In Conversation With Zain Shakeel (The Poet)... Interview by Shoby

In Conversation With Zain Shakeel (The Poet)... Interview by Shoby

What an incredible age is this, where we are living. I mean if you have an internet connection, know a bit more of some nice Urdu phrases and have a gentle know-how of few software applications like Inpage and Photoshop... Congrats, you are a poet, ready to launch yourself in this almost limitless universe of social media. And I term these kind of poets "Facebookish Poets", who literally have no idea about what actually they are doing in the name of poetry. 

Last year, while roaming around here & there on Facebook in search of some nice good poetry, I came across this couplet:

Kabhi aa ker inhain shafaaf ker de

Tere waadon pe matti jamm chuki hai

And I got freeze... Tere waadon pe matti jamm chuki hai, I mean wholesomeness of this unique idea compelled me to read this real poet some more and I hit the "Like" button on his official page and then I was almost in a state of pleasure quoted shock. I dont want to be looked as ugly & proud but I really believe that today's world is seriously facing a drought in terms of good Urdu poets but this one person has seriously modified my thoughts. Genuinity, uniqueness & delicacy of his thoughts & concepts amalgamated with unbelievably beautiful execution by him has no doubt made myself his fan. He is the author of an excellent book Chalo Udaasi ke Paar Jaey and many other great poetic pieces. He is none other than the favourite of many of us... The one and only Zain Shakeel.

Needless to say that Zain enjoys an excellent repute not only among the critics but in general public as well and he has a handsome number of of fans all around. This phenomenon is pretty much obvious from the number of fan made & operated poetry pages that he has on Facebook. I believe a world of is waiting to know what he actually thinks of about his own personality & his art (i.e. poetry). 

I genuinely felt that almost all the fans of Zain wanted an insight about who the real Zain is and they really need a high dose of Zain's interesting chit-chat. So here I am bringing to you an exclusive interview of this one of the best poets of Pakistan. Enjoy the read and don't forget to comment in the below box:

Shobywood: Salam Zain... Please tell us something about yourself...

Zain: (A typical Zain-ish kind of reply)

"Main Wich Kon Qataar..."

Means myself Zain Shakeel... I belong to the village Jalal Pur Jattan which is situated in Gujrat. I was born & brought up there and also got the initial education from the same place. From Matriculation onward, I further studied in Lahore and by profession I am a Software Engineer.

Shobywoood: How did you started poetry?

Zain: Accidentally (Smiles)... It is said that poets cannot be made, they are poets by birth (by-default) and this reality is revealed at a particular time span of one's life and it may be a product of any reason. In my case, I remember, I found Mr. Farhat Abbas Shah's poetry book "Muhabbat Gumshuda Meri" in my relative's library. I started reading it and went on to read it quite easily. To be honest, I couldn't understand it much but ALHAMDO LILLAH, being a good student, my memory & recalling skills were good enough so that is why I used to read it in the same rhyming scheme and as I said earlier, poetry is embedded within oneself by birth, it just needs a particular time to be triggered. Same happened in my case. I started feeling that rhythm and I easily memorised the book and from then onward, sort of a liking for poetry started and it grew just like an tumour.

I continued reading Mr. Farhat Abbas Shah more & more and till I reached my Matriculation, I was almost done with classical poets like Ghalib sb,  Meer sb, Momin sb , Dagh, Atish, Zoaq, Bahadur Shah Zafar and many others. I read some modern poets as well and wrote an almost devastated sort of Ghazal in the 8th standard, however I seriously threw away the idea of writing after that. I never thought of doing poetry on serious terms at that time. However I started writing regularly in my university.

Shobywood: What is poetry for you???

Zain: Sometimes I feel, if I was not doing poetry, my existence would have been non existed. I mean, you may consider a stone in place of Zain Shakeel if you minus poetry from me.

Shobywood: Which poet inspired you???

Zain: My teacher respected Sir Farhat Abbas Shah sb & Mohsin Naqvi Shaheed. In classical poets, one & only Ghalib sb and in modern era, Shahbaz Ali Naqvi.

(PS: Readers, I was just bowled over when he uttered my name in the list of his favourite poets... Cant thank him enough) :-) 

Shobywood: Zain, I have read much of your poetry. I feel, you have that incredible capability to depict innocent & sensitive emotions in an extremely delightful & unorthodox manner. What actually inspired or insists you to write with such delicacy? 

Zain: Sadness... Sweet sadness of love, Inner sadness, External sadness, Sadness of being sad, in short it is just one damn emotion that compels me to write and this is sheer sadness. Every human being has to go through some happy & sad phases in life. However some people are more pro-sensitive on even minute of the things and it is an out of the world phenomenon if you are a poet. Nevertheless, there are carious colours of poetry but to me, sadness is the real happiness. And this very sadness urges me to write I don't know how many things and then it hand me over the sadness in the form of these literary words.

