Sunday, March 16, 2014

Express your love for Urdu Sher-o-Shayari through Pakistani Chat Rooms

Of all ancient languages, Urdu is probably the sweetest of all. It's a language that's pleasing to the ears and soothing to speak. Urdu is believed by any to be a combination of Persian, Turkish and Arabic. The language has truly evolved over time with help from legends like Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mir Taki Mir and many more. Their Sher-o-Shayari (poetry) has managed to capture every heart.

Sher or shayri as its popularly called is a couplet where the poet opines his thought on a particular subject through these verses. Ghazal literally means to converse with the beloved. The word is derived from the Arabic word Gizal or gazelle. It is a poem that can contain a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 25 verses. It is indeed the most popular form of Urdu poetry with a number of poets making their mark through ghazals. Besides Ghazals, other forms of Shayri include Masnavi, Marsia, and Qasida etc.
Sher-o-Shayari is usually propagated through mushairas. A mushaira is a convention where connoisseurs of the language assemble to discuss Shayari. But the younger generation today doesn't find itself in tune with these mushairas. There isn't too much of time for people to spend on these elaborate settings. Instead many have found their calling elsewhere. They prefer to discuss their love for Urdu Sher-o-Shayri through chat rooms. Pakistanis especially youngsters have taken to the internet like never before. They discuss their love for the language through chat rooms. These Pakistani chat rooms serve as a platform for likeminded lovers of the language to discuss about their love and to share, Shayri that includes, love shayri, sad shayri, shayri on dosti, and many more. Besides this, these Pakistani chat rooms are also used a forum o discuss ghazals, Kahani Urdu, share shayri SMS, greeting cards etc.
These have served as a platform for Pakistanis, all over the world, who find themselves bounded by the love for Kahani Urdu and Sher-o-shayri to meet each other and share their thoughts. It's not only the Pakistanis but also Indians who have taken to these chat rooms.
The notion that Pakistanis do not discuss anything except matters related to religion and politics is thwarted in these chat rooms. Here every matter under the sun is discussed in a healthy manner that makes sense and yet does not abuse the other person. It's not only the nazms and ghazals written by newcomers that are discussed, but also works of great poets are showcased.

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