{"id":2242,"date":"2016-11-29T17:19:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T17:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/habib.edu.pk\/HU-news\/?p=2242"},"modified":"2025-06-19T17:20:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T12:20:16","slug":"airplanes-night-sky-really-hus-shooting-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/habib.edu.pk\/HU-news\/airplanes-night-sky-really-hus-shooting-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Airplanes In The Night Sky Are Really HU\u2019s Shooting Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I\u2019ve been thinking of writing a poem about Bangalore, but <\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m not sure where to start.<\/span><\/h3>\n
– Zoha Jabbar<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So begins a story of three Habib University students:
\nZoha Jabbar, Fatin Nawaz, & Shameneh Majid,
\nwho walked across the Wagah Border with four others, to perform at
\nIndia’s first ever Poetry Slam in Bengaluru. <\/a><\/h1>\n

\"main-image-3\"<\/p>\n

The following extracts have been reproduced from an intriguing interview by HU Junior, Saadia Pathan, originally posted on <\/em>Media Studies Asia<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/span>, titled \u2018Reaching Out Across the Border: Spoken Stage in India \u2013 Interview with Zoha Jabbar by Saadia Pathan.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
Spoken Stage<\/strong><\/a><\/span> is an organization that promotes the art of performance storytelling and spoken word poetry in Pakistan. It was created by Mariam Paracha in 2013, because she felt that there was no platform for youth in Karachi to express themselves. It was a portable booth that she would carry around with her to visit schools, where she would recruit poets. Zoha Jabbar was one of these school poets, and has been working with Mariam since the organization began. Starting from a regular performer, she is now the managing director of the organization. In September, Airplane Poetry Movement<\/strong><\/a><\/span> hosted India\u2019s first ever National Poetry Slam, and invited Spoken Stage along with teams of poets from colleges all across India. I had Zoha sit down with me and share her experience.<\/span><\/h6>\n
First of all, congratulations. It\u2019s great how Spoken Stage has been growing over the years. It\u2019s taken on a new form.<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n
Thank you. Yes, we have more of a social media presence and followers, and now we organize poetry showcases and slams all over Karachi.<\/span><\/h6>\n
And Airplane Poetry Movement, that is kind of like your sister organization across the border, right?<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n
Yeah, it was founded by Nandini Varma and Shantanu Anand around the same time that we started up.<\/span><\/h6>\n
I wonder why they call themselves Airplane Poetry Movement. As if they\u2019re a school of poets who write about airplanes \u2026<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n
I wondered that too \u2013 I actually asked Nandini why they named their organization that, and she said it was sort of a tribute to hers and Shantanu\u2019s favorite poem, For Those Who Can Still Ride in an Airplane for the First Time<\/em>, by Anis Mojgani. It\u2019s really a beautiful poem, and I can understand why they would be so inspired by it.<\/span><\/h6>\n
How did you feel about going to India? A Pakistani going to India, that\u2019s always a big thing, right?<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n
I\u2019ve always wanted to go to India, because I feel like so much of our history and our culture was lost to us when these borders were created. There is hatred and animosity to this day, but it was all constructed by outside forces. I was looking forward to traveling to the part of the land that we lost, and I felt a strange connection it. I had also never traveled before, so of course I was very excited.<\/span><\/h6>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n

#HULion @zohajabbar presents her solo #PoetrySlam performance during today’s #HUMulaqatSeries at Habib University. The original performance was presented a few weeks ago during #India ‘s first ever Poetry Slam in #Bengaluru<\/a><\/p>\n

A video posted by Habib University (@habibuniversity) on