Mushaira-Passion & Mirth!
Mushaira, an Urdu term is an event where poets gather together in order to perform their poetic works. Mushaira is an affair loved by both the culture of North India and Pakistan. The participants are greatly admired for the expression of their works. A mushaira can appear in numerous forms.
Though traditionally, ghazal is the specific form of poetry that is recited or employed by Urdu poets. The poetry has a humorous tone. The invited guest poets will have to be seated at the front of the hall or the room, behind a long table. Usually there is one person who hosts the mushaira or mehfil. He then invites the poets at random to come and perform their self-expression. The effort of the host is usually on the point to let the most admired poet to perform in the event at the last.
The admirers of Urdu poetry or the audience often try to interact with the poets performing there. The couplets recited there by the poets are often appreciated with Ah-Ha expression and calls of encouragement exclaiming Vah at the end of each couplet. For a particularly appreciated couplet, there are repeated encouraging calls. Sometimes audience also repeats it spontaneously by themselves.
Mushaira is generally competitive as it intends good appreciation and recognition of the poetic works done by a particular poet. Additionally, the Tarahi Mushaira is that particular form of mushaira where poets compose their own ghazals with the misra given to them. Javed Akhtar, Munawwar Rana, Ahmad Faraz, Rais Ansari, Nida Fazli, Rahat Indori, Shaheryar, are some contemporary mushaira poets.