“Ghar ki taameer chaahe jaisi ho
Iss mein rone ki jagah rakhna”
(Whatever be the structure of your home,
Keep a corner for shedding tears)
— Nida Fazli
As he walks into his small study, Rahat Indori says this is his “rone ki jagah” (weeping corner). A glass-paned bookshelf is lined with volumes of poetry, scriptures of various religions, and the literary greats. Above that, in classic middle-class, space-saver style, are his trophies and awards — the “showcase”. Indori, the Urdu poet whom parliamentarian Mahua Moitra quoted in her maiden speech on June 25, displays no sign of being an intellectual in the familiarly