Mehfill-e-Muqasida: Poets render verses praising Imam Husain at the unique mushaira

I have heard about Mehfil-e-Muqasida quite often but didn’t have much information about them. I have attended ‘Tarahi’ mushairas but could never participate in such mehfils.

In one of the Mehfil-e-Muqasida that was organised at Manglaur town in Hardwar districts, umpteen poets recited their verses. The couplets were in praise of Hazrat Imam Husain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

Apart from citizens, members of different political parties and leaders were present at the poetic meet. Such events are held regularly in towns and also in praise of other great Islamic personalities also. A few couplets that were recited at this mushaira:

Chiraagh dast-e-havaa par jalaa diyaa jaaye

phir uske baad qasiida teraa paRhaa jaaye [Razi Biswani]

 

is ko kehte haiN saKhaawat, aise hote haiN saKhii

kaasa-e-dast-e-shaahadat meN bharaa ghar rakh diyaa [Dr Nashir Naqvi[]

 

na jaane kaun sii niyat se raah rokii thii

phir uske baad jinaaN tak thaa Hur, Husain ke saath [Tayyab Kazmi Lakhnavi]

 

Jarii thaa, bhaagne vaaloN pe vaar kyaa kartaa!

Khudaa ka sher, hiran ka shikaar kyaa kartaa! [Sarvar Nawab Lucknowi]

 

mere khayaal se hai Khatm-e-kaainaat yahiiN

dikhaai kuchh nahiiN detaa Husain se aage [Gulrez Rampuri]

 

BY INDSCRIBE

Urdu poet Mazhar Imam passes away

Mazhar Imam

Mazhar Imam, one of the pioneers of Azad Ghazal genre, and an important poetic voice in the post-independent era, died in Delhi on Monday.

Imam was 83. He was undergoing treatment in the hospital for almost three weeks. However, he died of cardiac arrest. Mazhar Imam was born in Darbhanga (Bihar). His first collection of poetry Zakhm-e-Tamanna was published in 1962.

Besides, his other collections included ‘Rishta Goongey Safar Ka’, ‘Pichhle Mausam ka Phool’, ‘Band hota hua Bazaar’. A compilation of his pieces on literary criticism was also published. It was titled, “Aati Jaati Lahrein’.

Mazhar Imam had retired as Director of Doordarshan Kendra at Sri Nagar. Apart from Azad Ghazal, he also wrote Nazms. At Urdu India, we have published a selection of his couplets in the past. Read the couplets at this link.

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New Urdu magazine hits stand in India

Roshan Shama is the latest Urdu magazine launched in India. The magazine, which is in a digest form, has been priced at Rs 25.

It’s after a long time that a new social [or family] magazine in Urdu has been launched from Delhi. Though news magazines have been launched in recent past, there was no social magazine that could fill the void after Shama, Bano and Biswin Sadi stopped publication.

Shahid Siddiqui, who is known for his weekly Nai Dunia, has begun publishing Roshan Shama. It would be a rival to Pakiza Anchal. The latest issue also has a story on Pathan brothers–Irfan and Yusuf.

The fact that is not a ‘desk story’ and the writer went to the Pathan household, for the interview and a first-hand coverage, is indeed laudable. Otherwise it has become a norm to write desktop reports.

Apart from Shahid Siddiqui’s novel, there are ten short-stories, three short novels and four other long stories that will be published in parts in the coming issues.

In order to engage reader, several columns have been introduced in the digest. Historical novels and stories other than Urdu poetry and religious information fill the rest of the pages.

Unlike Huma, which often publishes Pakistani writers’ stories without even giving credit to Suspense digest and other magazines from across the border, Roshan Shama has most of the content written by Indian writers.

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Remembering Z Rahman Naiyar and Biswin Sadi

Ziaur Rahman Naiyar, the editor of Biswin Sadi Urdu monthly, passed away recently in Delhi. He was once the owner and editor of the magazine which was visible in almost every educated Muslim household.

