in India. Mostly it has been taken from Ghalib, Mir, Dard, Zouq, and Bohadar Shah Zafar, who were some of the prominent cla ssic court poets and dominated the poetic scene of their time. Poetry by these poets was the most appreciable mode of expression of the sentiments of the people of India ranging from king to a common man, as said above. Not only Mughal Kings maintained court poets but also the princes and princesses did so in the far and wide of the Indian subcontinent. This patronization contributed much to this role of poetry. Almost all the population of India sang the poetry created by their favorite poets. It was cultural tradition to quote a line or two of poetry whenever a person wanted to express their internal working of the mind about various matters of their lives. The poetic instances were taken as supporting document to the claims of the lovers and the beloveds, debaters, educators, politicians, rhetoricians etc. When Ali was writing his 15 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 Twilight in Delhi (1940), he could not ignore this aspect of his society. The following lines of {king} poet9 Buhadar Shah Zafar can be taken as an example. These lines express the helplessness of the poet. Ali uses this poetic instance to indicate the helplessness of his characters in the novel. Ali writes: I ‘m the light of no one’s eye, The rest of no one’s heart am I, That which can be of use of to none, __Just a handful of dust am I. (Ali, 136) These lines indicate the helplessness of the King which symbolizes the helplessness of all the Indian people after they were occupied by the British. We see in the novel of Ali that at the time of Asghar’s marriage, on the one hand, songs and festivities were on progress and, on the other hand, a beggar chanted this piece of poetry. We see that these lines prove a source of sadness for everyone, especially for Asghar, even in marriage. Not only, the sad condition of Asghar is evident in these lines but also the true feelings of an Indian Muslim who loved India, his people and culture but now was in bondage without any hope of the rescue from the British rule and inevitable cultural invasion. Ali has tried to portray such despondency of the Indians. He could have expressed all in one English sentence but he preferably used a translation of poem by Bhadur Shah Zafar, the last Muslim Mughal King. The poet lamented the plight of the Indian Muslims under the British occupation in his poetry written mostly during his captivity. Ali also wanted to show the same to his Indian as well as for foreign readership. He has used the poetic lines also to portray what was experienced by various characters of his fiction. For this purpose, not only the long passages of poetry are used for the portrayal of the characters but also the short and thoughtful single verses are present in the novel, as is given below: Cares and miseries, grief and sorrow (Ali, 46) This line is sung by the Qawaals10. Asghar is listening to this line and thinking about himself. He was lovelorn and suffering from the pangs of love. He listens and identifies it with his condition. The reader also becomes aware of the mental and physical condition of the character. This line also shows how the character has the repressed feeling which could be found in the real characters also. This identification shows, how the people would feel if they were caught up in the same real life situation of love. And the following line again repeated by the singers at the same page of the novel, reflects the romantic nature of Asghar who wanted to make his life beautiful by finding love but he could not succeed. This is a typical and traditional way used by many poets, like Ghalib, to portray the matters of the heart of a given character. The same technique is used successfully by Ali as we can understand the mental and physical situation of Asghar from this line. Moreover this line, like many other in the text, is used as a supplement to the main text. This is in the simplest possible translation of Urdu poetry yet this translation remains poetry-like in its appearance and 9 10 Bhadur Shah Zafar was the last king of Mughal dynasty in India and was exiled by the British. A singer who chants some poetic number in unison with his company of singer and musicians. 16 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 we do not lose the flavour of Urdu poetry. Such is the technique of Ali to portray the internal sufferings and emotions of his characters, as was the style in the local culture. As for example, What is there I have not known in love, (Ali, 46) Ali uses these poetic instances not only to portray the internal situation of young characters but also that of the mature characters in his novel. For example, when Mir Nihal feels sad at the loss of his pigeons and thinks about his beloved Babban Jan, he remembers the following lines of Persian poetry: I have lost religion in quite a novel way, Throwing faith for drunken eyes away: And all my life in piety spent I’ve flung, At the altar for that idol worshipper’s joy†¦. (Ali, 96) These lines portray the romantic and frivolous nature of Mir Nihal who has lived a life of luxury and ease. He has flourished in the social life and was considered among the elites. But now he is feeling the loss of his status and culture. The loss of pigeons indicates his social and cultural loss and the thought of Babban Jan aggravates his feelings of loss. He feels it very strongly and the writer uses this passage of poetry to indicate his sense of deprivation and mental sufferings. These lines are also simple and helpful in transporting to the reader, the apparent as well as the hidden meaning of the text. The translation is carried out in such a way that it merges with