ghazi52
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2007
- Messages
- 102,911
- Reaction score
- 106
- Country
- Location
Muhammad Akhtar 1928-1974 (pseudonym) Saghar Siddiqui was an Urdu poet, in spite of his ruined and homeless alone life, he remained famous and successful till and after his death. when he died, he left nothing but a pet, his dog, who also died on the same foot path where Saghar died a year later.
Saghar Siddiqui was born in 1928 in Ambala (British India) to a well-to-do middle-class family. There are few historic records of Saghar's personal life. He rarely spoke to any one in this regard and most of what is known of him tends to be from witness accounts. Siddiqui was the only child of his parents and spent the early years of his life in Ambala and Saharanpur.
He was home tutored and received his early education from Habib Hassan a family friend. Young Akhtar was much impressed by Habib Hassan, and he got interested in Urdu poetry because of him. Siddiqui started writing poetry as a child. He moved to Amritsar(Punjab), in search of work and used to make wooden combs while writing Urdu poetry. For some time he used Nasir Hijazi as his pen name, but later he switched to Saghar Siddiqui. When 16 years old, he regularly started attending mushairas (poerty recitals) in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur. In 1947, when he was 19, he migrated to Pakistan during the independence and settled in Lahore. In those days with his slim appearance, wearing pants and boski (yellow silky cloth) shirts, with curly hair, and reciting beautiful ghazals in a melodious voice, he became a huge success. He had some tragic turns in his life. Siddiqui continued to write poetry for the film industry and moved on to publish a literary magazine. The magazine was a critical success but a commercial flop. Disappointed, Saghar shut down the magazine. In his later life, he fell into depression, financially ruined and addicted to drugs.
Siddiqui chose to stay in cheap hotels, rather than settle into a house given by the government to refugees. He would pay the rent with meager amounts earnt by selling his poems to magazines. Sometimes he would have to sell his poetry to other poets for a few rupees. He would use the waste paper spread around to light fires to stay warm during winter nights. Some of these poems were re-sold by these people as their own work.
Within a decade of coming to Pakistan, he became disillusioned as he saw corruption and nepotism being rewarded at the expense of genuine talent. In despair, he turned to morphine, buying it from janitors of hospitals in Lahore. As friends and strangers continued to exploit him, Siddiqui fell further into despair and was soon turned out of hotels and had to live on the street as a beggar. He was often seen along Circular Road of Lahore, and in Anarkali Bazar, Akhbaar Market, Aibak Road, Shah Alami, and around the Data Darbar area. He would often hold mushairas on the footpaths, in candle light. He continued to write poems, though most of them are lost and unpublished.
In early 1974, Siddiqui was found dead on a street corner of Lahore. On 19 July 1974, he was found dead on a roadside in Lahore near alfalah building the mall, at the age of 46. His dead body was found one early morning outside one of the shops. He was buried at the Miani Sahib graveyard. His dog also died a year later, reportedly at the same spot. Despite his shattered life, some of his verses are among the best in Urdu poetry.
The sensitive and gifted teenager was excited by the prospect of becoming a citizen of a newly created country and at once got down to writing a national anthem for it.
موت کہتے ہیں جس کو اے ساغرؔ
زندگی کی کوئی کڑی ہوگی
Saghar Siddiqui was born in 1928 in Ambala (British India) to a well-to-do middle-class family. There are few historic records of Saghar's personal life. He rarely spoke to any one in this regard and most of what is known of him tends to be from witness accounts. Siddiqui was the only child of his parents and spent the early years of his life in Ambala and Saharanpur.
He was home tutored and received his early education from Habib Hassan a family friend. Young Akhtar was much impressed by Habib Hassan, and he got interested in Urdu poetry because of him. Siddiqui started writing poetry as a child. He moved to Amritsar(Punjab), in search of work and used to make wooden combs while writing Urdu poetry. For some time he used Nasir Hijazi as his pen name, but later he switched to Saghar Siddiqui. When 16 years old, he regularly started attending mushairas (poerty recitals) in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur. In 1947, when he was 19, he migrated to Pakistan during the independence and settled in Lahore. In those days with his slim appearance, wearing pants and boski (yellow silky cloth) shirts, with curly hair, and reciting beautiful ghazals in a melodious voice, he became a huge success. He had some tragic turns in his life. Siddiqui continued to write poetry for the film industry and moved on to publish a literary magazine. The magazine was a critical success but a commercial flop. Disappointed, Saghar shut down the magazine. In his later life, he fell into depression, financially ruined and addicted to drugs.
Siddiqui chose to stay in cheap hotels, rather than settle into a house given by the government to refugees. He would pay the rent with meager amounts earnt by selling his poems to magazines. Sometimes he would have to sell his poetry to other poets for a few rupees. He would use the waste paper spread around to light fires to stay warm during winter nights. Some of these poems were re-sold by these people as their own work.
Within a decade of coming to Pakistan, he became disillusioned as he saw corruption and nepotism being rewarded at the expense of genuine talent. In despair, he turned to morphine, buying it from janitors of hospitals in Lahore. As friends and strangers continued to exploit him, Siddiqui fell further into despair and was soon turned out of hotels and had to live on the street as a beggar. He was often seen along Circular Road of Lahore, and in Anarkali Bazar, Akhbaar Market, Aibak Road, Shah Alami, and around the Data Darbar area. He would often hold mushairas on the footpaths, in candle light. He continued to write poems, though most of them are lost and unpublished.
In early 1974, Siddiqui was found dead on a street corner of Lahore. On 19 July 1974, he was found dead on a roadside in Lahore near alfalah building the mall, at the age of 46. His dead body was found one early morning outside one of the shops. He was buried at the Miani Sahib graveyard. His dog also died a year later, reportedly at the same spot. Despite his shattered life, some of his verses are among the best in Urdu poetry.
The sensitive and gifted teenager was excited by the prospect of becoming a citizen of a newly created country and at once got down to writing a national anthem for it.
موت کہتے ہیں جس کو اے ساغرؔ
زندگی کی کوئی کڑی ہوگی