Shobywood: It is said that love is a mandatory phenomenon for poetry. What do you feel in this regard?

Zain: I believe, poetry belongs to love. I have not found even a single poet from the clan of those who have hate within themselves, those who are tyrants or heartless. Take this, sometimes a reader who is not a poet himself recites a poetry, he has some real emotions or feelings running somewhere parallel in the background. Some where his heart really melts. He must have been observing a sensitivity, a delicacy and above all, the love. Considering this, I believe if poetry is without love, it is a pseudo poetry, just the amalgamation of words & phrases. I don't consider it a poetry to arrange phrases & sentences by learning Ilm e Urooz. It is just like putting bricks on each other.

Shobywood: I have observed, one term "Sandal" is used may be hundreds of times in your couplets and poems. Please tell us the reason behind it.

Zain: (Smiling) Very interesting question. someone gifted me a pencil in my childhood which was made up of Sandalwood and it had an excellent aroma. I must say that I was in awe of that fragrance, in fact, I am still in love with that fragrance. Unfortunately I lost that pencil somewhere. I tried to track it down but couldn't find it again. 

I couldn't found the pencil, however the fragrance stood within me and it still remain here. Fact is, I still use the perfume which has the fragrance of Sandal. The interesting part is, the fragrance which I developed the liking stays with me like a feeling. This is why I used the is word much often in my poetry.

Just to set the records, straight, let me clarify that whenever I use the word Sandal, I do not refer to a person. To me, it demonstrates the same feeling which I always tried to find and I found it even if it remained present somewhere near me or may be within myself.

Shobywood: In this age of mushroom growing social media, what is your stance about the "Facebookish" poets?

Zain: Honestly speaking, almost everyone is a poet, a presenter, a self proclaimed star here at Facebook. Times are changed now. No one bars you from doing anything. So everyone is doing whatever he or she wants to do and same is the case with the poets. Everyone is writing and sharing whatever he wants to, no matter how meaning less it is. I am not saying that everyone is bad here. In fact some of these new writers are fabulous, however their charm gets lost somewhere in this crowd.

Looks like everyone is running in a race and no one promotes any good stuff from others. I am sorry but I feel, hypocrisy & envy was always there but I believe, it is at its all times high in our age.

Shobywood: (Just taking liberty from what he said recently, we asked him). So Zain, do you think good writers are available now a days? If yes, why don't they come in front much often?

Zain: As, I have just said it, people want & strive to come forward but dilemma is they tend to bar the progress of next ones. It is absolutely fine, if someone wants to progress in a certain field and he should not be barred from doing so. But people do stop others. This is why, good writers are declining.

Shobywood: General public has almost stopped reading poetry. Is it because of the scarcity of good poets or due to the lacking of good audience?

Zain: No, I don't think so. People do read poetry in this age as well and perhaps they are now in pretty good numbers. However, the major problem is that there is a plethora of poets in this field today. You may find hundreds of poets within a small society. So where should a good reader go.

In this crowd, there are many good writers who fade away in the course of time. This age is full of cleverness and in this era, those simple poets who don't want any celebrity status are doing their own job while being in a veil and their simplicity sometimes becomes a pertinent reason of their disappearance. This is what I feel regarding today's world of poetry.

Shobywood: Masha ALLAH, you are quite famous among the general public and you enjoy a handsome volume of fan following as well. But you don't appear in Mushairas too often. why is it so?

Zain: I have attended a couple of programs but I observed there is much grouping & lobbying even in a single program. Every particular group is just appreciating the poets belonging to their particular group only and leg pulls the other group members.

The thing you may visit anywhere, no more are the days where we used to have house full public presence in the programs and people used to listen to their favourite poets with zeal & excitement. Now, you will see 20 persons attending the program and most of them are poets themselves. General public has lost hte interest. These poets reads their own poetry in front of other poets and even in this declining phase, the atmosphere is full of hypocrisy, grouping & lobbying.

I would love to attend a Mushaiara where number of general public would be higher than he poets.

Shobywood: Please tell us something about your published books?

Zain: I have published only one poetry book titled as "Chalo Udaasi Ke Paar Jaey" in the year 2015 and after that I could not get ample time to publish the other stuff.

Alhamdo LILLAH, I have almost 20 books already drafted which comprises of Nazm, Ghazals, Taweel Nazm, Azad Ghazal, Nasri Nazm and Seh'Misri Nazm.

Shobywood: Your poetry has the feel of that classic poetry amalgamated with a touch of sufism. What do you say?

