It may not be the most keenly awaited event in the State Schools Arts Fest, but on Thursday, it was amongst the most fiercely fought. The high school-level Urdu poetry recitation featured some of the finest Urdu poems ever penned, with the young contestants turning to masters like Mirza Ghalib, Iqbal and Ibrahim Zauq. Of the 18 contestants, 11 walked away with an ‘A’ grade. Of the 18, only four were male, and the top three spots were bagged by the girls.
Hridya Sreerag of Chinmaya EMHSS, Kozhikode, bagged the top spot in the contest. Mehthab Sarin N P of Mambaram HSS, Kannur, and Athira N of Udaya EMHSS, Udayanagar, Kasargod, stood second and third respectively.
Jumana Haseen, a three-time district champion from Thiruvananthapuram, opened the event with Ibrahim Zauq’s ‘Idhar zindagi ka, janaaza uthega’ which was received with enthusiasm by the small but attentive audience. Iqbal perhaps was the most-quoted in the high school division with several contestants choosing his pieces including ‘Silsila-e-roz-o-shab,’ and ‘Kabhi ae haqeeqat-e-muntazir.’
Mirza Ghalib, the doyen of Urdu poetry, was heard twice, with one of the contestants choosing ‘Nukta cheen hai gham-e-dil’ and another opting for ‘Dard minnat kash-e-dawa na hua.’ Contestants also chose poems by Qamar Jalalabadi, Kaifi Azmi and Shaqeel Badayuni.
Urdu teachers, on the other hand, lament the fact that youngsters with a genuine passion for the language are becoming increasingly hard to come by. ‘’It must be admitted that many of the students learn these poems merely for the competition,’’ said Shajahan, a teacher from Kottayam who had coached one of the contestants.
‘’Diction is extremely important in reciting Urdu poetry at the competitive level. Equally important is the presentation and the emotive aspect,’’ he said.
The judges noted that there has been considerable improvement in the presentation and diction of the contestants.