KARACHI: Jazib Qureshi, a senior poet, presented his collection of ghazals at the Arts Council on Tuesday.
He is the author of two huge volumes of verses and critical writings Pehchan and Takhliqui Awaz respectively published some years back. The present volume comparatively thin titled Jazib ki ghazlain is mostly a selection from the past writings.
Among those, who spoke at the launching ceremony included Farasat Rizvi, Abbas Haider Zaidi and Shaheda Tabassum — all poets; Shahnaz Shoro, a bilingual fiction writer and critic; Idris Siddiqui, chairman of a cultural organization with whom Mr Jazib had been associated for almost five years; and Salman Siddiqui.
Ms Shahnaz, in her lengthy discourse, evaluated the poetic merit of the ghazlain. Jazib had portrayed the sociological realities of Pakistan spread over 56 years and revived them in our otherwise failing memories.
In her paper, Ms Tabassum reviewed the images and poetic symbols of Jazib’s poetry and decoded them to the benefit of the readers. Mr Rizvi spoke with vehemence about the great merits of his symbol — original and meaningful.
“He has constructed a world of his own by coining fresh images, entirely different from the classical symbols,” Mr Rizvi said and admired the merited poet for his contribution both in ghazal and nazm. Ms Tabassum had earlier said that most poets in present times had adopted modern symbols under the spell of western technology, but Mr Jazib had chosen those from nature like moon, wind, birds, and trees etc. Parinda (the bird) for him symbolized his own life of toil and struggle in life.
Poet Abbas Zaidi found Mr Jazib a committed, “open hearted and a frank person”. Mr Idris Siddiqui praised the poet for his literary activism and services at his academy.
Mr Jazib observed with a sense of gratitude the admiration and love that he had earned in his life from the noted writers and eminent poets. He claimed that he was happy with his fate and had no regrets. He said that a selection of his verses would also be published soon.
At the outset, Naqqash Kazmi, host of the evening, narrated his association with the poet spread over decades and found him a popular and admirable poet and person.
Rukhsana Saba did the compering. It seemed that she had a good memory and could recite Jazib’s poetry with ease and confidence on the occasion.—HA
