Musafir

Musafir
Image source: Google

Rating: 4.5/5

Author: Bashir Badr

Publisher: Manjul Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

Publishing Date: 14 August 2015

Language: Hindi

Genre: Poetry

ISBN-10: 818322590X

ISBN-13: 978-8183225908

Format: Paperback

Pages: 210

Plot:

Musafir is a compilation that consists of three different parts. The first part includes 135 classic Ghazals by poet, the second part includes16 new Ghazals and the third part comprises of beautiful shers.

While most of the poems talk about love, poetry on many other subjects have been icluded in the compilation. The poems involves mentioning ‘Travel’ that is a metaphor here and a traveller who explores that metaphor in multiple ways. In the process, life is unveiled and gives much to the poets to develop upon. A traveler has a destination in mind which may or may not be achieved. Yet, his travelling continues as does life- ceaselessly.

Review:

Dr. Bashir Badar's sense of passion and feeling in the shayaris separates him from other poets. His ghazals, or shayaris has a hint of his authenticity, one can easily identify his ghazals which come with more cleanliness and cleverness. Bashir Badar's voice is recognized from a distance, such is his unique poetry skills.

Mr. Iqbal Masood (Retd. Joint Secretary, Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy, Bhopal) in his opinion about Bashir Badr, says that Bashir has done a lots of experimenting in Urdu Ghazals. Commenting on his style of writing he says:

“Bashir doesn’t make use of conventional modes of writing Ghazals. He has built a new mechanism of language, which has worked out very well in this generation. Bashir had understood that to establish himself he has to use verbal skill easily understood by everyone. Many amateurs are now trying to adopt the same idea, but they cannot emulate the talent of Dr Badr.”

This can be easily be evident from this excerpt:

musāfir haiñ ham bhī musāfir ho tum bhī

kisī moḌ par phir mulāqāt hogī

Editorial Chief Iqbal Masood has written an elaborate article in the encyclopedia for Bashir Badr. According to him, his writings connects to every generation is immortal. He is of the opinion that, “When one thinks of great Urdu poets, the names that have marked their way are Ghalib, Mir, Faiz, but in present times when we think of any poet who is comparable to the image of these great poets there has been no one who has stood up to the excellence. Bashir Badr is a renowned name and is the poet of 21st century and the many generations to come.”

There are some shayaris in the book that any of you will remember from your childhood, but in this collection, the number of ghazals is quite elaborate. It feels like going down the road to old times, evoking a sense of nostalgia.

About the Author:

Bashir Badr, born on the February 15th 1935 at Ayodhya, did B.A. M.A. and Ph D. from Aligarh Muslim University. He worked as a lecturer in the Aligarh Muslim University and later as the lecturer and head of the department of Meerut College, Meerut for 17 yrs. He has brought out more than seven collections of poems in Urdu and one in Hindi. He has seven collections of Ghazals: ‘Ikai’, ‘Image’, ‘Aamad’, ‘Aahat’, ‘Kulliyate Bashir Badr’, etc. He also has 2 books of literary criticism, ‘Azadi Ke Bad Urdu Ghazals Ka Tanqidi Mutala’ and ‘Biswin Sadi Mein Ghazal’. He also brought out a collection of Urdu Ghazals in the Devnagari script, titled ‘Ujjale Apni Yadon ke’. The collections of his Ghazals have been published in Gujrati script. His works also have been translated into English and French.

He has been honoured with the Padmashree award. He also has been awarded by UP Urdu Academy four times and once by Bihar Urdu Academy. He has been bestowed with the Meer Academy Award, Poet of the year’80 New York, etc.

‘Aas’, the award winning collection of 69 Ghazals is the jewel in the poetic crown of Bashir Badr, one of his collections entitled ‘Kulliyate Bashir Badr’ has been published from Pakistan. The wide readership of his work has got him travelling to U.S.A, Dubai, Qatar, Pakistan, etc.