Bazm-e-Mizah brings back the smiles

It is the first union of Pakistan’s humour writers.

KARACHI: Bola dukaandar ke kya chahiye tumhe,

Jo bhi kahoge meri dukaan par wo pao gay!

Maine kaha ke kuttey ke khanay ka cake hai?

Bola yaheen pe khao gay ya leke jao gay?

 

[The shopkeeper asked, “What do you want?

Whatever you ask for, you’ll find it at my shop!”

I asked, “Is there cake that the dog eats?”

He asked, “Is it takeaway or you’ll eat it here?”]

A sizeable audience seated at the Manzar Akbar Hall, Arts Council, laughed out loud with the recital of this couplet of humour writer Saghar Khayyami on Thursday. It was the launch of Pakistan’s first union of Urdu humourists, Bazm-e-Mizah.

During his presidential address, former Sindh governor Lt Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider lauded the efforts of the council office-bearers. “The volatile situation has wiped the smiles off our faces,” he said, adding that cultural activities under the union’s umbrella will help regain the city’s lost glory.

Much to the amusement of the mixed-age audience, he said, “I believe there should have been an age limit for membership. If the elderly laugh a little too loud, it might result in heart failures.”

He was flanked by renowned littérateur Prof Seher Ansari, playwright Haseena Moin, journalist Mahmood Shaam, writer Shakeel Adil Zada and Sardar Yasin Malik on stage. According to Adil Zada, we must realise the significance of the need for a fund for writers so that their financial woes can be addressed.

While witticisms were a recurring part of all the speeches, a short poetry session was also arranged where Bazm president Azra Sadiq and poets Rubina Tehsin Beena and Saeed Agha recited their works, leaving the audience in stitches. Meanwhile, popular humourist and Bazm patron Dr SM Moeen Qureshi inaugurated the membership drive.

Talking to The Express Tribune, union secretary Nadeem Haider said that although Urdu satire has gained popularity in modern times, good quality humour writing is on the decline. “Bazm-e-Mizah aims to foster humour writing in literary circles and support littérateurs associated with the trade,” he said.

Bazm chairperson Iqbal Mengrani said the association will put together seminars, book launches and poetry sessions regularly. Reacting to this announcement, Arts Council secretary Ahmed Shah promised patronage from the organisation for all forthcoming projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2015.