Zain: Poetry of a person depicts, whatever he feel internally & spiritually. I have a special liking for the saints since my childhood and above all, I have the highest level of love, respect & regard for Prophet MOHAMMAD (saww) and HIS AAL e PAK (asws) PANJTAN PAK (asws). And this is their blessings that a colour of Sufism reflects through through my poetry.

Shobywood: Your Facebook Live show enjoys an immense liking. Do you have any plan to do radio FM programs or if there any invitation from a channel? W=If yes, what sort of program you will like to do?

Zain: I have my interest in literature only . I don't have any interest in fun & entertainment or politics. I have already received an offer from Lahore Chamber of Commerce Fm 98.6 for the program of Ghazal Time but I am unable to conduct it due to my domestic issues and continuous unavailability in Lahore. As soon as I shift to Lahore, I shall commence the program for sure. That's why I regularly do my own show on Facebook to keep in touch with my listeners.

Shoywood: You have also tried in a relatively different genre of poetry i.e. Azad Ghazal. How you see this genre?

Zain: To me, Azad Ghazal is simply an ongoing condition a frame of mind actually. To be honest, a large number of poets dont endorse this genre as far as creativity content is concerned. They say, we don't have any Qafiya or Radeef, you just keep on writing whatever floats in your mind by just keeping the Behar intact. However, I feel every single couplet of an Azad Ghazal is a revelation and it is very much pure & original. You don't need any Qafiya here. And the best part is you don't even have to think it before writing. I have observed that the pure thinking comes out quite categorically transparent in this genre of poetry.

Let me quote a simple example to give my point of view a more clarity. If we scold a child for doing something, either he will rebel & become worse or he will produce sort of a a fright within himself and it will ultimately impacts him in a bad manner. On the other hand, it we treat him with some good behaviour & independence, it will surely produce better results. Same is the case with Azad Ghazal. If you make the Ghazal free of the limitations of Qafiya & Radeef, it emerges out shining with diverse colour & ambience. It should not include any filler couplet.

Shobywood: Its not easy to pen a long poem (Taweel Nazm). You have written epics like "Maaham". What do you say about it?

Zain: I think, poem writing is more difficult than writing Ghazal. Poems are far more tricky in their nature. To me, there is no formula for writing a poem. Some one asked me, Sir, how to write a beautiful poem? I replied, by just indulging into it... By just disappearing & drowning in the phenomenon. 

You write a poem when you are captured in a phenomenon, a specific condition of sorts and when it is impossible to return from the phase. Any kind of feeling like Pain, Sadness, Love, Anticipation may become  the basis of it. In these scenarios, the words you create emerge to be known as a poem. When the feel is unanimous, the symphony & continuity of the poem remains uniform. This is the identity of a pure, true poem. 

Especially you talked about poem "Maham", I feel, that particular condition was so long lasting that I created the poem mere by indulging deep into it and as a result, Maham the poem came in to being.

Shobywood: You have written in Punjabi as well as in Urdu. In which language you like & prefer to do poetry?

Zain: I love both of the languages. Punjabi has its own charm and so does Urdu. Apart from this, I try to read Persian as well. I wish to write in Persian & Siraiki.

Shobywood: Do you like or have any plan to write lyrics for Dramas or Movies songs?

Zain: Yes, I have already penned lyrics of some of the songs. My songs "Main Piyar" sung by Sam Salamat Ali Khan is already released and many more are just about to be launched.

Shobywood: What are your future plans in the field of poetry?

Zain: I am working on poems. Insha ALLAH, I shall present new things in very different styles. The same will surely reach to you. Please keep on praying for me.

Shobywood: Which helpful tips you may provide for the upcoming poets?

Zain: I feel reading is much more important than learning the know how of Behr and Auzaan. You cannot write anything new unless you are well aware of your own cultural heritage. Rules & regulations of poetry comes far ahead, first of all it is mandatory to read the best of literature.

Shobywood: Any message you want to deliver for your fans?

Zain: Always remember me in your prayers. Just pray that I continues writing all through the whole journey of my life. And I really pray right from the bottom of my heart for all my fans.

Shobywood: Anything you want to say about my blog Shobywood, considering it the only blog in Pakistan which caters Hollywood, Bollywood, Lollywood along with the literature as well.

Zain: Shobywood is an excellent source of information. I have observed it the only one blog where you always try to do innovative stuff. Many people operate blogs but 90% of these blogs are mere copy paste material and you will find nothing new in these blogs, whereas the biggest plus of Shobywood is whatever topic or article you choose & write, it is always fresh, news & unique and this one thing makes the blog prominent. I always pray for your success and I wish more & more people get benefit from your blog :-)

On this note, we Thanked Zain Shakeel for giving his very crucial moments of his busy schedule. We wish him a great shining luck for all of his future endeavours.