Last year, some impressive works of poetry came out, in the genres of both nazm and ghazal. They not only have literary merit but are also relevant in the current political and social context. One of ...

There is perhaps no one in our country at least, who has not at one time or another in his or her life, been influenced by the beauty and softness of a “ghazal”. Reading a ghazal is one thing and ...

Mellifluous Mohammed Rafi once sang -‘Divaso judai na jay chhe ae jasey jaroor milan sudhi.’ Few know that these lyrics were penned by a Surti ghazalkaar- Abdul Gani Dahiwala. The Persian form of ...

INTIKHAB-E-KALAM: NAZIR AKBARABADI BY MUHAMMAD REZA KAZIMI — this selection contains the best poems by Nazir Akbarabadi, a poet unique in the tradition of Urdu poetry. While mainstream Urdu poets ...

September 6, 2018. A historic day for queer Indians and their allies. The Supreme Court decriminalises homosexuality. My friends and I celebrate by getting a cake with Azadi piped on it in white icing ...

The father of Urdu ghazal and Chaucer of Urdu poetry in India, Shah Muhammad Waliullah or Wali Gujarati, lies here in the city. For the last 13 years, his grave has lain partially beneath a road ...

English readers have loved Russian classic writers, the French naturalists, and the Latin American greats without even bothering to know the names of their English translators. The Translator’s ...

As much as an expression of emotions and ideas, poetry is also a manifestation of the culture, tradition and socio-political conditions of a society. Language, the cloak of poetry, is itself deeply ...

Mirza Ghalib, who died on February 15, 1869, was a powerful, eloquent and erudite poet who investigated and captured life’s experiences and occurrences with capering humour in his enigmatic ghazals.