Women poets' 'mushaira' a highlight at Jashn-e-Rekhta 2018

Jashn-e-Rekhta 2018 will feature a unique women poets' mushaira session at the fifth edition of the Urdu festival, which is set to begin from December 14.

The audience will also get to witness another highlight - Ramlila performance in Urdu by the Shri Shraddha Ramlila group titled 'Ram Kahaani Urdu Wali', a press release from the festival organiser, Rekhta Foundation read.

Morari Bapu, the renowned exponent of the Ramcharitmanas and an ardent lover of Urdu poetry, will inaugurate the gala. His appearance will be followed by a Qawwali performance by the Wadalis - Puran Singh Wadali and Lakhwinder Wadali.

The three-day festival will honour its tradition of Urdu's eclectic art forms and its heritage through ghazals, Sufi music, qawwali, dastaangoi, panel discussions, poetry symposiums, recitations, celebrity conversations and film screenings.

Sessions on celebrated Pakistani writers Intizar Hussain, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Indian mystic poet Kabir will also be held.

Nooran Sisters will close Jashn-e-Rekhta with their soulful performance on December 16.

Personalities from cinema and literary worlds such as - Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Vishal Bhardwaj, Jaaved Jaaferi, Malini Awasthi, Wasim Barelvi, Kumar Vishwas, Aasif Sheikh, Shruti Pathak, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Gopi Chand Narang, Mahmood Farooqui, Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan (Khalifa of Dilli Gharana), Gayathri Asokan and Sonam Kalra will also attend the festival.

Food Festival 'Aiwan-e-Zaiqa' will host a grand feast of cuisines for lovers of authentic Awadhi, Mughlai, Hyderabadi, Afghani, Bihari, Kashmiri and popular street food from Old Delhi.

Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta Foundation said, "I believe that for any society to flourish, the articulation of thoughts into language is very important and if there is any language whose very essence tugs affectionately at one's heartstrings, it is Urdu."