Aligarh Alumni Association Washington DC Organizes 9th Annual Mushaira-KaviSammelan
By Dr Zafar Iqbal
It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon on 20 th August 2016—an excellent day for a number of social and community events going on in Metropolitan Washington Area. However, more than 120 literary connoisseurs flocked into the Auditorium of Arlington Central Library to be the part of the Annual Yaum-e-Azadi (Independence Day) Mushaira-KaviSammelan. This annual event has been a part of Washingtonians’ literary life for the last eight years.
It was organized by the Aligarh Alumni Association, Washington (AAA-DC) in collaboration with the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)-Metropolitan Washington Chapter.
The main goal of this program is to provide a forum where diverse people - transcending political, religious, regional, and geographical boundaries - could get together. In addition to sharing poetry, this event also recognizes local poets and authors by releasing their recently published books.
In the recent past, a number of poets and authors have released their books through our program. Some of them are: Professor SatyapalAnand, Professor AsgharWajahat, Dr A. Abdullah, Dr K. Mohan, Mr Raj Kumar Qais, MrAnadiNaik, Mrs Rashmi Sanan, MrsDalerDeolAashna, and MrSurenderDeol.
This year, recently published books by three poets, namely, DrAstha Naval, MsDalerDeolAashna, and MrDhananjaya Kumar were released. Commenting on Ms. Aashna’s book Tu Hi Tu: Rumi and Tagore, DrHarswarup Singh, a former Vice-Chancellor and Ambassador, said that MsAashna has done a great service as she brings these two great poets in a language that appeals to the reader. DrMoazzam Siddiqui, who was rightfully introduced at the podium as “walking and talking library,” discussed MrDhananjaya Kumar’s books, LambiUdanTak and AdhkhuliKhirkiyaN. His comments can be summarized as, “Dhananjaya Kumar’s poetry captures large meanings in very few words”. Remarking on DrAsthaNaval’s book Visthaapit Man, MsSukesh Chopra appreciated the blooming of the young poet.
Metropolitan Washington area is very fertile in producing high caliber literary personalities and it is always a challenge to provide sufficient time to listening of each poet in detail. This year the following poets shared their poetry with the audience (arranged alphabetically): A. Abdullah, Abdur Rahman Siddiqui, Astha Naval, Bina Goindi, DalerDoelAashna, Dhananjaya Kumar, KhurramYousuzai, Qaisar Abbas, Rashid Jamal, SaqiqBajwa, Sukesh Chopra, Vandana Singh, VipinTripathi, VishakhaThakar, and YousufRahat. The poetry recitation session was presided by a senior poet, MrAbdur Rahman Siddiqui.
Mr.MasoodFarshori, AAA President and DrRenukaMisra, GOPIO Chairperson welcomed the participants and audience on behalf of their associations. Coordinator of the program , Dr Zafar Iqbal thanked everyone for their continued support for the program, which was conducted by Dr A. Abdullah.
