Adopted humor to make people listen: Anwar Masood

According to him, Anwar Masood’s famous poem ‘Banyan’, known all over the world including Pakistan for his humorous poetry in Punjabi language, has been translated into many languages.

Anwar Masood said in a conversation with Independent Urdu that someone asked me what is your religion of poetry. I said: ‘If a professor listens to what I say, he will also appreciate it, and if a chabriwala listens to it, he will also be touched.

‘I have tried to explain people’s words and their problems in their language.’

In this special session, he talked about his choices for poetry, sweet and sour memories of life and the way artists are treated in Pakistan.

In a conversation with Independent Urdu, he explained the reason for writing poetry in a humorous way with one of his own poems:

It is to laugh to hide the crying

I laughed so as not to cry

Continuing his speech, he said that ‘when asked by someone, I said that my laughter is like corn, when it starts to burn, it starts to smile. My sufferings are not mine alone, this country I live in has been suffering from crises since its inception, I am living in a world whose vassals are those who have no leisure to drink people’s blood.’

Anwar Masood said that I had no choice but to laugh. I adopted the style of humor so that what I had to say would make people listen. It is very easy to cry, it is not so easy to laugh, people like what is said in a laughing manner.’

Describing poetry as the mercy of Allah, he wrote that ‘It is the grace of Allah Almighty that He gave me positive thinking and attitude. In fact, what I have written is based on what I have seen, either happiness or sadness.’

On the question of how the journey of poetry began and whether he thinks that poetry is a quality, ability or mercy, he said: ‘My poetry is the mercy and grace of Allah on me. I have also received the gift of poetry from Dadhyal and Nanhyal. My grandmother was also a poet, my aunt was also a poet. Poetry is in my jeans. But I believe that any art requires hard work.

It is also said in the Holy Quran that a person gets only as much as he tries. So we should pray to Allah to grant us the opportunity to try.’

After fifty-five years of partnership, Anwar Masood’s wife Siddiqa Anwar divorced him three years ago. His letters to his wife were published in book form last year, titled ‘Only Yours.’

Remembering his wife, he said, ‘If it wasn’t for Siddiqa, I would not be the Anwar that is in front of you today, I would be incomplete without her. I think they have a lot to do with what I’ve got. May Allah forgive them.’

He also recited a poem written in memory of his wife:

The fragrance of his memory is in the heart
Fifty-five years of fellowship have passed

Talking about the moments he spent with Siddiqa Anwar, he said, ‘One thing I remember about her is that she was a very good critic, she had a very strong sense of criticism. I wrote a poem:

Who doesn’t take a selfie with you?
Anwar, everyone is your fan

‘My wife said, Laga hai nay, make it aap lage hai. Now I have made this poem according to what he said.’

It is often said about Pakistan that poets are not valued here, do they feel the same way? In response to this question, he had to say, ‘I got Pride of Performance in 2000. Recently the government of Pakistan awarded Hilal Imtiaz. The worst award is that even a chabri walla recites my poems to me, so much popularity among the people, this is the greatest favor of Allah.’

He narrated an incident that ‘someone asked Josh Sahib who is the worst poet of Urdu, he immediately said Nazir Akbarabadi. Because Nazir has described the problems of the people in the language of the people and I have also tried something similar, but many critics, including Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, have said that Anwar Masood Punjabi’s Nazir Akbar There are populations.’

When the conversation came back to poetry, he spoke about the comic poets of Pakistan and said, ‘Not only me, but all the comedians have responded. The comedians of Pakistan have done a very good job of opposition, be it Zameer Jafri, Syed Muhammad Jafri, Dilawar Fagar, Sarfraz Shahid or me.

About his memorable speeches, Anwar Masood said that ‘Whether in Pakistan or abroad, I never felt alienated anywhere. In Paris, I read Mushairah, I felt like I was studying in Lahore and if I read in Washington, I felt like I was studying in Gujarat.’

“There was a mushaira in Lahore, in which Sohail Ahmad (Azizi’s) grandfather, Dr. Faqir Muhammad Faqir, was the host. I had only one poem in Punjabi that I had written very early, it was called Panchayat. When I read that, believe me, it felt like the roof was about to fall off. Dr. Faqir Sahib said this sentence on the stage: By writing this poem, this boy has done what Dehat Siddhar (a department at that time) did not do in seven years.

After this poem, the mushaira was stopped because they knew that no one could get such praise. I can’t forget this incident.

In the end, Anwar Masood gave a message for the new poet and said that ‘each flower has its own color, its own fragrance. But any skill requires a lot of hard work. I wrote one of my poems ‘Tan Ki Jande Bholi Ae Majhe Anarkali Diyaan Shanaan’ is a stanza of it, Bottle De Naal Minh Na Lain, Minh Ach Pa Lain Kana’ I thought about this one word for eight months, when I got this word. When I went, I was so happy that it was ‘unbelievable’. So work hard, that is the key to success.’