GHALIB—AS I UNDERSTAND HIM

Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797 - 1869) was a poet philosopher of India in the eighteenth century. They were times of flux, and the entire world was engulfed in a drastic change. It was an age of transformation for all of mankind. The whole world was in tumult because the change was fundamental in nature. Industrialization was spreading rapidly, and with the advent of the machine age a major sifting and shifting of human values was taking affect. Centuries old and established moulds of culture and morality were being reshaped in the light of the immense impact of the material giant of mass production through machines. Man, who had hitherto considered himself completely under the control of Nature and its rampant laws now began to perceive the power of his own discovery and invention -- the machine. He started to use it to his material benefit and the uplift of his fellow-beings, gaining more self confidence and personal security. more...