Tappa preserves Pashtun culture:
(Islamabad, June 1, 2012): All aspects of national life, such as psychology, political trends, social setup, religious beliefs of the nation, portrayed through the literature, and Tappa (a sort of popular poetry in Pashto literature) is a very prominent part of Pashto literature. If one want to understand Pashtun culture, should study Tappa.
This was the theme of the discussion on Tappa in the Culture Exploration Program (CEP) at FATA Research Center (FRC) Head Office in Islamabad. The session was chaired by President of FRC, Dr Ashraf Ali where Mansur Khan Director Admin, Erum Ayaz Program Assistant, Mehran Ali Khan head of CEP and other participants were present in the session.
While giving detailed presentation on Tappa, Mehran Ali Khan said, “Every aspect of pashtun culture can be found in Tappa, because it is the oldest and popular poetry in Pashto literature.” In the presentation, Mehran Ali selected various aspect of Tappa related to Pashtun culture such as nang (honor) and pashtunwali (pashtun way of life), religion, politics and nationalism, ethics and morality, romance and many others.
The structure was also discussed in the session where Dr Ashraf said, “It is a unique form of poetry of Pashto language, where the first verse of the poetry (tappa) is of 9 lyrics while the second is of 13.” Dr Ashraf gave many examples to prove Tappa as relevant in the modern age as in past. He further added that Haroon Bacha and Rahim Shah introduce Tappa nationally and internationally through their music.
The participants also contributed in the discussion. Mr Farhan Shah was the major contributor in the discussion. The participants belong to Hazara division said that Hindko poetry resemble to Pashto tappa.
