People
all over the world who are Urdu poetry
enthusiast will be familiar with the name of Dr.
Kaleem Ajiz, who is currently on a North America
and Canada visit.
Dr. Ajiz, a very respected world renowned Urdu
poet from Patna, is currently in Toronto,
Canada. PatnaDaily.Com had the privilege to
briefly highlight the great life and work of
this scholar and philosopher who most certainly
has left an indelible mark in the Indian
literary world.
The author of several books and classical
ghazals, Dr. Ajiz is a retired professor of
Patna University and a recipient of the much
coveted Padmashree award for his contributions
to Urdu literature.
The poet
arrived in Canada from Detroit, USA and is being
hosted by Mr. Sayeed Akhtar. There, he will be
meeting with his friends and fans and will also
be attending some literary sessions to be held
in his honor.
Dr. Ajiz, who
is very proud to represent India, and Patna in
particular, was born in a village in Patna
district in the 1920s. He was a gold medalist in
BA from Patna College and then earned his
Masters degree in Urdu from Patna University. He
also got his doctorate from Patna University for
his thesis on "Evolution of Urdu
Literature in Bihar." This thesis is now
available in a book form. He served as a
lecturer for decades in the Department of Urdu
at Patna University.
In 1976, his
first book of ghazals was released by the
President of India in Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi. In
the '60s and '70s he was the only Urdu poet who
represented Bihar in the Red Fort Mushaira held
every year in Delhi on the eve of Independence
Day.
One of the
greatest Urdu poets of all time, Rahgupati Sahay
Firaq Gorakpuri was a great admirer of Dr.
Kaleem Ajiz. He sent his famous tape recorded
words for Dr. Ajiz's first book while he was
lying on his deathbed in which he respectfully
said he felt jealous of Dr. Ajiz because of the
ease in which he could express his thoughts
through his verses. He said he loved Mr. Ajiz's
poems so much that whenever he heard him
reciting his ghazals, he always forgot his own
works.
This humble and
pious man is loved by every one. Even with his
frail health he travels a lot especially to
Middle East and North America. He has some close
relatives in the United States and Canada whom
he visits whenever his health allows him to. Dr.
Ajiz avoids any sort of publicity or fanfare
despite the fact that he has hundred of
thousands of admirers all over the world. For
the last 10-15 years, the winner of Padmashree
award avoids mushairas as he believes their
quality has gone down immensely and has become
cheap and mediocre.
Dr. Ajiz is
very proud of being from Patna, the city that
was also once known as Pataliputra and Azeemabad.
He lives in a house on Ashok Rajpath opposite B.
N. College. His elder son is a medical doctor in
Patna Medical College Hospital, who is
considering publishing his father's first book
in Devnagri script.
Currently, at
least a dozen people are doing their PhD thesis
on the works of Dr. Kaleem Ajiz in various
universities of Bihar. Since India is
celebrating its 54th Independence Day this year,
it would not be out of place to say that through
his verses, Dr. Ajiz has expressed his innermost
feelings about the freedom from British rule and
considers our Independence as the greatest event
of this era and the partition of 1947 and its
repercussions as the greatest tragedy in the
Indian history.
A man with such
a rich philosophical background, it's not
possible for us at PatnaDaily.Com to do justice
to Dr. Ajiz's life and literary works in such a
limited column. However, Patna should be very
proud of this man and there is no doubt that his
popularity will keep increasing even after
hundreds of years from now.
In the words of
this great poet:
"Yeh pukar saare chaman mein thi, woh sehar
hui woh sehar hui
Mere aashiyyan se dhooan utha, to mujhe bhi iski
khabar hui."
(There was
this outcry everywhere in the garden that lo
the morning has come, morning has come !!
When smoke started rising from my nest, I also
became aware of this.)
Editor's Note: PatnaDaily,Com expresses its
sincerest gratitude to Mr. Sayeed Akhtar of
Toronto, Canada, for providing material and
picture for this article on this Web site.
Dr.
Kaleem Ajiz