Poetry and potluck iftar celebrate women’s voices

Lucknow: Poetry and shared food marked an evening celebrating women's voices as Lucknow Bioscope, Sanatkada and Naimatkhana organised a poetry session and iftar at Sanatkada House on Sunday to mark Women's Day combining it with the festivity of Holi and Ramzan.Poet and advocate Sabika Abbas Naqvi led the session, reading poems on gender, justice and women's lived experiences. "We learned feminism from working women; we learned it from our mothers and women of our homes," she said.Naqvi recited ‘Pinjra Tod', written in 2013 when she was 19. It opened with the line, "Aaj hum apni besharmi ki baatein karenge (today, we will speak about our shamelessness)." She said the poem responded to gender discrimination in universities, including restrictive hostel rules that limited women students' access to spaces such as libraries.She also spoke about pressures around women's bodies and appearance while introducing her poem ‘Mera Kajal' (my kohl). "Women are made to focus so much on their bodies and appearances that they begin to forget they have a voice that must be raised," she said. She also read ‘Maadari Zubaanein' (mother tongues), which explored language as a carrier of identity and memory.The session ended with potluck iftar where participants shared food and conversations.