"THE TASTE OF WORDS" BY PROF RAZA MIR

THE TASTE OF WORDS

-An introduction to Urdu Poetry

 

“Yeh Kaisa Ishq hai Urdu Zuban Ka

Maza ghulta hai lafzon ka zaban per”

“Urdu is a nation by itself. Where ever it travels, it creates its own world. Wherever Urdu goes, it clasps people in a bear hug. It becomes a tradition unto itself. For Urdu is, after all lingua franca of culture”, describes world renowned writer Gulzar who wrote the foreword of the latest book from Professor Raza Mir “The Taste of Words”. The book was launched this month and was commissioned by Penguin India.

To the Hyderabadi Diasporas of New York and New Jersey Prof Raza Mir is not a new face. The charming handsome Professor elegantly with subtle humor, dressed in Shahi long black sherwani and speaking fluent Telugu and Urdu, is the opening face of the fastest growing Hyderbadi Cultural Association of New York. He is among the prominent Hyderabadi’s and included in the association’s “Amazing Diasporas” section of the association’s annual journal.

 

“Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle

Khooda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai”

       Born in the old city of Hyderabad, Prof. Raza Mir is a graduate of  Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a PhD from University of Massachusetts. He teaches management at William Paterson University, USA. He co-edited a book titled Organizations, Markets and Imperial Formations: Towards an Anthropology of Globalization (London: Edward Elgar Press.)

       A passionate lover of Urdu Prof. Raza Mir believes that Urdu continues to be a vibrant and lively language. “Writing about Urdu poetry is my passion and it provides me an escape to tranquility”, he says. He co-authored with Hussain Mir the book “Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry. I have been interested in Urdu poetry since I was an adolescent, but never formally learned the language. My obsession with Urdu forced me to learn the Urdu script.

 
The intended readership, as the author writes, are not really the Urdu or Urdu Poetry experts but it serves as convenient introduction to Urdu poetry. The book begins with a brief historical essay on Urdu and Urdu poetry and has about 150 poems from legendary writers like Amir Khusrau, Mir

Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib to the lyrics of contemporary Urdu writers like Javed Akhtar, Kaifi Azmi and Gulzar. “My favorite poets are Javed Akhtar and Gulzar, and a variety of feminist poets Fahmida Riaz, Zehra Nigah and Ishrat Aafreen”.

 Ghazal is a dominant form of Urdu poem structured in the form of “shers” couplets. To explains this to the readers Raza quotes examples of popular songs and ghalzals like Hasrat Mohani’s “Chupke Chupke raat Din”

 

Hum ko ashiqui ka vo zamana yaad hai

Aur dupatte main tera vo moonh chupana yaad hai

Prof Mir is married to Farah Mir, an investment banker.  “This book is first and foremost a gift for my wife Farah” writes Prof Raza .  The couple has two sons and lives in New Jersey.

                                                           

WANT TO HOST  AN EVENING WITH  WRITERS &  POETS

EMAIL: HCAOFGNY@GMAIL.COM