Exploring English Ghazals: A Brief Study of Jeet Thayil’s Ghazals

The paper examines the ghazals of Jeet Thayil, who is an award-winning Indian English poet. The paper argues that although Jeet Thayil has written a handful of ghazals in English, unlike many Indian English poets, he has craftfully explored and mastered the most stringent form of the poem. It attempts to critically analyze his four ghazals such as ‘Malayalam’s Ghazal,’ ‘Blue Ghazal,’ ‘Ghazal,’ and ‘For Agha Shahid Ali.’ Thayil’s ghazals are peculiar in their choices of themes and their conformity with the form. The elements of a ghazal such as ‘matla, qafia, radif, maqtaa, etc., can be seen in his ghazals. Arguably his ghazals describe a vivid picture of his surroundings and thematically never hesitate to problematise issues of human kinds. His couplets are like radiant stones that can be easily plucked and read in isolation, yet they retain meaning. His ghazals invoke feelings of love, heartbreak, longing, wit, etc. The paper also highlights the contribution of Agha Shahid Ali and other poets to the English ghazal. The ghazal deals with love, longing, separation, friendship, and spirituality. Thematically, the ghazal also deals with issues like war, partition, poverty, socio-culture, politics, and psychology.