Legendary poetess Shabnum Shakil said on Tuesday that poetry is an essential part of the Urdu literature and occupies great importance. In an interview on PTV, she said even today the value and fame of literature in the form of poetry is a valuable treasure for the new generation. She stressed upon the need of developing book reading habits especially literature books to increase passion for poetry. Shabnum said poetry is her passion as she was brought up in a literary atmosphere. She stated that many renowned poets of that time used to visit her father and became source of inspiration for her to start writing poetry of her own. Replying to a question, she said the male members of our society highlight ‘women’ as a symbol of beauty in their poetry which they think is the very core of poetry. She said the female poetesses of today have entered the field to highlight what they think about other aspects of poetry.