Ode to Faiz: the legacy lives on

ISLAMABAD: Fifteen minutes before the show, Kuch Khaas (KK) was brimming with activity, people lounging on floor cushions and aisle seats. The room started buzzing as more people trickled in and two men played tablas (percussions) and harmonium at odd intervals, amidst candle lanterns, rose petals and pot pourri.

Keeping in step of the erstwhile tributes to the legendary revolutionary poet, journalist, trade unionist Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Kuch Khaas called for what promised to be an exquisite evening of elocution, translations, classical music and singing on Saturday. The programme was arranged in collaboration with the Islamabad-Rawalpindi chapter of Progressive Writers’ Association (PWA).

The host and founder of Kuch Khaas, Shayan Afzal Khan, dubbed the rendezvous, an “impromptu” affair and cued the presenters to settle in their seats.

Noted writer, intellectual, poet and political activist Harris Khalique shared ‘Dua’ one of the popular poems by Faiz, ‘the contemporary poet of the South Asian Subcontinent’, drawing parallels with Iqbal and Ghalib.

An air of hushed reverence descended, as select verses were recited by Hina Haroon in Urdu and Punjabi, Ilona Yusuf in English translations by Victor Gordon Kiernan and Naghma Haseeb and Romain Guilleux in French. Farrah Ali shared her favourites, stirring the audience.

Tempo picked up with the audience finishing lines, interspersed ‘wah wah’ (plaudit) and requesting their choice verses. Young vocalists Sabahat Malik and Amaar Rasheed mesmerised the audience with subtle and powerful renditions of ‘Bol ke lab azaad hain teray’, ‘Aaj bazaar mein pa bajolan chalo’ and ‘Dasht-e-tanhai mein’.

Amaar’s infectious performance of ‘Hum Dekhenge’ left the audience spellbound. His vocals synchronised with the lilt and hue of music as the audience swayed to the rhythm of each syllable, singing along, engrossed in melody, tapping their feet. They sang and chanted, raising fists in the air to the emphatic ‘Uthey ga anal haq ka naara’.

An enthused human rights activist, Tahira Abdullah, in the lively lot of fist-raising and chanting gallery of guests, told The Express Tribune that, “Faiz voiced the frustrations and aspirations of the suppressed, oppressed and the repressed to overthrow the yolk of injustice and inequity. He wrote in simple language; take ‘Hum Dekhange’ for instance; it boils our blood, each time we hear it.”

She added the country had suffered at the hands of both military as well as civil dictatorships and autocracy, the ideas Faiz was in direct contradiction to.

Sajid Mansoor Qaisrani, among other accounts, shared the controversial, ‘Phir barq ferozan hai sar waadiye Sina’, penned by Faiz after the Arab-Israel war in 1973. He also narrated the banning of Faiz’s works during Gen Ziaul Haq’s military dictatorship (1977-88) and publishing of the rehashed versions by Faiz Foundation. These included ‘Hum Dekhenge’, an anthem for liberty from tyranny, with famous lines such as, “Sab taaj unchaale jayenge, Sab takht giraye jayenge (all crowns will be tossed up, all thrones will be brought down).”

He pointed out the relevance of the poems today, given the situation of Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and other Middle-east states.

Moreover, Sheikh Zia, Sajid Qaisrani, Shahid Awan and Muneer Ahmed nodded in appreciation with verses of their choice.

“It is apt to see Faiz alive and well in this society,” Zia said.

Requests were entertained and volunteers from the audience emerged at the centre stage to perform their choice ghazals. Komal Tariq of ATV called Faiz a poet of romance and revolution, singing “Raat yunh dil mein koi yaad ayee, jeise veerane mein chupke se bahar aye.”

The evening concluded with hi-tea and bonfire at the exterior of KK. The audience were seen socialising, sipping coffee by the bon-fire and munching on bite-sized sandwiches, burgers, samosas and cupcakes.

“A woman rushed to me at the beginning of the programme and asked if she could perform and I told her why not? It’s all about the lovers of Faiz,” cheered Nayha Jehangir, a programme manager.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2011.