Yaadon ki dukaan

Yaadon ki dukaan is the third in the series of Urdu poetry books published by Muasir. She draws her title from that of one of the nazms in the book. The book compiles a variety of poetry inspired by people, situations and experiences. In order to reach to the largest number of readers, the poetry is laid out in all the three scripts - Roman, Devanagari and Urdu. In addition, the e-book is available free for the connoisseurs of the language and poetry. The book has been embellished with select poems and their themes illustrated by artists. Notably, Shashi Shetye who has contributed his illustrations for a few poems and also for the cover of the book. Sujatha Kshirsagar and Anandita Narayanan too have contributed through their creative renditions and made a few poems come live. The book also features the translation into Urdu of works of a couple of other creative individuals. Prof Dinesh Singh, a mathematician and former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, is a very popular tiny story (whatsapp and Twitter lengths) writer and who is popular among friends in social media groups such as the St. Stephens’ college alumni one. Each story, invariably, has a very surprising or an interesting 'aha' twist at the end. Muasir has translated those into urdu and published it in YKD. Similarly, Sujatha, a former banker turned entrepreneur is also an enthusiastic wordsmith whose work in English has been translated into Urdu by Muasir. The islaah for the book has come from Prof Firdausi Ahmed Saab and Prof (Smt) Vishu Bellani ji - both seasoned in the language of urdu in addition to being full time educationists are Jamia and DU respectively. Their contribution to the creation of this book is invaluable.

It feels like yesterday that I, as a ten year old, was running around with a bicycle-tyre or playing marbles on the roads of Dilsukhnagar in the old city of Hyderabad. It feels like yesterday that I, as a 14 year old, undertook a long unending journey from Meerut to Delhi on a state transport bus for my cricketing trials by Bishan Singh Bedi for Sports Authority of India.

Shortly there after, college and then a corporate career start and then entrepreneurship, marriage, family and so on - They all have happened in a blink. I am currently reeling or celebrating my 50!

We don't realise how quickly life passes. Shortly, it will all be over for one. But, the world shall march on. In such an ephemeral world, what is it that stays back a wee-bit longer than your body! That thought of staying longer than your body is loathable in itself, in some ways. However, what is even more clearer is that it is not any of the physical assets or things of that kind that live longer.

Sub-consciously, such greed could be playing a part in my journey of languages and poetry. May be! At the same time, the moments that we gather also have found their way into expressions from time to time. I quite enjoy it and do it essentially for myself.

Yaadon ki Dukaan

My journey as an active Urdu learner is a decade old now. The magic of shaayari too happened. First came ‘Shaayad yaheen se ho'. Then, 'Dhoondh le phir se'. Now, I am delighted to see YKD take shape. It is a collection of Urdu poetry including Ghazals and Nazms.

The work is embellished with contributions from a number of friends. These contributions have been from pure love and affection for music or urdu or art and even for me. I feel blessed. The creative illustrations are from Shashi Shetye, Anandita Narayanan and Sujatha Kshirsagar. Sujatha's contribution has been singularly stellar for her all-round support including from conceptualization all the way to giving it a final shape.

The patient 'islaah' efforts of Prof Firdausi and Prof (Mrs) Bellani have been invaluable. This is always the most precious part of publishing any work of poetry as the conversations are very animated and deeply involved around theme, vocabulary, emotions, meter (bahar) and even the balance between the 'done' and the new or the tradition and the untried. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Salim (Rekhta.org) for his editorial and script standardization support.

Khurshid Alam and Bhagwan Das contributed critically through their publishing and design efforts. Nidhi is always a part of anything that I do. Lastly, the support at home from Uma and gang is something I do cherish immensely.

This is just another effort by a lover of the language to continue his expressions with the awareness and the humility of the servant of the language. Where you find flaws, I appeal to your large-heartedness and appreciation for the effort. I will continue to improve as I move forward. Promise !

Muasir

Ajay Shukla

Ajay was the CEO of McGrawHill almost a decade ago overseeing South Asia region before the entrepreneur bug bit him. Ajay has served the corporate world across education, media and journalism, financial services sectors in leadership roles. Currently based in Dubai, Ajay runs his own consulting even as he nurtures his first love - Music. Ajay is incredibly gifted including in poetry, playing instruments and singing. He is trained in classical Indian music, plays tennis regularly and an seasoned writer in Hindi and Urdu. He loves his rides on Harley Davidson and Royal Enfield motorcycles. His degrees ( IITD/ FMS) and a long corporate career seem from a distant past !

