THESE days, lovers of Urdu organize mushaira which is usually “Ghair-Trahi”. That is, there is no given “misra-trah” according to which the poem has to rhyme with given meter (bahr) of the misra (verse) and adhere to the “Qaffia” and “Radif”. Thus in ghair-trahi mushaira the poets are free to recite their kalam (composition) in the form of ghazal (short lyrical poem) or nazam (the poem which revolves around one specific idea or subject).
In trahi mushaira, the composition is invariably in the form of ghazal in which the rhyme pattern confines the poet to the given “misra-trah” and challenges his poetic imagination, making the composition not so easy.
In olden days, mushairas were usually trahi so that in such mushairas the audience could judge as to which poem was better than other. Whether trahi or ghair-trahi, poets are free to recite their composition either in “tahtullafz” or in “tarannum”. In tahtullafz the poet recites his poem without using his voice in the form of singing. Whereas in tarannum he employs his voice skillfully in the form of singing.
The advantage of presenting the poem in tarannum is that the lack of quality in the poem is concealed and the audience does not bother whether the poem is of literary value. They appreciate the good voice of the poet and applaud him. This gives encouragement to the poet who feels satisfied with his performance and the mushaira (poetic symposium) becomes a kind of literary entertainment.
Some poets are so gifted in presenting their Kalam in tarannum that the audience insists upon them to recite their poem in tarannum instead of in tahtullafz. But tarannum does not mean singing; for singing of ghazal is quite different from reciting in melodious voice. In fact, if ghazal is “sung”, it loses its value because its inner meaning may be clouded by the intricacies of the musical tunes. Singing appeals to the aesthetic sense of the listeners and it matters little whether the poem is of high or low literary value.
A memorable international trahi-mushaira was organized in Dossa, East Pakistan, in the year 1950. This had coincided with the visit of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan to Dacca.
Famous poets of the subcontinent had participated. Some of them whom I remember were Josh Malihabadi, Jigar Muradabadi, Hari Krishan Akhtar, Gagganath Azad and Zamir Jafri. The mushaira was held in the Curzon Hall of the Dacca University, the same Hall in which two years earlier some students of the University had staged a walkout as a protest against declaration of Urdu as the state language.
Curzon Hall was packed to the capacity and many hung outside. The majority in the audience was the student community of the University. They were curious to know about the institution of mushaira. The mushaira started at about 9pm and continued till early hours of the morning. Liaquat Ali Khan had also graced the occasion by his presence.
The mushaira was a grand success as all the participating poets were in their real form.
In the former East Pakistan, the Urdu-speaking community used to have literary societies for promotion of Urdu in which regular trahi-mushairas were organized. One very active society, Bazam-i-Adab, was set up in Rajshahi.
In Karachi, lovers of Urdu organize international mushaira every year which is always ghair-trahi. But there is a lot of difference between trahi and ghair-trahi mushaira. The trahi mushaira is a kind of literary competition in which the audience has opportunity to judge the best poem out of many on the same misra-trah, which is ascertained by the applause received from the audience. In ghair-trahi no such chance exists.