The magazine was earlier owned by Khushtar Girami, a noted Sikh litterateur. Later Naiyar maintained the same standards. He was also editor of the film magazine Ruby [or Roobi] that became a rival for Shama.

Biswin Sadi played an important role in cultivating the interest of readers towards high literature. Almost all the top writers and poets were published in the magazine that also had articles, political satire, cartoons, health section and short stories [afsanas].

However, a few years back he had begun withdrawing from the world. It was strange. He was shunning everything. Afterwards Biswin Sadi got closed and then he passed away silently in November 2009.

Truly, an era of Urdu journalism has ended with his demise.

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Humorist Yusuf Nazim is no more

Eminent Urdu litterateur Yusuf Nazim passed away at his residence in Mumbai. He was 88. His wife and four children survive him.

Yusuf Nazim, one of the foremost Urdu humorist in India, was a prolific writer and wrote over two dozen books. He penned popular columns for newspapers like Inquilab.

His initial articles were published way back in 1944. For almost 65 years he consistently wrote. He had joined Labour department of Hyderabad Deccan in 1944 and retired as Deputy Commissioner Labour in 1976 in Mumbai.

Born as Syed Mohd Yusuf, he also wrote travelogues and books for children. In Urdu daily Inquilab, Nadeem Siddqui, in an obituary tells us about one of his couplets:

khoon-e-Aadam bahe saDkoN pe to rangeeni hai
aaj ke daur ki qismat hi filisteeni hai

Though his ancestors belonged to Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, Yusuf Nazim was born in Jalna in Marathwada region of Maharashtra in undivided India.

AnIndianMuslim.com

Poetry in praise of Hazrat Fatima Zahra

A poetic meet was organised in the historic town of Amroha where the poets recited their couplets in praise of the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him.

The event was known as Jashn-e-Fatma Zehra. Poetry and Urdu couplets praising Fatima [RH] were recited at the Urdu poetry recital session. Other than literary meets, such poetry sessions where poetry is rendered exlusively in praise of Prophet, Hazrat Ali, Bibi Fatima or Muharram, are common in Urdu-speaking areas in the sub-continent.

While Sunnis organise Natiya Mushairas, the Shias mostly hold poetry sessions where religious figures including Hazrat Ali, Bibi Fatima, Hazrat Imam Husain and the events leading to Yaum-e-Ashurah are the topic of poetry.

Some of the couplets at the poetry session:

kyaa tajallii hai ki Khurshiid-e-falak chakkar meN hai
nuur hai markaz pe lekin roshni manzar meN hai
[Shamim Amrohvi]

Zahra haiN yuuN khayaal-e-suKhanwar ke aas paas
khushbuu-e-paak jaise gul-e-tar ke aas paas
[Nausha Amrohvi]

nahiiN voh be-wafa ho hii nahiiN saktaa zamaane meN
tere Ghaazi kaa jo parcham uThaaye Fatima Zehraa
[Saahil Amrohvi]

mil gayii haii mujhko jurrat, ho gayaa be-baak bhii
madahat-e-Zahraa ne baKhshii quvvat-e-idraak bhii
[Haji Abid Amrohvi]

There are just a few sample asha’ar recited at the poetry session. Several other poets also read out their verses and received hearfelt applause from the audience.

By Indscribe [anindianmuslim.com]

Sajid Sajni: The last poet of Rekhti

First an astonishing Urdu couplet:

talaaq de to rahe ho ataab-o-qahar ke saath
meraa shabaab bhii lauTaa do mere meher ke saath

[Sajid Sajni]

While Classical Urdu ghazal was called ‘Rekhta’, the poetry written in woman’s voice by men was termed as ‘Rekhti’. In the late 18th and early 19th century, in a deadent sultanate of Oudh, poetry in woman’s voice was penned by poets as a form of protest.

It was promptly dubbed Rekhti (opposed to Rekhta). Sa’adat Yaar Khan Rangin is credited as its creator. Though Insha, Jurat and Jan Sahib were other exponents.

