Wine and Urdu poetry

Wine plays an important symbolic role in Urdu poetry. It is a malleable role, catering for all moods.

For the jilted lover, distraught at separation from the beloved, wine is for drowning untold sorrows. He- and normally it is a he in Urdu poetry- is often a reluctant drinker. That he does so is a reflection of the strength of his feeling for the object of his love. This is particularly evident in the works of Ghalib.

Wine plays a more sensual role, sometimes bordering on erotica, for the successful lover. So it is not uncommon for her luscious lips to be likened to overflowing wine goblets, both inviting contact.

Yet wine is not just a powerful symbol for the peaks and troughs of human relationships. It is also a powerful symbol for spirituality. Those in a total state of inebriation care little about what is happening around them, just as those infused with the love of God, the ascetic and the saintly, have little interest in worldly cares. Whether it’s the chronic alcoholic, spending his days on an inner city bench, or the hermit going around the villages of India, both care little about the world.

Why is wine the leitmotif of Urdu poetry, especially as alcohol is strictly forbidden in Islam? In one sense, the use of wine is not surprising. Alcohol is a useful metaphor for life- we drink among friends when we are happy and may drink alone when we are stressed or unhappy. But in Urdu poetry wine serves another, underlying, purpose. It is difficult not to perceive a sense of frustration at the prohibition of alcohol. Its widespread use in poetry is an indirect attack on puritanism.

Many poems express a fondness for wine, perhaps a reflection of the poet’s own state of mind. Indeed, in Urdu poetry such is the power of wine that even the preacher, who in public rants against it, is often seduced by it. In one poem, a ‘rindi’ or drunkard expresses his surprise at seeing, on entering the tavern, the preacher rush out, making a poor attempt to hide his face. Wine is a convenient tool for beating the clerics with. The poet is a social commentator. Wine plays a useful role in exposing the hypocrisies and contradictions inherent in society.