Gahwar-e-Adab Holds Memorable Mushaira
By Naushad Sarwar

Mansoor Usmani	Dr. Naseem Nighat	Prof. Jajeb Qureshi	Dr. Rahat Induri	Prof. Waseem Barelvy

“Politics, arm race, industrial growth or even bi-lateral talks never unite two nations - only culture does,” claimed Mr. Mansoor Usmani at the Second Indo-Pak Mushaira sponsored by the Gahwar-e-Adab US Chapter at Cal-Poly Pomona on July 16, 2005.

Majeed Akhtar	Asifa Nishat	Arif Imam	Khalid Khaja	Ateesh Vagredia

Mr. Usmani, a distinguished poet in his own right, brilliantly emceed the mushaira. Professor Waseem Barelvi presided over the evening proceedings. Mr. Jazib Qureshi was the chief guest.

Tabish Khanzada	Zafar Abbas	Rehana Qamar	Waseemul Hasan Naqqash

The poets were drawn from Pakistan and India. They included Dr. Rahat Induri, Dr. Naseem Nighat, Javed Arshi among others.

L to R : Naseem Nighat, Rahat Induri, Jajeb Qureshi and Mansoor Usmani	Sameen Faruqui with friends	Kamal Zafar with a section of the audience

Local poets who recited their poetry on the occasion included Ateesh Vagredia, Tabish Khanzada, Khalid Khaja, Wasiul Hasan Naqqash, Zafar Abbas, Rehana Qamar, Majeed Akhtar, Asifa Nishat, and Arif Imam.
The mushaira began at 9 PM after a sumptuous dinner was served by Shahnawaz Restaurant.

Admirers of Urdu poetry thoroughly enjoyed the mushaira and left with many pleasant memories of the evening

Gahwar-e-Adab should be commended for its efforts in organizing the mushaira, especially Sameen Faruqui and Zafar Kamal, Los Angeles chapter in-charge, who were visibly pleased at the large number of poetry enthusiasts who had turned up at the mushaira venue and sat patiently for five hours enjoying every moment of the proceedings.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------