Ali Akbar Abbas’s ‘geets’ have varied flavours

Emotions such as desires, happiness, sorrows, pains are an essential ingredient of ‘geet’ (folk poetry). It is one of the oldest forms of poetry and portrays how human beings feel on different occasions.

People’s cries, giggles, and dances find expression in the form of ‘geets’ and music that go hand in hand. With the passage of time, language changes, so does the music affiliated with it.

Iqbal, Hafeez Hushiarpuri, Seemab, Akhtar Shirani, Ismail Meerathi, Khwaja Dil Muhammad, Faiz, Abdul Majeed Bhatti, Qayyum Nazar, Altaf Mashhadi, Qateel Shifai and Saifuddin Saif are some of the names that excelled in writing ‘geets’. Ali Akbar Abbas is the latest addition in this family.

Ali Akbar Abbas’s ‘geet’ collection Gun Geyaan, a rich and reverential new compendium of Urdu ‘geets’, contains Infinite riches. Love theme is the most central of all themes in his folk poetry:

In his geets, varied flavors are seen. Apart from sugary romanticism, creed and patriotism also play a part in forming Ali Akbar Abbas’s wide-ranging concept of ‘geet’. Other categories include child’s bedtime ‘geet’ and ‘geets’ for festive occasions such as mehndi, wedding, arrival of seasons etc.

Ali Akbar Abbas’s ‘geets’ employ a broad range of poetic and musical genres. Crafted in a unique style they are communicative vehicles, cultural capital, symbols of approved behaviour and customs of the times. Musical notes impart psychological strength to them:

Nirmal komal chandni

mun mein utri jayay

Chupkay chupkay hoti jayay koi raseeli baat

Kaliuon ki khushbu se mehkay bheegi bheegi raat

It’s a beautiful book which makes a real contribution to its field and should be a must in musical libraries, in singers’ libraries, in music schools, and so on. The origins of the ‘geets’ of Ali Akbar Abbas lie not only in a music hall stage but also in a ploughed field:

Sarsoun phooli khait mein aur main ghar mein khik khil jayoun

Darpan mein phir apnay darshan kar kar kay sharmaoun

Kaisi hui main baavli

Ali Akbar Abbas by tapping into the dying art of ‘geet’ records both words and melodies of those who once carried this vernacular culture:

Those who have migrated from rural to urban areas will re-experience in this collection the ‘geets’ of common folks as their cultural and national heritage not transmitted orally person-to-person but presented in written form.