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ORLANDO MAAN BOLI BETHAK 3/18/2006
It was potluck Bethak as per our tradition. The time was 7:30 pm. A few families arrived about 7:15. By 7:30 about half of the participants were there. A few were late. We need to improve upon that. Behn Najam and Veer Fazal were the hosts. The folks who participated were: Naseem, Azra, Tahira, Kalsoom, Humera, Riffat, Nuzhat, Farah, Najam, Azhar, Qasim, Naasir, Nisar, Zafar, Shabbir, Zahid, Anwar, Arshad, Agha Sahib, Sarfraz, and of course Abul Fazal Ansari – the host. The theme was selected “ ik sham Aman dee nazar”. Aman jee’s poetry was the main topic. The program was started with Bismillah. Behna Jee Najam was selected as president for the evening. The tradition is the lady of the house presides over the Bethak. Najam jee greeted everyone. A brief introduction was done. A special gratitude was articulated for Behn Tahira and Veer Zafar. Recently, they visited Pakistan and came back with 7 major classics i.e. Baba Fareed, Shah Hussain, Bahoo, Bulleh Shah, Heer Warris Shah, Ghulam Fareed, and Saiful Maluk. These classics were donated to Bethak library. Now we have about 30 books. President Najan presented a special recognition “plaque” for our gratefulness. Behna Riffat and Veer Nisar humbled us last month by providing literature form Suchet and magazine Puncham. Shabbir Jee read page 49 from Ustad Damin’s book. We called it Maan Bole Tarana. Tahira Jee read an article about the life of Aman Jee. Agha Sahib presented an article on Aman’s poetry. He specially mentioned the great nostalgic themes of his poetry using the indigenous day to day characters. His poetry has the effect of taking the reader in a time tunnel with rich memories. He also mentioned KIKLI poem that gave lead to Anwar to read his article on that poem. Nasim jee read Kikli of Aman jee and another classic poem on Kikli – Kikli kleer dee - Pug mere veer dee. This led to article read by Anwar. He pointed out three themes within this poem i.e. starting with idealistic message, going to pragmatic situation with emphasis on present and finally a message for change with emphasis on action by saying “ sub huth vich aRiay tere nee” Kalsoom read Mukar Gian Ney Chhanwan, but was overcome with the emotions. It took us back to our mother. It is a moving poem indeed. Not many folks can read it completely without choking up with emotion. Najam read Maasee Seeran and many folks eyes were damp. Humera read nostalgic poem which end – aj bhangRa paan noon jeer karda. At 10:00 pm Aman Jee called on phone. He was greeted with great respect and enthusiasm. We used speaker phone and also Fazal projected his picture and poetry from APNA site on big TV screen. Aman Jee did a wonderful job. Everyone was clapping and asking for “vala paRoo”. He was kind enough to donate us about half an hour. Aman jee presented some of his kalam which is on web, some from his published book and also unpublished. His poem on Maan Bole was great. We took a tea and desert break and then assembled together again. Everyone was requested to read something. Zahid jee recited his own poetry in a melodious voice. He was our “uchecha parouna”. The Bethak was conducted in very family oriented environment. Jokes and laughter continued up to mid night. President Najan Jee announced the completion of the program past mid night. We all left with a profound memory about Aman Jee and Maan Boli. |