FAIZ AHMED FAIZ
Birth Centenary Celebration Program

”Faiz is a poet who drew as many as fifty thousand people to his readings, a poet whose work is quoted by heart by the literate and the illiterate, a poet whose lines were recited even by those who opposed him…. A poet whose ghazals had been (and continue to be) sung by the leading singers of the subcontinent (including the legendary Begum Akhtar), a poet who was such a master of the ghazal that he transformed its every stock image and, as if by magic, brought absolutely new associations into being. For example, the beloved – an archetypal figure in Urdu poetry – can mean friend, woman, God. Faiz not only tapped into these meanings but extended them to include the Revolution….Waiting for the Revolution can be as agonizing and intoxicating as waiting for one’s lover…”

– Agha Shahid Ali

Kashmiri poet and a translator of Faiz’ poetry

Faiz wrote all his life with an unmatched empathy for the toiling people and to give spirit to their struggle to change their lives. His poetry gave hope to struggling people everywhere of their ultimate victory……Come, let us celebrate his birth centenary …..

Programme

Release of a book published by Muktiyaan Sanskritik Sangathan of essays on the life and poetry of Faiz along with a selection of his poems translated into Marathi by

NADIRA ZAHEER BABBAR
Actor, director and daughter of Com Sajjad Zaheer, the mentor and close friend and comrade of Faiz

Talk on the life and philosophy of Faiz by

PROF. ZAHIR ALI
Writer, freelance journalist, professor of political science, author of a book on Faiz in Urdu entitled Talmihaat-e- Faiz

Recital of Faiz’ poetry and singing of his ghazals interspersed with a Multimedia Presentation on his life and times

Friday, 10th February, 2012

5.45 pm (please try and be on time)

P L Deshpande Sahitya Academy, Mini Theatre, Ravindra Natya Mandir Complex, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400 025.

Entry is free. All are welcome.

—–Muktiyaan Sanskritik Sangathan & Faiz ki Biradari—–