Islamabad ‘Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history,’ said Plato and this was aptly proved by Faiz Anmed Faiz, Pakistan’s celebrated author and poet whose work is as relevant today as when it was written and will probably continue to be so for generations to come.
To celebrate his birth anniversary, which falls on February 13th, the Asian Study Group (ASG) organised a special programme with Harris Khalique and Shamoon Hashmi, two well known names from among Islamabad’s literary circles, ‘sharing anecdotes, readings and recalling the multifaceted personality of the poet, as well as the incidents that shaped his thinking.’
Readings were taken from books written by those who interacted with Faiz — such as poet Kishwar Naheed — their memories making for an interesting peek into the literary, social and political world of their time. The event saw a ‘full house’ turnout at the Serena Hotel’s Sheesh Mahal Hall I, where it was held. Although he had a privileged childhood as the son of wealthy landowners, Faiz had a real understanding of the trials and travails of the underprivileged and injustice of all kinds. This is reflected in his later poems — he started out by writing light romantic ones — but he is also especially celebrated for his poems in traditional Urdu forms, such as the ‘ghazal’ and it is because of this that many of his poems have been put to music. In consequence he became even more popular, especially among those who are not ‘into’ poetry.
The cherry on this ASG literary cake was a live performance by Tahir Khan, who sang about half a dozen of these well known compositions, such as the ever so catchy, ‘hum dekhain gay,’ many in the audience appreciating the performance in the traditional manner with a ‘wah’ and some even singing along. He was accompanied by Mohammed Javed on ‘tabla’ and Anwar Hussain on the harmonium. Tahir Khan is a disciple of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan Gawaliar, Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shagan, Ustad R.A. Khan Gawaliar and Ustad Mubarik Ali Khan.
Harris Khalique is a poet and writes in both Urdu and English; his poetry appears in anthologies published by University of Georgia Press, W.W. Norton and Co. and Oxford University Press and on the web. He also co-wrote a book of creative non-fiction with the partition of South Asia in 1947 serving as the backdrop. Besides contributing occasionally to other magazines, journals and newspapers, he writes a weekly column in ‘The News’ International.
Shamoon Hashmi, is a writer and anchor personality and popular host who appears regularly on television. He impresses all and sundry with his treasure trove of words, literary references and phrases. Born in a family where reading and writing has always been the order of the day, it is only natural that literature is his constant companion. It’s nice to know we have such personalities in the bureaucracy!
No comments:
Post a Comment