The cool evening of December 20th, was filled with the warmth of unity in diversity as writers and poets from different Indian languages, hailing from different regions of India, gathered at the residence of the General Secretary of the Writers’ Forum, Ms Nazneen Ali, a Hindi, English and Urdu writer and poet.
Though a regular monthly meet, the meeting was special as it was just a week ahead of the 222nd Birth Anniversary of legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. The meeting was compered by Nazneen Ali who welcomed all the members by reciting couplets from Mirza Ghalib’s ghazal. She then requested the Vice President of the Forum, Mrs Chhaya Athavle, a Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi poetess, to preside over the meeting while Shakeel Jamshedpuri, an eminent Urdu poet was invited to be the Chief Guest.
As a tribute to Mirza Ghalib, the meeting started with an informative article on the life of Ghalib by Sunil Sonsi. This was followed by another intellectual review article written by Mrs Maimuna Chougle on the book Jheel Ke Bistar Par by F.S Aijaz. The article was published in the Magazine of Majlis-e-Frogh-e-Urdu Adab, Qatar. The session continued into a rhythmic story titled Phool Kumari by Chhaya Athavale, that brought smiles on the all the faces.
The second session of the meeting was equally edifying yet entertaining with unique poetry renditions touching subjects varying from technology to environment, childhood to feminism, emotions to memories….
In continuation to the Forum’s effort to nurture budding poets, three young minds Sabiha Khan, Faizan Ali (Hindi) and Danish Shakeel (English) recited their poems that were well appreciated. Forum members who presented their poetry were Ms Anupama Chaturvedi, Ms Kalpana Shah, Ms Priyanka Baranwal, Ms Madhulika Mohta, Ms Nazneen Ali, Dr. Radhika Guleri Bhardwaj, Ms Vijaya Nair, Aamir Diwan, Ameeruddin Ameer, Shabih Ahmed and Sunil Sonsi (Hindi), Saeed Nazar Kadpawi and Mrs Maimuna Chougle in Urdu and Tushar Mishra in Oriya.
The Chief Guest, Shakeel Jamshedpuri, recited his poetry in Urdu. In his comment he expressed his contentment on the progress of the Forum and said that each and every poem acts as a spark in itself that enlightens the audience. This was followed by the Presidential remarks of Ms Chhaya Athavle who said that the meeting of the Forum is always thought provoking as each transcriptions are so inspiring and influential. She addressed to each of the poet in person describing the merits of their creations.
Other members and well-wishers present were Ms Sabiha Bilgrami, Ms Matheen, Ali Chougle, Rajiv Athavle, Ali Hussain and Hashim Bilgrami.
The meeting concluded with the members expressing their gratitude to the hosts Nazneen and Ali Hussain for their warm hospitality.