Noted poet Bashir Badr passes away 91
The veteran poet breathed his last at his home in Bhopal, a family member said
Bhopal: Legendary poet Bashir Badr, a Padma Shri awardee who wrote famous couplets like “Ujale apni yaadon ke hamare saath rehne do”, passed away in Bhopal on Thursday after a prolonged illness, family sources said.
He was 91.
The veteran poet breathed his last at his home in Bhopal, a family member said.
During the Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan in 1972, Badr wrote the famous couplet “Dushmani jam kar karo lekin ye gunjaish rahe, jab kabhi hum dost ho jayein to sharminda na hon”.
His other famous couplets are “Kuch to majbooriyaan rahi hongi, yun hi koi bewafa nahi hota”, “Ujale apni yaadon ke hamare saath rehne do, na jaane kis gali me zindagi ki shaam ho jaye”, and “Log toot jaate hain ek ghar banane mein, tum taras nahi khate bastiyan jalane mein”.
Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar expressed grief over Badr’s demise.
“Today, our language Urdu has become a little poorer. Bashir Badr, an extremely melodious poet, has departed from our gathering forever. This poet and his poetry will live on in our memories forever,” Akhtar posted on X.
Badr’s ghazals, like those of Meer Taqi Meer, contained highly contemporary Urdu and were easily understood and appreciated by people. Some of his masterpieces served as an expression of anguished love and also expressed the mysteries of life.
Born in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) on February 15, 1935, Badr was renowned for his mastery of the Urdu language, especially in ghazals, and was also well versed in Persian, Hindi and English.
‘Aas’, the award-winning collection of 69 ghazals, is considered a jewel in the poetic crown of Badr. One of his collections, titled ‘Kulliyate Bashir Badr’, has been published in Pakistan.
Believed to have started writing poetry at an early age of 7, he was a pioneer in melting the soft tenderness of Urdu communication into the English diction in many of his lyrics, as per a website dedicated to Badr.
He brought out more than seven collections of poems in Urdu and one in Hindi. He has to his credit several ghazal collections – ‘Ikai’, ‘Image’, ‘Aamad’, ‘Aahat’, ‘Kulliyate Bashir Badr’.
Badr also penned two books of literary criticism – ‘Azadi Ke Bad Urdu Ghazals Ka Tanqidi Mutala’ and ‘Biswin Sadi Mein Ghazal’.
He also brought out a collection of Urdu ghazals in the Devnagari script, titled ‘Ujjale Apni Yadon ke’. His works have also been published in Gujarati and translated into English and French.
Apart from the Padma Shri, Badr was awarded four times by the UP Urdu Academy and once by the Bihar Urdu Academy. He was bestowed with the Meer Academy Award and received several other honours.
Badr’s life journey was not easy. His house in Meerut was burnt during communal violence in April 1987, destroying most of his unpublished works.
But he started all over afresh and moved to Bhopal. The incident, together with other life challenges, lent a strong pathos to many of his writings, as per the website.
The wide readership of his work made him travel to various places around the world, including the US, Dubai, Qatar and Pakistan.
Badr is survived by his wife and two children.
His last rites will be held in the evening, a relative said.
