Jaipur culture week

I arrived here in Jaipur today afternoon. Straight from the airport I went to Damodar Thanvi’s residence to attend the baithak of his wife who passed away a couple of days back. I have known him for a long time. A Gandhiwadi, Thanvi was one man who has done much for the state’s disabled persons as a commissioner of that department under the last Gehlot government.

Early evening I had an adda session with Ved Vyas ji and then late in the evening I went to a kavi sammelan at the Jawahar Kala Kendra open ground. The kavi sammelan is a part of the Jaipur Cultural Week. The key organiser, Rajiv Arora, is an old Congressman and is known to me for many many years now. He was pleasantly surprised to see me there.

The poets Sampat Saral and Pradeep Chobey, whom I know personally, greeted me from the dais, visibly surprised by my presence. I have heard both of them on many occasions earlier and have organised kavi sammelans in which they have participated.

But for the first time today I heard and met Nida Fazli – the urdu poet and writer. Though his reputaton precedes him, he turned out to be much better than his reputation. He has penned quite a number of lyrics for films in Bollywood. Some of the famous songs that have been picturised include Razia Sultan, Tum Toh Aisay Na Thay, Gudia, Is Raat ki Subah Nahi and others.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening that wasn’t a planned one.

ess bee