In this genre, men wrote poetry in a feminine voice, using the idiom of women (begumati zubaan) and addressed another woman (bhabhi, baaji, aapa, ammi, saheli et al).

It gave a voice to women to express their grievances in their own language, except that it was written by men. Later it degenerated and was never recited in genteel soirees or homes. The genre died in the middle of 19th century

But Sajid Sajni revived it and refined it. He gave it a healthy direction apart from his sharp wit, satire and humour. Sajid Sajni was born in Lucknow in 1922 and settled in Bhopal in 1946.

[Article courtesy: Nasir Kamaal]

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Eminent Urdu poet Mazhar Imam’s literary journey

rashk karte haiN jeetne vaale
hamne is taraH maat khaaii hai
[Mazhar Imam]

Here is a selection of some of the couplets of eminent Poet Mazhar Imam:

Renowned poet Mazhar Imam has been one of the leading Urdu poets of the sub-continent for over half-a-century.

He was born in 1928 in Bihar’s Darbhanga district. His father Syed Amir Ali was a post master. Imam did his post-graduation in Urdu and Persian before going to Pune for diploma from TV and Film Institute.

In 1951, he joined a daily newspaper Karvaan that was published from Kolkata (then Calcutta). He remained jobless for sometime before he became a schoolteacher for Rs 60 per month. Later he joined All India Radio and remained associated for over three decades. Mazhar Imam is considered the founder of Azad Ghazal genre in Urdu poetry.

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Renowned Urdu poet Adil Mansuri is no more

Adil Mansuri, the leading Urdu poet, passed away in America recently. He was the most promient of modernist poets along side Zafar Iqbal, Nida Fazli, Mohammad Alvi and Ameeq Hanafi.

He was 72. Mansuri is survived by his wife and five children. He was born in Ahmedabad in 1936. Though his mother tongue was Gujarati, Mansuri learnt Urdu in Pakistan after the family migrated there soon after partition.

But a few years later Mansuri’s father decided to come back to India. Adil Mansuri went on to become the master of surrealism and a poet of repute in both the genres–Nazm and Ghazal.

He also penned poetry in Gujarati. Renonwed critic and author Shamsur Rahman Faruqi says that Mansuri’s ghazal was different in the sense that the poet steered the ghazal from a delicate to direct approach.

The late poet was also a calligrapher par excellence. He had settled in New Jersey where he passed away. Read his ghazal in Urdu, Hindi and English scripts at Best Ghazals. [Photograph: Courtesy www.adilmansuri.com]

AnIndianMuslim.com

Urdu Poetry: 200 Ghazals and Nazms

Urdu poetry transcends geographical boundaries and is understood and loved by millions who can’t read a word written in Urdu script. I am happy that my other blog now has a collection of 200 selected ghazals and Nazms, each in Urdu, Hindi and Roman English scripts, for the benefit of readers. Read.

Due to the linguistic politics, Urdu unfortunately got identified as a language of Muslims in India, and the script of the langauge suffered as a result. However, the poetry remained as popular as it was in the past.

When you intend to put the gems of Urdu poetry on the web, you can’t ignore that a vast majority of readers can’t read Urdu script (especially Indians). While Roman script was used for writing Urdu even in Indian Army, it has certain restrictions.

Though devanagari script is quite scientific, it also has some limitations. When I started blogging I aimed at publishing the best of Urdu poetry. I soon learnt that one has to use all the three scripts as most of the readers understand Roman but are not too comfortable with the transliteration.

So I decided to write each ghazal or Nazm in English, Urdu and Hindi scripts. Roman and Hindi supplement each other. For example, if a person can’t understand a word in Roman, he can read it in devanagari and be able to pronounce it clearly.

