Eleventh Independence Day Mushaira- KaviSammelan in Washington DC Area
By Zafar Iqbal, PhD*
The Aligarh Alumni Association-Metro DC (AAA-DC), in association with the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin-Metro DC (GOPIO-DC), hosted a successful Yom-e-Azadi Mushaira/Kavi Sammelan, celebrating the 72nd Independence Day of the Subcontinent at the Central Library Auditorium, Arlington on Sunday, 25th August 2019.
This year, four cultural community organizations — Association of Indian Muslims (AIM), National Council of Asian-Indian Associations, Inc. (NCAIA, Inc.), Hyderabad Association of Washington Metro Area (HAWMA), and Center for Pluralism (CFP) — also co-sponsored the program. More than 150 literary enthusiasts flocked into the Auditorium to be part of this unique event.
Greeting authors, poets, and the audience, Program Coordinator Dr Zafar Iqbal said, “The goal of this annual program is to provide a forum where diverse people—transcending political, religious, regional, and geographical boundaries—could assemble under the same umbrella and appreciate the Ganga Jamuni culture of the Subcontinent. In addition to sharing poetry, this event also recognizes local poets and authors by releasing their recently published books. In the recent past, more than two dozen poets and authors have released their books through this program.”
Dr Razi Raziuddin, President AAA-DC and Dr Renuka Misra of GOPIO-DC welcomed and thanked the participants and audience on behalf of their respective associations. They also applauded the increasing popularity of the program
Dr Moazzam Siddiqui, who retired as Chief of South-Asian and Far East Languages at Voice of America, gave an eloquent speech tracing the centuries-old tradition of SanjhiVirasat (shared heritage) in the Subcontinent. He explained the genesis of Urdu through the mixing of Persian, Sanskrit, and other regional languages and emphasized its unmatched role in the freedom movement. He emphasized that writers and poets from Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Christian communities all contributed to this cause, using Urdu as their medium of communication. He lamented the current decline in the secular and tolerance ethos in India—the oldest melting pot. “This situation is hopefully temporary and the ethos of Sanjhi Virasat shall come back,” he hoped.
Dr Mike Ghouse elaborated on the theme of Sanjhi Virasat by reciting a nazm (poem) evoking early memories of celebrations of festivals of all communities in his neighborhood. He recalled his mirth and happiness in playing Holi and having sweets during Diwali while his non-Muslim neighbors participated in Eid and other Muslim events.
Language binds people, while poetry heals the hearts. Mushaira and Kavi Sammelan are the Subcontinent’s tradition where the poets share their poetry with active participating listeners. Urdu/Hindi together is the third most spoken language in the world after Mandarin and English. Urdu and Hindi languages are twin sisters, they use 75% similar words and are marching forward side by side in India and all over the world. Invited poets from the Metro-Washington area recited their poetry, making people enjoy and reflect on the current social and community issues. The event brought the diaspora with multiple ethnic backgrounds together under the same umbrella. In addition, a special treat was the participation of Dr Ashok Narayan, who has published a collection of his poetry KasayeDil and Shararey. He retired from the Indian Administrative Service and came from India. Participating poets (in alphabetical order) included: Dr A. Abdullah, Dr Ashok Narayan, Dr Qaisar Abbas, Dr RaziRaziuddin, Dr Satyapal Anand, Dr Vishakha Thaker, A Rahman Siddiqui, Gulshan Madhur, Qamar Kazmi, Mr. Rakesh Khandelwal, Sadiq Bajwa, Yusuf Rahat, Kiran Nath, Sukesh Chopra,.Vandana Singh, and. Vinita Tewari.
The Metropolitan Washington area is very fertile in producing high caliber literary personalities and it is always a challenge to find adequate time for each poet to enable him/her to recite even a representative quantum literary work. Well-known author and poet, Abdur Rehman Siddiqi chaired and analyzed poems recited by the poets and congratulated the organizers for the successful program. Afzal Usmani compered the poetry recitation session with remarkable literary skill.
In keeping with the tradition of honoring authors and poets of Metro-Washington area, books of two poets—Rakesh Khandelwal and Gulshan Madhur—were released by Dr Satya Pal Anand and Dr Ashok Narayan, respectively. Chairing this session, veteran poet, author, and critic, DrAnand commended the efforts of the authors and expressed his hope that similar programs for bringing people of different languages and culture under one roof will be continued.
The AAA-DC started this Independence Day annual Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan tradition more than a decade ago and GOPIO-DC joined its efforts soon after. It is very gratifying to see that four other community organizations (AIM, NCAIA, Inc., HAWMA, and CFP) also co-sponsored the program this year. It was announced that the organizers were planning to have a cultural festival of South-Asian languages next year with the help of Montgomery and Fairfax County offices.
*Prepared with the help from Dr Mike Ghouse. Mr Afzal Usmani provided photographs.
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