Fine tracery in Dorchester Abbey

Today marks the 228th birth anniversary of Mirza Ghalib. A poet par excellence, he remains unparalleled for his wit and humour. Here are a couple of incidents from his life. 1. Mirza Ghalib was married to Nawab Ilahi Buksh Khan's daughter Umrao Begum. Nawab Ilahi wrote ghazals too. His pseudonym was Mahroof. So one day, Mahroof sahib asked Mirza to make a copy of his family tree. Mirza made the copy all right but he put the third generation after the fifth and so on. Mirza Ghalib skipped the second, fourth, sixth etc generations completely. Mahroof sahib was livid when he saw this. "What have you done Mirza?" Mirza Ghalib answered calmly, "A family tree is nothing but a ladder. A ladder to reach Allah. Where's the harm in skipping a rung or two? Climbing will be a little harder, that's all" An enraged Nawab sahib tore up the copy of the family tree while Mirza was still chuckling. 2. Mirza Ghalib's love for mangoes is well known. Hakim Razi ud-Din Khan was an extremely close friend of Mirza. But he didn’t care for mangoes. One day he was seated in the verandah of Mirza’s house. A donkey driver passed through the lane with his donkey. Some mango skins were lying there; the donkey took a sniff, then left them. The Hakim Sahib said, ‘Look—a mango is such that even a donkey doesn’t eat it!’ Mirza said, ‘Without a doubt, a donkey doesn’t eat it.’