Salaam Machhalishahari (1921-1972), or Salam Machhali Sheri, was an Indian
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Machhali Shahar
Machhlishahr is a town in Jaunpur district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated 30 km west of district headquarters Jaunpur. NH-231 passes through the city. Machhlishahr – Janghai – Bhadohi four-lane highway is under co ...
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 ...
, on 1 July 1921. He was fluent in
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' 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 ...
and
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
s. He worked in the Urdu Service Department of the
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
, New Delhi. He died on 19 November 1972. Salam Macchlishheri is one of the few poets who escaped the ideological impact of Progressive Writers Movement and wrote a different kind of romantic poetry marked for its spontaneity and naturalness. He was one of the most read poets of his time and had special appeal with young readers.
He was born Abdussalam on July 1, 1921 at Mahatwana Macchlishehr in Jaunpur district. He was first made to learn Quran by heart. In 1935, he passed the middle school examination from a District Board school. He could complete only his high school education after which he got an employment and worked for Allahabad University library. During his service in the library, he got an opportunity to study the literatures of several languages. In 1933, he changed his job and worked as a script writer at Lucknow radio station. While in Lucknow, he also acted as the honorary editor of the University magazine called Mizraab. In 1952, he was promoted as Assistant Producer and posted at Srinagar radio station. After his tenure there, he was promoted as Producer and sent to Delhi radio station. For his cumulative contribution, the prestigious Padma Sri award was also conferred on him.
Literary career
Many of Machhalishahari’s ghazals have been put to music and sung
by
Jagjit Singh
Jagjit Singh (born Jagmohan Singh Dhiman; 8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian cl ...
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi:
فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...
,
Majaz
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 p ...
, Jazbi, Salaam Machhalishahari,
Sahir Ludhianvi
Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name (takhallus) Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet and film song lyricist who wrote primarily in Urdu in addition to Hindi.
His work influenced Indian cinema, i ...
and other poets had started a new era of progressive poetry in Urdu literature.
In 1996, the Urdu Academy published selected poems with the title ''Intekhab Salam Machhali Shehri'' .
A critical appraisal of his life and literary contributions is Aziz Indori's ''Salaam Machhalishahari – Shakhsiyat aur Funn''.(in Urdu)