Chicago Roundup
Bazm e Sukhan Holds Condolence Meeting for Wajida Tabassum . DOGANA and SMCAANA Retreat to Be Held in Chicago . New Year Eve Celebrated in Literary Style . Hyderabadi American Community Welcomes Amjedullah Khan
By Dr. Mujahid Ghazi
New Year celebrations in a literary style at the residence of Mirza Haseeb and Sheema Baig in Glendale Heights
Glimpses of the condolence meeting on the death of Wajida Tabassum organized by Bazm e Sukhan in Chicago
Glimpses of the Planning Committee meeting and New Year Reception at Dr. Sajid Mehmood’s residence
Glimpses of the Planning Committee Meeting and New Year Reception at Dr. Sajid Mehmood’s residence
Pictures above: Speakers and audience at the function organized by the Hyderabadi American Community to welcome Amjedullah Khan
Bazm e Sukhan Holds Condolence Meeting for Wajida Tabassum
A literary meeting of Bazm e Sukhan was held at Zam’s Hope last Sunday. The first session was devoted to express condolence for the death of a great writer from Hyderabad Deccan, the late Wajida Tabassum.
Dr. Khurshhed Khizir shed light on the life and work of the writer. He said though she was a great writer of the Indo-Pak subcontinent but not much has been written about her. He informed that two PhD theses have already been written on her work in two of the universities in India. Mr. Wajid Nadeem said that we know Wajida Tabassum since the early fifties when she started writing short stories. Most of her work was published in ‘Aina’ and‘Shama’ in those days. Almost all her stories had the backdrop of feudal and nawab families and the social problems associated with them. He said she had a beautiful writing style.
He gave an account of his personal encounter with her in 1980 in Chicago while she attended a Mushaira. He said she stopped writing since the last 20 years.
Dr. Iftikhar Naseem said he is saddened by the news of the death of Wajida Tabassum. Shedding light on why she quit writing 20 years ago he said that unfortunately that era was the era of progressive writers. The progressive movement had made many non-poets and non-writers poets and writers and at the same time pushed many genuine writers and poets in the background. He said the reality is that Wajida Tabassum was not a progressive writer. He said Wajida Tabassum was ignored because she didn’t follow the manifesto of the progressive movement and also her language was not the language of that time. Then he said the other reason she was ignored was that she had Ismat Chughtai, Quratul Ain Haider, Minto and Kirshan Chander at full swing that belonged to the progressive movement. He said Wajida Tabassum will never die. He said after Ismat Chughtai and Quratul Ain Haider, Wajida Tabassum’s influence on Urdu literature would not be felt today but it will be evident after twenty years when our society will reach adulthood and the writer will get more mature. He said Wajida Tabassum addressed the small issues at home like the problems faced by wives and children. She addressed the day-to-day domestic psychology which no one else has addressed in such detail and interest.
At the end of this session prayers for her maghfirah were offered. The next session was devoted to a Tarahi Mushaira and the Misra e Tarah was from late Khawaja Riazuddin Attash’s ghazal “ Fasana e Ishq tho wohi hai, magar woh unwan badal gaya hai”.
Sheikh Rasheed conducted this session. He presented his ghazal first followed by Syed Shah Naeemuddin, Shehzad Ahmed, this scribe and Wajid Nadeem. This session was followed by prose writing. The first presentation was by Mr. Hashmat Sohail who presented his short story highlighting Alzheimer’s Disease, ‘Mujhey yaad sub hai zara zara’. This scribe read one of his columns ‘Aalmi Basti’. Mr. Wajid Nadeem presented his humorous prose titled “Shoes”.
The final session was Ghair Tarahi Mushaira in which, in addition to the above mentioned poets, Dr. Iftikhar Naseem, Hamid Amrohi, Nazar Naqvi, Dr. Khursheed Khizir, Talib Raheem and Hashmat Sohail presented their poetry. Sara Sair presented the work of Fahad Azher.
DOGANA and SMCAANA Retreat to Be Held in Chicago
The physicians belonging to Sind Medical College and Dow Medical College are planning a grand retreat from April 7 th to April 10 th at Westin O’Hare in Chicago. This event will attract hundreds of alumni from North America and Canada as well as a few celebrities like Dr. Shahid Masood, Dr. Farooq Sattar and Shaista Wahidi from Pakistan. The three-day retreat will showcase a variety of entertaining and academic programs.
Last Saturday, a planning committee meeting/new year reception was held at Dr. Sajid Mehmood’s residence and attended by prominent physicians and their families. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Sohail Khan, President of DOGANA disclosed the proposed program of the event. Famous Pakistani pop singer from UK Aini and Sohail Rana family are so far the main entertainers of the event. SMCAANA and DOGANA will have some part of the retreat together but will run their parallel sessions at the same venue.
New Year Eve Celebrated in Literary Style
New year night was celebrated in a unique style in Chicago. Prominent literary and academic personalities belonging to Chicago shared the changing of the calendar at Mirza Haseeb and Sheema Baig’s residence in Glendale Heights by sharing in pot luck and presenting their work.
The evening started with the recitation of Na’at by Mohtarma Ummey Habiba. Among the other contributors were Dr. Muzzafar Farooqi, Amin Haider, Mirza Haseeb Baig, Mr. Hashmat Sohail, this scribe, Dr. Abidullah Ghazi and Mr. Ejaz Hashmi, who also conducted the memorable event.
Hyderabadi American Community Welcomes Amjedullah Khan
The Hyderabadi American community gave a reception to Hon. Amjedullah Khan, Corporator, Azampura Hyderabad. The program started with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Hafiz Rabbani. Mr. Abidullah Khan welcomed the audience and the chief guest on behalf of the Hyderabadi American Association. Among other speakers, who welcomed and paid tributes to the guest, were Naseer Mohammed Khan, Syed Ashraf, General Irshad Khan, Shahab Mehdi Khan, Syed Mukkaram, Ahmed Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan and Rehmat Ali Khan. Mr. Amjedullah Khan Khalid spoke in detail about the genesis of his party Majlis Bachao Tehreek. He explained the circumstances which led to the formation of the movement. He said, “We don’t have any personal grudge against the leaders of Majlis e Itehadul Muslimeen.” The opposition is on principles because the current leadership has forgotten the criteria on which the majlis was founded by Nawab Bahadur Yar Jang and the later struggle against the oppression done by Qasim Rizvi. He said the current leadership of the Majlis has failed to counter the injustices and oppression against the minorities, especially the Muslims in India. He mentioned with documentary proofs the torture done on young Muslims of Hyderabad for years after they were captured and labeled terrorists soon after the blast at Macca Masjid. He said the Muslim leadership from the Majlis failed to present their case in the parliament. He claimed he is the only one who fought for them. He also mentioned the Babri Masjid incident and blamed the Muslim leadership of India to be ignorant and passive in the matter. He said he was the one who was arrested recently for protesting against the wrongful court decision. He thanked the organizers and the Hyderabadi community of Chicago for participating remotely in his election and promised them that he will try his best to meet their expectations. Later, Shakeelullah Khan thanked the audience. The program was masterly conducted by Nazar Naqvi.
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