Poet celebrated at Lamakaan

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s cultural centre and “liberal political” space Lamakaan had a celebration of poetry on Friday to commemorate its eight anniversary. City’s most prolific poets and culture enthusiasts gathered on an evening dedicated to well-known revolutionary, poet and writer Makhdoom Mohiuddin, and tributes were paid in the voice of Hyderabad’s Adnan Salem.

His unforgotten compositions like Nazm Baghmati and “Phir chhidi raat baat phoolon ki” made the Hyderabadis recall their simpler youth days  when listening to ghazals on the stereo was enough to de-stress them. Recital of lyrics like “Raat ke paas andhere ke siva kuch bhi nahi” and “Har manzil se shayad Makhdoom guzarta raha/mushkilon mein muskarata” had the audience mesmerized.

Md Nayeem, a member of the programming council at Lamakaan, who coordinated the programme under the theme Makhdoom--Mohabbat aur Mehnat ka shayar said, “It’s a matter of pride that the number of events lined up at Lamakaan have gone from seven to eleven.”

From Hindustani classical concert to theatrical performance by Ratna Pathak Shah and political debates from journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghosh, the events to go on till March 24 have something in store for everyone.”

Speaking to Express on the occasion, poet and former Osmania University Professor Anwar Moazzam seated next to wife and known Urdu poet Jeelani Bano, recalled how the journey of Lamakaan began after the death of its owner--Jeelani’s Bano’s brother MH Hassan in 2004.

According to sources, Hassan, a photographer and documentary filmmaker, always used to joke that his house in Banjara Hills never got completed and hence the name Lamakaan which means “makaan nahi” came into being. However, in Moazzam’s words, the name Lamakaan signifies Islamic mysticism. “It could also mean a spaceless space or be recognised as a place where the almighty lived,” he said.