Mushaira Calling

Urdu poetry has often cut across nationalities and even today continues to resonate with many in the Capital. In its 16th edition, the annual Jashn-e-Bahar mushaira will include poets from Turkey and Tajikistan for the first time. To be held on April 4 at the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, the mushaira will pay an ode to its most loyal patron Khushwant Singh, who passed away last month. “This time the mushaira will be in memory of Singh, who asked me to start such an event,” says Kamna Prasad, Urdu activist and founder of Jashn-e-Bahar Trust.

Jashn-e-Bahar will hold ghazals, nazms and tanz-o-mizah (satire and humour) in keeping with the 500-year-old tradition of poetic dialogue between poets and audience. Javed Akhtar, Waseem Berelvi, Pt Gulzar Dehlvi and Manzar Bhopali will share the stage with Fahmida Riaz and Rehana Roohi from Pakistan, while professor So Yamane from Japan , who teaches Urdu in Osaka, will bring in a fresh whiff of air to contemporary Urdu poetry.

Turkey’s Halil Toker and Tajikistan’s poet Malakhowa Zebunisso will be the highlight of the evening. “Urdu does not have a place or a region; it is can be found everywhere. It is present in Bengal, Maharashtra, Patna, Tajikjistan, Turkey, Pakistan and all over the world. People are learning the language and composing Urdu poems in places, even where it is not their mother tongue,” says Prasad.

The programme begins at 7 pm. For invites, visit: http://www.jashnebahar.org