In its 15th year,Mushaira Jashn-e-Bahar,with commendable campaigning by its founder,Kamna Prasad,brought together Urdu poets from world over and produced a memorable evening of Urdu poetry by the candlelight,with one of MF Husains paintings as the backdrop. Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal spoke of the need to wed Urdu more firmly to new technology. A little later,Urdu couplets were read in a variety of accents from a slight Japanese lilt by Prof Hiroji Kataoka to a touch of American accent by Janab Max Bruce. But the fact that Jashn-e-Bahar is able to bring poets in from our neighbouring but sometimes equally distant countries appeared to be the biggest draw. This time,among the most powerful feminist poets in the subcontinent today,Karachi-based Fehmida Riaz and Islamabad-based Kishwar Naheed were here to share a thought,few couplets and some experiences of being who they were and their craft. Said Naheed,a member of the Womens Commission in Pakistan,an activist and a poet,The ties between India and Pakistan of course hurt us as our things are used here but not acknowledged. Im part of the Womens Studies syllabus,but its all not quite open. The lack of free exchange also inhibits India and Pakistan from becoming part of the larger wave of globalisation that joins countries and regions. When protests erupted in India against the rape in December,we protested there. But did you find out about it? Fehmida Riaz,who spent seven years in India in exile when Zia-ul- Haqs turbulent years snuffed out any dissent in Pakistan,said,I escaped in 1981,claiming I was going to just attend a mushaira. My good friend Amrita Preetam,who also knew Indira Gandhi well,took me to her and got a guarantee that I was on good grounds to be provided space to live here. Art and writing,agree both luminaries,are part of a much larger fight in societies. They are not just indulgence. Says Riaz,Our people need to attain literacy so that the arts can be enjoyed by all. We hear about how education in Russia has ensured that across all classes. They read Tolstoy,but we are far off from there. Here,popular literature is limited to crime and spy stories Adds Naheed,When voice is stifled and it appears as if there is nothing left to be said,the arts and poetry provide articulation to what would otherwise just be a scream. Riaz recited a somewhat timeless couplet,based on the Buddhist saying,suggesting that a victory is only won if both sides have something to gain; something she feels provides the answer to the entire India-Pakistan conundrum. Hai asli jeet ki bas ye reet,Ki dono jaayen barabar jeet Hui jis yudh mein ek ki haar,woh hota rahega baarambar. Kapil Sibal also released renowned poet Nazir Akbarabadis book titled Nazir e Benazir on the occassion.