Sujatha Kshirsagar

Multi-faceted is the only way to describe her. A top-draw banker for almost two decades, an IIMBangalore alumnus, an accomplished potter, a budding poet and a founder-CEO of her start-up (Drstikona). Sujatha hikes actively and has been to Everest Base camp and also scaled Kilimanjaro. Most things are a song for her and yet she is also a keen singer who brings in deep love for languages. Sujatha has contributed not only in the role of a singer at the launch of YKD but also as a creative illustrator in her distinguished style.

Preethi Shankar

A finance whizard, a rank-holding Chartered Accountant and a former senior leader at Indian Oil, Preethi quit everything to pursue two things that she loves - Teaching finance and stay immersed life in music. Preethi is a trained carnatic musician whose love for ghazals makes her push herself that wee-bit more. However, it pales in comparison to the commitment she brings to nurturing their son, Rohith Shankar, who is a junior TT Player ranked #4 nationally in his age category.

Radhika Kathal

The youngest of the lot, Radhika is a trained Hindustani singer and an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer. A CCRT awardee dancer, Radhika works as the arts coordinator at Shiv Nadar School and runs her own dance and music school, Kaladhwani. She has also recorded playback scores for TV serials on Doordarshan and sung jingles on the radio for the Ladli Yojana Campaign.

Sailesh Savani

Trained in Agra Gharana during his early days in Mumbai and Kolkata, Sailesh has retained his love and deep commitment to music over the last many decades. He has performed across Africa, Asia and North America. He also loves composing music as a part of his own creative nurturing and growth. Sailesh's day job makes his profile even more breathtaking. An alum of Bombay university and EMP at MIT, Boston, Sailesh is the founder and CEO (Chief Energy officer) of Compulynx that has presence in over 30 countries and over 400 clients. Sailesh lives in Nairobi and serves on the boards of a few organisations when he is not busy composing music to the next song!

Shashi Shetye

Shashi is where the journey of YKD started. Shashi's enthusiasm and unconditional love to jump at the rather unusual and often scoffed idea of illustrating poetry set the momentum for the book. Shashi has been so forever that I have known him. An accomplished artist, creative illustrator for 50 years, Shashi has worked with the best of advertising and creative institutions before hanging his boots after long stint as a creative entrepreneur. He, now, leads a contended life of a grandfather whose greatest accomplishments now seem to be in his role of a father who nurtured the next generation beautifully - Their children are accomplished creative professionals themselves.

Anandita Narayanan

Anandita has just entered her college life in the area of design. She is a budding dancer who is a CCRT scholarship holder for the past five years in the field of Bharatanatyam. She has a keen eye for aesthetics.

Satya 'Muasir'

'Muasir' means a contemporary or one who lives in the moment/times. He is the alter ego of Satya. His constant companion. Muasir observes life and moments with detachment. He is a witness in all but an actor in none. And he seizes the still, long 'Muasir' means a contemporary or one who lives in the moment/times. He is the alter ego of Satya. His constant companion. Muasir observes life and moments with detachment. He is a witness in all but an actor in none. And he seizes the still, long moments to capture thoughts, feelings, emotions and reflections. These take the shape of a nazm or a ghazal or a rubaai or even a ‘azad sher’. Over the past decade, these have translated into three volumes of published poetry including Shaayad Yaheen se ho (2011), Dhoondhle phir se (2015) and Yaadon ki Dukaan (2020). Dozens of his works have been adopted by independent artists including singers, dancers and musicians for their own interpretations and innovations. Muasir is deeply dedicated to the spread of Urdu. He finds time to nurture Urdu lovers through teaching of the language and poetry appreciation.

Satya Narayanan R or Satya, the other half of Muasir, is a seasoned teacher-entrepreneur since 1995 and one who needs no introduction. His venture is one of the leading and listed companies (CL Educate) on the Indian stock exchanges. He also spends time mentoring young entrepreneurs and evangelising / advising interventions in education and entrepreneurship by various Governments, funds, corporates and policy agencies in Asia, Africa and North America. Satya is an alumnus of St. Stpehen’s college and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

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