By Muhammad Hassan Haider

MANY prominent poetic names, both local and abroad, were featured at the LLF, from the likes of Zulfikar Ghose, Shadab Zeest Hashmi and Minu Bakshi to Ahsan Akbar and Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi. A performance dedicated to this art form also brought together Heeba Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseerudin Shah.

One of the first sessions on poetry had Ghose, professor at the University of Texas, Austin, and author of books of poetry such as The Loss of India and Jets From Orange discuss his poetry, which to an outsider may be explained as written by someone trying to find his place in the world.

Ghose began the session by deciding to read out some old poetry he had found recently and he felt could still resonate with elements of truth and also be relatable to today’s world. He discussed how he and his poet friend Ben Johnson would, during the 60s, go and read satirical poems in pubs and bars. The poems looked at and derided the greed of corporations and the capitalist mentality. One in particular spoke about the travesty of war and how it devastates all in its path.

Ghose emphasised that one poem in particular which he had written, long before Pakistan joined the nuclear club, spoke of the ambition of superpowers and how by gaining such cataclysmic forces of power they go on to bully weaker nations. He then moved on to topics closer to his personal life.

On his more recent work, Ghose shared his take on ‘imagist’ poetry. Imagery is a style of poetry in which a poet uses words to conjure up an image in the mind of a reader. His first one titled ‘Image in Karachi’ talked about the setting sun and a vulture being consumed in the shadow of a minaret with blaring loudspeakers. Another poem was about how women have been captured by different painters and the different ideals of beauty presented all the while appreciating the commonalities they share.

Ghose’s most recent poem, after which the session was named, was titled ‘The Cosmic Dance’. Divided into four parts, the poem is inspired by Dr Faustus. In the poem Ghose tackles a genre he is well known for — magical realism; the bending of fantasy and realistic elements into a coherent whole.

He was followed by Hashmi, known as one of the most eminent Pakistani female poets writing in English, in particular her ghazals. She mentioned how she came across ghazals in English as a student in the US but did not think it would be something she would attempt since she felt that the ghazal is a “litmus test of an Urdu poet”. And so the task of attempting it in English seemed rather daunting.

Hashmi questioned whether it would have a similar effect as Urdu ghazals does on an audience and did some research prior to writing. During this process she learned that most English ghazals which weren’t particularly true to the form sprung up in the 1960s when the works of Ghalib had been translated in English.

Many subtle differences that needed to be understood include how in a ghazal each couplet can have its own identity and autonomy while still remaining coherent as a homogenous whole. Also, with it being a form of poetry that relies heavily on the praise of an interactive audience, the impact can vary.

Going on about the attributes of the ghazal, Hashmi explained how each couplet in a ghazal can have multiple themes. For example, how ‘a beloved’ can be perceived either as a person, a divine being or perhaps multiple addressees at once. Talking about the differences between ghazal and other poetry, she explained how ghazals have a tendency to end in a question, which, according to her, leaves the reader’s thoughts open-ended.

Hashmi also mentioned the qaseeda, an ancient form of poetry which the Bedouins would recite at night after travelling. It eventually travelled to Persia where the subject matter changed from being about travels to the landscapes and scenery surrounding them. In Urdu the qaseeda had the fortune to be recited in court during the Mughal and Sultanate period.

Bakshi is a multi-talented, multifaceted woman. Although more famous across the border for her powerful singing voice, she was presented to the audience of LLF as an Urdu poet. There is constant mention of a “one” in Bakshi’s poetry. When asked to divulge information on who she is addressing, she admitted that she herself does not know. And although she writes extensively on love and romance, and describes herself as someone who has surrendered to love, she reminds the audience that it is not at the expense of her womanhood and that the feminist cause is very close to her heart.

The second night hosted a dramatic recitation of poems by Ratna Pathak Shah, Heeba Shah and Naseerudin Shah. The genre of poetry they stuck to was parables and fables, with both humans and animals as characters accompanied with a moral. Their collection was mostly by Vikram Seth interspersed with poems from James Thurber. They began with a poem by Seth titled ‘The Frog and the Nightingale’, in which a pompous, obnoxious frog convinces a naïve sweet nightingale that she needs his help to truly be a good singer. The rigours and vocal exercises he puts her through are too much to bear thus leading to her eventual demise.

The evening ended with a performance involving all three actors on the poem titled ‘The Elephant and the Tragopan’ by Seth. When human intervention stirs up the animals of an untouched valley, they rally together to demand for their sanctuary back. This poem dealt with a number of themes such as teamwork; corruption in politics; finding friends in unlikely places, and most importantly protection of environment and natural habitats.

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