KARACHI: Writer, poet, playwright and critic Dr Shahnaz Nabi spoke lavishly of her hosts and others while sipping a cup of tea before the Indo-Pak Mushaira at the Arts Council of Pakistan last month. The Mushaira was a part of the Aman Ki Asha initiative, a joint venture by the Jang and Times of India groups.

“I am thrilled by the initiative of Aman Ki Asha. I put everything aside to come to Pakistan to attend this Mushaira. I am so happy here. I’ve been pampered by the Jang Group, the fans and other people. It is simply marvelous,” she said. Shahnaz is also the Head of the Urdu Department, University of Calcutta.

The simple dress and unassuming disposition of Dr Shahnaz Nabi hardly reveal the exalted place she has attained in the premium university of India. It does only when she speaks. She is also the Chairperson In charge of the West Bengal Urdu Academy. She has complete command on poetry that is less conventional and more of a cry against the social injustices. The fine selection of Urdu and Hindi words turns her poetry into exotic tropic elixir that comforts the reader. She received her PhD degree in 1989. The title of her thesis was ‘The Development of Urdu Criticism after 1960’.

“I was interested in Urdu poetry and fiction from a very young age. Many people might not be aware of the fact that Calcutta has a very strong background of Urdu literature. It began with the Fort William College and John Gilchrist. The stay of Ghalib in the city for some months and an influx of Urdu-speaking population have also added to the literary background of Calcutta. The more I read Urdu literature, the more I was attracted to it. Eventually, I ended up doing Masters and then PhD and landed in the university as a teacher.”

Shahnaz started writing poems when she was hardly 13. Her first poem was published in an Urdu magazine in 1974. She has written short stories and plays too. Her mother tongue is Urdu but she is also well-versed in English, Bengali and Hindi. She has translated many Urdu short stories and poems into Bengali. She translated ‘Ghaddar’, an Urdu novel by Krishan Chandra, into Bengali. She has written extensively for children. Her social and political plays have been staged throughout West Bengal.

Shahnaz Nabi is also a political activist and she was an elected representative on a CPI (M) ticket and acted as an Accounts Committee Chairperson in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

Dr Shahnaz Nabi felt at home in Karachi. “I visited Zainab Market and some other markets and nobody realised that I was a foreigner. It is so refreshing to feel at home while being thousands of miles away.”