ZUBAIR QURESHI
Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq’s weekly meeting this Friday turned out to be an historic and first of its kind as the participants braving the lockdown currently imposed in Islamabad, attended the meeting from their homes and made the weekly meeting a memorable one. All the members of the “What’s App” group of Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq enjoyed the weekly meeting and posted their comments and appreciated the efforts of Halqa Secretary Khaleeq-urRehman and Joint Secretry Tariq Mehmood Engineer for making the virtual meeting of the Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq a success. In Friday’s session, Faisalabad’s poet Maqsood Wafa’s poem “Qaid Mai Rakhay Huay Din” (Days kept in Captivity) was presented for comments of the members. Eminent writer and critic Muhammad Hameed Shahid presided over the weekly meeting. “Qaid Mai Rakhay Huay Din” is about the dilemma the poet faces during the endemic (coronavirus?) that has broken out in the city and the poet wonders why his government and religious leaders have failed to guide him how to meet this challenge: “Mai Wazeer-e-Azam ki taqreer suno ga/ Aur Riasat-e-Madeena mai rehnay walon ko yeh kabhi nahi samjha sakoonga/Keh virus hamla kartay huay/Kisi say usskay Khuda ka naam nahi poochta.” In his presidential address, Hameed Shahid said it was his privilege to preside over the first online meeting of the Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq. He said he knew Maqsood Wafa for a long time even during the days when he studied at the Engineering University. He said Lyallpur or Faisalabad was rich in great literary traditions and Maqsood Wafa was a prominent voice from the city. We find certain melodious shades and sounds in Wafa’s poems and he knows the craft to bring up a contemporary subject in his typical poetic strain. However, the questions raised by Maqsood Wafa in his poem instead of giving a clear picture confuses the readers, said Mohammad Hameed Shahid and the readers are left wondering what he actually wants to say. Even then the poet is successful in raising the subject of deadly virus that has affected followers of all the religions, said Hameed Shahid. While taking part in the discussion, poet Mehboob Zafar said the poem painted a true picture of the current situation and the poet should be complimented for this. Tayyib Aziz Nasik in his evaluation of the poem called it a creative piece by Maqsood Wafa, however he said the canvas of the poem was restricted and the poet could broaden it if he liked. Eminent writer and poet Farida Hafeez said she liked the poem. Nasir Aqeel, Majid Shah, Naeem Fatima Alvi, Farrukh Raja, Sarmad Sarosh, Usman Ghani, Rana Saeed Doshi, Ali Muhammad Farshi, Zaheer Gilani, Daim Malik Dr Fakhra Noreen and many others took part in the discussion and highlighted various aspects of the poem.
