Idgah, The Joy Of Living

Idgah,

It is a Hindustani story,

Written by an Indian author,

Munshi Premchand in the Urdu language,

Under the pen name Nawab Rai.

Idgah depicts a four-year-old orphan,

He is Hamid,

Lost his parents,

He lives with his grandmother, Amina

And,

The story begins,

On Eid morning,

Hamid sets out for the Eidgah,

With other boys from the village.

Hamid is notable,

Dressed poorly,

Next to his friends impoverished, and

Having looked famished,

He has only three paise as Idi,

For the festival rides.

His friends had enough pocket money,

On rides, candies and beautiful clay toys, they spent money,

Hamid dismisses those pleasures,

Saying is a waste of money for momentary pleasure,

He became the prey of tease

He overcame all his temptation and tease,

He went to a hardware shop,

To buy a pair of tongs,

Remembering how his grandmother burns

Her fingers while cooking rotis.

The story ends on a touching note,

When Hamid gifts the tongs to his grandmother as love.

At first, she scolds him for making the purchase,

Rather than buying something to eat or drink at the fair,

Until Hamid reminds her,

How daily she burns her fingers,

She bursts into tears at this and

Blesses him for his kindness.

The story has been adapted into several plays and

In India in other performances.

Asi-Te-Karave Yied (2008),

It is a Kashmiri adaption of the story,

By Shehjar Children’s Theatre Group, Srinagar.

Mujeeb Khan has also adapted the story,

Into a play as part of the series,

Adaab Mein Premchand Hoon.

The Rashtriya Kathak Sansthan, Lucknow,

Also has adapted the story,

Into a Kathak performance.