A day with Ahmed Faraz, the Pakistani poet

"Let's again begin the journey of love, let's again become each others'. If there is question of ego with you, then let me extend my hand of friendship to you."

Legendary Urdu poet Ahmed Faraz recites this couplet as he emphasises that to bridge differences between neighbouring countries it is necessary to undertake "cultural landscaping."

The culture across the borders is same, people on both side have no difference, they were living together for hundreds of years like brothers then why can't they stay together now, asks Faraz while prearing two cups of tea -- one for himself and another for me. He then offered it to me.

Faraz, during our meeting, recalls the sacrifice of those who laid their lives during freedom struggle and recited few couplets from one of his famous poems which he wrote 50 years back just after independence.

"Tum ne jiss dasht-e-tamanna ko lahu se sinchha,
hum ne unko gul-o-gulzar kiya hai aakhir. "

(The trees of desires and hopes which you irrigated by your blood,
we have raised them and carried your legacy forward.)

"We are celebrating the independence which is gifted by those martyrs," says Faraz, who is considered as one of the greatest modern Urdu poets of the last century and greatest living Urdu poet of present times.

The poet expresses his pain about the geographical division of the land but sees 'Mushairas' as a ray of hope in the darkness. "The journals or books written by Indian poets are not available in Pakistan and vice versa. So, there exists a communication gap. The people of both countries could not get the access to other's work. But, the inter-country 'Mushairas' tries to fill that vaccum. It brings people more and more close," Faraz told me.

Complaining about the declining standards of Urdu poetry, he says "These days, especially in India, poetry is being done like performatory art. Most of the poets beg for appreciation. They do not care for the classics but go for low standard poetry to gain cheap popularity."

"The language is becoming weak," he says explaining the reason as "because the words have been removed from it. It has been distorted. It has lost its originality."

About his current writings he says "I now only write when I am forced to from inside."

Faraz, who has been compared with Mohammad Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, enjoys a unique position as one of the best poets of current times, with a fine but simplistic style of writing that even common people can easily understand and identify with.

Outspoken about politics, Faraz blames the leadership of both India and Pakistan for the mistrust and communication gap of decades, and says "Some political and military leadership doesn't want the relationship between two countries to be improved because this will certainly reduce their influence.

He, however, claims, "We are trying our best to improve the relationship between both the countries and its people. "We are working for the noble cause (to bring people close to each other). I wrote poems calling people to come together and so did several Indian poets like Ali Sardar Jafri and others."

Faraz, who was awarded the Pakistan's eight highest civillian honour Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2004, in recognition of his literary achievements, returned the award in 2006 after becoming disenchanted with the military government and its policies.

He went into self-imposed exile during the Zia-ul-Haq era after he was arrested for reciting certain poems, including "Mahasara" (The Siege) at a mushaira criticizing the military rule. But still that incident seems no effect on the poet who continues to write and attend mushairas.