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Noted Malayalam poet Yusufali Kechery passes away

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Yusufali Kechery

Kochi: Renowned Malayalam poet, film lyricist, film producer and director Yusufali Kechery, who left a deep impression in Kerala’s cultural realm as a lyricist, died at a private hospital here on Saturday.

He was 81 and had been suffering from bronchial pneumonia, hospital sources said.

Kechery, who studied Sanskrit under well known scholar K P Narayana Pisharody, was known for his mystic lyrics on Hindu deities, particularly Krishna.

Kechery, who dominated Malayalam films along with ONV Kurup and P Bhaskaran as a top-notch lyricist, had penned hundreds of songs known for their mystic and romantic charm with the semi-classical touch.

He also left a deep impression on Kerala society as a film producer and director.

Hailing from Kecherry in Thrissur district in Kerala, Yousafali debut with Sindooracheppu in 1971 for which he penned lyrics as well as script for the movie.

Born in a well known Muslim family in Thrissur, he won the best lyricist National award for a Sanskrit poem –gayam hari nama dhayam–written for the movie mazha (rain).

His lyrics in Dhwani, composed by renowned musician Naushad Ali, are considered as one among the best works of him.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Law, he started his career as a lawyer and freelance writer. Professor K. P. Narayana Pisharody, a highly regarded scholar, was Yousuf Ali’s Sanskrit teacher and taught him free of cost for four years. Kechery is regarded as one of the major poets of the modern era.

His major poetry works include Sainaba, Aayiram Navulla Mounam, Anchu Kanyakakal, Nadabhramam, Amrithu, Kecheri Puzha, Anuragagaanam Pole, Aalila, Kadhaye Premicha Kavitha, Perariyatha Nombaram and Ahaindavam

He had worked as assistant secretary of Kerala Sangaeetha Nataka Academy and also served as the president of Kerala Sahitya Academy. His burial will take place on Sunday evening at Pattikarra.

(Agencies)

Ghalib's Agra forgets him on birthday

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Despite repeated demands to name a road or an auditorium after the famed poet, the municipal corporation has not responded and Agra University has turned down a demand to set up a Ghalib chair to promote research and work in Urdu literature

Mirza Ghalib

Agra: Mirza Ghalib, whose contribution to Urdu literature was perhaps as significant as that of Shakespeare to English, was born here on this day over 200 years ago. The Taj city Saturday not only forgot to celebrate his birthday but also does not have a decent memorial to the poet, activists said.

Despite repeated demands to name a road or an auditorium after the famed poet, the municipal corporation has not responded and Agra University has turned down a demand to set up a Ghalib chair to promote research and work in Urdu literature.

Syed Jaffrey, director of the Mirza Ghalib Academy, wants better facilities and support from the government to promote research in Urdu literature.

“Agra, which has given so much to the Urdu culture, should have a decent memorial for the poet. The municipal corporation has proposals pending to name a street after the poet but there has been no follow-up,” he said Saturday.

The haveli in Kala Mahal area where Mirza Asad Ullah Khan ‘Ghalib’ was born in 1796 is now a girls’ inter-college. The mansion has no memorial to the poet.

The Uttar Pradesh tourism department had at one time planned to take over the haveli and convert it into a memorial, but the plan was shelved for some reason.

Ghalib moved to Delhi where his poetic talent blossomed and found new expression at a time when Bahadur Shah Zafar was the Mughal emperor.

Sandeep Arora, a member of the city’s hotel and restaurant association, said when foreign tourists ask to be taken to Ghalib’s birthplace, Agra citizens feel “very embarrassed”.

“The central and state governments should jointly build a fitting memorial and a library in Agra for Urdu poetry lovers,” he said.

Surendra Sharma of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society said Ghalib’s house “should be converted into a national memorial” for the poet “whose contribution to Urdu literature has been as significant as that of Shakespeare to English literature”.

(IANS)

Writer and poet Amin Kamil passes away

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Amin Kamil

Amin Kamil

Srinagar/Kashmir Reader: Prominent writer and poet Amin Kamil, who gave a new direction to Kashmiri ghazals and stories, passed away Thursday in Jammu. He was 90.

Born on August 3, 1924 in Kaprin village in south Kashmir, Kamil moved to Srinagar when he was a youth. He graduated in Arts from the Punjab University and took his degree in Law from the Aligarh Muslim University. He joined the Bar in 1947 and continued to practice law till 1949, when he was appointed a lecturer in Sri Pratap College, Srinagar.

Kamil was closely associated with the writers’ movement of that time and under its influence switched over from Urdu to Kashmiri as his medium of expression. He joined the Cultural Academy when it was set up in 1958 and was appointed the Convener for Kashmiri language. He later became editor for Kashmiri and edited the two journals of the Cultural Academy—‘Sheeraza’ and ‘Soun Adab’ with distinction for many years. He retired from the service of the Cultural Academy in 1979.

Kamil’s unique style of writing that blends irony, humour, social comment and politics in his stories as well as poems made him shine. He wrote in Urdu before switching to using Kashmiri as his medium of expression. Many Kashmiri poets were influenced by Kamil and tried to adapt his diction.

It’s believed that Kamil’s contribution to the field of fiction by his novel ‘Gati Manz Gaash’ (Light amidst Darkness), published in 1958, was inspired by the condition of Mohandas Gandhi in the aftermath of Partition where he found a ray of hope in Kashmir while the entire subcontinent was in darkness. This novel is the only book in Kashmiri literature which has records of the country’s historical events.

Apart from ghazals and short stories, Kamil wrote many plays and musicals for radio. His works majorly reflect on human life in Kashmir.

Kamil was the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award​, the Padma Shri from the Indian government and Kashmir University’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Recently, a two-day seminar on Amin Kamil was held in Aligarh Muslim University in which Kamil was recognised as a writer of national importance, transcending the boundaries of the vernacular literature of Kashmiri. Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages published a special issue of its literary magazine ‘Sheeraza’ on Amin Kamil’s life and works which was released in Srinagar in the summer of 2011.

Kamil’s collection of short stories, ‘Kathi Manz Kath’ (Story within Story) published in mid-‘60s includes his most highly regarded work ‘Kokar Jang’ (The Cockfight). The Cockfight is considered as the most popular story in the Kashmiri literature. It has been translated into many Indian languages and has appeared in English translation in anthologies such as Indian Short Stories 1900–2000.

The Cockfight is prescribed in the school and university curriculum in Jammu and Kashmir. It has also appeared in Best Loved Indian Stories of the Century published by Penguin India in 1999.

Kamil’s demise is an irreparable loss to the field of literature.

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