Ghalib is timeless, but he is equally very much a man of his times. In this episode, we revisit the man in the moment. We eavesdrop on the days of his youth, a teenaged poet writing in chaste Persian. We hobnob with his coterie of disciples and patrons, friends and foes. We hear from Ghalib’s contemporaries in the poets’ society, some of whom taunt him saucily for the apparent incomprehensibility of his verse. The most prickly of these rivalries, we learn, was with Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq, the court poet of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Their war of words, by all means, makes for beautiful listening. With friends like these, one may ask, did Ghalib need enemies? Of course, in the end, our favourite poet has the last word. Acknowledgements Misra uthaiye Hazrat Naqsh Fariyaadi Hain Kiski HQ Mirza Ghalib Jagjit Singh post HiteshGhazal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqQrrwDIYdA 8:12 to 9:02 - To Maulvi Abdul Razzak Shakir - on changing his style when he became older and attained “tamiz” (date unmentioned) Ghalib Ke Khutoot 11, غالب کے خطوط, Zia Mohyeddin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADtuHXHfQ8A Zauq passes by on his palki, Ghalib comments. Mirza Ghalib Poetry - Movie Clip (Best Scene) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrNlIWVNXOk Har eek baat pe kehte ho tum Mirza Ghalib - Movie Clip (Best Scene) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI7xMPnS_aQ&t=169s Ishq par zor nahi hai ye woh Ghalib 1:35 Satrangi Re - Dil Se https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OClXVLsI4jM Credits: Akshay Ramuhalli, Beej, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar