Day Three Of Jashn-E-Rekhta Ends With A Finale Of Sufi Music With Richa Sharma

The string of cultural performances carried on the third day of the seventh edition of Jashn-e-Rekhta 2022, with an exuberant celebration of Urdu and the composite culture, showcasing the language's cohesion as manifested in a plethora of art forms - music, poetry, and storytelling. A large number of visitors from every corner of the country expressed their passion for Urdu Adab.

The event began with a session named, "Raag Roohani" - a Sufi and folk music performance by Mamta Joshi, awardee of 'Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar' of Sangeet Natak Akademi. Her strong voice and soul-touching and spiritually moving music and poetry took the audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and spiritualism. The singer performed many popular hits from Punjab Sufi Poet Baba Bulleh Shah, "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya", and "Mast Qalandar" to Amir Khusrau's "Chaap Tilak"

The next session of the day, ‘Ulta Mushaira: A Satirical Dramatic Presentation’, a unique curated session with poetry-based satirical drama was a laughter-packed event. With their satirical presentation as dupes of popular shayars, performers of ‘Prism Theatres’ taught the audience the basics of Urdu poetry. Shayars like Unseen Facebookiya, Shakki Shauhar, Kahil Khan, and Tanha Khatoon.

Meanwhile at the Partition Narratives in Urdu & Hindi Literature session at Bazm e Khayaal had Shazi Zaman and Khalid Javed, a prominent modernist fiction writer, who has won the prestigious JCB Award 2022 for the English translation of his book 'Nemat Khanna' or 'The Paradise of Food'. He expressed that the Partition literature is not only about the partition but it also encompasses many stories within itself. He says the partition literature carries many themes of separation, love, and existentialism. He thanked Rekhta for hosting events celebrating Urdu literature. The session “Main gaya waqt nahi hoon" remembered the legendary figures of Urdu Literature Shamsur Rehman Farooqi, Gopi Chand Narang, and Shamim Hanafi. 

The renowned poet Kumar Vishwas with Sumit Awasthi in the session 'Mushaira aur Kavi Sammelan ka itihas' talked about the history of Kavi Sammelan and Mushairas. 

In the session ‘Rang Baatein Karein’ actor Diya Mirza talked about how Urdu has affected her life. She said poetry is associated with every part of life. I always keep a poem with me. She recited ‘Kafir’ by Swanand Kirkire and ‘Aansu’ by Javed Akhtar. In the session “Ghazal Sara” the acclaimed playback singer Pratibha Singh Baghel enchanted the audience with her soulful ghazal singing performance.

The session “Dil dhadakne ka Sabab" is one of the chief attractions at Jashn e Rekhta where Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah talked about Urdu poetry and recited Faiz, Sahir, and anecdotes from Ghalib. They said that the Urdu language is a mixture of many languages and belongs to everyone. Ratna Pathak Shah calls India as a Salad bowl, which has all sorts of flavors within itself.

Yawar Abdal, who became recently popular for his contemporary flavored Sufi and Ghazal music performed on 'Dil e Nadaan', 'Aftaab' and many more in the session “Ghazal ka naya andaaz” In another session, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi launched the book “Dhanak Daaera” which is an ode by them to Kaifi Azmi.

In the Young Poets Mushaira “Bazm e Naubahaar” several poets presented their poems before poetry lovers. The session had Amardeep Singh, Balmohan Pandey, Vikram Gaur Vairagi, Yasir Khan Inam and many more. 

The women poets’ mushaira “Bazm e Shayarat” hosted some of the leading female poets of our time including Poonam Meera, Madhavi Shankar, and Priya Malik among others.”