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Shaharyar conferred Indian honor as Urdu poets regale Jeddah audience

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Shaharyar conferred Indian honor as Urdu poets regale Jeddah audience

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By SYED FAISAL ALI | ARAB NEWS

JEDDAH: Fifteen Indian poets brought the annual celebration of Urdu poetry alive with their choicest couplets as legendary professor Shaharyar, professor Waseem Barelvi and Meraj Faizabadi did the star turn at a Mushaira (poetry gathering) here on Thursday.

Ghazal, the traditional genre of Urdu poetry, was the penchant of all poets during the evening, but some of them stole the thunder with their impeccable content and delivery of the lyrical rhyme and metered verse that was enjoyed by a crowd of over 2,000.

For Shaharyar, his visit to this holy land proved rewarding with India conferring on him the most-coveted literary Gyanpeeth Award for 2008 on Friday. An elated Shaharyar thanked the jury for recognizing his services to Urdu.

This year’s annual mushaira, organized by the Indian Pilgrims Welfare Forum (IPWF), began with the connoisseurs of Urdu poetry receiving the initial fare on a lukewarm note.

As the evening progressed, color, glamour and respectability was lent by the command performance of Meraj, Waseem and Shaharyar (who presided over the session). These tour de force of Urdu poetry touched the sentimental chords of the enthralled crowd with their compositions

Meraj sparked the interest with the rendition of his couplet in the backdrop of delayed Ayodhya verdict, “Jo honewala hai woh hadsa dikhaiyee to de; koi chiragh jalao; hawa dikhaiyee to de,” striking the tenor of the times. It also brought out the rebel in him.

He then continued with a couplet on the hardship faced by expatriates, “Ab chahe jo salook kare aapka ye shahr; hum gaon se to aa gayee ghar baar bech ker,” that was received with thunderous applause.

One of the finest masters of ceremony, Anwar Jalalpuri, who too presented his works, anchored the session skillfully. In his recitation he highlighted the deteriorating law and order situation in India: “Qatl do, rahzani ek, iske ilawa shahr mei hadsa koi naheen.”

The mushaira reached its crescendo with the spotlight turning to Waseem whose compositions were greeted with applause. His comment on the TV culture plaguing India was tragic-comic but the crowd loved it: “Ghar pe ek shaam bhi jeene ka bahana na mila, serial khatam na ho jaen to khana na mila.”

Sensing the nationalistic fervor transcending the auditorium after Meraj’s rendition, Waseem capitalized on it and stoked it further with couplets in traditional style of ghazal. His lines on extremism, “Khauf ke saye mein bacchon ko agar jeena pare, bezuban ho jayenge, ya badzuban ho jayenge,” showcased the pain and agony of a poet.

His emotive “geet” (another genre), “main kis bairi ke dwar gayee, manjeet hui, tan har gayee, baton hi baton mein, hathon se patwaar gayee, main kis bairi ke dwar gayee, ek nazar ki laher utthi, main saat samandar paar gayee, main kis bairi ke dwar gayee,” was the climax of his evening.

Doyen Shaharyar’s poetic genius, soon after Waseem’s performance, was on display in his couplet “Umeed se kam chashme kharidaar mein aye, humlog zara der se bazaar mein aye,” and then in his next verse he depicted the sensitivity of an artist, “Zindagi jaisi tawaqqo thi nahin kam hai, her ghari hota hai ehsas kahin kuch kum hai.”

The romantic side of Shaharyar came through in his presentation: “Woh bewafa hai, dil dukhata hai, magar humen to wahi shaks bhata hai.”

An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from Punjab, Faiyaz Farooqui, spoke on the bane of bribery through his recitation of “Ghar jo bharna ho to rishwat se bhi bhar jata hai, haan magar is se duaoon ka asar jata hai.”

Farooqui’s couplet “ek ajab daur ke dastar bachana mushkil, aur usko jo bachata hoon, to sar jata hai,” stemmed on the difficulties in Indian bureaucracy.

Humorist Mukhtar Yusufi brought out the laughter with his satire.

With the two women poets, Nusrat Mehndi and Deepti Mishra, in the group too were eye-catching.

Nusrat’s “Main kya karoon ki teri anaa ko sakoon mile, gir jaoon, toot jaoon, bikhar jaoon; kya karoon,” on the condition of women in male chauvinist society, was received by the receptive audience. Deepti’s “Woh nahin mera magar us se mohabbat hai to hai; ye agar rasm-o-riwajon se baghawat hai to hai, sach ko maine sach kaha to kah diya, yeh zamane ki nazar mein himaqat hai to hai,” struck the right chord with the poetry lovers.

Abdul Ahad Saz, Habib Hashmi, Rauf Khair, Nadeem Siddiqui, Nusrat Zaheer, Afzal Manglori and Sardar Saleem too recited at the gathering.

Earlier, the traditional candle of the mushaira was lit by Minister of Overseas Indians Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Consul General Sayeed Ahmad Baba. While IPWF President Kader Khan welcomed the visiting minister, Jamal Qaudri introduced the poets. Consul Arabic Press Rasheed Khan gave the vote of thanks.

Shaharyar conferred Indian honor as Urdu poets regale Jeddah audience - Arab News
 

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