‘Unique but highly confident’: Junaid Zuberi, Agha Nisar pay tribute to Jaun Elia

The death anniversary of one of the most celebrated poets of the Subcontinent, Jaun Elia, was observed on November 8.

Elia was originally born in India but migrated to Pakistan following the division of the land. Elia’s lucid yet meaningful poetry has always appealed to the young and old alike. Minute Mirror, on the occasion of the 19^th death anniversary of the prominent Urdu poet, interviewed two connoisseurs of art and literature, one being Junaid Zuberi who happens to be the recently appointed CEO of the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), and Agha Nisar, whose fin de siècle art has witnessed both the end of the 20^th century and the start of the 21^st century, rendering him an artist relevant to all.

Jaun Elia belonged to an Amroha family of the Saadat clan. He was one of those poets who had the ability to crack open wounds with the mere use of a pen. His collection of ghazals and poems is solely his, not carrying the traces of the works of any of his ancestors or contemporaries. He remained in demand for poetry sessions till he was alive, owing to his unique style and thought-process. It’s amazing how the circle of his admirers continues to grow wider and wider even after his death. A shining star of our literature, Jaun Elia has written prolifically, the most prominent feature of his work being his spontaneity. Readers have always felt that they are being directly addressed.

Compared to his contemporaries, Elia’s canvas was very, very different, I must say. It won’t be wrong to say that his name is the most prominent one among all the poets belonging to the latter half of the 20^th century. It’s difficult to categorize him, for he was an incredible person, an amazing poet and a highly learned scholar. He had this way of pressing your smarting pulse with the right use of both boldness and sarcasm. One finds no grey areas in his work, but a pure reflection of what he saw. I also believe that it was very brave of him to accept his nihilist ideology and exhibit it in his poetry without beating about the bush. He never cared about what people would say, and that’s why a lot of his verses emerge as very daring and upfront. He was a rebel, and no other poet, no matter how good, would have been able to tread on the path which Elia had chosen for himself. He was different, yet had complete confidence in what he thought and said.