Siraj Naqvi

It was February 21, 2016. A seminar on Urdu was in progress in the Qamar Rais Hall of Delhi Urdu Academy of Delhi. The president of the Urdu Academy Zubair Rizvi rose to speak. He apologized for becoming emotional and said it was difficult for him to speak. Zubair Rizvi had been heading the Academy for 30 years and the audiences too it as the idiosyncrasy of a reputed poet. He left his speech midway and walked slowly to his chair and sat down in it. Rakim Numan, the chief guest, who was seated close to him found him feeling uneasy. He rose and rushed towards Zubair’s seat. Before he could pour water from his bottle to the doyen of Urdu litterateur, he had collapsed.

Majid Deobandi, vice chairman of the Academy immediately ran towards Zubair. People lifted him and rushed him to the hospital. A few minutes later Zubair Rizvi was declared dead.

The gem of a litterateur from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, died working till his last breath and amidst fans and admirers. He was laid to rest the same day in his ancestral cemetery in Amroha.

Zubair Rizvi

Zubair Rizvi was a writer par excellence. He was also the best scholar with an awakened consciousness about the literary heritage of Urdu. As a popular poet, he enjoyed adulation and cherished admirers. He made his mark as a successful poet in mushairas all over the world including India Pakistan, Canada, etc., and introduced a new tone to contemporary poetry. He was also a successful broadcaster and a staunch intellectual critic. During his days with the All India Radio, he was posted as Station Director of the Rampur station for some time.

One of his famous poems, Yeh Hai Mera Hindustan, which he read with gusto at many a Mushaira, not only gained great popularity among Urdu lovers but was also included in many textbooks.

Zubair Rizvi was born on April 15, 1935, in a scholarly family in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh; the atmosphere in his family was filled with religious and spiritual fragrances. His father Muhammad Rizvi and his mother Fahmida Rizvi were famous religious and scholarly figures.

A distinguished poet, Zubair donned many hats in his prismatic career: Broadcaster; Secretary, Urdu academy; Lecturer, Mass communication; Jury for AIR, Writer, and Magazine composer.

He began his career at the famed Hamdard Dawa-Khana, followed by a position as an interviewer, scriptwriter, and interviewer at AlR, Delhi where he interviewed celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Lata Mangeshkar, and Dilip Kumar.

He rose to the position of Director of Sports at AIR.

A sher of Zubair Rizvi 

A postgraduate of the Delhi University, Zubair Razvi, joined Urdu Academy, Delhi as Secretary after 30 years of service at All India Radio. He was the director of the Urdu Academy for two years, and during this time he did an incredible job of promoting and helping Urdu lovers learn the language. He held seminars on popular topics such as The Role of Urdu in Bollywood which was attended by Yash Chopra, Gulzar, and Farooq Shaikh to name a few.

He was appointed a member of many jury committees for script selection and also appointed as a guest lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Jamia Milia Islamia Delhi.

His journey as a poet started from Hyderabad at a very early stage; around the 1950s. He had the chance to share the stage with then-famed poets like Kaifi Azmi and Ali Sardar Jafri. Soon, he made a place for himself as an Urdu Poet. Be it critics or less-informed audiences, Zubair Rizvi is regarded very highly by both as an Urdu poet, writer, and a significant contributor to Urdu Literature.

Cover of one of Zubair Rizvi's books

In verse, he mainly tried his hand at Ghazal, Nazm, and Geet. He has over 17 books to his credit, some of the more important ones among these include, Lahar Lahar Nadiya Gahri (Collection of Poems), Khisht-e-Deewar, Musafat-e-Shab, Purani Baat Hai, Dhoop Ka Saibaan, Ungliyaan Figaar Apni, etc.

Two books have been written on his life and work and he has compiled and edited 24 books.

His remarkable contribution to the field of literature can be fathomed by the breadth of awards he amassed during his lifetime. These included: The All India Radio New Delhi- External Services Division Award; Sant Gyaneshwar National Award for the year 2009 by Maharashtra Urdu Sahitya Academy; All India Mushaira Award of Honor S.C.D. Govt College SAHIR Memorial Society Ludhiana (2002); Urdu Academy Delhi Award for Ghalib Aur Funoon-e-Lateefa; Consulate General Of India, Jeddah, Saudia Arabia- Certificate of Appreciation; Certificate for Sufi Studies-Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police Academy (2001); Karnataka Urdu Academy, Bangalore; Urdu Academy at Delhi Secretariat presented an award to his book Sang-E-Sada; Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, Lucknow Award for Sang-E-Sada (2014); National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language -World URDU Conference (2016).

As a poet, his beyond-the-borders following can be gauged by the different mix of mediums that his works have featured. A few of these special features include: Door Darshan Serial “Khali Haath”, written by Dr. Harikrishna Devsare, had Zubair Rizvi’s lyrics. In five Indian states, the NCERT Urdu curriculum has selected Zubair Razvi's iconic patriotic song” Yeh hai Mera Hindustan, Mere Sapnon Ka Jahan Is Se Pyaar Mujhko” for school textbooks. He was also quite famous for his recitals and was invited to Mushairas in Asia, Canada, Europe, and especially America where he once performed in 15 different states in one tour.

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Zubair Rizvi’s passion for Urdu was undying, and to spread this language of love to lands far and wide, he started the famous magazine Zehn-e-Jadid – Bari Zaban Ka Zinda Risala, which is now being published and edited by his wife Jamshed Jahan.