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Bashir Badr
Bashir Badr
Born	Syed Muhammad Bashir; 15 February 1935 (age 89); Faizabad, United Provinces, British India
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Indian
Education	MA, PhD
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University
Genre	Ghazal
Subject	Love, Philosophy
Spouse	Rahat Badr
Relatives	Nusrat Badr (son)
Signature
Website
	www.bashirbadr.com

Bashir Badr (born Syed Muhammad Bashir; 15 February 1935) is an Indian poet. He was teaching Urdu in Aligarh Muslim University.^[1] He primarily writes in Urdu language particularly ghazals. He also wrote a couplet titled Dushmani Jam Kar Karo in 1972 during Shimla Agreement that revolves around the partition of India. Most of Badr's unpublished literary work, including an uncertain number of poems was lost during the 1987 Meerut communal riots, and later he moved to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.^[2]

Early life and education

He was born in United Provinces of British India (in modern-day [Faizabad now Ayodhya], Uttar Pradesh, India) on 15 February 1935. After he did his early schooling, he attended the Aligarh Muslim University where he did his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and PhD. Later, he served at the same university as a lecturer. He also served at Meerut College for over seventeen years.

After his property, including his house and books, was damaged in the 1987 Meerut violence, he permanently moved to Bhopal.^[1]

He is currently suffering from dementia and is believed to have forgot his Mushaira years as a result of dementia.

Career

He started writing poems at the age of seven. He wrote some collections of ghazals titled Ikai, Kulliyate Bashir Badr, Aamad, Image, Aahat and Devanagari script ghazals titled Ujale Apni Yadon Ke. During his career, he wrote two books titled Azadi Ke Bad Urdu Ghazal Ka Tanqidi Mutala (Critical study of Urdu ghazal after independence) and Biswin Sadi Mein Ghazal (Ghazals in 20th century) focused on literary criticism.^[1]

He has also served at the Bihar Urdu Academy as a chairman.^[3]

Influence on politics

His couplets appear to have had an influence on Indian politicians,^[4] and are sometimes quoted in the parliament of India by the leaders such as prime minister of India Narendra Modi and 2014's prime minister candidate of Congress Rahul Gandhi. In 1972, his couplet was quoted by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.^[2]

Awards

Badr has received the Padma Shri award in 1999^[5] for contribution towards literature and Sangeet Natak Akademi. He has also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection "Aas" in 1999.^[6]

Legacy

Badr is one of the most quoted shayars in Indian pop-culture.

A popular radio show Ujaale Apni Yaadon Ke on Vividh Bharti derives its title from one of Badr's most popular sher.^[7]^[8]

ujāle apnī yādoñ ke hamāre saath rahne do na jaane kis galī meñ zindagī kī shaam ho jaa.e ^[9]

The 2015 film Masaan contains various examples of poetry and shaayari by Basheer Badr, along with works by Akbar Allahabadi, Chakbast, Mirza Ghalib and Dushyant Kumar.^[10] Explaining this as a conscious tribute, the film's lyrics writer Varun Grover explained that he wanted to show the character of Shaalu (played by Shweta Tripathi) as a person whose hobby is to read Hindi poetry and shaayari, as this is a common hobby of millennial and generation x youngsters in Northern India, especially when in love, but this aspect is rarely shown in Hindi films.^[11]^[12]^[13]