Barkat Ali Ghulam Hussain Virani, known by his pen name Befām,
was Gujarati author and poet especially known for his
ghazal
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...
s.
Life
Barkat Ali was born on 25 November 1923 in
Ghanghali village near
Sihor in
Bhavnagar district
Bhavnagar District is a Districts of India, district of southeastern Gujarat, India, on the Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra peninsula. It is also known as Gohilwar as a major portion of Bhavnagar district was ruled by Gahlot, Gohil Rajputs. The a ...
. He was interested in literature since age of fourteen when he wrote his first ghazal.
He completed his primary and secondary education from
Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...
. He was taught poetry by Qismat Qureshi. He left
matriculation to participate in 1942
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...
. He moved to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
in 1945 on suggestion of Shayda. He met
Mareez
Mareez, born Abbas Abdul Ali Vasi (22 February 1917 – 19 October 1983), was a Gujarati poet, mainly popular for his Ghazals. He is popularly known as ''Ghalib of Gujarat''. He left studies in young age and started working in rubber shoe fact ...
there and was later employed at
Aakashvani radio. He married Ruqaiyya, the elder daughter of
Shayda, in 1952. He died on 2 January 1994 in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
.
He was associated with
Gujarati cinema
Gujarati cinema, also known as Gollywood or Dhollywood, is the Gujarati language film industry. It is one of the major regional and vernacular film industries of the cinema of India, having produced more than one thousand films since its ince ...
. He appeared in Gujarati film ''Mangalfera'' (1949) and wrote lyrics of several film songs; ''Akhand Saubhagyavati'' (1963), ''Kulvadhu'' (1997), ''Jalam Sang Jadeja'', ''Snehbandhan''.
Works
He published
Ghazal
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...
poetry collections; ''Mansar'' (1960), ''Ghata'' (1970), ''Pyas'' (1980), ''Parab''.
He has also written short stories, stage plays, radio plays and film songs.
His several songs are popular across Gujarat such as "''Nayanne Bandh Rakhine''", "''Thay Sarkhamni To Utarata Chhie''", "''Milan na Deepak Sahu Buzai Gaya Chhe''". ''Aag Ane Ajawala'' (1956) and ''Jivta Soor'' are two of his Short story collections while ''Rangsugand'' parts 1-2 (1966) is a novel by him.
See also
* List of Gujarati-language writers
Well known laureates of Gujarati literature are Hemchandracharya, Narsinh Mehta, Mirabai, Akho, Premanand Bhatt, Shamal Bhatt, Dayaram, Dalpatram, Narmad, Govardhanram Tripathi, Mahatma Gandhi, K. M. Munshi, Umashankar Joshi, Suresh Joshi, Pan ...
References
External links
Selected works on MaaGurjari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virani, Barkat
1923 births
1994 deaths
Gujarati-language writers
Gujarati-language poets
People from Bhavnagar district
20th-century Indian poets
Indian male ghazal singers
20th-century Indian male singers
20th-century Indian singers
Indian male poets
Singers from Gujarat
Poets from Gujarat
20th-century Indian male writers