Mirza Ghalib had some childhood’s friend with whom he kept contact till his old age. Among them was the son of Raja Chait Singh of Benaras, who was viticmised by the Governor- General Warren Hastings. It became a cause célèbre and one of the cases which, along with that of the Begums of Oudh, was to haunt Hasting at his impeachment and trial later in the British Parliament.

Ghalib used to fly kites with Chait Singh’s son at Kala Mahal in Agra (where he was born) at Basant and before the onset of the monsoon.

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His other close friend was Mirza Hargopal Tafta Secuderabadi, who often came to Delhi to meet him, with Ghalib repaying the visit to Agra, where his friend flourished as an Urdu poet, coached by him. The friendship of two has become a hallmark in Urdu literature, with Ghalib inquiring in his letters about Redstone Horse on the Delhi-Agra road and asking him to give his salaams to the medieval statue.

Now the Urdu weekly Hamari Zaban, published from Rouse Avenue, has printed a picture of Tom Alter, who essayed the role Hargopal Tafta in a play on Mirza Ghalib. It was a wonderful performance before Alter’s death and the picture brings out the portrayal of the 19th century poet in a magnificent pose that would have earned kudos from Tafta himself and, of course, amused Ghalib greatly.