Some qualitative works of poetry, such as the trio under review in tandem, appear from time to time to please and delight the casual readers as much as the discreet and discerning
Poetry is a popular literary genre. As an art form too, its range of influence and appeal is immensely expansive. In Urdu, poetry has imperceptibly undergone a steady transition from the delicately romantic to the intricately modernistic over a long-winding span of circa three hundred years, Wali Deccani being the starting point. Books of Urdu verse are being authored, printed and published continually by a vested nexus, as it were, of authors, printers, and publishers. Readers are virtually excluded from its pale to the detriment of quality.
However, it is in this messy situation that some qualitative works of poetry appear from time to time to please and delight the casual readers as much as the discreet and discerning. Khwabgar Mairay, Ruki hui Shamon ki Rah’dariyan, and Taqazay fall in this category. This review seeks to discuss these in tandem.
Khwabgar Mairay
Naushaba Nargis is a poetess with a distinctive artistic identity. Her poetic career dates back to the 1960’s. Her nazm and ghazal bear the impress of her personality – sombre though sedate and self-restrained. Khwabgar Mairay is the second collection of her nazm (64), following the publication of Khulja Sim Sim.
The poems in the collection could be likened to a long interior monologue punctuated with the speaker’s wistful imaginings emanating from the gap ‘twixt dream and reality. In fact love and estrangement, desire and distress, hope and despair, and gaiety and gloom form the deconstructive motif of these poems. Their diction is consonant with the jussive mood of the author. Naushaba would lose her poetic identity if she weren’t self-restrained, refined or modestly articulate. These traits of her person coupled with the chastity of her poetic outpourings contribute to her distinctiveness amongst her peers.
Her verse amplifies her feministic demeanour as a literary artist. She confides: …Koi aisi kahani hun/Dhanak rangon say jo tarteeb paati hai/Jahan-e rang-o boo ko ek naya unwan daiti hai/Kahin auraq-e saada par ujalay ki gawahi hun/Kisi tareek aangan may koi raushan savera hun/ Maey kya hun … sochna hai.
Anwar Jamal, Iqbal Arshad, Ashraf Javed Malik, Syed Sahil Naqvi, Dr Aslam Ansari, and Dr Shamim Tirmizi have appreciated her work in their introductory remarks adduced to the book.
Khwabgar Mairay
Author: Naushaba Nargis
Publisher: Imtiaz-e-Adab Publications, Multan
Pages: 140; Price: Rs250/-
Ruki hui Shamon ki Rah’dariyan
Tariq Naeem is a perfectionist. His poetic themes oscillate between a wistful nostalgia and the existential awareness of a gruesome reality. The triad of twilight (shaam), radiance (charagh), and illusion (khwab) forms the nucleus of his verse.
The present collection contains his ghazal (71) and nazm (5) that he has separately grouped under captions Shaam (37 no of ghazal), Charagh (5 no of nazm + 17 no of ghazal), and Khwab (17 no of ghazal). It is an apt permutation reflective of his fine kinetic sensibility. Couched in poetic prose of a high order, the preface to the book seeks to transcribe the ramblings of the poet’s fancy fixated on the idea of evening as a repository of reminiscences abstracting sentiment, sorrow, and separation.
‘Books of Urdu verse are being authored, printed and published continually by a vested nexus, as it were, of authors, printers, and publishers. Readers are virtually excluded from its pale to the detriment of quality.’
Tariq Naeem is a stylish versifier. His imagery is vivid, rhyming scheme (qafiya-radeef) variegated, and accent self-assured. Zarray zarray ko batata phirun kya bahr tha maey/Raig-e sehra nay rawani mri daikhi hui hai. This kind of poetry is verily, to quote Cervantes, ‘a kind of alchemy of such rare virtue that whoever knows the nature of her composition may change her into pure gold of inestimable value’.
Amid an enormity of Urdu verse collections being published now and then, the book in view is like an oasis in a desert, excelling in form and content: Mray khayal ki lau say hi sub charagh jalay.
Ruki hui Shamon ki Rah’dariyan
Author: Tariq Naeem
Publisher: Akkas Publications, I-9/4, Islamabad
Pages: 144; Price: Rs300/-
Taqazay
Nusrat Siddiqui is a popular veteran poet, based in Faisalabad. Taqazay is his fourth publication following Lamha-e-Maujood (1986), Tray Tulu’ Ka Lehja (2004), and Roop Ghazal Kay (2008). It is a collection of ghazal, nazm, ruba’i, and qat’a besides religious poetry.
The book in view bears commendatory forewords by Zafar Iqbal, Mehmood Sham, and Sarwar Javed. The genuineness of his (Nusrat’s) poetics is indisputable. His verse speaks eloquently for his artistic fecundity. Simple diction, aphoristic content, an altruistic outlook, and a suave melodic strain characterise it. At places his lines would remind the reader of poets like Ram Riaz, Habib Jalib, and Munir Niazi. The phenomenon may be attributed to inspiration, not emulation.
Aik zulm karta hai’ aik zulm sehta hai/Aap ka ta’alluq hai kaun say gharanay say
Mujhay ab ehtiatan khat na likhna/Mray baitay ko parhna aagaya hai
Kis zururat ko dabaun kisay poora kar lon/Apni tankhwah ka’ee baar gini hai maey nay
Zamana hogaya tujhsay juda hu’ey phir bhi/Badan may za’iqa ab bhi tray wisal ka hai
Woh aa’eenay utha’ey phir rahay hain/Siray say jinki beenai nahi hai
For Nusrat Siddiqui, the poet is an annalist of truth which is synonymous with beauty. Dil ki awaaz par kaha labbaik/Humnay sachcha’iyan raqam kee hain.
Taqazay
Author: Nusrat Siddiqui
Publisher: Misal Publishers, Rahim Centre,
Aminpur Bazaar, Faisalabad
Pages: 208; Price: Rs350/-