It was poetry in the true sense - an amalgamation of Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi, three major languages of the Asian subcontinent - at what is known as a Mushaira in Urdu and Kavi Sammelan in Hindi organised recently in Auckland by the Urdu Hindi Cultural Association of NZ. Like last year, this year too saw a mix of national and international poets and guests.

Professor Dr Shamim Ahmed of Aligarh Muslim University was the patron of the program and Brig Zahoor Ahmed, an attaché of Pakistan High Commission was present as a distinguished guest.

Professor Shamim Ahmed presided over the Mushaira Program by lighting up the candle after which Host Mr Tauqeer Khan (Piami) and radio host and socialite Ms Roopa Suchdev conducted the program. High calibre poets such as Mr Syed Mujeeb Hyderabadi, Mr Hassan Mujtaba, Mr Brijinder Singh, Ms Saima Siddiqui, Mr Majeed Ghaus, Mr Nayeem Latif recited their composition.

Most notable among these was Mr Majeed Ghouse who recited excellent composition of poetry despite urdu not being his mother tongue. Mr Ghouse is from Andhra in India and speaks Malayalam.

Poets reciting in Hindi and Punjabi were Mr Manjeet Singh, Mr Harjeet Singh, Mr Somnath Gupta, Mrs Suman kapoor , Mr Rajan Bakshi, and little star of the evening Ms Rita Arora who recited a Hindi-Urdu fusion poetry named ‘Aansu’ (the tears) and touched through the hearts of the audience.

Program which started with Ghazal program was conducted by Prof SD Madhur who is a respected personality in the classical music tradition. He invited an array of talented individuals who mesmerised the audience with their soul touching voices.

Most notable among these were Mr Kiran Jeet Singh, Mr Nisar Mirza, Ms Moushmi, Mr Pankah Arora and Mr Mohd Azim.

Program was concluded by the Chief Guest Mr Shamim Ahmed who said that he met Mr Syed Mujeeb Hyderabadi on Facebook who invited him to come to Auckland and be part of this poetic symposium. “languages don’t recognize the geographical boundaries and find their place as far away from the origin as New Zealand. Urdu is a sweetener language which leaves a direct impact on heart and souls,” he said.

He additionally suggested that Urdu has got the same place in languages as Taj Mahal has the space in buildings and landmarks, as it is the language best suited to express love and affection.

Dr Ahmed also said that Urdu has descended from Ameer Khusru to Sant kabeer Daas who both used it eloquently to express their thoughts and revolutionary ideas.

Both Ameer and Kabeer were the visionaries who inherited the richness of Urdu language and later passed it on to the next generation.