KARACHI “Born in Aurangabad, India, Himayat Ali Shair has led a full life and because of his strong beliefs, this self-made man has seen a lot of ups and downs. Belonging to a rich family, he opted to come to Pakistan and became one of the top poets here,” said Prof Sahar Ansari on Saturday at a programme titled Himayat Ali Shair kay saath aik shaam”, arranged by the Karachi Gymkhana Library and Literary Committee, to honour the octogenarian poet visiting the country from Canada.
A highly popular lyricist of his times, Himayat Ali Shair, the darling of the younger crowd due to his romantic poetry in his heyday, made his debut in the literary world in the early 1950s in Karachi. He came to Pakistan in late 1948 from Hyderabad Deccan. Extremely popular at mushairas, Himayat Ali Shair has also made a name for himself in the film industry as his poems were used by music directors. He later produced a few films, Lori being one of them. He was a close friend of the late actor Muhammad Ali with whom he had worked in Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad.
In a witty welcome address by the secretary of the Library and Literary Committee, Sabir Badar Jaffery, pointing to Sahar Ansari and journalist Mahmood Shaam, said “Sahar and shaam can never be together, but we have them here at the same time.”
Sahar Ansari, speaking on the occasion, said Himayat Ali Shair began his career as a radio artiste and also taught at Sindh University. His writings carry emotional, romantic and philosophic views which have impacted his life tremendously. He believes the world to be a global village which can be seen in his books 'Bengal sai Korea' and 'Harf harf akhir'.
”Himayat Ali Shair feels that this country has given us so much that we should give back to it as well. His book 'Aina dar aina', which is actually a long poem, is about his life and people who reflect their times such as Abdul Latif Bhitai, Marvi and Sassi. He has also introduced a poem genre known as salasi which consists of three lines which poet Gulzar in India has introduced as tarwini.”
Faiz and Maulvi Abdul Haq have been sources of inspiration for Himayat Ali Shair. Extremely popular as a poet, PhDs have been done on him in Pakistan and India and his poems have been translated into different languages, one of them being Zeest mushkil hai issay aur bhee mushkil na bana. Sahar Ansari further stated that Himayat Ali Shair is a very kind and caring person with a sense of humour which reflects in his children as well. The poet now worries where Urdu is heading and how it will evolve in later years as it is losing its depth.
Invited on stage to speak about his views and recite a few of his poems by Ambreen Saqib, the conductor of the programme, Himayat Ali Shair who was visibly moved by the accolades showered on him, said he was still in the learning process just like a student, age and experience making no difference. “Times are changing fast and we have to go with it, there are things you don't like but you can't do anything about it. The style of mushairas has changed completely. I was in this country for 55 years and I had to leave because my children live abroad. The world is a global village now and we live together, especially poets and writers,” said the poet.
He then proceeded to read out his poems reflecting the different periods of his time. His such poems as Madir-i-watan ka noha and Mazaarie-Quaid landed him in trouble with the rulers and cost him his job.
“In between the dictatorships when democracy was practised, it wasn't actually a true democracy,'' he said. The poet recited some of his poems in tarannum to the delight of the audience, and ended the programme with his poem Zeest mushkil hai, issay aur bhi mushkil na bana.