Special mention may be made of Mir Taqi Mir. On arrival in Lucknow, he
went to a Mushaira (Symposium) dressed in his outdated attire by the then Lucknow
standards. He was jeeringly asked, “Hazrat, aapka watan”? He replied with this couplet:
Kya bood bash poocho ho Purab key sakino
Hum ko garib jaan kay, hans hans pukartay
Dilli jo ek shahar tha, alam main intikhab
Rehtay thay muntkhib kis rozgar kay
Falak nay ussey loot kay weeran kar diya
Hum rehney waley hain ussi ujday diyar kay
‘What residence you are asking me? Oh you residents of East (Lucknow id East of Delhi).
Just because I am poor, you are laughing at me. Delhi was a selected city of the world, in
which only elite of the world lived. Time has ravaged the
