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In a highly
engaging talk titled 'My Poetic Experience', renowned poet Ahmad
Faraz addressed students, faculty, staff and distinguished guests
at Aga Khan University (AKU) on 28 April 2004. He regaled the audience
with anecdotes from his past that were instrumental in chiselling
his poetic talents.
Ahmad Faraz recalled how
his father, a teacher and a poet of Urdu and Persian, once bought chequered
coat for him on Eid, and a suit for his brother. The then budding poet did not
like his clothes but was impressed by the ones bought for his elder brother.
That was when he composed his first couplet:
Layen hain sab ke liye
kapde sale se
Layen hain hamare liye kambal jail se
(He has bought clothes
for everyone from sale. And for me he has bought a blanket from jail.)
Faraz's earliest Muse and
instigator proved to be a girl from school who was trying to teach him mathematics.
She enjoyed Bait-bazi (a game where one person recites a couplet and then other
person responds with another couplet that starts with the last letter of the
first couplet) and competed with Faraz. Adept at the game, the girl continued
to win until Faraz started to create his own couplets and she couldn't out do
him.
At the end of the talk Faraz's
voice melodiously resounded as he read out sections from his poetry, much to
the delight of the audience. Equally lively was the question and answer session
where the audience further explored different nuances of Faraz's poetic experiences.
Earlier, Dr. David Taylor,
Acting Provost, AKU, introduced the speaker by quoting American poet and writer
Mary Mcanally's views on Faraz, "Ahmad Faraz is a peoples' poet. He speaks in
the metaphors of prophecy and vision that transcends rhetoric and narrow nationalism.
He is truly an international poet, a pan-humanist of the rarest sort. Rare because
his poems are love poems, even when they decry, denounce, lament or accuse."
The audience at the Special Series Lecture enjoyed an opportunity to interact
with the "peoples' poet" and at the end gave him a standing ovation.
AKU's primary mission is
the development of quality human resources that are trained to respond to the
unique needs of the developing world. This lecture by Ahmad Faraz was part of
AKU Special Lecture Series, which features talks by prominent personalities
with the aim of providing students with a broad-based education to enrich their
understanding and appreciation of the humanities and social sciences. Interaction
with distinguished personalities also benefits the faculty, staff and the general
public.
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