On another instance I decided to join Swami Agnivesh and Asghar Ali Engineer on a padyatra for communal harmony from Delhi to Meerut. When I went to say goodbye to the family, I was nervous and uncertain. I had been amply warned that it was very dangerous for an actress to be roaming the streets of Uttar Pradesh as my clothes would be ripped off, stones would be thrown, etc. The whole family was reflecting the tension. Mummy, Baba, his wife Tanvi and Javed were all hovering around me but not saying a word. I walked into Abba’s room and hugged him from behind. He pulled me up in front of him and said, ‘Arrey meri bahadur beti darr rahi hai? Jao, tumhe kuchh nahin hoga.’ His eyes were completely fearless. It was as though a fresh burst of oxygen had been pumped into my bloodstream. Needless to add, the padyatra was a big success. It was yet another instance of my having relied on his judgement and passing the test with flying colours.

As a father, I have always taken Abba for granted, but as a poet I continue to be overwhelmed by his work. I cannot claim to know or even understand all his work but I find his poetry striking for its strong imagery, its sheer power and its broadness of vision. His most personal problem transcends itself in a much larger vision so that his struggle no longer remains his own, but becomes the struggle of all human beings. Whether it’s my work with slum dwellers, women or against communalism, there’s always a nazm of Abba’s to guide me, to inspire me to carry on the struggle. Thus ‘Makaan’, ‘Aurat’ and ‘Behroopni’ have become the pillars on which my work rests.

He is a rare poet who practised what he preached. There is no dichotomy in his life between word and action. The poet who had challenged patriarchy forty-five years ago in his nazm ‘Aurat’ . . .

Zindagi jehd mein hai sabr ke qaabu mein nahiin

Nabz-e-hasti ka lahu kaanpte aansu mein nahiin

Udne khulne mein hai nikhat ḳham-e-gesu mein nahiin

Jannat ik aur hai jo mard ke pahlu mein nahiin

Uss kii azaad ravish par bhii machalna hai tujhe

Utth meri jaan mere saath hii chalna hai tujhe

. . . had in life, always encouraged his wife, daughter and daughter-in-law to become self-reliant and seek self-fulfilment. The poet who pointed out the irony of the construction worker being turned out of the very building he had built in ‘Makaan’ . . .