Of a Chinese scholar who shines in Urdu ‘mushairas’

PATNA: Zhang Shixuan is how a septuagenarian Chinese scholar spells his name as. What’s different about him from fellow citizens belonging to the world’s most populous country is that Shixuan is an Urdu poet and is better known in the literary circles across the globe as ‘Intekhab Alam’, which is Urdu translation of his Chinese name. In Hindi, ‘Intekhab Alam’ is someone selected from the world.
In Patna last week to recite his couplets at the Mushaira Jashn-e-Bahar, Shixuan told this reporter his love for Urdu developed over the years.“It was not by choice that I learned this ‘shireen zuban’ … I was doing graduation in journalism in 1963 when six fellow students and I were told by the government of China to study Urdu. The government of the day thought we could thus help it strengthen ties with neighbouring Pakistan and India,” the renowned ‘shayar’ recalled.
The club of seven included a girl with whom Shixuan later tied the knot. “I initially did not like Urdu which I studied for four years. But soon I got so drenched in it that I started composing couplets in this language,” he said.
Father of a son who is an engineer and a daughter who is a doctor, Shixuan believes any language cannot be foisted on anyone. “I never forced my children to learn any particular language. In my family, only my wife and I know Urdu,” he said and added he does not belong to any particular religion. At his home, however, there’s a statue of Lord Buddha to whom his wife pays obeisance.
For 32 years, Shixuan worked with the Urdu edition of a monthly magazine, ‘China Pictorial’. He has also served as a visiting professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. His faves include Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib and Allama Iqbal.
This was Shixuan’s fourth visit to India, albeit first to Patna. He was all praise for the Patna audience which was not only receptive but also responsive. But he was a tad disappointed with the condition of roads and traffic chaos on them.