Of course, those who can read Urdu, will have no problem. But they will also get help in pronounciation of difficult or confusing words by reading the Roman text. The result is that now there are over 200 Ghazals and Nazms which you can read at this website. Click

From classical masters like Mir, Ghalib, Momin, Dard and Dagh to progressive poets and the modernist stream, we have tried to incorporate the best verses of each generation.

Nazms are often neglected but on this site you will get to read poetry of Akhtarul Iman, Faiz, Majaz, Ibn-e-Insha, Sahir, Nida and many others. The number of posts is now well over 200 and it will keep growing.

The beauty of Urdu poetry, especially ghazal, lies in the fact that though it has at least five to six couplets, each couplet can be separately used and quoted. The quotability makes Urdu poetry unique and the ‘sher’ reverberate from pan kiosks to parliament of India.

Click to read Urdu poetry.

By Indscribe [www.anindianmuslim.com]

Bashir Badr, an embarrassment for Urdu fraternity

Bashir Badr

Bashir Badr, a fine poet, has lately become an embarrassment for the entire Urdu fraternity.

His excessive bragging and boastful statements suggest that he is bordering megalomania.

In a recent interview published in a prominent Hindi daily newspaper, Badr, said that if Mir and Ghalib were alive even they would be jealous of his popularity. Though the interviewer didn’t ask him, he repeatedly said that he owns plush house that has over ten rooms on both the floors.

Badr is the Chairman of Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy and got the post due to sycophantic ways. When asked why the Academy has stopped publishing books and helping writers who are living in penury, he said that he was not aware of that.

When he was asked that a veteran poet like Raza Rampuri is seriously ill and needs financial support but why the Academy wasn’t bothered, Badar didn’t care to answer. Flying off at a tangent, Badr said that he considerd Atal Bihari Vajpayee as his father.

He kept on saying things like, “I make lot of money, earn thousands for a single couplet” and that he is “the last poet in the line of great poets of Urdu that is a language borne out of Sanskrit”.

Ironically, Badr has been sycophantic to such an extent that he once famously said that he can even clean the floor of the BJP office. It was in return that he was offered the post of Urdu Academy chairman.

In interviews, he keeps on stressing that there is no photograph of his father in his house but Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s photographs are present in every room.

During his tenure the MP Urdu Academy has stopped all work. There are few function, hardly any seminars, no campaigns for Urdu or efforts to appoint Urdu teachers, except a couple of mushairas every year.

No doubt, Bashir Badr is a fine poet. His collections of poetry have earned him name and fame. But he is neither the most representative poet of his era, nor a poet of stature of Shaharyar and Ahmad Faraz, let alone Ali Sardar Jafri, Majrooh, Kaifi Azmi or Janisar Akhtar.

However, his statements claiming that he is better than Ghalib and Meer, have hurt his image. Publicly and even among poetic fraternity he is now looked down upon. Many of his couplets are said to be work of old masters with lesser fame which he allegedly changed to suit his needs.

The literary societies who used to invite him for mushairas, stopped inviting him because of his demand for more fee. He also used to force them to send two tickets so that he could take his wife along.

Still, despite all these allegations and controversies, he was considered a fairly good poet. But in the last couple of years, his growing megalomania had made him almost a pariah in Urdu poetry circles.

By Indscribe
AnIndianMuslim.com

Dr Aafia Siddiqui: The screams of prisoner number 650

Read this post in Urdu. It is an excerpt from Ahmed Javed’s article that was published in Hindustan Express Urdu daily recently. The text may be a bit taxing for your eyes but do read it. The plight of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and the criminal silence of the society that remained almost indifferent to her, is shocking by any means. Though there are voices now and Pakistanis seem to have woken up to the tragedy but there is no anger visible on the street as yet.

AnIndianMuslim.com

Shugoofa: Humour magazine from Hyderabad

Shugoofa is a rare magazine dedicated to humour and satire, which is published from Hyderabad Deccan (India).

In an era when magazines are finding it tough to survive, Shagoofa has completed 40 years of publication and is now in its 41st year. What distinguishes it from other magazines is the fact that all the articles and verses are purely literary with a tinge of humour and satire unlike most other magazines with popular humour.

