Urdu poets from Japan, US to charm Delhi at annual symposium

Urdu lovers are in for a treat with a bevy of poets from across the globe, including from the US and Japan, set to congregate in the national capital for the annual 'Jashn-e-Bahaar Mushaira' this week.
The 19th edition of the mushaira (poetic symposium), organised by the non-profit Jashn-e-Bahar Trust, will be held here on April 14 and will see the likes of Javed Akhtar and Mansoor Usmani sharing stage with other eminent poets.
Among those set to enthrall the audience with their couplets and ghazals will be So Yamane from Osaka, Japan.
Other poets include Abdullah Abdullah from New York; Jawaid Danish from Toronto, Canada; Basir Kazmi from Manchester, the UK; Shahjahan Jaffery from Kuwait City, Kuwait; and Aziz Nabeel from Doha, Qatar.

The 'mushaira' will be held at the Delhi Public School, Mathura Road.
Member of Parliament Shatrughan Sinha will be the chief guest and Amarendra Khatua, Director General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, will be the guest of honour at the mushaira.

The event will be held in the presence of Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla.
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi will preside over the poetry evening.
Among the Indian poets, Popular Meeruthi, Gauhar Raza, Dr Nusrat Mehdi, Dr Naseem Nikhat, Aqeel Nomani, Aalok Shrivstav, Meenu Bakshi and Hussain Haidry will also be participating.
"With the firm belief that Zabaan-e-Urdu and its poetry unite people across class, creed and cultures, we, at Jashn-e-Bahar Trust, strive to present the diversity in the practice of Urdu verse and its cross-cultural, and now global, richness to our audiences," says Kamna Prasad, founder of the Jashn-e-Bahar Trust.

"Every year, more than 5,000 people attend mushaira Jashn-e-Bahar. This is testimony not just to the popularity of the mushaira but also to the fact that Urdu, our beloved language, is very much alive and continues to resonate with the sensibilities of people of all ages," says Prasad.
This year, the mushaira also travels to Patna, another stronghold of Urdu, where it will be held on April 15 at the Shri Krishna Memorial Hall.