Imagine growing up with poets like Rahat Indori and Waseem Barelvi dropping by your home.

For Hina Rizvi, that was part of growing up in Lucknow. But her own poetry stayed hidden in private diaries for years.

In this episode of Rekhta Room, Hina joins Faisal Fehmi to talk about finding the confidence to step onto the mushaira stage, the support that changed her journey, women finding space in poetry, and how social media is reshaping modern adab.

Plus, Hina shares the influences behind her writing and closes the episode with a special ghazal recitation.

From private pages to a public voice. This is Hina Rizvi’s story.

Can AI help poets write better, or is it taking the soul out of poetry?

In Episode 4 of Rekhta Room, young poet and IT professional Yasir Khan Inam joins Faisal Fehmi to discuss his journey from Bulandshahr to Delhi, the influence of Sahir Ludhianvi, and why behr remains central to Urdu poetry.

He also shares his perspective on ChatGPT, social media reels, self-editing and the future of shayari. The episode ends with a rapid-fire round and a special ghazal recitation, including “Yeh Aansu Toh Tumhare Baad Aaye.”

Azhar Nawaz never formally learnt the meter of poetry. He discovered its rhythm by singing ghazals as a boy.

In Episode 3 of Rekhta Room Season 1, the young poet joins Faisal Fehmi to revisit his journey from Anjan Shaheed, a village in Azamgarh, to studying English Literature at Jamia Millia Islamia and completing his PhD at Aligarh Muslim University.

Growing up in a home filled with Urdu and poetry, Azhar initially wanted to become a singer. Encouraged by his father to recite ghazals in tarannum, he developed a natural understanding of behar long before writing his own couplets.

Azhar also opens up about his creative process. He does not wait for inspiration to strike. Instead, he observes paradoxes in everyday life, notes them down, and patiently shapes them into poetry.

The conversation moves through his love for sketching, painting, music, mystery thrillers, and Korean and Japanese cinema. It concludes with a lively rapid-fire round on legendary poets and a memorable recitation featuring his celebrated couplet on Qissa-e-Taakhir, the story of delay.