(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)Political relations between India and Pakistan may be complex but the love and warmth people of both the nations cradle in their hearts for each other was evident at the Mehfil-e-Urdu poetry session held in Dubai on Thursday.
The event was organised to commemorate the independence days of India and Pakistan that were on August 15 and 14 respectively. Held at the Iranian Club in Oud Metha the event organised by non-profit organisation Bazm-e-Urdu saw Urdu poetry stalwarts from India and Pakistan share the stage. Despite some initial hiccups of bad sound quality and lengthy inaugural speeches the event saw a smooth transition into becoming a memorable one with the main attraction of the event being Bollywood filmmaker poet artist music-lover Muzaffar Ali and Bollywood actor Raza Murad. The show started with Rehan Khan founder of Bazm-e-Urdu giving a brief introduction about the way the 'language of love' Urdu - the fourth largest spoken language in the world - is faring in the world today. "The whole event aims at highlighting the plight of Urdu in Indian sub-continent. Urdu needs our attention and actions. If we want Urdu to flourish we have to gift it to the next generation. We have to provide opportunity to children and give them the option of learning Urdu in schools and if we can't then at least teach them at home" Khan said. His view was reiterated by Muzaffar Ali who added that feeling Urdu poetry is the best way to enjoy it. The event saw prominent poets from India and Pakistan render their choicest poetic compositions. The poets included Anwar Shaoor Abbas Tabish Ahmad Salman Salman Gilani and Rakshanda Naveed from Pakistan and Manzar Bhopali Mehshar Afridi Iqbal Ashar Johar Kanpuri Haseeb Soz Agha Sarosh Ashok Sahil Mohamed Aijaz and Khushboo Rampuri from India. Indian poet Abrar Kashif who was emceeing the event proved an excellent moderator of the show as he controlled and entertained the audience with his intelligent humour presence of mind and crisp couplets. Although almost all the poets enraptured the audience it was Ashok Sahil Mehshar Afridi and Johar Kanpuri who drew the maximum applause for the soul-stirring compositions and emotional renditions. They were repeatedly called back on the stage on popular demand from the audience. Emirati poet Dr Zubair Farooq also recited few of his Urdu couplets which evoked whistles and claps from the audience. From light themes like love life wife and God to serious thought-provoking poetry on politics relationships and society the poets tugged at the various emotions of the audience drawing praises laughter and "once more" screams from the audience. The programme received an overwhelming response with an attendance of more than 1300 poetry lovers from all walks of life. "We had to turn back 250 more people who had arrived at around 11pm for the event. The invitation time was 7pm and we had mentioned in the card that 'no seat guaranteed after 9pm' so by the time they came all seats were taken" said Khan. The event also saw the second Josh-e-Urdu award being conferred on prominent Urdu critic Shamsur Rahman Faruqi who is a retired Indian Civil Servant who has spent his life in promoting Urdu. He has already been conferred with the Saraswati Samman the highest literary award in India. Josh-e-Urdu award has been initiated by Bazm-e-Urdu in memory of Josh Malihabadi one of the most prominent poets of last century for the service to Urdu language. Malihabadi is one of the very few personalities in the world who has been conferred with both Padma Shree award in India and Nishan-e-Pakistan award in Pakistan. Bazm-e-Urdu is an organisation run by volunteers who are professionals working in different local and multinational companies in UAE but have come together for their love of Urdu. They conduct many other smaller literary events as well to support Urdu and its speakers. Their last mushairah was conducted on August 22 2014 which was extremely successful and saw Mahesh Bhatt (one of the most successful and prolific producers / directors in Bollywood) and actor Javed Jaffrey share the stage with poets like Padma Shree Gulzar Dehlawi and Padma Shree Nida Fazli.
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