Bay_Thak Radiates Wholesome Vibes

A few weeks back, a friend of mine texted me about an event as she was on her way there. When I tapped on the Partiful link she sent, I learned it was a gathering for those who appreciated Urdu poetry. I was intrigued. Without even reading the rest of the description, I told my friend I'm down to come. Because it was only a 10-minute drive from my place, I had no excuse. But just as I was about to leave, I read the entire description for the event one more time, which clearly stated that all of us needed to present a small couplet of some kind related to the theme. Even though that line gave me a bit of anxiety because I didn't have anything prepared, I still decided to go because I was curious.

Upon arrival, I walked toward the designated address and rang the doorbell. A tall man with curly hair, donned in a black kurta, with a pair of glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, who later introduced himself as Faizan, opened the door. I asked him, "is this for the poetry event?" He smiled and said, "yes it is." I took off my shoes and made my way inside their living room, which was already full of people who were sitting in a circle. But what caught my attention was the two-headed hand drum that was resting adjacent to the table. As soon as I saw it, I knew the night would go well. Taking a seat next to my friend, I realized the group was still in the midst of introductions and we had to do them in Urdu. Although Urdu is my native language, I don't speak it as often as English and before that night I had never done my introduction in Urdu. A little nervous and fidgety, I spoke about my appreciation for the Urdu language and music. I told them because I didn't prepare a piece of poetry, I'm willing to sing something afterward.

After all of us made our introductions, we began the night with Urdu poetry. There was another man who was dressed in an all-black kurta salwar with a brown shawl draped over his shoulders, who introduced himself as Jarrar. Jarrar gave a brief introduction about the night and started off by reciting Mirza Ghalib’s poem “Jee dhoondta hai pir wohi fursat ke raat din,” which translates to, “heart craves one more such moments of peace.” One by one each of us presented pieces of poetry by Urdu writers. One of the pieces that stood out to me was "Rabba Sacheya," by Faiz Ahmed Faiz which means "Oh True Lord."

Although I couldn't comprehend most of the Punjabi, I listened attentively. Hearing Faizan recite the poem and translate it so eloquently, raised my curiosity. Because Punjabi is very different from Urdu, especially with the way that it's spoken, I never thought it could resonate with me. But I was wrong. Punjabi poetry is actually just as engaging as Urdu poetry. It's deep and profound and consists of idioms that

can be comedic.

After everyone presented their poems, I sang Mehdi Hassan's ghazal, "Mujhe nazer seh gira toh rahe ho," which means "You are losing respect for me." Then we dove into a deep discourse on how to prevent the Urdu language from diminishing away. One of the attendees asked my friend and I, "how we can continue to expand this group?" I told them the best way to do that is to talk about issues that everyone can relate to.

We then moved into the last segment of the night, which was music. We started off by singing to the Punjabi folk song, "Latte di chadar," meaning "my love, you're dressed in a beautiful grey shawl." Faizan asked me to join him on the two-headed drum. The two of us synchronized, rhymically beating the dhol as the music played in the background. After singing many more folk songs, we made our way into the living room and danced to some Bollywood tunes.

I thought that my night would end there but I was wrong. After a quick bathroom and prayer break, I made my way back into the living room. Most people had left by this time but I decided to stay. The rest of the night was spent in another engaging and thoughtful discussion on marriages, dating and dysfunctionalities between couples. Many of us shared our own experiences and thoughts, exchanging our own set of wisdom.

It was really eye-opening to hear the various perspectives. Even I was stumped when I was asked whether I would consider marrying someone who I felt indifferent towards? I never thought of relationships or marriage in that way. I always felt that we need to feel strongly about the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with. But then a few others chimed in, saying that they've seen marriages, in which the couple felt neutral towards each other initially but gradually love grew between the two individuals and their relationship is still intact today. They mentioned that though there were few couples like that, they do exist.

Even though it was past midnight by the time I left, I pondered over all the insights I received from the group of people who were no longer strangers to me. We all connected so well and it was soothing to converse with individuals who echoed the same sentiments. That magical night gave me a lot to think about and on the way home, I was already looking forward to the next event.