Music and poetry is quite frankly a matter of joke for quite a number of teenagers and youth from Pakistan. Many just listen music for the sake of killing time and many treat poetry in a disrespectful matter by the infamous ‘Faraz SMS’. However, in few parts of the country, music and poetry are appreciated beyond the scope of tradition or even imagination. Gul Nazir Mangal belongs to that type of areas.
Hailing from Kurram Agency situated in Trimangal area notorious for strict security issues courtesy of the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan. Mangal reveals that the current political status of the country and critical war issues convinced him to enter the circle of poetry, music and literature despite the fact that his family is uneducated and has no sort of background of any of the mentioned fields. “Music and poetry is a frame of mind possessed by people,” states the poet. “The mind is shaped by our environment; we have nothing but arms, ammunition and continuous wars in our environment.”
“Where I live, people are languishing in extreme poverty and are even deprived of basic rights,” says Mangal while expressing his dismay over the tragic situation of his homeland. Against all odds, the man has enjoyed a successful career as a man of arts and literature and considers music as a unique essence as he states, “Music is the identity of any society; in such a catastrophe, we cannot preserve our cultural identity.
