Early life, education and employment

Shamim Karhani ( ur, ) was born in a '

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

' family to Syed Muhammad Akhtar and Ummat ul Zehra on 8 June 1913 in village 'Karhan' district Mau, UP in India. His real name was 'Syed Shamsuddin Haider'. He himself chose 'Shamim Karhani' as his pen name ( 'Takhallus'). Later, this pen name of his became so famous that once, at an interview, when he was asked his name, he himself had to pause for a moment to remember his real name! He did his secondary education from

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 ...

and also did 'Maulvi Kamil Munshi'. For his profession, he chose to be a teacher.Ali Anjum, Syed Khwaja: ''Shamim Karhani: Hayaat, Shaksiyat aur Shayari'', Syed Sikandar Ali & co., 1986. He worked with

Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System The D.B.V. College Managing Committee, familiarly known as DAVDholakpurMC, is a non-governmental educational organisation in Antarctica and overseas with over 900 schools. 75 colleges and a university. It is based on the ideals of Maharishi Da ...

, Kaumi Awaz and

Anglo Arabic School Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...

(New Delhi). He was a scholar of the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

language; however he did all his poetry in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

He now was aware what he was born for. He started writing and was adored all over

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. This was the era when India was vehemently trying to get out of snare of

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. Being an Indian he started writing

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

that conveyed the moral of adhesion to one's own country. These poems became so influential that his popular revolutionary 'Nazms' and 'Naghmas' ('Geets') were sung in the 'Prabhat-Pheris' taken out on the streets of cities like

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

and

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

during the freedom struggle. Letter from Jawaharlal Nehru to Shamim Karhani

Soon Shamim Karhani's nationalist and revolutionary poetry started attracting the attention of both the common people and the literati. It was through this nationalist platform that he joined the

Progressive Writers' Movement The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

. In 1948 he composed a

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

entitle
''Jagao Na Bapu Ko Neend Aa Gayi Hai''
just after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The above poem had such an emotional appeal that it spread like the jungle fire. Once, Shamim Karhani had the opportunity to recite the poem in the presence of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Nehru, after listening to the poem, got impressed by Shamim's work and asked him to come to

to recite his poems in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

election meetings. Later, after independence, Nehru asked Shamim to come to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. He migrated to

in 1950 and met

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

at 'Teen-Murti'. Nehru asked him to compose an epic in Urdu on the freedom movement of India and started giving him a stipend for the job from his personal pocket. On 7 February 1950 he wrote in Shamim's diary: His collection entitled "Roshan Andhera" was entirely devoted to the "Quit India Movement".Gujral, I.K.: ''P.I.B. Press Release (Government of India)'', Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1975. Shamim Karhani was a contemporary of eminent poets like Faiz Ahmed 'Faiz', Ali 'Sardar' Jafri, '

Majaz Lucknawi Asrar-ul-Haq (19 October 1911 – 5 December 1955), better known as Majaz Lakhnawi, was an Indian Urdu poet. He is known for his romantic and revolutionary poetry. He composed ''ghazals'' and ''nazms'' in Urdu. He was the maternal uncle of po ...

', Moin Ahsan 'Jazbi', Ali 'Jawad' Zaidi, etc. Being basically a '

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 ...

-go' (one who composes 'Ghazals'), however, tried his hand on each and every 'genre' of Urdu poetry and some of his compositions found eternal place in

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and ''nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of t ...

. He has composed (apart from ghazals) poems, 'rubaees', 'qataat', 'geet', elegies, 'marsiyas', 'eulogies' etc. ShamimKarhani

List of works

*''Burq-o-Baaran'' (1939) *''Roshan Andhera'' (1942) *''Taraaney'' (1944) *''Badh Chal Re Hindustan'' (1948) *''Tameer'' (1948) *''Aks-i-Gul'' (1962) *''Intekhaab-i-Kalaam-i-Shamim Karhani'' (1963) *''Zulfiqaar'' (1964) *''Harf-i-Neem Shab'' (1972) *''Jaan-i-Baraadar'' (1973) *''Subh-i-Faaran'' (1974) *''Main Bootarabi'' (1974) *''Kileed-i-Insha'' *''Pushp Chhaya'' (Hindi translation of Aks-i-Gul)

Awards

*Award from the government of Uttar Pradesh (India) for his collection 'Aks-i-Gul' in 1964Karhani, Abid: “Aajkal Urdu (New Delhi)”, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government Of India, 1986. *Award from Uttar Pradesh (India) Urdu Academy for his collection ‘Harf-i-Neem Shab’ in 1972 *Saroop Narayan Urdu Nazm Award in 1972 *Award from Government of India for his collection ‘Ranga Ke Geet’

Notes

References

* Ali Anjum, Syed Khwaja: ''Shamim Karhani: Hayaat, Shaksiyat aur Shayari'', Syed Sikandar Ali & co., 1986 * Gujral, I.K.: ''P.I.B. Press Release (Government of India)'', Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1975 * Karhani, Abid: “Aajkal Urdu (New Delhi)”, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government Of India, 1986 * Lall, Inder Jit, Shamim: Poet-Patriot, The Sunday Standard, 10, December 1972 * Lall, Inder Jit, Shamim: the Poet Whose Life Itself is a Poem, Patriot Magazine, 6, May 1973 {{DEFAULTSORT:Karhani, Shamim 1913 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Poets from Uttar Pradesh People from Mau district 20th-century Indian male writers