Better than verse
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Shehryar feels Urdu poetry is in no danger.
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The shift is from serious Urdu poetry towards popular poetry.
We have heard of admirers of Urdu language and literature pondering over the loss of the language in our day-to-day conversation and their ideas about how to help it survive with grace. But poets like Shehryar foresee no danger to Urdu. Shehryar, in
New Delhi recently to speak on the state of the language, particularly Urdu poetry in India, refutes that Urdu is fading away.
To illustrate his point, he says, “Go to the music shops, and you’ll find that the audio cassettes of ghazals are extremely popular. More people ask for songs of the golden poetic years that have Urdu poetry in abundance.”
He points out that the Hindi news channels too prefer to recruit people who have good Urdu pronunciation. “Everyday at least 10 Mushairas are held over the country. So, a lot of money is being spent just because people want to listen to Urdu poetry,” he adds.
Shehryar, entrenched in popular memory for writing the lyrics of Muzaffar Ali’s blockbuster movie “Umrao Jaan”, was not disappointed at the status of Urdu in Bollywood either. “Urdu is an urban language,” he opines. “Since there is hardly any rural content in movies nowadays, Urdu is the natural choice,” he adds.
But doesn’t he feel that Urdu is losing out to English as lifestyles have become more westernised? . Bollywood songs too now contain a more than a smattering of English words, while the type of Urdu that is being used is not exactly poetic. “Now, you are giving wrong examples,” he protests. “Such songs vanish from the scene as quickly as they appear. This is not poetry but prose versified. Take away the music and there’s no melody left. But not all songs are like that,” he defends.
Urdu poetry, according to Shehryar, is of two types. There’s one which is stage poetry or film poetry meant only for the ears. While the other one comes on to paper and is remembered later. In the present world, the shift is more from serious poetry towards popular poetry.
“The generation of today follows a ‘throwaway culture’. Shayari too is becoming a hear and forget commodity,” he reflects. However, he believes that change is inevitable.
As for the future of Urdu poetry, Shehryar is confident that it is bright in Hindustan.
ZEHRA NAQVI
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