Noted poet Bashir Badr passes away at 91

The 91-year-old taught Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University and was renowned for his mastery of the language, especially in ghazals.

Bhopal: Bashir Badr, one of most quoted Urdu poets of his generation with famous lines like "Ujale apni yaadon ke hamare saath rehne do", died in Bhopal on Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 91.

The veteran poet, who was living with dementia for many years, breathed his last at his home in Bhopal, his son Syed Badr told PTI.

"For me, for my mother, and for all his loved ones, it is a very painful day. His poetry is poetry of love and life. 'Ujaale unki yaddon ke'.... This couplet is a representation of his life; it is his trademark. I would like all of you to celebrate this," Syed Badr said, adding that his father withdrew from public after his memory started failing him.

"He had dementia and had not been part of any mushaira (gathering of poets) for the past 10 years. That was his conscious decision because he was a showman... That is why he retired from mushairas when he realised that his memory was weakening, and he had not been active in writing or public life for quite some time. But the impact of his couplets and verses on the world has its own life," the son added.

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".

The lines were recited by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge during a debate in the Lok Sabha in 2018, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded with another couplet from the poet: "Jee bahut chahta hai sach bolein, kya karein haunsla nahi hota".

Badr's couplets are oft quoted by people in their everyday life, whether it is "Kuch to majbooriyaan rahi hongi, yun hi koi bewafa nahi hota" or "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 and earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu in 1999.

One of his collections, titled 'Kulliyate Bashir Badr', has been published in Pakistan.

Believed to have started writing poetry at an early age of seven, 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.