Women poets mushaira a highlight at Jashn-e-Rekhta

The fifth edition of the Urdu festival ‘Jashn-e-Rekhta will feature a unique women poets' mushaira session, which is set to begin from December 14. MorariBapu, the renowned exponent of the Ramcharitmanas and an ardent lover of Urdu poetry, will inaugurate the gala. His appearance will be followed by a Qawwali performance by the Wadalis - Puran Singh Wadali and LakhwinderWadali.

The three-day festival will honourits tradition of Urdu's eclectic art forms and its heritage through ghazals, Sufi music, qawwali, dastaangoi, panel discussions, poetry symposiums, recitations, celebrity conversations and film screenings. Sessions on celebrated Pakistani writers Intizar Hussain, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Indian mystic poet Kabir will also be held.

Nooran Sisters will close Jashn-e-Rekhta with their soulful performance on December 16. Personalities from cinema and literary worlds such as - Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Vishal Bhardwaj, JaavedJaaferi, Malini Awasthi, Wasim Barelvi, Kumar Vishwas, Aasif Sheikh, Shruti Pathak, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Gopi Chand Narang, Mahmood Farooqui, Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan (Khalifa of Dilli Gharana), Gayathri Asokan and Sonam Kalra will also attend the festival.

Food Festival 'Aiwan-e-Zaiqa' will host a grand feast of cuisines for lovers of authentic Awadhi, Mughlai, Hyderabadi, Afghani, Bihari, Kashmiri and popular street food from Old Delhi. The festival will be held at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium near India Gate.