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*Dr Shihab Ghanem: A bridge between India and UAE* *By ARIF ZAIN DUBAI* DR SHIHAB GANEM'S love for India is not only a result of his stay in Roorkee where he did his master's degree in Water Resources Engineering but it has been there right from his childhood. His grand father Mohammad Ali Lokman is the first law graduate in Aden, Yemen. Lokman was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi under whose instruction he launched the first independent daily in southern part of the peninsula. His mother used to recount her visit to Mahatma with her father in her childhood. He has travelled extensively throughout India as part of his course at Roorkee and had paid many visits to Nehru's temples of modern India. "I am very happy and proud of being a bridge between two nations if somebody gives me such an honour" said Dr. Shihab Ghanem when he was told that he was regarded as the cultural ambassador of India to the Arab world by the UAE's vast Indian expatriate circle. Sitting in his spacious typical Arab style majlis, a fine amalgam of tradition and modernity, the soft spoken poet with a decent demeanor spoke at length about his profession, passion, mission and the rich legacy he inherited from his forefathers. He is an engineer, a manager, an economist, a poet and a translator of poetry from Arabic to English and vice versa, he hailed from Aden and adopted UAE as his home long ago. Here is his profile in a compact nutshell: Born in Aden into a family of educationists and reformers, son of Mohammed Abdo Ghanem who was a pioneer educationist of Aden. His grandfather Abdo Ghenem was a reformer, his maternal grandfather Mohammed Ali Lokman was a towering figure in modern Yemen's history and his great grandfather was the leader of anti-colonial freedom movement in Yemen. A versatile genius Dr Shihab Ghanem is acknowledged as UAE's leading poet long ago and has carved out a niche for himself in country's cultural domain. He has been instrumental for cultural give and take between the Arab world and the vast world outside. He did remarkably well on the academic front. Having completed his schooling in Aden he left for UK and obtained a double degree in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Aberdeen and then he went on to garner a fistful degrees, a certificates in Industrial Administration and Management of Men from Birmingham, UK, a post graduate diploma and a Master's in Water Resources Development Engineering from Roorkee University, India, and a Ph.D. in Economics in the fields of Industrialization and Human Resources Development from Cardiff, UK. He is a UK Chartered Engineer, a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of UK and a fellow of the Institute of Management of UK and a member of various other technical and literary bodies in the UAE and overseas. Upon the return from abroad he inaugurated his career life as Deputy Permanent Secretary of Public Works and Communications in Aden and retired from the service as the managing director of Mohammed Bin Rashid Technology Park, Dubai. Relishing his warm and inviting Arabian hospitality, I asked about his recent collection of Malayalam poems titled Qasaed min Kerala (Poems from Kerala) and about his contribution to Malayalam poetry by translating it into Arabic (works of leading Malayalam poets are being translated into Arabic on a regular basis by this prominent figure in contemporary Arabic poetry) "It was when I was honoured together with Kamala Surayah (then Kamala Das) and Yousuf Ali Kecheri, ten years ago. Kamala gave her book of selected poems. A little later Sachidanandan sent me one of his collections. I was highly impressed by these two poets and translated some of their poems," describes a jubilant Dr Shihab Ghanem answering to a query about his encounter with Malayalam poetry. An array of poets from Edasseri Govindan Nair to relatively novice Kuzhoor Wilson has spread across the collection. Poems are selected carefully; the chronological selection was by none other than the translator's close friend Prof K Sachidanandan. Poems of the leading Malayalam poets like Balamani Amma, C.A. Joseph, Vailoppilli, Changampuzha, Chemmanam, Ayyappa Panickar, ONV, Attoor, Kamala Suraya, Sugatha Kumari, Yousuf Ali, Kadamanitta, Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri, Sachidanandan and Chullikkad have enriched the collection. Besides these veterans a host of expatriate poets living in Dubai have also found space in it. Dr Ghanem carefully divides his time between his profession and passion. He was a member of the advisory committee of the literary magazine AlShuoon Aladabiyah. He has published a large number of technical and literary papers and articles in English as well as in Arabic. He has published nearly 30 books including 8 books of verse in Arabic and one in English and several volumes of translated verse, from Arabic to English and from English, Malayalam and other languages to Arabic via English. He contributes regularly to literary magazines and newspapers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt and other countries. How an engineer by profession could fall in love with poetry with such intensity that he gained mastery over the art of verse-writing, I wondered. "Well, I have been interested in poetry and literature since childhood. I read and wrote poetry during my undergraduate days, so my poetry developed in parallel with my technical development: like a bird with two wings. A computer test showed that I use the two sides of my brain equally, exactly 50% each" he said as his five year old grand daughter Hanouf dropped in. "She is very intelligent, surely she will become a poetess" he said proudly with full trust in the seventh generation of a unique clan which has contributed much to enrich the letters in the Arab world. His contribution to translation spreads over four decades. Poets from Shakespeare to Andrew Motion have been translated into Arabic by this experienced hand. Asked, as his eyes were glued to the TV screen while Abu Dhabi TV's reality show "Amir Alshu'ara" to select the Prince of Poets was on air, who among the Arab poets influenced him much he said "I am attracted to poems and poetry rather than to poets because most good poets have both good and weaker poems. Also I may like a poet for his poetry but not approve of his personal character or some of his failings. I like major poets of aljahiliyah as I like this boy (promising Palestinian poet Tamim Al Barghouthi was reciting his poem) his future is bright, he will become another Mahmoud Darwish in less than twenty years" he predicts. Yes, give honour to whom honour is due. *ITEM: II A Poem by Dr. Shihab Ghanem BAKHBOOKH* *By : Dr. Shihab M. Ghanem (To my granddaughter Hanouf) I centred the coin on my left palm And blew on it Then put on top my other palm And said to her : "Say bakhbookh !" She said: "Bah booh" I opened my hands Where is the coin? ..Where?.. It vanished in a wink.. She laughed .. and her astonishment gleamed in her eyes She was - may God protect her - less than two years old. Bakhbookh And our blown coin vanished She went to bring her big doll, with the velvet dress.. She put it in my hands and said : "Bah booh" I said maneuvering in a hoarse voice : " This doll is too beautiful to be made disappear, Oh soul of my soul !" ----------------------------------------- * Bakhbookh is a word used in some Arab countries in a make-believe game of making things vanish, like abracadabra കുഴൂര് വിത്സണ് www.vishakham.blogspot.com www.kuzhoorwilson.blogspot.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