It is difficult to find such a standard literary-humorist magazine in any other language. The standard of magazines that are solely devoted to humour generally deteriorates and cheap humour makes an entry but this is not the case with Shagoofa.

It has articles, ghazals, nazms, travelogues and all literary genres. The Zindadilan-e-Hyderabad, a literary organisation, brings out this magazine. The Editor is Dr Syed Mustafa Kamal while Abid Moiz is the Overseas Editor.

The postal address is 31, Bachelors Quarters, Moazzam Jahi Market, Hyderabad-500001 India. The magazine is priced at Rs 20 and the annual subscription is Rs 225. The phone numbers are 24745716 and 23326185.

AnIndianMuslim.com

Rafia Manzoorul Ameen passes away in Hyderabad

Urdu writer

Eminent Urdu writer Rafia Manzoorul Ameen passed away in Hyderabad Deccan recently. She was 78.

Her first novel ‘Saare jahaan ka dard’ that was set in Kashmir was published by Naseem Anhonvi’s publication from Lucknow. She wrote Yeh Raste and later Aalampanah which got her immense popularity as TV serial Farmaan was based on it.

She passed away when the muezzin gave the call for Zohr namaaz and after repeating the initial words ‘Allah-o-Akbar’, she breathed her last, reports Nadeem Siddiqui, in Inquilab Urdu daily (Mumbai).

She wrote over 200 stories in her literary career. She was a student of science and also wrote a book ‘Saainsi Zaaviye’ that was in the syllabus in Nagpur. Rafia Manzurul Amin was born in 1930 and died on June 30, 2008.

AnIndianMuslim.com

Azad Hind editor gets Rajya Sabha berth

Ahmad Saeed Malihabadi, the editor of Urdu daily Azad Hind (Calcutta) is all set to get elected to the Upper House. The Left Front and the Congress, both bitter rivals in West Bengal politics, have supported his nomination.

He had filed his nomination as an independent candidate. It is quite clear that he will easily sail through. Congress leader PR Das Munshi said that Malihabadi is a scholar, a secular person and his family played its role in the freedom movement that makes him a candidate Congress can back.

UPDATE:
Malihabadi has been elected to the Upper House. One does hope that in the Rajya Sabha, he would raise the issues of poor, the downtrodden and of course the issues concerning minorities. Unfortunately Azad Hind, an old and respected newspaper, is yet to have a website of its own.

Obituary: Prakash Fikri’s demise

Only last year at Urdu India, we had featured a ghazal of Prakash Fikri. The renowned Urdu poet passed away sometime back (the news has come late). He was 77. Zahirul Haq alias Prakash Fikri was born in Ambala in 1931.

His father Maulvi Mohammad Zakaria was an Arabic teacher. By 60s, Fikri was well-known as a modernist voice in Urdu poetry. His poetry collections Safar Sitara & Ek Zara Si Barish were critically acclaimed. In Patna and Ranchi, where he lived, there were condolence meetings organised in his memory.

AnIndianMuslim

Kaifi Azmi’s nazm on Hazrat Imam Husain

Hazrat Imam Husain

On the occasion of Yaum-e-Ashura, here is Kaifi Azmi’s Nazm
in the praise of Hazrat Imam Husain.

hurriyat ko aaj phir hai ibn-e-Haider kii talaash
vaqt ko phir hai karoRoN meN behtar kii talaash
zindagi ko phir ek jaaN-baaz rahbar kii talaash

phir javaanii khone ko hai voh nishaan-e-hurriyat
phir huii hai dosh-e-Abbas dilaavar kii talaash
phir hummiyat uThi hai phir hai izzat garm-o-kaar
phir huii hai zindagii ko josh-e-Akbar kii talaash

dekhnaa Kaifi nishaan-e-Hurriyat lahraaegaa
jab jahaaN ko azm-e-Sher-e-Karbalaa mil jaayegaa

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Jolt to Urdu-lovers in Mumbai: Closure of Maktaba Jamia

Urdu lovers are shocked with the news that the Maktaba Jamia’s Mumbai branch will be finally closed on November 30. For six decades Maktab that had a vast treasure of books, was a centre for Urdu-lovers and had become an institution under Shahid Ali Khan.

