[sacw] As bus broke barriers, poets forged bonds

[Harsh Kapoor]

From: Hindustan Times, Thursday, February 25, 1999, New Delhi

As bus broke barriers, poets forged bonds
(New Delhi, February 24)

Bus diplomacy reflected in Indo-Pak poets' verses "Dil mein roshan
rahguzar, tum bhi karo hum bhi karen; pyar ki bus mein safar tum bhi karo
hum bhi karen'' (both of us should light up the pathways in our hearts;
both of us should travel in the bus of love).

This couplet by the Indian poet Matin Amrohvi sums up the mood of the
Indian as well as Pakistani poets who participated in the Indo-Pak mushaira
(poetic symposium) at the Ghalib Academy on Feb. 23 under the auspices of
the South Asian Fraternity, the Urdu Editors' Guild and the Indian
Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers.

It appears that Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's bus diplomacy has fired the
imaginations of the poets on both sides of the border. An aura of hope and
expectations could be palpably perceived in the moods of both the poets and
the audience. Some young poets from Pakistan, in particular, evinced a
sentiment against the arms race in the subcontinent.

Ali Baba, a new wave poet from Faizalabad (Pakistan) expressed his and of
course his generation's aversion to the nuclear blasts by both India and
Pak when he said:"Hamare phulon ki aag se missile daghe ja rahe hain,
sarhadon ke ar-par hamare mathe se tapakte lahu ki bundon se goliyon par
number dale ja rahe hain/atomi dhamakon se hamare parcham par barud ke saye
mandra rahe hain'' (missiles are being fired from the 'fire' in our
flowers/bullets are being marked with the blood oozing from our
brows/clouds of gun powder have overshadowed the colours of our flags).
A journalist from Faisalabad, Shahid Nadim asked the leaders of the two
countries to make some deviation from the set patterns of mutual suspicion
and hostilities between the two and try to establish heart to heart
relationship for lasting peace; "Ham apni rah se kuchh din bhatak jayen to
kaisa ho; kisi ke dil mein kuchh din ko dubak jayen to kaisa ho.''

Khalid Jaan, a medico from Pakistan in his 'nazm' Baghi (the rebel) sought
to attack the politics of religion in his country (jo mazhab ke vyapari
hain, vo sab se badi bimari hain) Khalid Jaan's poems are being published
by an Indian publisher shortly.

His outbursts against the establishment and political chikenery in his
country indicated that the intellectuals on both the sides of the border
are moved by the same issues in their respective millius, Among the poets
from India, Dr Sultanpuri in his couplet urged that the new experiment
started by Vajpayee should be continued. The charm and compulsive quality
of traditional Urdu poetry was seen in abundance in the ghazals of Musharat
Gwaliari, "Aitbar uska main karne pe hoon behad majbur; jiska koi bhi
bharosa nahin kab kya kar de." (I am forced to trust him whose
unpredictability only can be trusted) and "Ek takashe ki tarah bheed mein
shamil hain log; Inki pahchan bata kar inhe tanha kar de.''

"These people are the part of a crowd like a spectacle; make them lonely
by giving them their identities Masum Raza Wafa's couple expressed a siege
mentality, perhaps of the emergency vintage; "Zanzir nahin phir bhi khanak
hai hawa mein; azad ghulamon ko ye samjhao to jane.'' (We are not chained
yet there is a crinkling sound in the air; can you explain this to these
free slaves?) Among others who participated from the Indian side were Nisar
Mahmood, Mohammed Afzal, Shahid and Anwar from Delhi.

The mushaira was presided by Janab Iftikhar Naseem, a Pakistani poet based
in the US. His geniality was reflected in his poetry: "Barishon ke baad
satrangi dhunak ayegi; khul ke ro loge to chehre pe chamak ayegi'' (After
the rains there is a rainbow of seven hues in the sky; if you pour out your
heart through your tears, there will be a resplendence on your face.)
"Khuda kare isi tarah sarhad ke par milte rahen'', he expressed the desire.
Among the distinguished personages among the audience were Mr Ghulam Nabi
Azad, General secretary AICC and Mr Satyapal, convener, the South Asian
Fraternity and an official of the Pak High Commission.

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