Mushaira

Mushaira (Urdu: مشاعرہ‎, [mus̱ẖāʿirah]

) is a poetic symposium. It is an event (called mehfil, MUSHAIRI) where poets gather to perform their works. A mushaira is a beloved part of the culture of Pakistan, North India and the Deccan, particularly Hyderabad, and it is greatly admired by participants as a forum for free self-expression.

History

History of Initiatives

Urdu poetry took the final decisive position in 17th century when the Mughals had established their dominion. It was thought by the legends of early India that Shairy should be recited in a gathering of minds with sufficient understanding of the language, so that they may enjoy, criticise, and ultimately appreciate what was recited. The gathering, though, would be in the presence of the King and his Ministers, but then the talk was about somewhat a big gathering than of that. They prophesied that this would lead to development of Urdu Shairy, as people will be able to get the ideas of practical poetry in accordance with the demand of public interests and of public betterment.

History of Development

The commonest form of poetry recital was the mushaira, or poetic symposium, where poets would gather to read their compositions crafted in accordance to a strict metrical pattern, agreed upon beforehand, even while meeting a certain loftiness of thought. The real initiative was legendary that took in 18th century in the Mughal Court helping Urdu Mushaira reach its final, decisive form. A culture was built around taking lessons in poetry writing; it even became fashionable for royalty to learn Urdu shairi. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor of India, was an accomplished poet in his own right. He had a habit of setting his court difficult poetic tasks, such as the challenging art of tazmin, which led to the development of Tarahi Mushaira.

Forms

A mushaira can take a number of forms. Traditionally, the ghazal is the specific poetic form employed, neither recited nor sung, but other forms of poetry, recitation and song may be allowed also. If the poetry is humorous in nature, it is referred to as Mazahiya Mushaira. Mazahiya Mushaira is very popular these days, people enjoying the recitation with great pleasure. Some of the poets now developed it in the form of criticising, so presently it's also being used to comment in a very slight way giving a deeper my meaning which gives a long period realisation for the potential comments understanding.

These days invited guest poets will usually be seated behind a long table at the front of the room, with often the most admired of them seated in the centre. One person will host the mushaira, inviting each poet to come and perform. However, the form is relatively free, and anyone can come forward and ask to perform. The host usually lets the most admired poet present be the last to perform. Traditionally, a burning candle used to be passed from one end of the line to the other indicating whose turn it is to present.

The audience often interacts with the poets, most often with encouraging calls of wah wah at the end of appreciated couplets. If a couplet is particularly appreciated, there may be calls for the poet to repeat it, or the audience might spontaneously repeat it themselves. The latter is done when a poet's first couplet is appreciated. " Recently, the combination of traditional Mushaira with Hindi kavi sammelan has given it a big thrust. Now, such "Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan" are being organized across the globe.

Tarahi Mushaira

Sometimes a mushaira is more competitive. The Tarahi Mushaira is a particular form where a misra is given, and poets compose their ghazals using that misra and the behar (rhythmic metre) of the misra.

References

Lall, Inder Jit, Mushaira, Times Weekly, 7 February 1971
Lall, Inder jit, Mushaira, The Hindu, 23 January 1966

External links

• Mushaira website
• An Urdu Mushaira in Delhi
• More about Mushaira