Dubai is a jewel of the Middle East when it comes to cultural development. The unique blend of different nationalities living in Dubai has brought a rhapsody of colourful cultures, which has set a wonderful platform for unparalleled literary growth in the region.

The Pakistani community in Dubai has left no stone unturned when it comes to theatre, art and music. As many languages are spoken here, Urdu is a unifying language in Dubai as a big part of the population speaks and understands it. Dubai has recently seen a big revival and a surge in the interest for Urdu. A beautiful language intruded by many dialects and slangs have brought together groups of people who are working at preserving and bringing forth the revival of pristine Urdu.

Many of us have been enjoying plays and theatre with enthralling performances directed by theatre and literary groups like Goonj, QISSA' GO, Joy of Urdu and Poetic Strokes. Each one of them in its unique way has dedicated hours for the revival and preservation of literary development, especially in Urdu.

Joy of Urdu is working around the world for the enhancement of Urdu language. Joy of Urdu started by Zarmeene Ansari, who resided in Moscow, has now become global and not surprisingly it continues to grow in Dubai. She is now moving to Dubai and we hope to see much more gatherings and reciting.

"They had so much passion for the language that they came from all over Dubai and beyond," are the sentiments of Alveena who was the coordinator for Joy of Urdu in Dubai. Alveena along with Taimur Rehman from Middlesex University, hosted Jashane Urdu and other events under the Joy of Urdu platform.

Goonj Production is a group of South Asian expats comprising of journalists, writers, filmmakers and theater artist. The team consists of Amna Khaisage, Founder, Shehrezade Kaleem, Ehtesham Shahid, Majid Muhammad, Faraz Waqar, Maha Jamil, Sanober Sabah and Hasan Sheikh.

Amna, a journalist, broadcaster and documentary filmmaker, has interest in the migrant population and this lead her to bring to us a beautiful master-piece in the form of a play Mian Biwi and Wagah. Those of us familiar with the play will agree that it touched the hearts of the Indian and Pakistani audiences, as it showed that human emotions know no boundary and that love overrides all political differences between nations.

Amna comes from a literary family and "her love for Urdu is in her DNA", as she once put it. Her grandfather was an accomplished scholar in Urdu and Persian language and he has compiled a thesaurus of Persian and Urdu. Her documentary "leap of faith" was funded by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission and taken by the Abu Dhabi government to Cannes.

The team of Mian Biwi aur Wagah have staged 17 shows both locally and internationally - making it the longest running local Urdu theatre in the country. Besides performing in Dubai, the team has performed in New Delhi in India and Karachi, Pakistan, and received an over-whelming response.

During the Karachi performance, the team behind Mian Biwi aur Wagah received much love from known personalities, Haseena Moin, Zia Mohyudidn, Shakeel Yousuf, Talat Hussain, Sania Saeed, Sahira and Rahat Kazmi, to name a few.

UAE's ambassador to Pakistan, H.E. Hamad Obaid Al-Zaabi, also welcomed the UAE play's first-ever performance in Pakistan. He appreciated the quest of Mian, Biwi aur Wagah team to promote the message of tolerance and harmony.

"Art and culture has the power to connect people of different countries and while celebrating the 'Year of Zayed' we sincerely hope that such cultural interactions will bring both the countries closer," said the statement.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the UAE, Moazzam Ahmed Khan, who also watched the show, appreciated the team for their efforts.

The team of Mian, Biwi aur Wagah believes that the success of the play lies in the fact that it was born in the UAE. "The success of the play is the reflection of what the UAE has given to all of us. Collecting letters from different parts of the subcontinent, knitting them all together and then taking it to different countries would not have been possible elsewhere. The UAE is a country of love and peace and embraces positivity from all cultures and values," said, one of the lead writers and actors of the play.

Qissa Go was founded by Tanya Daud in October 2016. Tanya, a UAE-based journalist and filmmaker as well as the Founder, identifying herself as a storyteller. Along with Fraz Ajmal, a UAE-based Engineer by day and Chief Services Officer in Qissa' Go. He has worked in it. He has worked in theatre plays, poetry performances, and literary events.

Qissa Go has since performed at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, been a part of a tribute event for Patras Bokhari, staged independent productions, and started a series of Open-Mic sessions, which is focused on all eight South Asian countries - the first of its kind to do so.

Tanya Daud has also to her credit short documentary, The Absentees, on the Rohingya crisis, which was picked up by festivals like the DOC NYC and Let's All Be Free in London. Other members of the team that are story-tellers are Faraz Alee and Sarfaraz Ali.

Farhan Abbas has also left his mark in the short film industry. Farhan is director from New York film academy. Realising the challenges of modern day in married lives of many, he made a movie on the subject of relationships. He also has to his credit the movie Lasting Silence a touching movie about two girls who are neighbours but one of them is hearing impaired so she cannot speak or hear. His film lasting silence received the Professional Filmmaker Award 2018 by ESFF, both Thankful & Thoda Sa Waqt received nominations at FiLUMS 2017 and HUM TV film awards.

Along with all the young budding literary talent, contribution of Ayesha Imtiaz of Poetic Strokes is commendable. Founded in 2007, it has till-date brought to us many magical evenings filled with art, music and literature. Poetic Strokes continues to bring together the communities through the unspoken words of art and spoken words of literature.

Ayesha Imtiaz has dedicated her time and energy to bring to us the many skills and talent of Pakistani artists, singers, musicians and authors. She has been instrumental in bringing to us music of Ali Sethi, art of icons like Jamil Naqash and hysteric moments by Anwar Maqsood in his delightful sense of humour. Her recent endeavour is to work together with Coke Studio and bring endless melody to the people of Dubai.

As we speak of Urdu literature and its growth in Dubai, it was a pleasure to know that the grandson of much loved Patras Bokhari resides in Dubai. Ayaz Bukhari recently enthralled and captivated the audience at an evening dedicated to his grandfather. He spoke lovingly of his grandfather's work and accomplished life.

For the love of literature Ayaz Bokhari has dedicated a website on Patras Bokhari consisting of 1,000 pages of reading material. It contains 38-minute video documentary on him, his Patras Ke Mazameen, his speeches in the UN and US. The link is: www.patrasbokhari.com

We hope that this enthusiasm to promote literature continues and flourishes as the city grows and matures to be more encompassing of cultures and activities.

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