the text and does not seem to be a separate part of the text. The passage given below clarifies the love affair and the comfort of Mir Nihal with Babban Jan in so excellent a way that it becomes a part of the whole. The lines are heard by Mir Nihal from a man in the street and as soon as he listens he becomes worried about his beloved and her sickness. He feels guilty for not taking needful care of Babban Jan, although she proved for him a comfortable corner away from the worries and the cares of the world. The very lines by Ali are: Out of pity someone had put A lamp upon my grave at night But oh! The wind was envious And with one gust put out the light. Ali, 109) Ali not only takes pains in depicting the internal condition of the individual character but also indicates the collective-culture through his use of translation of the poetic instances. It is a cultural tradition of the Indian Muslims that they love to embrace their fellows, friends and relatives on the day of Eid11. They also believe that on this day the angers and hatreds can be f orgiven and forgotten when the two Muslims embrace each other as Eid is the event of religious and social festivities. The same was a part and parcel of Indian social life. Ali has portrayed all this behavioral pattern and the emotion behind them in the following poetic translation of Urdu: It is the day of Eed, my dear, Ah come let me embrace thee. 11 A Muslim religious festival celebrated at the end of Holy month of Ramdhan, also called Eid-ul-Ftr. 17 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 It is custom and besides There is time and opportunity. (Ali, 135) The next passage is a representative of the feelings of a man whose wife dies and he is left alone in the world. The grief and pain is reflective in this passage. The passage indicates the sad feelings of Asghar at the death of Bilqeece. The poet writes these words in such a way that these seem to be coming right from the mouth of Asghar as his wife was taking her last breath. Not only the moment of death but also the grief that Asghar was supposed to suffer after her burial has been reflected in these lines with pathos which is appropriate to the occasion: Go my life and may God be with you; The parted will meet one day, if the fate would allow. Pain and sorrow and a cruel fate Have brought me to a well nigh to a lifeless state. But do not say that love is false, my dove; I have shown you how they die in love†¦.. (Ali, 249) As is evident from the above instances, the translations of Urdu poetry used by Ali are easy and clear. This technique has been extremely helpful in conveying the feelings of his characters to his readers. This is exactly in accordance with the cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The same technique has been used by many other Pakistani fiction writers; especially Sidhwa (2006) who expressed the emotions of her character Ice-Candy man in the following words: ‘Tis a miracle wondrous that you have come: Marvelling. I look from you to the walls of my house (Sidhwa, 612) And, again the above said character assumes the role of misused lover, and quotes Mir on the same page of the novel Ice-Candy Man (2006), Hai ashiqi ke beech sitam dekhna hi lutf Mar jana ankhe moond ke kuch hunar nahin. ‘Tis nothing to roll up one’s eyes and die. I endure my lover’s tyranny wide-eyed. (Sidhwa, 612) The most prominent feature of these quotes in Alis novel is that these poetic instances are not transcribed but are rather translated. The translation reveals the power of the writer to transport the true meaning of the poet into another language. He has however used some of the words with transcription and some with translation but not without the flavor of the local culture. The words of ‘Dhum’ and ‘Qalandar’ in â€Å"Dhum! Qalandar, God will give, Dhum! Qalandar, God alone†, have been transcribed because of the non-availability of English words for them and also because the words of English language could not have conveyed the true sense of the word. But the remaining portion of the lines has been translated because these words could convey the meaning in the true sense of the word to both the national and the international reader. This is also an attempt to develop such a form of English language for fiction, which may truly depict the local culture, and the English reading community may also understand true 18 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 nature of the local culture. This is a great contribution of the writer that he included the local words and poetic instances to pave a way for the next coming writers of fiction in English language in the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Ali’s audience was both national and international but definitely, the formers were more in number. These translations not only made it easier for the writer to communicate with the local audience but also played a great role in increasing the understanding of the international English speaking people about the local and specific terminology of the social life. Therefore it is an appropriate effort on the part of the writer to develop such a variety and dialect of English language, which could be acceptable to communicate for all the people in India. The use of local poetry makes Twilight in Delhi (1940/2000) a true novel of Indian origin yet in English. Therefore, the local cultural values are embedded in his English language. The use of local poetic instances in his novel in English is one of them. This technique of Ali benefited the rulers as well. The English rulers were in need of some type of cultural understanding so that they may make their rule more effective and objective oriented. Without a deep understanding of local culture the British would