Reacting to the decision, Nida Fazli said that Government should take the branch in its custody. ‘The names of Nehru, Azad, Zakir Husain and great personalities of yore have been associated with it’, he said.

Once it used to be a sort of pilgrimage for aficionados of Urdu literature to walk from Iqbal Chowkk to Mohammad Ali Road that had shops like Alvi Book Depot, Kitabistan, Haneef Book Depot, Usmania Book Shop, Iqbal Book Depot and other bookshops.

Almost all the important Urdu poets and writers gathered at Maktab Jamia Urdu’s branch. Nadeem Siddiqui says that from Maulana Shahab Malerkotvi to Abdul Ahad Saaz, this place has seen every literary figure of Uroos-ul-Bilad (Mumbai).

Yusuf Nazim recalls how Surendra Prakash, Baqar Mehdi and Sikandar Ali Wajd would arrive at the shop and sit for hours, discussing literature, art, politics and the young generation of writers learnt the nuances of writing and poetry by listening to these discussions.

Former General Managers of Maktab, Shahid Ali Khan and Yusuf Khatri have also expressed shock. Khan recalls that he used to get Rs 7,000 per month and it was a branch in profit. He wondered that how it could be in loss now when the present General Manager gets Rs 30,000 per month as salary.

In Inquilab Urdu daily, Inayat Akhtar has written that there was hardly a famous Urdu writer in the country who hadn’t visited the place. It was here that my political, social and literary consciouness developed like hundreds of other youths of my generation.

‘aajizi sikhi, GariiboN se mohabbat siikhi
yaas-o-hirmaaN ke, dukh-o-dard ke maanii siikhe’

He recalls how most of the collection of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu which was burnt during the riots after partition and the remaining books were purchased by the Jamia. All those books were rare even in 1947 but if the price mentioned was Rs 3 on a book then the same price was charged even in 1967 by Shahid Ali Khan unlike other shops that revised prices.

The annual earning was Rs 1 lakh which went up to Rs 10 lakh during his period. Even today Maktaba Jamia has 2.5 million cash (Rs 25 lakh) in the form of Fixed Deposit in bank. From Sardar Jafri, Akhtarul Iman, Sahir Ludhianvi, Jaanisar akhtar, Krishan Chander, Aziz Javed, Mahendra Nath, Rajinder SIngh Bedi and Aziz Qaisi to Abdus Sattar Dalvi, Sardar Irfan, Haidar Asad, Ibrahim Rangla, Sabir Dutt, Anwar Qabar, Sajid Rashid, Fuzail Jafri, Tasadduq Seoharwi, Anwar Khan, Ali Imam Naqvi, Abu Bakr Merchant, Mahmood Chhapra and hundreds of others were frequent visitors to the place that was a galaxy of writers and literature.

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How to speak English fluently?

In a way this post doesn’t conform with this blog that focuses on poetry and literature. But in another way it does, as people from South Asia, especially India and Pakistan who speak Urdu and want to improve their fluency in spoken English, pose this question at most websites and forums.

It’s true that spoken English is different from the bookish English which they learn. It also needs a bit of confidence for you to speak fluently in English as it is not your mother tongue. But there are ways to master the language.

Like watching English movies with sub-titles on TV (HBO, Star and other channels) andlistening to conversations, debates and chat shows on television. There are 100 free mock conversations covering all topics–from a chat with a shopkeeper to seeking a doctor’s advice or talking about technical things at the website: Engspeak

Click for 100 free lessons

For tips for effective English conversation click here

For ways to deal with the hesitation in speaking English click here

Unique Mushaira: Non-Muslim Urdu poets enchant audience at historic Sholapur mushaira

A unique Mushaira was organised in Sholapur in Maharashtra recently where only the non-Muslim poets of Urdu recited their poetry.

