KARACHI: Book lovers were treated to a fine discussion on poetry by Saif Mahmood with poet Zehra Nigah on the second day of the 7th Karachi Literature Festival at the Beach Luxury Hotel on Saturday afternoon.

Mahmood set the tone for the conversation by asking Nigah if women and men poets differed in their approach to poetry. She replied there was no such difference but nature had bestowed women with the courage to deal with certain issues in life. At the end of the day, both men and women composed poetry, she said. This led Mahmood to request her to recite her poem ‘Havva ka bayan’. She obliged. The first line of the poem was ‘Tumhein saeb khaane ki talqeen main ne nahin ki’ (I did not ask you to eat the apple).

When Mahmood talked about her poem ‘Nabiji rahmatein bhejo’ and commented that she had touched upon the subject of sexual violence using domestic imagery, the poet said words had their own dignity. While writing on serious topics, one should be very careful with words, she said. Mahmood mentioned that international issues also featured in her poetry, to which she responded that things changed with the passage of time and as one grew older. A great poet saw ahead of his time, and in that regard gave the examples of Mir, Ghalib and Momin, she said.

She said there were certain topics on which she deliberated a lot before penning a poem about them, something which she didn’t do in the past. She recited one of her poems in that context, which began with the following lines:

Ab to kucch aisa lagta hai

Sara jug mujh se chhota hai

Aankhein bhi meri bojhal bojhal

Shanon per bhi kucch rakha hai

[Now it seems That the entire world is younger than me My eyes are heavy And there’s something resting on my shoulders]

On the question of why didn’t she write prolifically, Nigah said being prolific wasn’t something to be appreciated. She said one wrote when one was hit hard by a situation or incidence. At Mahmood’s request she recited another poem:

Zehra ne buhat din se kucch bhi nahin likha hai Haalanke dareen asna kia kuchh nahin dekha hai [Despite witnessing a lot nowadays It’s been a while since Zehra put pen to paper]

Answering the question about her poem ‘Gul Badshah’, Nigah said it was during the Afghan war when she saw a boy on a TV channel seeing bombing as if he was seeing fireworks setting off. She also recited her poems ‘Main bach gaee maan’ and ‘Shehr-i-Baghdad ki Shehrezade’ and spoke on their geneses.

When Mahmood sought her comments on her association with Faiz sahib, Nigah articulated that one should be cautious while talking about people who had passed away because they were no more here to confirm or refute anything being said about them. She said it was mere coincidence that she and Faiz sahib was in London at the same time. She said he was a gentle, kind soul, and was fortunate enough that he was popular in his lifetime and his popularity increased after his death. She said Firaq sahib had once opined that it took centuries for a poet to sit in the kursi-i-sadarat, and Faiz sahib sat in that chair in his time. She said when Faiz sahib was in London, he used to reminisce about his homeland, especially Sialkot, so much so that even this day she could visit those places in Sialkot, which he would mention, without losing her way.

Nigah said her poem ‘Shaam ka pehla tara’ was dear to her like her child, which was why she wrote one more part of it in old age. Answering a query on the state of the Urdu language, she said things were not bleak.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016