DAMMAM, 23 November — Rehana Roohi is a well-known poetess of the Eastern Province. Her first book of poetry, "Ishq Zad" came out last year. The second edition of the book is under way and two more books are in the offing.
Ishq Zad has an impressive list of poets and writers including Jameel Jalibi, Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi and others, who have complimented Roohi on her efforts.
Roohi believes that writing poetry is "a gift from God, a talent that is inborn, but you’ve to undergo a trauma be be able to write poems. A person who has never had any problems in life cannot write poems."
Roohi lost her mother when she was only four years old. This loss of hers reflects in many of her poems i.e. "Andhi ney bujhana to bahot chaha tha lekin, ye ma key dowaon ka hai faizan key main hoon" (Winds tried much to put me out, but the blessings of my mother’s prayers helped me survive!")
She also gives credit to Karachi’s many problems which she said contributed to her becoming a poetess. "The volatile city of Karachi has given us many sleepless nights and to me many couplets!"
Roohi says hard work and struggle led to her success. "In our culture poetry is considered a wastage of time and never taken up as a profession. Women are totally discouraged. They are so dependent on men that unless a woman is provided support their activities cannot flourish. When I first wrote verses at the age of twelve, it went unnoticed at home although my father was a literary person."
Roohi’s first verse that she says she wrote under the influence of Allama Iqbal was: Roohi buland rakh khudi tufan ki minnaten na kar, sahil na mil saka to keya, kashti bhanwar key par kar.
Roohi got the opportunity to write when she entered Women’s college in Karachi and one of her lecturers was the famous poetess and writer, Wahida Naseem. She encouraged Roohi to write.
In 1977, Roohi moved to Dammam to be with her husband Asif who is from Sindh and Urdu is not his mother tongue, but he supported Roohi’s poetry writing. She devotes her book to him with a "tu na hota to mere khwab adhoorey hotey" (Had you not been there, my dreams would have remained unfulfilled.)
"Once the famous poet Jamiluddin Aali came to Dammam and I showed him my poetry. He praised it and encouraged me so much that I formed a literary society called ‘Nakhlistan-e-Adab’ (Oasis of literature). From this forum we held poetry sessions and it was much welcomed here."
Roohi has a masters degree in economics. A dry subject, which went against her nature….So this year, in spite of having five children, Roohi did her masters in Urdu literature from Karachi University. " I did this for myself."
Commenting on the state of Urdu poetry for women in Pakistan, Roohi said: "Things have improved over the past years. Now you see many women participating in mushairas. But unfortunately because our literacy rate is so low, very few women are writing quality stuff. Also, poetry is marred by politics. There is a lot of lobbying, as to which poet will get to attend which poetry session. Sometimes mediocre poets get a lot of attention because of their acquaintance with influential people."
Roohi feels that sometimes women are not taken seriously. "My complaint is that often I am compared with other female poetess. I believe poetry has no gender therefore the comparisons should be general, not gender specific."
Roohi says that though writing poetry is an inborn talent there is a lot of hard work that goes with it. "I am responsible for what I write. So I must never make a mistake. I work hard to increase my vocabulary and knowledge. You also have to be aware of world affairs. Poetry is a science. It has its rules and it is a hard work!
The signature of Roohi’s poetry is human emotions. "I write life. I reflect whatever happens in our society."
Some of Roohi’s poems have English titles like, Shoot to kill "That is because English has become a part of our life, it has crept in our everyday Urdu language." Roohi says poetry always had a small, but die-hard audience! Ahmad Faraz, Parveen Shakir were popularized by singers like Mehdi Hasan. I would love to get my ghazals sung by some good singers. That ensures instant recognition," she said.
