It was a ‘mushaira’ but romance was not in the air. The poets did not sing paeans to ‘gul-o-bulbul’ nor held forth on ‘saqi-o-jaam’. Instead they waxed eloquent about water and sanitation.
Perhaps, it was first such ‘mushaira’ in the city which was devoid of amorous references. Interestingly, the audience did not feel let down. They hung on to every verse with requests for ‘mukarar irshad’ (encore).
Organised by Chetana Society in association with Basthi Vikas Manch, the ‘mushaira’ on Sunday evening was intended to create awareness about the dwindling water resources and the need to preserve the precious commodity.
Hyderabadi poets enthralled the audience with both serious and hilarious verses on the elixir of life. Senior poet Yousuf Ravish set the ball rolling.
Paani, hava, ghiza to hai jeene ke vaaste
Paani ko saaf rakhna peene ke vaaste
Hindi poet, Govind Akshay, drew lot of applause for his witty ghazal.
Kal hamare gharon main behta tha
Aaj jane kidhar gaya paani
Kal to darte the loge paani se
Aaj logon se dar gaya paani
In between the recitation, the poets kept sipping water much to the delight of the audience. Taqia Ghazal stole the show with her unique way of recitation.
Afsos aaj mulk main paani kharab hai
Halanke mera mulk mehkta gulab hai
Behtar hai aap khud hi safai pe dhyan de
Phir ham se na kehna tabiyat kharab hai
But it was humour poet, Waheed Pasha, who brought the house down with his tongue-in-cheek shayeri.
Jab se huyee hai nal pe padosan se aankhen chaar
Jab se Waheed bajte hain dil main mere guitar
Dulhan bana ke paani bharana hai dosto
Other poets like Atyab Aijaz, Tasneem Johar, Anjum Shafai, Syed Ali Bekhud too regaled the audience with verses that touched upon sanitation and water conservation.
D. Narasimha Reddy of Chetana Society and Shujath Ali, deputy director, Doordarshan, handed over the prizes to the poets.
The first prize was bagged by Sardar Asar, second by Govind Akshay, third by Taqia Ghazal while the fourth prize went to Waheed Pasha.
