Comments on: Mushaira: The Shrinking Platform Of Urdu Poetry

By: Nyayman

Nyayman — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:11:07 +0000

“The seer is always the sayer!” says an English proverb.He who observes things so closely and feels through his heart, naturally gives expressinons to his feelings. Wordsworth said ,”poetry is reollection of experience in isolation!”
A poet is a gifted person who immortalizes situations and ideas through his gift of choicest words.
Look at this couplet:
“Kaise , kaise ! aise waise ho gayey!
Aise, waise! kaise, kaise ho gayey!!
Long ago when I went to Aligarh to write my exam and in a private conversation, a student of that gret seat of learning , made a parodyof Sahir Ludhyanvi!
I happened to quote : “Ek shahinshah ne dowlat ka sahaara lekar’
Hum ghariboan ki muhabbat ka udaya hai mazaakh!”
Pat came the reply : “Ek shayer ne thakhaiyul ka sahaara lekar,
pyar ki zinda nishaani ka udaaya hai mazaakh!”
Lord Macaulay said : “As civilization advances, poetry almost necessarily dies!”
This could never be with Urdu poetry. “Woh to mar ke bhi zinda hojaati hai!”
In far South Urdu classes are conducted for non-urdu speaking persons and they have gained good mastery of the language!
Urdu zindabad!Paaindabad!!

By: Mansoor Pathan

Mansoor Pathan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:42:32 +0000

Dal do Hathiyaaro ko kaid khane me.
Rukh aman ka hum mod laayenge
Is bhari duniya me koi bhi apna nazar aata nahi
Muskara ke baat karo gair bhi apne nazar aayenge.

By: Jawaid Badauni

Jawaid Badauni — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:39:05 +0000

The cheap commercial motives of professional poets have made Mushairah a commercial event. We wish Urdu becomes a language of our “MaAsharah” not “mushairah”.

Jawaid Badauni
Muscat (Oman)

By: Adnan

Adnan — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 22:20:49 +0000

The declining standards of Mushairas in India has really been a cause of concern. They have become tamashas. Good poets prefer to stay away from mushairas where the ‘gala-baaz’ poets, shaairaat (women poets who sing well and get poetry written from others) and ‘mutashair’ (pseudo-poets) dominate.

I have seen a great Urdu poet, living in abject penury, writing sub-standard ghazals for such self-styled poets for Rs 100-Rs 250. The pseudo-poets and especially some ’shaairaat’ even asked the poet to put the particular words in the couplets as these words ‘bring more applause from the crowd’. What a degradation of this great institution of mushairas!

Of course, there are still Tarhi mushairas and sheri nashists were the real poets assemble and recite their poetry. There the consideration is not the kind of audience and their demand. How long will these nashists also survive with the tradition of ‘islaah’ and ‘ustaad-shagird’ tradition, ceasing to exist.

Leave alone ‘fan-e-urooz’, many mushaira poets are not aware of even the Urdu script and the correct pronunciation these days. The situation seems comparatively better in Pakistan where mushairas have not been turned into ‘commercial shows’ and ’sanjeeda shaairi’ is still in demand.

By: razarumi

razarumi — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:30:10 +0000

Again, an informed and incisive analysis..Sad that the institution of Mushaira is not only threatened in India but also in Pakistan. In fact, the real patrons of mushairas are outside these two countries – the Indo-Pak diaspora interested in Urdu poetry.

The choice of couplets was quite good and your comment on the themes chosen by the Indian poets is also interesting. Having said that, I am not a pessimist. I think that Bollywood has provided a great avenue for Urdu langauge and poetry (though not in its chaste classical form). The modern verse of Gulzar is substantive as well as popular.

We have to recognize that Urdu poetry will take a different mode of expression in this century and traditions, like many others, will have to give way to newer trends.

Coming back to this poet, thanks for sharing your thoughts with a wide readership and invoking the glorious traditions of Urdu poetry.