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Jeelani Bano and Anwer Moazzam in city By Hasan Abidi Jeelani Bano and Dr Anwer Moazzam, the couple coming from Andhara Pradesh and well-known for their literary contributions, have been on a visit to the city. On Sunday (Sept 19) they were the guests at the Aaenda Dialogue Forum led by Mahmood Wajid, the fiction writer, critic and editor of his own journal, Aaenda. Wajid introduced the guests to the audience and said that the first publication discussed at the Dialogue Forum was Shamsur Rehman Farooqui's collection of short stories titled 'Sawar'. Jeelani Bano, who started her literary career as a fiction writer in 1954, has so far got published around 16 collection of short stories, novels, novelettes, translations from other Indian languages and also some books for children. Bano's stories looking as simple narratives carry deeper meanings and undercurrents of emotions. Among those present at the event were Dr Hanif Fauq, who presided over the meeting; Nasir Baghdadi, editor of Baadban, Zainul Abideen (from Bangladesh), Asif Farrukhi; Amer Mahboob, Dr Anita Naz, Saira Ghulam Nabi and Saba Ikram. After a brief chat, Jeelani Bano, on the request of the host and the audience, presented her short story 'Pathar ka Shehzada' (a stony prince, or a prince made of stone). Bano is modern and current in her stories and articulate in depicting the ongoing social and political conditions. Her story, as initially described by Asif and later discussed by others, was based on the eventful history of the subcontinent where rulers were ruthless in dealing with the masses. It so happened that a woman visited a museum, and, as the story goes, a young man offered his services as a guide and led her to see many things which reflected the tyranny of different eras and sadist nature of one or the other ruler. The people as we come to realise are the ultimate victims living under fear and in abject poverty. As Dr Fauq pointed out and agreed by others, the prince made of stone recalled the old time dastans in which the person, most often a prince was advised not to look behind or he would be turned into stone. Bano, as against the traditional 'dastans', gave a twist in her narration. This time a prince was turned into stone as he tried to look into the future. As she pointed out, such was the fate of the thinkers, writers and poets who attempted to foresee a better future and bring about a change in society. Jeelani Bano is known for her progressive thought. But Dr Moazzam intervened in the discussion said, he did not believe in there terminologies like "progressive" and "modernist". You cannot divide literature in different compartments. The learned doctor is a professor of Islamic History at the university in Andhara Pradesh. "Yes, writers should take broader view of life and literature." Many of the writers agreed to it, but the progressive writers movement was a fact of history. Some of the publication from Bano are: Sookhi raite (2003) Baat Phoolon ki (2001) Paraya Ghar (1979) and Roze ka qissa (1987). The light conversation from this point turned towards the prevailing trends in literature and the socio-political life in the region. Jeelani Bano, with a deep sense of grief, recalled the carnage of Gujarat. She was equally grieved to see the fall of social values in the subcontinent, the deterioration in the law and order and the sectarian and ethnic divide. She wanted that the writers in Pakistan and India should join hands to work with a missionary zeal in bringing about a peaceful and friendly social order in their respective areas. * * * * * Mushaira is considered as the most soulful and entertaining pastime in the present conditions. Every formal gathering is ultimately rounded off with a mushaira. The Karachi Press Club on Saturday (Sept 18) held a mushaira on its premises, exclusively for "journalist poets" to show that journalists were inferior to none where it came the usage of words. There are some well-known poets in the journalists fraternity such as 'Khalid bhai' and many others, but alas, they were conspicuous by their absence when they were most wanted. However, the mushaira started after 11pm and concluded the next morning at around 3 o'clock. The poets were small in number and the number of listeners proportionate to that of the poets. Raashid Noor did the compering and gave every poet a chance to recite his or her poems and ghazals without any time limit. There were no humour poets, neither were they required. Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
