Rahat Indori
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A brief biography
He wrote stirring couplets that even politicians quoted in Parliament. And his poems of ardour and abandon recited with trademark flamboyance made him a major crowd puller in the mushaira circuit.
Rahat Indori was one of the most-quoted Urdu poets of his generation. A social media regular, the Indore-born poet had tweeted that he was Covid positive. He was also a diabetic, hypertensive and had cardiac issues.
The son of a textile mill employee, Indori was a PhD in Urdu literature. He taught at Indore’s Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya for many years. A keen sportsman and the captain of his college hockey and football teams, he was an accomplished artist too and is said to have painted Bollywood posters.
Indori read his first verse in public as a 19-year-old in 1969. His rousing recitations led to a swell of fans. The poet had a gift for filling the seemingly mundane with meaning. “Sarhadon par tanav hai kya / zara pata toh karo chunav hai kya (Is there tension on the border / Find out if there’s an election round the corner).”
Then again, “Shakhon se toot jayein woh pattey nahi hain hum / Andhi se koi kah de ki auqat mein rahe (I am not one of those leaves that falls away from a branch / Tell the storm to stay in its limits)”
His association with Hindi cinema was fruitful but not memorable. He wrote lyrics in over 20 films, including Kareeb, Mission Kashmir, and Munnabhai MBBS.
Last year, Trinamool MP Mohua Mitra recalled one of his poems which ended with the line, “Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hai” in Parliament. The viral speech reintroduced the poem written three decades ago to a generation of Indians.
