Irshad Kamil with IPS officer Quaiser Khalid recited their poems at -- Izhaar by Pasbaan-e-Adab

Organised by Quaiser Khalid, an IPS officer, Pasbaan-e-Adab marked its 11th edition of Izhaar, the International Festival of Poetry at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, on Saturday, August 24, 2019.

In today's day and time of remixes and raps, where youth is completely detached from the literature, Pasbaan-e-Adab is one of its own kind of festival that helps to protect the culture and values of literature for the youth.

The festival started with a forum 'Open Mic', which was an initiative to encourage young poets for presenting their original works, where teams of 20 colleges from the country were registered for this event. The teams were joined by college faculty and other students. The poems read in the session were judged by the jury that included Dr Laxman Sharma Wahid, Dr Qamar Siddique, and Alok Shrivastava. The best three compositions were awarded by the LIC.

Post this, 'Raqs O Nagma' was held which was a unique fusion of a Kathak performance on Urdu poetry followed by our ancient and highly acclaimed form of storytelling 'Dastaangoi' in which 'Dastan-e-Mahabharata' (Legend of Mahabharata) narrated by young storytellers in Urdu.

The last session was the main highlight of the evening enthralling Mushairas by great poets. Lyricist Irshad Kamil, recited his poems. Besides him, other poets such as Shamim, Athar Shakeel, Ranjit Singh Chauhan, Shariq Sahai, Madan Mohan Danish, Manish Shukla, Dr Laxman Sharma, Rafiya Shabnam Abidi, Ijaz Asad, Dr Zakir, and Qamar Siddiqui also joined the panel. Quaiser Khalid - IPS officer - a poet by passion also, recited an interesting kalams - poems of his own.

"I am very happy for Pasbaan-e-Adab, Izhaar - the International Festival of Poetry. They are doing a great job as this stage is giving fame and opportunity to new poets. We have seen the Open Mic, Raqs-o Nagma and Dastaangoi, followed by Mushaira, which was very exciting. I think this day should be known as the literary day in Mumbai. Whenever Pasbaan-e-Adab does anything for the literature, it's always on a big platform," said Irshad Kamil, Lyricist and Urdu poet.

"It was a packed house; I feel the show is getting a very good response from all over. This is very encouraging for poets and also the listeners are getting good poetry," he added.

"Whenever I recite poetry in front of the audiences, I present with great love. I think whenever you present something with love audiences loves it," he further added.

"We are extremely grateful to the college administration, students and the exceptional audience, especially the women who attended the event in large number despite the Janmashtami celebrations across the city. The enriching content, the variety of presentations and soulful and stimulating Kalams (Hindi word for poems) of the poets who came from all across the country and the audience who came from different parts of the country and also from gulf countries had a mesmerising time. The demand for more and more was truly indicative and connect that people developed with the event," said Quaiser Khalid.

Also present amongst them was Kavita Seth who felicitated Farhan Wasti, for supporting the cause by promoting Indian languages, literature, and culture in Dubai.

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