Renowed Poet and Lyricist Javed Akhtar’s Advice To Parents

Javed Akhtar, a well-known poet and lyricist, believes that parents shouldn’t pressure their children to enjoy poetry. Akhtar, who was speaking at a session during the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here, advised them to instead read poems aloud to their kids and take them to “kavi sammelans” (poet gatherings) to instil a love of rhymed words in them.

He stated on Tuesday in response to a young mother’s inquiry about how to foster a love of poetry in youngsters, “You don’t have to tell them, they may not listen. They will do what you do. If you love poetry deeply, if you attend ‘kavi sammelans’ and ‘mushairas…your children will automatically feel interested.”

When asked if a successor should be developed to continue his legacy as a lyricist of Urdu, Akhtar responded, “There are a lot of young people on both sides of the border – in India and Pakistan, young boys and girls, some of them even around 18 years of age, who have shown spark and promise.