“Pakistan’s Bloggers, Writers, Readers and Poets” (PBWRP), a brainchild of Nazia Kamran Kashif and her husband, Kamran Kashif, recently held its first Open Mic session in Karachi. Over 25 participants presented their speeches, pieces of prose and poetry at this event. Invited as guests to the Open Mic session were Ayaz Khan, Pakistan’s versatile actor; Rehan Malick, an experienced media professional and TV host; Umair Leghari and Sadaf Umair, TV actors; Nadia Patel Gangjee, CEO and Founder, Sheops; Faiza Qureshi, an experienced RJ among others.
Versatile actor, Ayaz Khan and Nadia Patel Gangjee, CEO, Sheops attended the event
The co-hosts of the evening were Nazia Kamran and Rafat Jahan. During their speeches, Ayaz Khan and Reham Malick requested the audience to praise and acknowledge the efforts made by the performers of the Open Mic session for its takes nerves and guts to stand in front of a live audience to speak, sing or recite poetry. With support from their team of energetic volunteers, Nazia Kamran and Kamran Kashif are on a mission to assist and facilitate the young minds of Karachi to become readers, writers, poets, and speakers. PBWRP began as a Facebook group which is now a community of like-minded individuals.
With over 12,000 active members on Facebook, the PBWRP aims to promote English and Urdu literature in Pakistan by helping nurture young talent and giving them a foundation to express their passion for literature. Members of PBWRP regularly share their pieces of prose and poetry on the Facebook page which is evaluated and commented upon by other members, therefore, giving the members a chance to enhance their writing skills. This creates an atmosphere of appreciation and reassurance.
During the PBWRP Open Mic session participants used humor, satire, maturity, and mellowness to express their innate thoughts about life and society through prose and poetry. It is comforting to know that the youth of today does have the inclination to speak in public. What they must practice is how to effectively deliver impromptu speeches. PBWRP is also working in this domain by allowing everyone to take the mic and speak their heart out. Another positive aspect of PBWRP is to allow aspiring writers to take the stage and connect with the audience. Where the literary festivals of Karachi normally allow established authors and poets to sit on stage, PBWRP wants everyone to make their name and work heard across Pakistan and beyond.
Earlier, PBWRP organized the Literary Fiesta in January 2019 with the objective to bring together writers and poets from across Pakistan through a competitive event attended by esteemed judges and guests belonging to Pakistan’s literary scene. This Literary Fiesta was a roaring success. The PBWRP Opening Mic session, similarly, was a well-planned and a well-executed event that displayed the unity and cohesiveness of PBWRP’s team that includes Afeerh Zaujah Mahmood, Komal Shahab, Syeda Jiya Haider Abidi, Arham Waseem, Alina Irfan, and Aymun Saleem.
By M. Omar Iftikhar
