Faiz's greatness lies in presenting ideology and aesthetics together'

Mangalore, March 10: The biggest quality of poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Sahir Ludhianvi is that although their poems presented an ideology, they did not compromise with the aesthetic sense of classical Urdu poetry said K Phaniraj, activist.

He was speaking at a programme on Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry organized by the Journalists' Study Centre, Mangalore, in the city on Saturday.

Rating Faiz Ahmed Faiz alongside Urdu poetry icons such as Mirza Ghalib and Allama Iqbal, Mr. Phaniraj said that Faiz borrowed romantic essence from the poetry of English Romantic poets such as Shelley, Byron and Wordsworth and implemented it in his works, giving Urdu poetry a new dimension.

Mr. Phaniraj also said that Urdu is a powerful language and the real essence of Faiz's poetry can be understood when one is familiar with the grammar and vocabulary of the Urdu language. “People of Dakshina Kannada aren't too familiar with Faiz's poetry. His works are popular in areas such as Gulbarga and Bidar. There is this wrong perception that Urdu is a Muslim language. This politics of branding Urdu as a Muslim language has its roots in the 1960's”, he said.

B Suresh, Filmmaker, expressing his views about Faiz, said that his works were a product of the triangular conflict between principles, science, and arts and literature. “He was a revolutionary, romantic poet who had the tendency to leave a 'between the lines' interpretation in his works”, he opined.

Samvartha Sahil, poet, read out Faiz's poems in Urdu and Bhageshree, Senior Reporter, The Hindu, Bangalore, read out their Kannada translations, written by her. Faiz's poems such as 'Subh-e-Azadi', 'Aaj Bazaar Mein' and 'Dua' were read out on the occasion.

Gauri Lankesh, Editor, Gauri Lankesh Patrike was also present on the dias. Safiya Naeem, Lecturer, Mangalore University, compered the programme.