'WHY FAIZ SPEAKS TO ME' A TALK BY SAIF MAHMOOD PART 01 (HINDUSTANI AWAAZ TALK SERIES)

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) was one of the leading poets of Pakistan. Listed four times for the Nobel Prize of Poetry, he was often compared to his friend Pablo Neruda, revolutionary poet and Nobel Prize winner, of Chile. Of Faiz's multifaceted personality, which led him to become, amongst other things, an activist for human rights and liberties, a famous journalist and editor of literary magazines, trade unionist, and film song writer, it is his poetry which will, no doubt, best survive the test of time. Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, critic and literary historian. She runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture and blogs at www.hindustaniawaaz-rakhshanda.blogspot.com and another at IBN Live. Her organization has been organisingprogrammes since July 2003 on popular literature, many also in collaboration with the India International Centre in New Delhi. At present,these programmes are being held in collaboration with the Attic, Regal Building, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Saif Mahmood is a New Delhi based litigating and corporate lawyer, holding a doctorate in Comparative Constitutional Laws in South Asia. He speaks and writes on diverse issues ranging from law to literature. He remembers most of the poetry written by Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz by heart, recites and translates it into English. Saif blogs on besabab.wordpress.com and is currently writing a series on the Urdu poets of Delhi.