Guest Post by Shahran Asim
I recently called up on Khalid Irfan and requested him to appear on Urdu Talk Radio, to which he graciously agreed upon. Urdu Talk Radio – now available on the internet- is one of the oldest Urdu talk show services in Noth America and airs live every Sunday from 1pm-4pm EST time. It is hosted by Dr. Mujahid Ghazi besides a few other volunteers including myself.
Khalid Irfan lives in Queens, New york and he is undoubtedly one the top tier poets of Urdu humour today. Over the years I have had the privilege of listening to him and I have always been very impressed with his poetry. In the past, he had been associated with the Pakistan Post newspaper also. He also wrote columns for this newspaper. One of his segments called ‘Mirza Ghalib Jackson Heights par’ became very popular.
As Khalid Irfan appeared on the Urdu Talk Radio show and started reciting his poetry in his own unique style, I was laughing non-stop because I found the poetry too humorous. Here is an example of a ‘sher‘ written in a North American background.
I accept your invitation but please be reminded
You can serve beer of any brand but I’d like Chicken Fried as ‘halal’ only
Another of his ‘qataa’ on the topic of asylum goes like this:
Another one on green card says:
Khalid Irfan’s humorous poetry has a tinge of satire in it. He has not only penned verses on the traditional issues, but also the current ones such as political and social issues faced by the society not only in Pakistan but also in the US.
Khalid irfan is not only a humorous poet but he has also written a very touching poem on Pakistan’s earthquake, which leads me to believe that being a poet he is a very sensitive person. Zalzalay too nay mairay baagh kay ghunchay thoray (Earthquake, you plucked the flower buds in my garden
I want to share his poetry in his voice and style which I am pretty sure would make you laugh out loud. He appears in the third hour of the show so you can download the complete file of the show and forward to listen to it. By the way, I would suggest you to listen to the complete 3 hour Radio show. This radio station offers songs , talks, interviews and many other interesting segments. The radio has just finished 10 years of broadcasting.
Click here to listen to Khalid Irfan’s interview and his poems on Urdu Talk Radio.
Click here to listen to complete 3 hour broadcast of Urdu Talk Radio on Jan 21, 2007.
About the author: Shahran Asim is a New York based Electrical Engineer and a former NEDian. Among his hobbies one is to volunteer for the programming of Urdu Talk Radio.
[…] The Mushaira is a particular – and particularly enchanting – Pakistani tradition. It is, of course, not just a Pakistani tradition, nor any more only an Urdu tradition. Indeed, it seems that the new revival of the mushaira is happening neither in Pakistan nor in India but in the Middle East and North America, because of affluent expatriates yearning for poetic connections to the homes they left behind. Indeed, a new crop of poets are emerging in these diaspora communities, and as we did with Khalid Irfan, we hope to feature these new ‘non-resident’ poets here too. […]
funny stuff, thnx for sharing
Pervaiz, you do have a valid point about the correct pronounciation in Urdu. In my opinion what we consider the “real” Urdu can be something devoid of english words we use as crutches while speaking in Urdu and having minimal accent (Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushtoon etc), pronouncing words like Qainchi (sissors) the right way, and throwing in some idiomatic phrases every once in a while. Also, this pronounciation problem is a commonplace in other languages as well, Arabic, English, Spanish and many others, so I guess calling it Pakistani Urdu is not a bad idea afterall.
Moeen Bhatti: Having neither “Halal Khana” nor “Bottul” I guess I have missed twice. And what was the third one?
Owais: Thanks again. My Iranian and Turkish friends tell me that my name should be spelled as Parviz where as Indians and Bengalis continue calling me as Pervaij. I tell them they all are correct from their perspectives. Don’t ask me how Americans pronounce my name. I simply tell them that it is not Pervert. Have fun.
I had never heard of Urdu Talk Radio, will try this sunday. Reading the ‘sher’, I remembered Omer’s Sharif’s stage show I saw once long time ago about Pakistanies living abroad.I’ll try to narrate his joke in his wordings: “…bahir pakiatanio kae aik haath mae bottul hotti hai, aur aik hath larki par hotta hai, lakin jab khane kaa waqat hoo tu woh khatae hain: halal khanae kee dukaan kahaan hain”(abroad, pakistanies have a bottle in one hand and a woman in other arm; but at meal times they ask: where can we find a halal place to eat.”
Nice posting & funny and interesting poetry!