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Between the lines
CASTING A SPELL Ahmad Faraz recites a couplet
Nikle the hum khuloos ka ainaa liye, logon ne hath mein paththar utha liye
Rango shafaq udaas na ho jaye kahin, sooraj ki simt mere lahu ko uchaliye
Couplets like this touched the heart of every listener when the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the Husan Ara Trust and the Sufi Foundation, India, got together to present an evening of shayri this past week. It had been a long time since Delhiites feasted on good shayri. An international mushaira was organised at the Ansari auditorium of Jamia Millia Islamia.
Apart from the famous Pakistani poet Ahmad Faraz, who was the guest of honour on the occasion, the mushaira saw several known names from the Urdu poetry fraternity from across the globe. There were Iqbal Mirza and Ashoor Kazmi from London, Taqi Abidi from Canada, Farooqui from Jeddah, apart from Anand Narayan `Gulzar', Saghar Khayyami who compered the programme, Makhmoor Saeedi, Azeem Amrohi, Abdul Mannan and many more from the Indian side.
That Delhiites understand and respond to Urdu shayri was evident from the overflowing auditorium.
There was a unanimous voice to promote Urdu and Urdu tehzeeb in the coupletsas also a plea to break the border dividing India and Pakistan. If on one side the evening was intellectually charged, on the other the humorous notes provided a much-needed lighter feel. For instance, the audience clapped on a couplet like Do char ummeedon ke diye ab bhi hai roshan, maazi ki haveli abhi veeran nahi hai by Majid Deobandi, giggled at the love-filled and mischievously gesticulated couplet by the 81-year-old `Gulzar' — Badmast voh alharh si kunwari palkain, raton ki jagi neend se bhari palkain. This short-statured veteran, a former gazetted officer and close associate of the Nehru clan, silenced all hooters with his aura and full-throated, echoing voice proclaiming, Hum roz naye mulk bana sakte hain lekin, tehzeeb ki taqseem nahin ho sakti on the unity between India and Pakistan. Gulzar grabbed maximum applause apart from Faraz.
Makhmoor Saeedi nostalgically noted the emotional barrier in the society with Kitni deewarain uthi hain aik ghar ke darmiyan, ghar kahin gum ho gaya deewaron-dar ke darmiyan Taqi Abidi who was also awarded the Mujahid-e-Urdu title on the occasion by the Husan Ara Trust for promoting Urdu in Canada, proffered this advice on communal issues: Bhatke hue khud hi manzil pe pahunch jayenege, Bas raste pe khade hue rahnumaon ko hata do.
Broad hint
Ahmad Faraz, never short on humour, concluded the evening referring to the suggestions of dialogue between the two countries with dignity intact, thus: Tumhe bhi zauq ke tumne Mahabharat ladi, hume bhi zauq ki hum Karabala ke aadi hain, and Isse pahle ki bewafa ho jayain, kyon na hum juda ho jayain?
A beautiful, nostalgic evening, left only one thing desired — a monitoring body for some ill-mannered audiences. The occasion also saw a-three-day exhibition of paintings based on famous Urdu poets and photographs of Urdu promoters from Amir Khusrau to music director Naushad. These photographs, some as old as 900 years, were painstakingly collected by Haider Kamal, secretary of the 17-year-old Husan Ara Trust founded by Nirmal Deshpande.
RANA SIDDIQUI
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