Let Passions Play Out  

Published in Pioneer, Chandigarh on 8/9/12. Link: http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/93282-let-passions-play-out.html

Published in Millennium Post, Delhi on 7.12.12. Link: http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=15220

By Amit Shekhar

            Patna hosted a grand mushaira (Urdu poetry recital) on September 1. Big names of Urdu poetry like Waseem Barelvi, Munawwar Rana, Majid Deobandi and Iqbal Ashhar were among the poets who had come from various cities to read poetry. The poetry was refined and subtle, both in language and the feelings it conveyed, upholding the highest traditions of Urdu poetry. I have been following modern Urdu poetry in India and had heard some of the poets who came to the mushaira earlier. I was expecting outstanding poetry and was not disappointed. But it was the audience that belied my expectations, much to my satisfaction.

            Most of the people who came to listen were from the lower middle class. Young men were in a majority but there were many elderly people and women too. Every seat and space in the auditorium was filled. The spontaneous and robust daad (appreciation) showered on the poets by the audience showed that it had the maturity to understand the nuances of sublime and elevated Urdu poetry. And the daad was delivered the way it is traditionally done in a mushaira--with intensity, ardour and elegance which match the flavour of the poetry.

            American poet Walt Whitman said that "to have great poets, there must be great audiences, too". While Whitman's view is open to debate, the obverse is definitely true: to have great audiences, there must be great poets whose work they can savour. And my experience is that it is really great to have poets and audiences face-to-face.

            A mushaira, or a recital of poetry in languages other than Urdu too, is not a frequently held event in most cities of India. If it had not been held in Patna that evening, those who took part in it would not have missed it. The poets would not have missed it because real poets, the kind which graced the mushaira, write poetry for the sake of it and not for recital before an audience. And the audience would not have missed it because it was clear that it was an audience that enjoys poetry and nurtures its love for it irrespective of whether it gets a chance to attend mushairas, which are seldom held anyway.

            Compared to the big issues the country is grappling with, this mushaira was quite unimportant. And the mega events the world is forced to take note of from time to time made this mushaira look like a non-event, much like life on this planet would look on the scale of the universe. But much like we like to celebrate life on this planet and it has meaning and importance for us, the 'non-event' was an occasion for celebration of life for both the poets and the audience and meant a lot to them.

            Nobody dies if it does not happen, but life sure becomes richer if platforms, occasions and opportunities are created where this kind of celebration of life and all that it offers happens more often.

            The world was doing fine without the Internet and there was no chance of missing it when it did not exist. But can we do without it now? Among its various offerings, it has set up platforms where people can make friends, network, chat, exchange ideas and showcase their creativity. All the energy that’s flowing through the Net was there all the time and nobody was getting harmed when the Net was not there to serve as a channel for it, but it sure is a beautiful thing to see energy getting channelled positively and creatively.

            The TV competitions of dance, music and stand-up comedy serve a similar purpose. The talent was already there and had been preparing itself for years even with no signs of these shows around, and the audiences were there too, savouring their love for these art forms in their own ways. The TV shows just brought them together, and the country got to know how much talent it has and the artists came to know how huge and dedicated a following their art has. The importance of such platforms and avenues applies to many more activities that people enjoy in their own way, or would enjoy if given a chance to do. In many cases people are not even aware they have a talent, a special ability, a passion or a liking unless something comes up in their environment to make them discover it and enables them to nourish it.

            People seem to be doing fine and not missing it, but when a park, however ordinary, comes up in a neighbourhood, it becomes a channel for the energy of joggers, walkers and riotous children. A gym comes up and I wonder what all the fitness freaks and body builders sweating it out there would have done without it. But till it comes up, all the energy working itself out in the gym with utter sincerity does fine. A cyber café shows how much chatting, mailing and surfing mean to some people. Don’t open it and all the cyber-energy does okay in a latent state. Children have a great time with gully cricket, backyard football and driveway badminton, but give their locality a playfield and their sporting energy gets a better chance for expression.

            The need is to have more and more chances, however modest, for the throbbing, pulsating energy of India to come out into the open and express its creativity and beauty. The chances can be big or small, but they should be there. The passions, pastimes and private love affairs of common people with their calling need to unfold and find fulfilment. Much of the action is till missing, much of the energy is still unknown and unseen and the country seems to be pulling along fine. But the bustle and buzz can sure get better. The fizz is there in all corners of the country, waiting for the corks to be pulled to come bursting out and drench our thirst for life.