Remembering those who have passed away

LAHORE:

“A lot of poets who have today carved a niche for themselves have been mentored by poet Bedil Haideri,” poet Nasir Bashir said on Saturday.

Bashir made the remarks at the second day of the Alhamra International Literature and Cultural Festival. He was speaking at Yaad-i-Raftagaan—a session organised to pay homage to deceased writers and artists.

Bashir said the two had shared the relationship of a teacher and a student. He said poet Nasik had taken him to Haideri so that he could mentor him. “He composed a verse for me and asked me to pen a matching verse, while I finished my cup of tea. Only then, he said, he would accept me as student,” Bashir reminisced.

Poet Hasan Abbas Raza spoke about his association with legendary vocalist Noor Jehan. He said he had gotten acquainted with her one evening nearly 20 years ago. “It was then I discovered that she also composed poetry,” Raza said. He remembered how she used to personally cook for her guests. Raza said ever since then, she would often call him in the wee hours to converse about composing poetry.

Writer Nahid Qasmi, remembered Parveen Shakir saying she had become acquainted with the poet through her association with Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, her father. “She was like family,” Qasmi said. She said she had first come across Shakir’s work while her father had been correcting it. “At the time, she was just a young college girl but even then my father felt that she had a mature voice,” Qasmi said. She said Shakir’s intital work was romantic but her work had matured as her career progressed. Qasmi said it had also become more realistic. Talking about poet Jon Elia, writer Mobin Mirza said the poet was extremely multifaceted. He said he had so many facets that one was always at a loss to fathom his personality. Remembering the time Elia had insisted on marrying again, he said at times his behaviour could be best described as that of an obstinate child.

Columnist Mushtaq Sufi spoke about writer Shafqat Tanvir Mirza. He said Mirza was not the kind of person to flaunt himself and was constantly engaged in challenging the popular narrative. He said he consciously elected to work in Punjabi. Sufi said he was also a distinguished member of the anti-Ziaul Haq movement.

Reasearcher Aqeel Abbas Jafri spoke about poet Wazir Agha. He explained Agha’s family history and mentioned that he was an extremely prolific writer.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2015.