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Young poets delighted the audience at the concluding ceremony of the two-day event held at The Second Floor on Sunday to celebrate the launch of its bookstore.

Titled, ‘Urdu ki Nayee Avazain’, a mushaira of emerging Urdu poets was organised where young poets, Urooj Zehra, Asad Alvi, Arif Ishtiaq, Hira Saeed and Shaheer Salal, recited poems in tarranum and were the stars of the evening.

The project is part of T2F’s revival of Urdu poetry initiative. Speaking about the project, T2F director Ellia Khan said the project was aimed to introduce young and emerging poets in the city.

Read on: Have we really forgotten Mirza Ghalib, the greatest Urdu poet of all time?

The verses were about different topics such as unrequited love, heartbreak, feminism and coming of age. Introduced by hosts Neel Ahmed and Hidayat Sahir, the poets, some as young as 17, read out their verses in front of literary stars such as Afzal Ahmed Saeed and Tanveer Anjum, who presided over the event.

Shaheer Salal read out his poetry about accepting new cultures and the internal journey of an individual. Reading out from a piece of paper initially, his poetry went, ‘Yeh dyaar-i-ghair se ayi hai par, yeh saqafatein toh meri nahin, jo buzurg mujh ko dila gaye mujhe us rida ki talaash hai.’

Asad Alvi read out a qat’a about unrequited love and abandonment: ‘Hamare tumhare beech ek deewar hai, inhein ooncha karain ge nafraton se. Hum toh barbaad huay chhorain, aap ka kya hua mohabbat main?’

Similarly, young women such as Urooj Zehra, read out her poetry about friendship, animosity and love.

Hidayat Sahir and Neel Ahmed followed it up with poetry of their own about the increase of TV news channels and leaving behind ethics. Neel’s poetry delved into the designated roles for women and breaking stereotypes.

Originally published in Dawn, March 13th, 2017