Saghar Siddiqui
| Sagar Siddiqui sagar was also a prisoner of some time ساغر صدیقی | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Muhammad Akhtar 1928 Ambala, British India |
| Died |
19 July 1974 (aged 46) Lahore, Pakistan |
| Pen name | Sagar |
| Occupation | Urdu poet |
| Genre | Ghazal, Nazm, Free verse |
Muhammad Akhtar (Born Muhammad Akhtar محمد اختر ) (1974–1928) (pseudonym Saghar Siddiqui Urdu:ساغر صدیقی) was an Urdu poet from Pakistan. In spite of his ruined and homeless alone life, he remained famous and successful till and after his death. Saghar is also known as a saint and when he died, he left nothing but a pet, his dog, who also died on the same foot path where Saghar died a year earlier.[1][2][3]
Biography
Siddiqui was born in 1928 in Ambala (British India) to a well-to-do middle-class family.[4][5] 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.[6]
Siddiqui was the only child of his parents and spent the early years of his life in Ambala and Saharanpur سہارنپور (UP, India). He was home tutored and received his early education from Habib Hassan حبیب حسن, 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.[5] 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.[7] 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.[5] 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.[5][8]
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.[5]
In early 1974, Siddiqui was found dead on a street corner of Lahore.[5]
Death
On 19 July 1974, he was found dead on a roadside in Lahore near alfalah building the mall, at the age of 46.[9] 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.[5] Despite his shattered life, some of his verses (ash'aar) are among the best in Urdu poetry.[10]
Julien Columeau, a French writer in Pakistan, wrote the Urdu semi fictional novel Saghar based on Saghar Siddiqui's life.[11][12][13]
His mausoleum[14] at Miani Sahib graveyard[15] (Lahore) is marked with a commemorative shrine which was built later.[16]
References
- ↑ http://www.urdupoetry.com/siddiqui.html
- ↑ Video on YouTube
- ↑ http://www.urduchain.com/poetry/saghar/index.html
- ↑ http://www.pakistan.web.pk/threads/sagar-siddiqui-biography.5118/
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paracha, Nadeem (8 June 2014). "Saghar Siddiqui: A man, his demons and his dog" (Sunday Magazine). The Dawn. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ http://www.urduyouthforum.org/biography/Saghar_Siddiqui____biography.php
- ↑ http://dawn.com/2012/11/29/crazy-diamonds-iii/
- ↑ http://apna-karachi.info/saghar_siddiqui.html
- ↑ Video on YouTube
- ↑ Video on YouTube
- ↑ "French author in Pakistan writes in Urdu". The Asian Age. AFP. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ Javed, kazy. "A Word About Letters". Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ Columeau, Julien. Saghar. Lahore: Nigarshaat publishing house.
- ↑ "Photos – The grave of Saghar Siddiqui". sagarsiddiqui
.blogspot . Saghar Siddiqui Blog. Retrieved 9 June 2014. External link in.com |website=(help) - ↑ "A video of Faqeer Poet Saghar Siddiqui.فقیر شاعر ساغر صدیقی Shrine Miani Saib Lahore". Tune.pk. Tune.pk. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ "French author becomes Urdu novelist after coming to Pakistan". The Express Tribune with the International New York Times. AFP. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.