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By Ahmed Tanhaa
Finally, after about four years we once again enjoyed the warm hospitality of Dr. Sarfraz and Dr. Ghazala Ahmad on Saturday evening (January 18, 2014) at their newly renovated residence. You may call it a house warming party. Our sincere thanks to them and Faheem and Adeeba for arranging such a fine program and making us feel at home. They transformed an ordinary night into a magical one and a one to remember for a long time. 
Thanks to all the participants and the guests for joining us and for making this a joyful, pleasant, and a memorable event. Despite the fact that some of our members were missing at this event, we still pulled through. We were honored to have Mohtarma Fahmida Maqbool at this gathering as our special and esteemed guest.
We learned at this meeting that she recently published her new poetry collection “Atish-e Ishq Ne Jala Dala” which is another fine addition to her existing list of previously published books. We will organize taqtreeb-e roonumaii program in her honor in the near future insha-Allah.
As we know that no party is complete without dinner and tu’aam is as important as kalaam at such occasions. Dinner was a feast; a complete array of fine dishes including salad, pulao, butter chicken, seekh kabab, koftay, aaloo bhaji, and the sweet treats consisting of gulab jamun, kheer, halwa, and cake. The entire arrangement was just remarkable and food was simply delicious. Hats off to the chefs for doing such a wonderful job.
The program started right after dinner with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by n’aat by Ejaz Malik and Abid Zahid Saheb. During the first session we learned a lot about Khusrow’s life and his literary work. Dr. Zaheer and Habibi Saheb provided historical perspective of Khusrow’s life and his literary journey. It is very difficult to cover this topic in a short period because Khusrow’s work fills volumes and spreads over decades. Therefore, we may not have done justice to Khusrow during this short meeting. 
During the second session the local poets entertained the audience with their kalaam who in turn generously responded with wah wah, applauses, and accolades. As always, Dr. Sarfraz read verses from his selection and amused the crowd. Agha Saheb did a marvelous job of providing a tashreeh of one of Khusrow’s ghazals. His narration was amazing and as always he mesmerized the audience. Tanhaa, Habibi Saheb, Sabir Saheb, Sheikh Ijaz Saheb, Faisal Dara Saheb, Dr. Zaheer, and Agha Saheb presented their old and new creations. And finally, at the conclusion of the second session, Mohtarma Fahmida Maqbool recited her kalaam from her new book. The audience was gratified and showered the poets with accolades. We are so lucky to have so many published poets in our midst. It is always refreshing to listen to them at our gatherings.
Ameer Khusrow started his literary journey at a very young age and became rich and famous as he grew older. Through his pen and his words, he won the hearts of royalties of his time and had spent almost all his life in the courts of the Indian rulers and monarchs. He was a genius of his time, a highly gifted and talented man who had attained fame at a very young age who enjoyed the company of the elites and nobles of India. He was an acclaimed and accomplished writer of the gilded era of the Muslim rulers of the 13th and 14th century
He published most of his work in the Persian language and over the period of 70 years he penned thousands of verses including several masnavi dedicated to the sultans. He has been credited with the invention of “sitar” and “tabla” which to this date is the standard equipments of the composers and musicians. It appears that all his work has not been published or preserved. Urdu was not even a household name back then when Khusrow was busy writing poetry. He used its predecessor Hindavi as a medium to express his insightful thoughts and connect with the commoners of his time. His famous riddles are classic example of his artful expressions. He has been credited for introducing “qawwali” and is also recognized as the originator of “khyal” and “tarana;” a form of vocal music. Since he was the mureed of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, his poetry reflects Sufism and mysticism..
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