Mahendra ‘Ashk’ presided over the Mushaira and gave an introductory speech about Urdu language, literature and the tradition of Mushairas. Shyama Singh Saba, a poetess, recited the Naat.

She read out a few ghazals also including the particular verse with the couplet:

dar-badar kyuuN bhaTaktaa hai aakhir
chaaNd bhii kyaa koii bhikaarii hai

Ashok Sahil’s couplet received huge applause from the audience:

Urdu ke chand lafz haiN jab se zabaan par
tehzeeb meherbaan hai mere khaandaan par

And when he recited this couplet, thunderous applause enlivened the atmosphere:

merii Urdu ko dahshatgard jisne bhii kahaa hogaa
use to apnii maaN kaa doodh bhii kaDvaa lagaa hogaa

The poet from Muzaffar Nagar, won over the audiences. Archana Nigam from Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) got praise for her ghazals. Her couplet:

faqat nazar se nazar milii hai, zabaaN se kuchh bhii kahaa nahiiN hai
badan meN kyuuN kaundhti hai bijli, abhi to usne chhuaa nahiiN hai

And then veteran poet Mahendra Ashk, who hails from Bijnore, rendered his couplets:

jise navaazaa usii shaKhs ne jaDeN kaaTiiN/shajar kaa saaya ghazab ho gaya shajar ke liye
meraa bigaaDegii kyaa tez dhuup raste ki/gharibi oDh ke niklaa huuN maiN safar ke liye

Ved Diwana, who came from Punjab, rendered romantic ghazals.

Khushk aankheN ho gaiiN, gham bhii puraane ho gaye
aa tujhe dekhe hue kitne zamaane ho gaye

And Archana Shrivastava, the poet from Seoni (Madhya Pradesh), came up with humours lines. Devendra Kafir also recited humououes poety and changed the mood. Kafir’s couplets:

ishq ek aasmaan hai pyaare
apnii apnii uDaan hai pyaare
husn to dunyaadaari sikh gayaa
ishq ab tak paThaan hai pyaare

He was followed by Taruna Sagar who recited her ghazals. She came from Amravati.

guloN kaa rang jal gayaa, mazaa nahiiN bahaar meN
taDap rahii huuN raat din tumhaare intezaar meN

After the culmination of the first round, the second round started that continued till well after midnight. Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh inaugurated the mushaira. He lit the ‘Shama’ (lamp).

Dharam Singh who is son-in-law to Sholapur, spoke at length and recited several couplets. A host of dignitaries were present. The Urdu Hindi Ekta Manch had organised the event. Earlier, in the presence of Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde the Manch that had come in existence early this year.

(Report courtesy Muhib Kausar)

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A non-Muslim poet’s collection of Naat

The collection of ‘Naat’s by Urdu poet Shiv Bahadur Singh ‘Dilbar’ has received wide acclaim within months of the publication.

Though non-Muslim Urdu poets have written Naats (poetry in praise of Prophet Muhammad), such collections have become a rarity in recent times. However, the collection ‘Aqeedat ke Phool’ has drawn the attention of Urdu-lovers.

It is a tough genre in the sense that there is very delicate balance that the poet needs to strike between divinity and prophethood, in order to write a Naat. It is a form of poetry where even a minor slip is not permissible.

Even Ghalib had to say:

Ghalib sanaa-e-Khwaaja ba-yazdaaN guzaashtam
kaaN zaat paak martaba-daan-e-Muhammad ast

However, Dilbar, who retired fro Army, has shown his devotion in the collection. The collection also has the Naats in devanagari script for the benefit of those who are not familiar with Perso-Arabic script. The 276-page ‘Aqeedat ke Phool’ is available for Rs 100 from 9, Chandar Nagar, Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh (UP) 229001

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