The word is out in Bhendi Bazaar

The Bhendi Bazaar Urdu Festival is back with its second edition, after 2014. The three-day festival, which will be inaugurated by Mumbai mayor Snehal Ambekar will present an interesting Mushaira (poetry symposiums) of non-Urdu and non-Muslim poets and a discussion that will see non-Urdu litterateurs, academicians and intellectuals share their thoughts on Urdu, since the organisers believe that Urdu doesn't belong to a particular community.

Cine legend Dilip Kumar (right) and director Ramanand Sagar (centre) with Urdu writer Krishan Chander at the latter's house in Santacruz where Chander hosted many eminent Urdu writers who travelled to Mumbai

A photo dating back 25 years shows scholar-poet Shamim Tariq (standing) at a mushaira on Byculla's Saboo Siddik grounds

The guide picks the events to watch out for:
> Singer Pooja Gaitonde will perform Bollywood songs inspired by letters exchanged between Jan Nisar Akhtar and Safia Akhtar.
> Qawwali by Mujtaba Nazan
> Radhika Nayak Sood from the Kabir Festival will sing the Kalam of Bule Shah.
> Smita Belhur will sing Amir Khusro's Kalams.
> An exhibition of rare photographs of Urdu Bollywood writers will be displayed.
> An exhibition depicting Mumbai's Urdu culture will feature old photographs of poets, mushairas, seminars and 'adabi' gatherings.
> Noted calligraphist Prakash Patre will display his creative genius in poster design.


Zubair Azmi, Director, Urdu Markaz. Pics/Shadab Khan

Time 5 pm to 10 pm
From January 8 to 10
At Imambada Urdu Municipal School, opposite Saboo Sidik Hospital, Bhendi Bazaar.

Hub of Urdu literature
Located opposite the Minara Masjid on Mohammed Ali Road, Taj Office is the largest Urdu book depot in the city. It is open all week, between 12 noon to 7.30 pm. There is also Maktaba Jamia on Sandhurst Road. However, if you have a book in mind and wish to get it ordered, you can try the Kitab Khana in Fort.

Call 23424806 (Taj Office)
Call 61702276 (Kitabkhana), Time 10.30 am to 7.30 pm, daily

The dying art of tughra
Situated in one of the lanes of Nagpada, a neighbouring area of Bhendi Baazar, 64-year-old Aslam Kiratpuri runs the city's only tughra studio. Tughra is a calligraphic monogram that first appeared in the early days of the Ottoman Empire as the seal or signature of the sultan.

In the modern form, Tughras are used to write verses of Quran in an artistic form. Sadly, it's a dying art in Mumbai with Kiratpuri claiming to be the city's lone tughra expert. His works will be on display at the ongoing festival and he may include a demonstrate his art at the event.

Musical lineage
The Bhendi Bazaar Gharana, a vocal gharana of Indian classical music originated in Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai in 1890. "The special thing about the Bhindi Bazaar Gharana is the gayaki (singing), where one note flows into the other smoothly. An exponent of the gharana, Suhasini Koratkar has worked extensively to promote it. Even Lata Mangeshkar has trained under Aman Ali Khan of this gharana," informs musicologist Dr Shailesh Shrivastava.