Because language is no barrier
28 Feb 2015 9:29 PM GMT
To celebrate the timeless glory of Urdu, Rekhta foundation, which has curated the largest online anthology of Urdu poetry in the world, brings you Jashn-e-Rekhta: Celebrating Urdu, a two-day festival in Delhi. Organised in collaboration with the India International Center (IIC), the festival aims to celebrate and explore the spirit of Urdu – its lyrical beauty and rich eloquence.
For two festive days, some of Urdu’s finest masters will converge to celebrate Urdu through live performances, recitations, dastangoi, musical renditions, mushaira, dramas, panel discussions, film screenings and interactive sessions. Adding to the conviviality, an outdoor fete will host book exhibitions, calligraphy art, ghazals ,nukkad-nataks and more.
More than 60 renowned personalities will be speaking and performing in the Capital. 26 sessions showcasing various facets of Urdu by connoisseurs of the language. Transcending borders, Jashn-e-Rekhta brings together distinguished poets, authors and artistes not only from across India, but also from Pakistan and the US. Distinguished names, such as Javed Akhtar, Zia Mohyeddin, Rekha Bhardwaj, Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Gopi Chand Narang, Ashok Vajpayee, Muzaffar Ali, Nida Fazli and Purushottam Agrawal amongst many others, will come together to bring alive Urdu’s timeless splendor and its rich, linguistic heritage.
What makes this festival unique is that the Jashn aspires to engage, enlighten and entertain audiences from diverse backgrounds. Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta.org and the main force behind the festival says, “Jashn-e-Rekhta is a platform to showcase the world of Urdu through the eyes and experience of the masters. We aim to reach out to both the Urdu speaking and the non-Urdu
speaking audience.”
For Saraf, whose interest in Urdu led him to undertake the colossal task of bringing together the language’s works under one roof, Rekhta is a labour of love.
What started as a personal passion, soon grew into a desire to not only collect Urdu works, but also to make them accessible to the public. Rekhta’s indefatigable efforts seem to have borne fruit. In the two short years since its inception, Rekhta has become a priceless repository of Urdu works.
From Urdu magazines, literature, ebooks and trans-lations to thousands of ghazals, nazms, and shers, Rekhta has become an invaluable resource. The works, which can be viewed in Urdu, Devanagari or Roman scripts, have been sourced from all over the world and been painstakingly digitised and translated.
“Jashn-e-Rekhta”, says Saraf, “is in keeping with the spirit of the Rekhta foundation, which is to bring Urdu and its timeless beauty into the realm of public consciousness.” The festival is being held on the 14th and 15th of March. Entry is free.
For two festive days, some of Urdu’s finest masters will converge to celebrate Urdu through live performances, recitations, dastangoi, musical renditions, mushaira, dramas, panel discussions, film screenings and interactive sessions. Adding to the conviviality, an outdoor fete will host book exhibitions, calligraphy art, ghazals ,nukkad-nataks and more.
More than 60 renowned personalities will be speaking and performing in the Capital. 26 sessions showcasing various facets of Urdu by connoisseurs of the language. Transcending borders, Jashn-e-Rekhta brings together distinguished poets, authors and artistes not only from across India, but also from Pakistan and the US. Distinguished names, such as Javed Akhtar, Zia Mohyeddin, Rekha Bhardwaj, Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Gopi Chand Narang, Ashok Vajpayee, Muzaffar Ali, Nida Fazli and Purushottam Agrawal amongst many others, will come together to bring alive Urdu’s timeless splendor and its rich, linguistic heritage.
What makes this festival unique is that the Jashn aspires to engage, enlighten and entertain audiences from diverse backgrounds. Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta.org and the main force behind the festival says, “Jashn-e-Rekhta is a platform to showcase the world of Urdu through the eyes and experience of the masters. We aim to reach out to both the Urdu speaking and the non-Urdu
speaking audience.”
For Saraf, whose interest in Urdu led him to undertake the colossal task of bringing together the language’s works under one roof, Rekhta is a labour of love.
What started as a personal passion, soon grew into a desire to not only collect Urdu works, but also to make them accessible to the public. Rekhta’s indefatigable efforts seem to have borne fruit. In the two short years since its inception, Rekhta has become a priceless repository of Urdu works.
From Urdu magazines, literature, ebooks and trans-lations to thousands of ghazals, nazms, and shers, Rekhta has become an invaluable resource. The works, which can be viewed in Urdu, Devanagari or Roman scripts, have been sourced from all over the world and been painstakingly digitised and translated.
“Jashn-e-Rekhta”, says Saraf, “is in keeping with the spirit of the Rekhta foundation, which is to bring Urdu and its timeless beauty into the realm of public consciousness.” The festival is being held on the 14th and 15th of March. Entry is free.
Next Story
