Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002) was born in a conservative Muslim family near Azamgarh in UP, but he adopted socialism as his creed. He was an active participant in the Communist Party of India. He published his first collection of poems called Jhankaar in 1943. Sajjad Zahir welcomed Kaifi as a valuable addition to the front-ranking poets in the assembly of Urdu poetry. His entry into Hindi films and his energetic presentations in mushairas brought him great fame. Kaifi stood firmly for three things. First, he was against all forms of communal divisions, caste system, inequalities, etc. Second, he was against all forms of social injustice. That meant speaking for the oppressed, workers, and those without a voice in the system. Third, he was optimistic about the future. Humanity survives because there is hope, he used to say. In the absence of hope, there is no future for anyone. Although he suffered a stroke, he did not limit his public presence. Despite his limited mobility, he continued to attend poetical symposiums and led an active life.
To read more about the Urdu ghazal poetry, please refer to:
Gopi Chand Narang, Translation by Surinder Deol. The Urdu Ghazal: A Gift of India’s Composite Culture.New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2020.
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