KARACHI: To celebrate the Independence Day of Pakistan, the Arts Council organised an Alami Azadi Mushaira on Tuesday evening in which eminent Urdu poets from Pakistan, Canada and the United States took part.
Iftikhar Arif, who presided over the event and participated in it online from Islamabad, as usual warmed the hearts of the attendees at the council and those who watched him live on the internet with his top-notch poetry. He began his stint with the following couplet and verse:
Hum apne raftagan ko yaad rakhna chahte hain
Dilon ko dard se aabaad rakhna chahte hain
Buhat mushkil zamano mein bhi hum ahl-i-muhabbat
Wafa per ishq ki bunyaad rakhna chahte hain
[We want our past, our ancestors, in our memory
In order to keep our hearts soft and eyes wet
Even in the most trying of times, we, the peace lovers
Would like our love to be based on loyalty]
Anwar Shaoor was the special guest on the occasion. He too earned generous praise from the audience. He recited three well received ghazals. The opening couplets of his two ghazals were:
Mujhe wo shakhs kahin chhor ker nahin jaata
Main chahta hun ke ja’ey, magar nahin jata
[That man doesn’t keep me out of his sight
I want him to, but he doesn’t budge]
Jo haqeeqat mein hai wohi hota
Kaash insaan aadmi hota
[If the truth prevailed
Humans would be persons]
Shahida Hasan, who joined from Canada, said she’s going to recite something which is influenced by the current (political) environment in Pakistan. She read:
Kis ne kaha hai aap se yaum-i-hisaab se darein
Ho jo sakey to apne hi haal-i-kharaab se darein
[Who has asked you to be wary of judgment day?
Look at yourself, and be afraid of your own condition]
Sabir Zafar, in his distinct style, recited, among other poems, a patriotic piece:
Isi khaak pe jeena chahta hun, isi khaak pe marna chahta hun
Main nisaar watan per hote huay, har hud se guzarna chahta hun
[I want to live on this land, I want to die here as well
I want to go to any limit to sacrifice my life for my country]
Ishrat Afreen, who resides in the US, presented a nazm and a ghazal using the diction that distinguishes her from her contemporaries. Keeping the jashn-i-aazadi in mind, her ghazal’s first two lines were:
Sa’in merey khaiton per bhi rut haryali bhaijo na
Sukhi parindon ki chahkarein geeton wali bhaijo na
[Sa’in, please send over the season of greenery to my fields
Along with the chirping and singing of contented birds]
Aqeel Abbas Jafri paid a heart-warming tribute to the country in the ghazal which had ‘Pakistan’ as the radeef:
Likhna tha dunya ka sub se achha naam
Zahn mein aik hi naam aaya tha, Pakistan
[When asked to write the best name in the world
Only one name came to mind: Pakistan]
Earlier, Ambareen Haseeb Amber, who moderated the mushaira, formally began the programme with a patriotic kalaam one of whose verses was:
Muhabbat aur qurbani hi mein ta’meer muzmar hai
Dar-o-deewar se bun ja’ey ghar, aisa nahin hota
[Homes are made with love and sacrifice
Walls and doors don’t build a home]
The other participating poets were: Nasir Ali Syed, Ajmal Siraj, Nasra Zuberi, Saeed Sadhu, Ahmed Salman, Akhtar Usman, Uzmee Joan, Ahmad Ataullah, Hameeda Shaheen and Rehana Roohi.
Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2022
