Highlights of the week included the annual Urs of Punjab Sufi poet Bulley Shah, obituary references about a couple of literati and a musician, Taufiq Rafat and Mirza Adeeb, clarinet player Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan Mando respectively, and the setting up of the Institute of Languages, Art and Culture in Lahore.
Lahore has expanded horizontally to an extent that it has almost enveloped the town of Kasur, which is located some 23 miles from the provincial metropolis. Any programme of cultural importance held in Lahore or Kasur attracts the attention of the residents of these two towns, also from towns and villages across the Wagah border.
The Majlis-e-Bulley Shah organised the impressive thee-day annual Bulley Shah mela (fair) this past week in Kasur, which was attended by thousands from all over the country, representing different walks of life. It also announced the establishment of a monument to commemorate the great Sufi poet in Kasur, which has been named as Bulley Shah Cultural Complex. A 20-member Indian delegation led by Ms. Sheila Dixit also visited Kasur to pay homage to the great Punjabi mystic poet.
Bulley Shah is the most popular poet of Punjabi whose kafis (poetry) are sung with much gusto by the ordinary folks and professional musicians alike. Even the "uneducated folks" from rural hinterland comprehend the meaning and import of the contents of his mystical poetry, which points to his singular detachment from existing creeds. For the reading pleasure of our readers, the English translation of a couple of stanzas from Bulley Shah poetry is reproduced here.
"Recite Alif, it is release
From one there are two, three and four,
Then lac, ten million - thousand more;
From there onward would reckon steer,
The secret of this 'one' is clear.
Why have ye turned executioner?
Why read you so much, books,
Literature? On head you carry load of sins
The path ahead difficulties, spins,
You learn Qura'n to make a ring,
Reciting it you tame the tongue;
But, be careful of the blessing,
The greedy sell in frenzy wandering
Recite Alif, it is release
The English Literary Society organised a function at Nasser Bagh's Chaupal on the life and work of the late Taufeeq Rafat, who is rightly regarded as the father of English poetry in Pakistan. It was attended by a large number of lovers of poetry, especially those who had been associated with the Sialkot-born poet. During my tenure with the American Center, Lahore, I organised several poetry symposia in the decade of 1970s in which poets Kalim Omar, Athar Tahir, Tariq Yazdani Malik, Maya Jameel and Taufiq Rafat participated. Taufeeq was a thorough gentleman and a very creative person, whose poetry won him international fame.
Another man of letters, who was also remembered at a function organised by Halqa-e-Tasneef-e-Adab at Cahupal last week was late Mirza Adeeb, author of 84 books. He died on July 31, 1999. Novelist, short story writer, biographer, translator, playwright, critic and newspaper columnist, Dilawar Ali alias Mirza Adeeb was born in a poor family inside Bhatti Gate, Lahore in 1914. It was during his school days that he first started dabbling in poetry and his poems occasionally appeared in literary magazines of those days. By the time he went to college, he had already established himself his credentials as a creative writer of abundant potential. I shall try to write a separate piece on his life and works later.
On August 25 the Pakistan Classical Music Guild, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of art music in the country observed the 5th death anniversary of clarinetist Sadiq Ali Khan Mando at the Lahore Arts Council, where several prominent musicians paid their melodic tributes to the creative ingenuity of the late maestro from Kasur.
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The Punjab government has announced the establishment of the Punjab Institute of Languages, Art and Culture in Lahore for which it has allotted a 16-kanal plot in Bagh-e-Jinnah, where its permanent building will be constructed. The Institute will also set up its offices in northern and southern areas of the province to promote arts and languages of these areas. A government organisation (unlike the Lahore Arts Council whose affairs are managed by a board of governors), the Institute will give a boost to cultural activities in the city relieving some pressure from LAC.
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