The Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, organized a recitation of Mir Anis’ poetry, featuring the famous Urdu scholar and political activist Dr. Aliyah Imam in a discussion titled, ‘Anis Ke Rang: The Many Shades of Mir Anis (1802-1874)’ at the IBA Main Campus.
IBA Students, faculty, staff and enthusiasts of elegiac poetry were mesmerized by the artistry and eloquence with which Dr. Aliyah Imam recited Mir Anis and expounded on his poetic excellence.
The discussion also featured a brief, but enlightening lecture on the global literary standing of Mir Anis by famous Urdu poet Mr. Firasat Rizvi, and a demonstration of the art of sozkhani by Qaseem Zaidi and Brothers, who presented the poetry of Mir Anis through the medium of the ragas of Hindustani classical music as a tribute to their late martyred Ustad, the famous Mr. Sibt-i Ja’far Zaidi who did much to preserve and promote the art of classical sozkhani as a performing art.
Lecturer SESS, IBA and event organizer, Ms. Zahra Sabri, who teaches Indo-Islamic History and Literatures, highlighted how the legacy of Mir Anis lives on and thrives in the city of Karachi through the efforts of the migrant families, who came here from Mir Anis’ home territory of Lucknow and how the legacy of the art of marsiyah writing and recitation continues to connect the cities of Lucknow and Karachi in a strong linguistic and cultural bond.
The event was an effort to highlight the cultural strength of Karachi in this literary genre, making today’s Karachi perhaps the biggest stronghold of this form of Urdu literary production in all of the subcontinent in contemporary times.
