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Srinagar, May 26 -- It was a Thursday evening and another edition of the Monthly Monologue: Why it Speaks to Me organized by Hindustani Awaaz, in collaboration with The Attic. In this literary initiative, a series of eclectic speakers present/sing/recite their favorite Urdu text and explain why the text 'speaks' to them the way it does.
Reciting passionately in front of a packed audience of Urdu poetry enthusiasts, Dr Saif Mahmood brought alive Faiz's poetry in Faiz's own characteristic style. In his discussion he also brought to light many dimensions of Faiz's poetry.
Dr Saif Mahmood is not a scholar of Urdu; he spoke to the audience as a lover of Urdu, of Faiz's poems, and as a common man. He was brought up in an environment where Ghalib, Faiz and Iqbal are used in everyday conversation and every bedroom of the house has its separate set of Diwan-e-Ghalib and poetry of Faiz and Iqbal. "As a child I used to hear my father hum to himself 'Gulon mein rang bhare baad-e-nau bahar chale', and ever since Faiz has stayed with me and will always stay with me," said Mahmood. The title he chose for his talk, Tum mere paas raho are words from one of Faiz's poems. Mahmood discussed why Faiz speaks to him through what he speaks to him. He also discussed some of Faiz's compositions in an attempt to explain why Faiz speaks to him the way he does.
"Faiz starts as a die-hard romantic, he progresses into a socialist, he matures into communist and he ends up as a revolutionary. No matter what his poems are about, his voice is one of dissent," said Mahmood. The canvas of Faiz's poetry is, therefore enormous and has something to offer to everyone - a persecuted citizen, a disgruntled litigant, a fallen lover and even an entire deprived nation.
Even in romance his voice is one of dissent. Mahmood started with reciting one of Faiz's popular romantic poems , the pure ghazal.
Gulon mein rang bhare Baad-e-Nau-bahar chale
Chale bhi aao ke gulshan ka karobar chale
Khafas udas hai yaaron saba se kuch toh kaho
Kahin toh behr-e-khuda aaj zikr-e-yaar chale
Faiz says that he...