“Very few people are familiar with Urdu literature, even through poetry. There were forms such as the qasida — used to praise someone or a marsiya, a song of sorrow that have faded out,” he say ...

The Shankar-Shad Mushaira is one such legacy, an evening where poetry finds its truest ... over a century and our bond with Urdu has only grown stronger with time.” He recalled a conversation with the ...