This is an original piece Jameel Gulrays wrote to demonstrate how to write Urdu poetry at our writing meetup unBlock 108.
From Wren and Martin to James Hadley Chase to Ismat Chughtai, Gulrays shared all he had learnt over the years. His tips included: don’t write on prompts with a basic ‘A for Apple’ approach, take effective and impactful pauses in your performances, write something worth repeating, treat the camera like the audience with regards to eye contact, and so much more.
Poetry, flash fiction, short story, personal essay made appearances at this writing meetup. The participants shared their writing struggles and also got their questions about creative writing and performance answered.
Topped with motivational advice on how to not give up and finish writing what you started, Jameel Gulrays shared his own journey from being an advertising professional to finding the need to document stories in Indian languages for which he founded Katha Kathan (at 65!).
Manto’s stories, the lehza of Urdu, and his gripping performances made for a memorable unBlock.
Take a look.
Watch what the participants of unBlock Meetup 108 have to say about it.
You can watch Jameel Gulrays’ unBlock 108 performances on our YouTube channel.
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