Shabana Azmi Launches 'Tishnagi' by Minu Bakshi – An Exclusive Book of Urdu Poetry

NEW DELHI, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Mrs. Minu Bakshi Releases Her First Coffee-Table Book of Urdu Poetry

The city today witnessed an exclusive high-profile book launch event with the legendary actress and social activist Shabana Azmi releasing the book 'Tishnagi - The Thirst' by popular Punjabi folk singer and author Minu Bakshi. The book has been published by Rupa Publications. Tishnagi is a collection of exclusive Urdu poems by Minu Bakshi and it is her tribute to the legendary poets and singers who have inspired her. Beautifully designed and eloquently written, Tishnagi comprises of a series of Urdu couplets, with transliterations in Hindi and English.

The book launch held at Pullman Hotel, saw veteran actor and highly acclaimed TV personality Farooq Sheikh as the special guest and Delhi's crème de la crème including designers - Ritu Beri, Suneet Verma, Varun Bahl, Rina Dhaka, business tycoons - Burmans of Dabur group, Ansals, Soods of Park Royal Hotels, Rekha and Aroon Purie of India Today, Bubbles Sabharwal, Artists - Paresh Maiti, Jaysri Burman, Satish Gupta, Satish Gujral amongst others.

Releasing the book Ms. Shabana Azmi said, "Minu Bakshi's poetry is felt through. Her verse is steeped in love and even more importantly in romance - a virtue fast disappearing in today's world. There is a simplicity with which she surrenders to love and makes the reader yearn for more."

"Tishnagi is the desire which keeps us alive - a desire to hold on to things that we have and at the same time, wanting to have the things we do not possess. The book is my personal journey as an ardent follower of Begum Akhtar and since I penned my first verse. It is an honest effort to bring alive the dying spirit of Urdu poetry in India," expressed Mrs. Bakshi at the launch event.

Mr. Farooq Sheikh shared his thoughts on the book at the event. He said, "There's the fragrance of honesty in Minuji's poetry, rather than the odour of effort, which is why it engrosses you quickly and stays with you longer."

Many connoisseurs have hailed Minu as a fresh voice in classical Urdu poetry, and this book - her first - bears testament to the veracity of their praise.

About Minu Bakshi

Minu started writing poetry after a chance interaction with Begum Akhtar, who became the single greatest inspiration for her and was also the reason why a Beatles-loving Minu abandoned the guitar to take up the tanpura. She is a poet, singer, professor of Spanish, social worker, wife and mother. Minu Bakshi is a classically-trained Hindustani music singer and now an author. She is a multi-faceted and versatile individual with varied talents and interests. She is also a professor of Spanish at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a Spanish interpreter for the Indian Government. She is an award-winning car rally driver as well. Intense and a perfectionist by nature, she realised that success and satisfaction can only be achieved through rigorous training and hard work. She was trained in classical music for several years by Ustad Ghulam Hussain Khan, the older son of Ustad Mushtao Hussain Khan Sahib, the famous singer of Rampur Gharana, and later by Ustad Marghoob Hussain Khan, grandson of Bade Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan Saab. Minu loves singing in Punjabi, her mother tongue.

Primary Media Contact: Subhashish Bharuka, [email protected], 91-98-18805342