annoy their subjects more and would make their rule less effective. The novel of Ali also served the purpose of making the cultural acquaintance more visibly available to the British. It was a very positive effort of the writer of Twilight in Delhi (1940/2000) to make the ruler and the ruled better acquainted with each other to achieve a better standard of life. He did this effort through fiction. Fiction therefore worked in his hands like an instrument to develop good approach through the better understanding of the local culture which has been developed by the writer through the use of Urdu poetry, words, and idioms in his novel. While he was doing so he developed a more suitable way of expression in English in the British occupied India. Ali wanted to convey the reality of the sufferings of the people in India under the British rule. This aspect of his fiction created difficulties for Ali. Ali’s novel was not published for a long time because the publishers in England thought that it could go against the British Government in India as the novel had portrayed quite truly an account of the sufferings of the Indian people under the British rule at that time. How the ex-ruling class of Mughals was made to suffer along with the general public because of the British policies, has been very truly depicted by the author. The use of Urdu poetry of the Indian culture has facilitated this task of the writer to demonstrate the lives of the India Muslims and Hindus in the true sense of the words, especially that of the Muslims. Indian Writing Style The idea behind the use of Urdu poetry by Ali was that the character and his feelings are well understood by the national and transnational reader. We do understand the meanings because he has incorporated the poetic instances well into the context of the story. The sense of romance in some of the lines is in accordance with the local cultural norms and the sensibilities; absolutely free of any nudeness or ridiculousness in these lines. Rather the lines have offered a good presentation of the local mindset and effects of literature, especially that of poetry, on it. The English and Indian readers both were able to enjoy and understand the real spirit behind the story of the novel. 19 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 We may also say that the efforts of Ali have played a big role in devising the writing style of English language for a representative novel of the Indo-Pak subcontinent so that it could be acceptable to the Urdu as well as English reader. Ali did this by mixing of Urdu poetry in English or by translating it in to English. Ali is one of the few writers who wrote in an age when British were the rulers. It was therefore difficult to use English language to express Indian sensibilities. But the writers like Ali proved that the South Asian writers could write in a language that was not their own and yet had become theirs. It is therefore a great contribution of Ali that he developed a new style of English language which was reflective of the local culture and yet was not so alien to the Indian as well as his British audience. Although Ali was deeply influenced by the British language and culture yet in his writing English language does not replace the local idiom altogether. His novel and its narrative is a clear proof of the way he mixed up the local idiom with the English language to develop a creative medium, which could serve both the Indian and the British audience. The result is the production of rather stylized, flowery sentences. The linguistic strategy along with his attempts to overcome problems of artifice through which he was able to transpose his culture into the language of another was not only an innovation but also a courageous act which has been widely appreciated by the contemporary critics and writers of English fiction. By doing so Ali became an important forefather of modern South Asian English writers, who have continued to employ this style and to explore new linguistic strategies. The writer has not let the poetic effects drop anywhere for which he has taken care of the rhyme and length of the lines also. Works Cited Ali, Ahmed. Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. 26 November 2007. 8 December 2007. lt; http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ahmed Aligt; Ali, Ahmed. (2000). Twilight in Delhi. Karachi: Shahkar, Askri, Mummad Hassan. A Novel by Ahmed Ali. (Trans. Carlo Coppola) Annual of Urdu Studies. 10 December 2007. www. urdustudies. com/pdf/09/08conversation. pdf Baumgardner, Robert J. (2000) Editor. The English Language in Pakistan. Islamabad: National Book Foundation,. Kousar, Naheed Dr. (1993) URDU SHAIRY KA IRTAQA. (Evolution of Urdu Poetry). Lahore: Zafar Printers, Niazi, Sarfaraz K. A Brief History of Urdu Poetry. Niazi. com. 2/18/2008 http://niazi. com/Neurons/a_brief_history_of_urdu_poetry. htm Rehman, Tariq. (1991). A History of Pakistani Literature in English. Lahore: Vanguard. Shamsie, Muneeza. (1998) A Dragonfly in the Sun. Karachi: OUP. 20 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com INTJR-Lit-1-2-June 2012-Ahmed 2012 -. Independent scholar. Ahmed Ali. The Literary Encyclopedia. May. 2002. The Literary Dictionary Company. 8 December 2007. Sidhwa, Bapsi. (2006) Ice-Candy-Man: The Bapsi Sidhwa Omnibus. Islamabad: OUP, Walder, Dennis. (2005) Post Colonial Literature in English: History Language Theory. New Dehli: Blackwell. Author/s Dr. Zia Ahmed is Assistant Professor of English at Government College Mailsi. He is also associated with Distance Learning Program of Departme nt of English, Bahauddin Zikriya University, Multan, Pakistan. 21 International Journal of Research in Literature ISSN 2227-1767 (Online) ISSN 2227-1678 (Print) www. intjr. com