RIYADH — "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words." This famous saying of Robert Frost comes to mind when we read or listen to the great Urdu poetess of our era Rehana Roohi. Roohi has a unique style of poetry filled with love, passion and candor. She has a great fan following throughout the world with seven collections of poetry books to her credit. She was the resident of Saudi Arabia till 2002 but returned to Karachi where she settled with her family, She is nowadays on a visit to Al Khobar, where her son resides. Roohi visited Riyadh and graced a Mushaira in her honor by Halqa-e-Fikr-O-Funn. The Mushaira was presided by the Commercial Attaché Pakistan Embassy Waseem Hayat Bajwa, who is an admirer of art, literature and poetry. Waqar Wamiq and Dr. Hina Ambreen gracefully conducted the Mushaira respectively, and it began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an by Dr. Mahmoud Bajwa and a presentation of Naat by Dr. Saeed Ahmed Waince. Senior member of Halqa, Amin Tajir presented bouquets to the honorable guests, secretary general of Indus Forum Zeeshan Qazi presented a traditional gift of Sindhi Ajrak to Roohi. In his welcome note head of Fikr-O-Funn and prominent poet Javid Akhter Javid praised the poetic contributions of Roohi. "Roohi was one of the founders of Nakhlistan-e-Adab & was fellow of Halqa-e-Fikr-O-Funn in Saudi Arabia, Her poetry attracts poetry lovers irrespective of age and gender. She delicately represents the voice of women and her approach to the vast subjects of society is reflected in her poetry," he said. The Mushaira session began with and ended on Roohi, who took center stage and presented many of her famous ghazals and poems. She enthralled her audience with her melodious voice and her poetry rendition captivated the listeners. "I am so happy to attend this Mushaira, so many familiar faces are here today and I recall those times we had spent together years ago. I appreciate the ongoing contributions of young representatives of Halqa-e-Fikr-O-Funn for the promotion of poetry and literature," she said. Those who participated in the Mushaira were Abdul Razzaq Tabassum, Atif Chaudhary, Dr. Hina Ambreen, Saleem Kawish, Waqar Wamiq, Javid Akhter Javid and Rehana Roohi. In his presidential speech, Commercial Attaché Waseem Bajwa appreciated the efforts of Halqa-e-Fikr-O-Funn and eulogized Rehana Roohi, "I am very much impressed with the quality of poetry presented by the poets in today's Mushaira," he said. Bajwa also lauded the efforts of Pakistani Ambassador Manzoor ul Haq in promoting Pakistan's soft image in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "We are a peaceful nation and we are very rich in poetry, arts and literature. Our Ambassador has taken every measure to promote our soft image, several programs in this regard had been made and many are in line," Bajwa added. Chief Coordinator of Halqa-e-Fikr-O-Funn, Dr. Tariq Aziz thanked all the guests of the evening in his vote of thanks and said, "We should shun negativism. Literature brought us positivity and has taught us the meanings of quality life," he said. Scores of poetry lovers attended the Mushaira and cherished the poetry. The program ended with a sumptuous dinner.
