By Bushra Alvi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: National capital will once again witness a gathering of Urdu poets in the annual mushaira, Jashn-e-Bahar, on Friday 12 April 2013 at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, from 7 pm onwards.
In an attempt to bring the best of contemporary Urdu poetry to its lovers, in its 15th edition, the mushaira will see the participation of Urdu poets from several countries. New faces will share the stage with seasoned poets against the backdrop of modern calligraphy by eminent painter M F Hussain and cutting edge new media and set décor reminiscent of the classical age of Urdu poetry.
Prof Waseem Barelvi, Javed Akhtar, and top Urdu poets from India like Sheen Kaaf Nizam, Mansoor Usmani, Popular Meeruthi, Nusrat Mehdi, Aqeel Nomani and Aalok Srivastava will share the stage with Fahmida Riaz and Kishwar Naheed from Pakistan. Prof Hiroji Kataoka from Japan and America’s Max Bruce, globally popular for the freshness of his verse, will also participate along with Harris Khalique, Islamabad; Omar Salim Al Aidroos, Jeddah; Mona Shahab, Washington; Farhat Shahzad, New Jersey; Zakia Ghazal, Toronto.
This promises to be the biggest non-official, non-political mushaira of the country.
“Poetry unites across cultures like nothing else does and the tradition of Mushaira is as old as poetry itself. It empowers us to serve our beautiful language. As it is, Urdu has always represented the best in the multi-cultural panorama that is India. We want to present the diversity in the practice of Urdu verse and its now global richness, to our audiences,” says Kamna Prasad, Founder of the non-profit Jashn-e-Bahar Trust that organizes this yearly international mushaira.
Japan is being represented for the first time at Jashn-e-Bahar this year. “In fact, we have invited three foreign poets whose madari zabaan (mother tongue) is not Urdu. This speaks for the new frontiers this language of love is exploring today,” says Prasad and adds that Jashn-e-Bahar Trust is committed to the growth, expansion and evolution of our beloved language. Urdu has created a remarkable global identity for itself and this year mushaira Jashn-e-Bahar emphasizes on significant contemporary and emerging aspects of Urdu’s poetic expression.
Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister of Communication and Information Technology, will be the chief guest and Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India, will be the guest of honour. The chief guest will also release the book ‘Nazir-e-Benazir,’ a collection of the verses of Nazir Akabarabadi, a people’s poet in true spirit also known as the ‘Father of Nazm’.
The mushaira is organised with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, Usha International, Tata Services, Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, Takshila, M R Morarka Foundation, Overseas Infrastructure Alliance, RKBK Fiscal Services Pvt Ltd and Sun Foundation.
Invites can be downloaded from the website www.jashnebahar.org . For further details contact: 41642893.