Salaam Machhalishahari (1921-1972), or Salam Machhali Sheri, was an Indian

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

-language poet.

Biography

Machhalishahari was born in Machhali Shahar, a city in District Jaunpur of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, on 1 July 1921. He was fluent in

, Persian and

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

s. He worked in the Urdu Service Department of the

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, 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. Machhalishahari also wrote sonnets in

. He was actively associated with the Progressive Writers Movement. In his Marathi article "Geet Yatre", Madhav Moholkar asserted that Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Majaz, Jazbi, Salaam Machhalishahari, Sahir Ludhianvi 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)

Bibliography

* ''Intekhab Salam Machhali Shehri''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machhalishahari, Salaam Urdu-language poets 1921 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Poets from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers Sonneteers