Washington is the place to be for enjoying Urdu-Hindi poetry

URDU-HINDI POETRY AND WASHINGTON | TheGhouseDiary.com 

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/09/washington-is-place-to-be-for-enjoying.html


I am glad I moved to Washington, besides getting a chance to fulfill my dream of working towards building a cohesive America, I am enjoying the fellowship and the literary aspect of my life as well.  I have a deep passion for the Urdu (Hindi) Poetry and Washington is the place to be!  I just cannot rave about the intellectual stimulation with the folks around here.

Dr. Zafar and Nuzaira Iqbal had invited a few friends for dinner, and some of them are Poets and a joy to hear. The gathering was to honor the visiting poet Sarwat Zahra.  Dr. Satyapal Anand was a special guest, who is a scholar with mastery in Urdu, Hindi, English and Farsi Poetry, one must hear him, indeed, and I am encouraged and influenced by his style of independent prose like poetry.  He is a legend in the Urdu poetry.

Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi is a treasure of knowledge, I have heard him talk about the father of Urdu-Hindi language Amir Khusro, and want to hear more, and last night he spoke about Meera’s devotion to Krishna.  There is an art in telling stories that only a few have mastered and Dr. Siddiqi has become my favorite person to hear and learn from.

Dr. Zaheer Parvez recited two poetries – one was about the story of endurance of African Americans, and the other was his days in UC Berkley, as Dr. Anand commented on the poetries, I literally saw his poem in pictures, that’s how powerful his poetry was, and his poem should be a part of the African American Museum, he knows what integration means and I loved his poems.

Sarwat Zahra was the honored guest poet – Dr. Anand had written a preface to her first book, and what a fine introduction that was. I wish I had recorded it.  Sarwat’s poems are visual, a picture jumps at you with each word in her poem, it is about the daily lives of women and what they go thru, great expression and accurate depictions of the story of women in the subcontinent.  What appealed to me about her poetry was her breadth of references, she shared a poem about Jesus, and then recited the poem about Meera and Meera’s devotion to Krishna and how she struggled with it, and Dr. Siddiqi hung the moon by narrating the story of Meera.  Meera was known for her devotion and here devotional songs she had composed some 500 years ago, and per Dr. Anand, only M. Subba Lakshmi had rendered them beautifully to the point that Pandit Nehru paid a visit to honor her.
 

Sarwat is heading to Dallas and Houston, she has a program on the 12^th and I urge everyone to hear her out, and I have asked her to recite Meera’s poem for my friends Surendra Mittal, Kundan Sharma and my buzurg DD Maini, and Jesus’s poem for Javed Gill.  I am sure she may have touched upon the Sikh life as well, if she has I hope she would recite for Dr. Harbans Lal.
More about : Sarwat Zahra on facebook and her website - http://www.sarwatzehra.com
Thanks to Dr. Amer Shakil of Urdu Ghar for being available to talk with Sarwat,  and I hope my friend Raja Zahid Khanzada will write about her and video tape for Geo TV.

I briefly spoke about the Organization I am working with – The American Muslim Institution, and thanks to Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi for such a fine and humbling introduction.

Happy Janamashtami - details about it at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/sri-krishna-birthday-celebration-janmashtami_b_1762997.html


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Mike is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist, TV-Radio commentator and a human rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and writings at TheGhouseDiary.com  

Naat Program with Dr. Satya Pal Anand

POETRY SESSION IN PRAISE OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH)
www.UrduHindi.net

Thanks to Noor Amrohavi for organizing the 10th Annual Naatia Mushaira.  Naat is songs sung in praise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and it’s fairly similar to Christmas Carols for Christians, Hanuman Chalisa for Hindus or Shabad in praise of Guru Nanak. Its human desire to praise and appreciate someone they admire and it is in every religious tradition. I am making references to these traditions solely with the intention of giving an idea what Naat is all about. Although celebration of Prophet’s birthday is not an Islamic religious tradition, it is very much a big part of Indian and Pakistani culture.  It has reached out to Philippines on the east and Guyana on the west and now the entire world. They all do sing in Urdu language. There are men and women (yes!) who specialize in singing Naats and they go around the world to sing – and it’s mesmerizing!

What was different this time was the presence of Dr. Satya Pal Anand. A teacher in English, Urdu and Hindu languages and has remarkable command in Arabic and Farsi. He shared the origins of Ghazal (poetry format) in pre Islamic Arabia – the style of poetry that is written with a near perfect balance and sung with a certain style, eventually it has filtered down to the Ghazal format in the Subcontinent.  I was thrilled to hear him talk about the Prophet as a Non-Muslim, and I loved that view. It’s devoid of sentimentalism and the traditional recycled language, and full of new expressions and new perspectives.

Dr. Anand made my day, when he talked about Naat in Nazm style – meaning it does not have strictures of the traditional Naat format (balance, length etc), as I wrote a Naat in that style. I did not complete it, due to the expectations of compliance to the format. But glad to hear the master talk about it. It will now open up the avenues for people of Dallas to express in prose-poetry format as he called it.  It was a good learning experience. If any of you hear his name, please do attend it, it’s worth your while.

It was also a joy to me personally, when Dr. Anand said he has been to every place of worship, and I must proudly say, that I have been to every religious places of worship including Pagan, Native Americans, Wicca and other traditions. It’s so beautiful to see the devotion in each individual towards his or her creator.

I am proud of Dallas/ Fort Worth; we have some of the nation’s best poets. It’s a joy to hear them out. Since, I do not have the entire list of poets; I will just mention a few, hoping to add all the names later. Syed Yunus Ijaz who was also the master of ceremonies,  Tariq Hashmi, Dr. Qaisar Abbas, Saeed Qureshi, Masood Quazi, Noor Amrohvi, Shah Asar Alam, Zohra Chisti, Shamsa Qureshi, and a lady from Houston……. The event was presided by Mr. Khanzada, who headed the Karachi Press Association.

Raja Zahid Khanzada will be sharing this event on Geo TV and many a News papers; he is a reporter for many news outlets.  We will also get to see some great pictures from Zia Khan who has been taking pictures of community events in Dallas for the last 20 years.

The other good part of this event that appealed to me was Mr. Javed Samuell and Irum Gill who are part sponsors of this event – this is the kind of thing we need to see, serving and supporting without barriers. My hats off to Javed and Irum, this is the culture we need to nourish. It increases the sensitivities of people to be more caring of each other.

Thanks to Noor Amrohavi, this was a great program and he has a great team of volunteers that managed the event well. God willing, we will have another small event on Friday, February 21, 2014 – Naat to be recited and sung by men and women. Please look up at www.UrduHindi.net.

Please don’t forget Saturday, March 29, 2014 – Pluralism Poetry Session in Urdu and Hindi.  If you are interested in literary event, all you have to do is, submit your email address at the top right box “UPDATES BY EMAIL” and you’ll get automatic updates.

Please note – I have avoided using the titles and words like Saheb, Bhai, Bahen etc, as I am writing this for general public.  I am sure I have missed a lot of names – but that is not my job, as a community Activist and a Pluralist, when I get a chance, I share things, particularly when I see pluralism and pluralistic attitudes in place or to encourage it. You are welcome to write your comments at the bottom of this note to complete what is missing.

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.