By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The Urdu Academy of North America hosted an afternoon with poet, writer and critic Jazib Qureshi who was visiting the U.S.
The event was chaired by Jafar Shah while Arshad Rashid introduced the Karachi-based Jazib Qureshi to the audience.
Jazib Qureshi has produced a number of books on poetry collections, collections of ‘ghazals’, ‘poems’, and critical essays and works on literature and literary personalities.
He spoke about literary work for around one hour and also amused the audience with his poetry.
Jazib’s work spreaded over more than fifty years, which included his memorable prose writings, such as ‘Pehchaan’, Shinasai and Takhliqi Awaz.
Jazib Qureshi is much admired by young writers. One of his mission is to write for junior writers as he thinks that younger generations have to age too and if they are not taken into account today, as seniors they would eventually be ignored in future.
He has also written on Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Majnoon Gorakhpoor, Manzoor Hussian Shor, Saba Akbar Abadi, Tabish Dehlavi and other literary giants.
Interestingly a huge volume, collection of written opinions by contemporary writers on the personality and deeds of Qureshi, titled “Gawahi mere ahad ki” compiled by two writers, Rukhsana Saba and Prof Lubna Manzar, contains the viewpoints of a large number of writers of the country who have acclaimed Qureshi for his poetic vision and his prose writings.
His latest works, titled, “Khwab aur tajribe” was published by Sarzameen Publications. The publisher of the book, Shahid Hameed, in his preface paid glowing tributes to Qureshi, observing that he had rejected all cliche-ridden methods of expressing feelings and depicting life in poetry and instead he has given a totally fresh understanding by the creation of most modern and fresh images, symbols and metaphors in Urdu literature.
With eight poetry collections and half a dozen books of criticism as well as an autobiography to his credit, Jazib Qureshi stands out among the scores of his contemporaries in the world of Urdu literature.
In an interview to Dawn newspaper of Karachi, Jazib Qureshi said: “My writings have prompted others also to write on young poets and writers, some of whom have earned a name for themselves now. Earlier critics were shy of writing on living people.”
Jazib says he is lucky that he was able to pay undivided attention to his writings as he got the opportunity to read and write Urdu literature, both as a journalist or as a teacher. “This enabled me over the last 30 years to write as much as nobody else in Karachi has done.”
Qureshi was born on 3 August 1940 in Luchnow, India, where he spent his childhood. When he was six, his father died. As a result, he could not study further and worked hard for his living. He migrated with his family to Lahore, Pakistan, in 1950. He gained work in the press.
Qureshi was helped to write poetry by Shakir Dehlavi, who belonged to Dagh Dehlavi school of thought. Qureshi moved to Karachi in 1962, he worked in different magazines and newspapers. He qualified for master's degree from University of Karachi. Later he became a teacher in a college. He also made a feature film, "Pathar Kay Sanam", but it failed to gain a public response and experienced a financial loss.
Urdu Academy hosts an afternoon with Jazib Qureshi
