August 18, 2002

CRITICS of Urdu literature maintain that the reason why Mohammad Hussain Azad did not write a piece on Momin Khan Momin in his book, Aab-i-Hyat, is that the celebrated romantic poet was having an affair with Azad’s aunt. Besides, the sect that Momin belonged to was an anathema to Azad. Later on Azad added, albeit reluctantly, a brief essay on the salient features of Momin’s poetry to the subsequent editions of the book.

Azad’s Aab-i-Hyat is a mushaira of sorts, for Azad devotes as much space to the vivid description of the appearance, lineage and personality traits of leading Urdu poets as to the exposition of their poetic merits and ideas. True, impartiality is low on his list of priorities. While Azad goes into raptures about the poetic accomplishments of Shaikh Ibrahim Zauq, who was his mentor, he exercises remarkable restraint while talking about poets of comparable acumen, even Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib.

It was Azad’s Aab-i-Hyat that inspired Mirza Farhatullah Baig to pen the account of a mock mushaira at which leading men of letters, such as Dagh, Ehsan, Zauq, Ghalib, Momin, Shaifta and others, sat in a rectangular arrangement according to their poetic stature.

In his book, titled Delhi ka aik yadgar mushaira, Farhatullah Baig has heaped praises on Nawab Zainulabadin Khan Arif for organizing the mushaira almost single-handedly. (Ghalib wrote one of the most evocative elegies of Urdu literature on Arif’s untimely death.) In addition to smoothing over literary rivalries between famous poets, who were all quick to take offence, Arif made arrangements for the mushaira on a grand scale because some members of the royal family also took part in it.

In Farhatullah Baig’s words:

Ahsan Marehravi did not make such elaborate arrangements for his mock mushaira which was staged in 1930. The poetic gathering, described in his book Tamseeli mushaira, comprises all those poets who used to take part in Mushairas held in the former Indian state of Rampur. Ameer Minai and Dagh Dehlavi were among the prominent participants.

The arrangements made for the 12th Alami Mushaira in Karachi pale into insignificance beside the mock mushairas of Farhatullah Baig and Ahsan Marehravi. All the same, Sakinan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid Karachi, the organizers of the Alami Mushaira, deserves a well-earned pat on the back for holding poetic gatherings in a city torn by violence and terrorism for about two decades. When Sakinan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid Karachi first launched the mushaira in the eighties to highlight the unifying bonds of culture, this metropolis was riven by ethnic violence. Now the event has come to stay, and in terms of a cultural high watermark, the Alami Mushaira is fast becoming Karachi’s answer to Lahore’s Basant.

Ironically, the booing and heckling by the unruly audience, comprising loutish young men for the most part, at the 12th Alami Mushaira was redolent of the festive atmosphere of Basant. The more a poet tried to ‘regale’ the crowd with his/her bland poetry, the more jeers and catcalls came his/her way.

It was, however, heartening to note that the crowd responded with respect and veneration when senior Urdu poet Tabish Dehlavi recited his poems. They were struck by his complete command over the language and his ability to explain mystical notions with admirable lucidity.

It is a great pity that a large number of popular poets disappoint their fans by reciting their old kalam, leading poetry lovers to feel that they have been short-changed. But, at times, they only have themselves to blame. They ask for the oft-recited kalam. Senior poet Jamiluddin Aali recited his Jeeway, jeeway poem and a doha he composed a few light years ago. Iftikhar Arif, who took the chair at the mushaira, also recited some verses from his anthology of poems, titled Mehr-i-Do neem, which first came out in 1983.

Light-hearted poetry was well represented by Enayat Ali Khan who enthralled the audience with his poem on Pakistan-US relations. The poem, brimming with mirth on the surface, was an incisive comment on the manner in which Pakistan pays court to the United States. The audience in Karachi, alive to the political connotations of the poem, showered accolades upon the poet.

Another humorous poet, Ameerul Islam Hashmi, enlivened the mushaira with his poem which was a take-off on a ghazal by Ahmad Faraz.

Gulzar Dehlavi was the only poet from India who had managed to come to Pakistan. His poems were well received by the audience who were particularly struck by his predilection for the idiomatic language. Judging from the way Gulzar Dehlavi’s poetry won the instant approbation of the audience, the movers and shakers of the foreign office should have a shot at mushaira diplomacy. The days of gunboat diplomacy and track-two diplomacy are decidedly over.

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