How new-age poets keep Urdu alive through these workshops

The dim light of candles engulfs Andheris Harkat Studios in a warm glow A 25member audience settles on the mattresses around an elevated gadda under a spotlight The mushairas poetic symposium setting is perfect Before seven Urdu shayars begin the performance Devroop Sharma of Irshaad poetry collective acquaints the audience with the basics Say mukarrar for an encore and waah waah as applauseClockwise from top Artistes Devroop Sharma Khan Faisal Barkaati and Ashwani perform at the mushaira held last weekend PicsTanvi PhondekarFor the next two hours the fragrance of Urdu fills the room as the shayars including 20yearold Khan Faisal Barkaati and Ashwani who recites poetry in a Haryanvi accent share original nazms on love heartbreak politics education and motherhood They make it interactive asking the audience to complete a misra a couplet line They also ensure the guests arent overwhelmed by the language by explaining the meaning of lesserknown words like ilm knowledge and baasafaa chaste before narrating the verses Some members in the audience repeat the words under their breath to savour their taste One of them Sankalp Rawal tells us after the show that was held last Saturday I understood 70 per cent of what was recited but still enjoyed the performanceShamir Reuben and Hussain HaidryFor Sharma thats an achievement The idea isnt to spoonfeed but help expand your vocabulary When you dont understand a word you look it up and then enjoy the shayari more It stays with you even after the performance says the 29yearold poet and salsa dance teacher who launched Irshaad six months ago to promote regional language poetryMohammed SadriwalaUrdu takes the centre stageRecent months have seen a spurt in groups supporting the language Earlier this year Studio Tamaasha kicked off Urdu Readings a series of dramatic readings of Urdu short stories conceived with the help of academic Aslam Parvez Its finale will be held on October 28The Poetry Club TPC introduced Mehfil where members discuss popular Urdu poets besides Hindi and English We wanted to challenge the notion that Urdu is difficult to understand We use words from it in everyday conversation without realising it Like darwaza says Ankita Shah cofounder of TPC which will host the next session in November at G5AWrite and learnWorkshops that help you hone Urdu poetry skills are also finding takers Last month Karan Talwar curator at Harkat Studios collaborated with Sharma to present a ghazalwriting workshop Led by college professor Abhishek Choudhary it deconstructed the form to drive home the point that every ghazal uses the same kind of metre The idea was to help the participants realise that a ghazal isnt difficult to master if you know the math of it says Talwar On October 27 the duo is also collaborating for Kissagoi comprising theatrical readings of original Urdu stories by three young poetsMeanwhile a Hindi and Urdu spoken word masterclass titled Lafzon Ki Kaarigari saw 15 participants aged 18 to 40 in attendance Held last Sunday it was curated by YourQuote a mobile app for writers to share original poetry The 25yearold poet Mohammed Sadriwala who conducted it with fellow poet Rakesh Tiwari says he was impressed at the turnout When I started out in 2014 I saw eight out of 10 poets performing in English at open mics Today over 50 per cent use Urdu in their performance Its more expressive Theres also a certain pride in performing in your own language he observes Another masterclass is scheduled for next monthOf the 25 lakh Indian users of our app 35 per cent 87500 prefer writing in Hindi and Urdu Thats also because today more content consumed online is in regional languages says the apps cofounder Harsh SnehanshuCase in point 31yearold Indoreborn Mumbaibased Hussain Haidrys poem Hindustani Musalmaan which went viral as soon as Kommune launched it on its platform in February and at last count had seen 5 lakh views People are more receptive and attentive to Urdu Credit goes to Delhibased organisations such as Rekhta Foundation which are responsible for reviving and preserving the language says Haidry a goto artiste to add to the lineup at Hindustani poetry performances He also narrated his poems at The Urdu Exhibit a launch event for Design Fabrics latest issue featuring artworks themed on the languageHaidry will perform next on October 12 at a HindiUrdu poetry open mic at The Cuckoo Club curated by Kommune as a prelude to their debut spoken word festival Weve also prepared a list of new young poets writing in the language A pure Urdu poem may be difficult to understand but the younger poets are mixing it with Hindi to make it conversational and audiencefriendly It also has a greater impact when used to make a political and social commentary While at it they are keeping Urdu alive says Shamir Reuben member of the storytelling collectivePoetry meets activismTalwar adds that celebrating Urdu is important in todays political scenario Recently at a curatorial workshop in Delhi I learnt that India doesnt have an Islamic art gallery Thats strange considering its an integral part of our culture At a time when Islamic influences in Indian art and culture are being underplayed curating Urdufocused events is our shot at activism where we try to rediscover the language in a safe space