Bashir Badr (born Syed Muhammad Bashir; 15 February 1935) is an Indian poet. He was teaching Urdu in

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. He primarily writes in Urdu language particularly

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. He also wrote a couplet titled ''Dushmani Jam Kar Karo'' in 1972 during Shimla Agreement that revolves around the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. Badr's most of unpublished literary work, including uncertain poems was lost during the

1987 Meerut communal riots The 1987 Meerut massacre were a series of violent communal disturbances between Hindus and Muslims in the northern Uttar Pradesh town Meerut which occurred from March to June 1987, which resulted in the death of more than 100 people. Backgro ...

, and later he moved to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Early life and education

He was born in United Provinces of British India (in modern-day aizabad now Ayodhya Uttar Pradesh, India) on 15 February 1935. After he did his early schooling, he attended the

where he did his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and

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. Later, he served at the same university as a lecturer. He also served at Meerut College for over seventeen years. After his property such as house and books was damaged in 1987 Meerut violence, he permanently moved to Bhopal. He is currently suffering from dementia and is believed to have forgot his Mushaira years as a result of dementia.

Career

He started writing poems at the apparent age of seven. He wrote some collection of ghazals titled ''Ikai'', ''Kulliyate Bashir Badr'', ''Aamad'', ''Image'', ''Aahat'' and Devanagari script ghazals titled ''Ujale Apni Yadon Ke''. During his career, he wrote two books titled ''Azadi Ke Bad Urdu Ghazals Ka Tanqidi Mutala'' (Critical study of Urdu ghazal after independence) and ''Biswin Sadi Mein Ghazal'' (Ghazals in 20th century) focused on

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He has also served at the Bihar Urdu Academy as a chairman.

Influence on politics

His couplets appears to have influence on Indian politicians, and are sometimes quoted in the parliament of India by the leaders such as prime minister of India Narendra Modi and 2014's prime minister candidate of Congress Rahul Gandhi. In 1972, his couplet was quoted by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Awards

Badr has received the Padma Shri award in 1999 for contribution towards literature and Sangeet Natak Akademi. He has also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection "''Aas''" in 1999.

Legacy

Badr is one of the most quoted ''shayar'' in Indian pop-culture. A popular radio show ''Ujaale Apni Yaadon Ke'' on

Vividh Bharti The Vividh Bharati Service (VBS; ) of All India Radio was conceptualized to combat Radio Ceylon in 1967. Due to the Indian Government stopping its short wave relay centers, VBS is only available on the Internet. Vividh Bharati radio channel wa ...

derives its title from one of Badr's most popular ''sher''. ''ujāle apnī yādoñ ke hamāre saath rahne do'' ''na jaane kis galī meñ zindagī kī shaam ho jaa.e '' The 2015 film Masaan contains various examples of poetry and shaayari by Basheer Badr, along with works by

Akbar Allahabadi Syed Akbar Hussain, popularly known as Akbar Allahabadi (16 November 1846 – 9 September 1921) was an Indian Urdu poet in the genre of satire. Life and career Akbar Allahabadi was born in the town of Bara, eleven miles from Allahabad, to a fa ...

, Chakbast, Mirza Ghalib and Dushyant Kumar. Explaining this as a conscious tribute, the film's lyrics writer Varun Grover explained that he wanted to show the character of Shaalu (played by Shweta Tripathi) as a person whose hobby is to read Hindi poetry and shaayari, as this is a common hobby of millennial and generation x youngsters in Northern India, especially when in love, but this aspect is rarely shown in Hindi films.

References

External links

Official website

Bashir Badr
at Rekhta {{DEFAULTSORT:Badr, Bashir Writers from Bhopal People from Faizabad People from Ayodhya Urdu-language poets from India Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu 1935 births Living people Aligarh Muslim University alumni 20th-century Indian poets Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education