Laughter, they say, is the best medicine. Hyderabadis know it best. Once in a while they let their hair down and laugh their hearts out. The last weekend saw endless bouts of humour and mirth as the much looked forward to annual programme of the ‘Zinda Dilan-e-Hyderabad’ got underway.
The ‘Adabi Ijlas’ (essay recital session) and the ‘mizahia mushaira’ (humorous concert) left everyone in splits. There was none in the audience who did not giggle, chuckle or break into laughter uncontrollably. Sadly the king of humour, Mujtaba Hussain, was not there to liven up the evenings. Ill health did not permit him to dish out his special brand of humour. Nevertheless one has to salute the ‘zinda dil’ spirit of Hyderabadis who turned up in good numbers.
Mushairas occupy a special place in the cultural calendar of Hyderabad. Not a day passes without a concert being held somewhere or other. Humorous mushairas are usually a big draw since there is plenty to laugh about. But unfortunately the lyrical excellence of the poets leave a lot to be desired. Poet after poet tends to indulge in the same old ‘biwi and saas’ bashing to create mirth. Connoisseurs of good shayeri couldn’t help but squirm in their seats. Even Deputy Chief Minister, Mohammed Mehmood Ali, pointed out to this wife-mother-in-law fixation among poets.
But some poets chose to differ and tickled the funny bone even while capturing the present situation in the country and the shrinking space for tolerance. Without naming the Prime Minister, Narender Modi, many lampooned his style of functioning. Sardar Asar captured the mood of the nation thus: Bail ki batyen karo, na gaye ki batyen karo, Jaante hai hum tum accha banalete ho, Chai wale ho chai ki batyen karo.
Another promising poet, Waheed Pasha Quadri, too dwelled on the attempts to polarise communities on religious lines. He drew lot of applause for these verses: Amn ke dushmanon se a bolo, Warna lene ke dene padenge, Nafraton ke na tum shool banto Warna lene ke dene padenge . But it was the elderly poet, Mustafa Ali Baig, who walked away with laurels, despite difficulty in walking. His typical Anglo-Urdu poetry was a big hit. Wo bhi karne lege wafa oh no, Lag gaee meri bad-dua oh no, Shopping inki luggage mere sar, Pyar karne ki hai saza oh no . The humorous essay recital session was much better both for its literary standard and originality of style. Ilyas Siddiqui of Malegaon regaled the audience with his attempt to beg, borrow and buy the presidential address for a programme. Syed Imtiazuddin sent everyone into peals of laughter with a dig on the Hyderabadi brand of humour while Dr. Mumtaz Mehdi’s write up brought smiles when he played on the word ‘sumjhana’ in varied contexts. Zinda Dilan-e-Hyderabad’s humorous journey in the past half a century has been quite eventful. As Mujtaba Husain once remarked, “It is better for one to turn back and look. Whether one sees something or not, this exercise does a lot of good to the neck”.
