KARACHI: Kia Kahoon Tum Say, the maiden collection of verses by young poet Mir Zafer Hasan, was launched on Wednesday. Dr Jameel Jalebi, who presided over the meeting, admired the poet for his originality and commitment to new ideas.

Mir Hasan, it was told, had started writing verses in English and soon after came over to Urdu, which, Dr Jalebi said was the right decision.

He pointed out that none of our poets had ever been acknowledged by Englishmen, their names not to be found even in footnotes.

Dr Jalebi further praised Hasan for composing verses which expressed his original feelings.

Urdu poetry needed more verses and the ghazal, he said, was a much-trodden path.

Saher Ansari, in his comments, said that Mir Hasan was a poet of love and hope and his verses were a blend of romanticism and realism.

Fatema Hasan praised the poet for his optimism and humanism. A critical article was read out by Shakeel Adilzada who offered his suggestion to improve the poetic expression in future.

Mobin Mirza presented his paper on Mir Zafer Hasan, his person as well as his poetry, putting more emphasis on the former, which the poet found somewhat embarrassing. Ms Ambreen Haseeb read out a brief paper which she called “only an expression Hasan’s verses”.

Mir Zafar Hasan spoke about the events that led him to poetry composing and read out some of his verses.

Shujaat Ali Beg, who was the chief guest, also presented a short paper. Ms Naela Jafery, a broadcaster, delivered two verses of Hasan in a dramatic vein. Aniq Ahmad did the comparing.—Hasan Abidi