"Ghalib Ke Khat" - A Literary Event Organized by Kaafiya in partnership with Literature Studio and Roshandaan

The venue for the event was exciting - Mazaar-e-Ghalib.  The agenda was focused - prose work by Ghalib, which was mostly in the form of letters and his journal. And our literary partner Literature Studio were supporting the event. So Travelling Camera also went along.

The venue was very close to Nizamuddin Dargah. And this was the first time we were visiting the mazar of Mirza Ghalib. It is located right next to Ghalib Academy. Today being October 2nd, the Academy was closed and the front gate of the mazar too was locked. But eventually we found our way in.

The event was organized by Kaafiya - The Poetry Festival and Roshandaan and Literature Studio were the support partners. What I loved about the event was the simplicity of the arrangements and the unpretentious flow of events. The event relied upon the richness of the content rather than any frills for success. Kudos to Yaseen Anwer, founder of Kaafiya. His personality shows through in the way he envisions the events.

Dr. Mohammad Adam, Guest Lecturer at Jamia Millia Islamia, talked about poetry, shayari, and Ghalib, his life and his prose. He read some letters written by Ghalib and while reading them, he even tried to modulate his voice to sound like Ghalib. He spoke about the unique aspect of Ghalib's poetry - his ability to make fun of eminent personalities, but never getting caught in the process. He also spoke about the themes recurrent in Ghalib's writings. It was apparent that he has studied Ghalib quite a bit and is indeed an authority on Urdu/Persian poetry.

The event concluded with a session of open mic poetry, where several poets came forward and read their poems. And it was during this time that a peahen decided to drop in and check out what he group was talking about. After walking around for a while, however, it went and stood near the mazar of Ghalib. And we said our goodbyes and headed home.

Kaafiya - The Poetry Festival will be held on October 10 and 11 and promises to be a wonderful event. If you are interested in poetry or literature in general, do attend.