The Poet: Syed Nasir Raza Kazmi سید ناصر رضا کاظمی (takhallus: Nasir ناصر ) was born in Ambala امبالہ , Punjab (now in Haryana), British India in 1925. His father (Muhammad Sultan Kazmi محمد سلطان کاظمی ) was a Subedar Major صوبیدار میجر (a JCO, Junior Commissioned Officer) in the British Indian Army. He got his early religious education at Ambala, but then moved to Nowshehra Cantt نوشہرہ چھاؤنی, NWFP (now a Province of Pakistan), where his father was posted. When he was in fourth grade, he moved with the family to Peshawar پشاور, where his father had been posted. He stayed in Peshawar for a few years, then moved back to Ambala. He passed his Matriculation Examination (10th Grade) from Muslim High School مسلم ہائی اسکول , Ambala. For his Intermediate (12th Grade), he studied at Islamia College اسلامیہ کالج, Lahore لاہور. After completing his education from Lahore, he returned to Ambala in 1945. He migrated to Lahore, Pakistan after the creation of Pakistan in 1947. He got employed at the Radio Pakistan ریڈیو پاکستان لاہور in 1952, where he became a Staff Editor. He also worked for magazines of Urdu literature like Auraaq-e Nau اوراقِ نو and Humayun ہمایوں (of which he became the Chief Editor in 1952). He lived in Lahore where he mostly worked for the Radio. He died in Lahore on 2 March 1972. He was survived by two sons, Basir Sultan Kazmi and Hassan Sultan Kazmi۔ Nasir Kazmi started composing poetry in his teen years. Hafeez Hoshiarpuri حفیظ ہوشیارپوری was his poetry teacher (ustad استاد), who also helped him in acquiring a job at the Lahore Radio Station (where Hafeez Hoshiarpuri was the Station Director). He first started writing in the style of Akhtar Shirani اختر شیرانی (whose romantic poetry was very popular at that time). Later he was influenced by Hafeez Hoshiarpuri and Meer Taqi Meer میر تقی میر. He uses simple language and his ashaar اشعار depict the pain of a sensitive heart. His idiom is that of a common man. That made him very popular, especially among the citizens of Lahore. In a TV interview shortly before his death, he said: horse riding, hunting, wandering in villages, walking along the river side, visiting mountains, were my favorite pastimes and probably this was the time when my mind got nourishment for loving nature and getting close to the expression of poetry. All my hobbies are related with fine arts, like singing, poetry, hunting, chess, love of birds, love of trees ... I started poetry because I used to reflect that all the beautiful things those I see, and those in nature are not in my hands, and they go away from me. Few moments, that time which dies, cannot be made to live. I think that it can be alive in poetry, that is why I started poetry.' His publications: برگِ نے Barg-e Ney (1952), سُر کی چھایا Sur Ki Chhaya (1971, Verse Drama), دیوان Deewaan (1972, ghazals), پہلی بارش Pehli Baarish (1975, ghazals), نشاطِ خواب Nishat-e Khwab (1977, poems/nazms), خُشک چشمے کے کنارے Khushk Chashmey ke Kinarey (1982 , Prose: essays, interviews, etc), ناصر کاظمی کی ڈائری Nasir Kazmi Ki Dairy (1995), کلیات Kulliyaat. He also edited selected poetry of Meer Taqi Meer, Nazeer Akbarabadi, Wali Deccani, and Insha Ullah Khan Insha. خاموش تماشائ KhamoshTamashai

• published: 15 Jun 2009
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