Azhar Nawaz Wanted to Sing, but Became a Poet | Rekhta Room Season 1 Ep 3

Azhar Nawaz never formally learnt the meter of poetry. He discovered its rhythm by singing ghazals as a boy.

In Episode 3 of Rekhta Room Season 1, the young poet joins Faisal Fehmi to revisit his journey from Anjan Shaheed, a village in Azamgarh, to studying English Literature at Jamia Millia Islamia and completing his PhD at Aligarh Muslim University.

Growing up in a home filled with Urdu and poetry, Azhar initially wanted to become a singer. Encouraged by his father to recite ghazals in tarannum, he developed a natural understanding of behar long before writing his own couplets.

Azhar also opens up about his creative process. He does not wait for inspiration to strike. Instead, he observes paradoxes in everyday life, notes them down, and patiently shapes them into poetry.

The conversation moves through his love for sketching, painting, music, mystery thrillers, and Korean and Japanese cinema. It concludes with a lively rapid-fire round on legendary poets and a memorable recitation featuring his celebrated couplet on Qissa-e-Taakhir, the story of delay.