Parveen Shakir is one of the most famous female Urdu poetess of all time. Her fantasy and romantic style of lyrics makes her work worth reading again and again.
Biography
Parveen Shakir was a born talent.She was born on november 24th 1952 on monday early morning in Lady duffering hospital.Her mother’s name was Afzal un Nisa and father’s name was syed Shakir Hussain Zaidi.They named their Daughter Perveen Bano,a persian name meaning ‘Galaxy of Stars”.
She had only one sister named Nasreen Bano.She was her elder sister. Her sister was like her friend. Before going to school her education had been started. Her grandfather(Nana) Mr. Askari developed their interest toward poetry and knowledge.It was his hobby .He was A doctor by profession.
When she was three years old, she joined Islamia High School of Rizvia Colony.When in class three she jumped to class Five and joined her sister. The school went up to this class only.Then they were sent to “The Rising Sun” school in the Chaurangai.The school had been closed down within one year after their joining and they shifted to the “Rizvia Girls Secondary School”.Parveen Shakir always got first position in her class. When she was in class Eight she wrote her first article which was remarked by her teacher that it was from a “Mustaqbil ki Maroof Adiba”.
She started writing at a very early age. Her poetry powerfully and defiantly voiced the deeply suppressed emotions of women living in a society dominated by men and their rules.Shakir also contributed newspaper columns
Parveen mainly followed two poetry forms, one Ghazal and the other free verse. Her pen-name was Beena.
Her first collection, Khushboo, was published in 1977. Her fourth and last book, Inkaar, was published in 1990. In between, Sadburg and Khudkalami appeared. Another collection, Kafe-Aina, was published posthumously in 1996.
Literary figure Iftikhar Arif has praised Shakir for impressing “the young lot through her thematic variety and realistic poetry,” for adding “a new dimension to the traditional theme of love by giving expression to her emotions in a simple and pellucid style,” and using a “variety of words to convey different thoughts with varying intensities.
Her Books
Khusbu (1976) – Fragrance
Sad-barg (1980) – Marsh Marigold
Khud kalaami(1990) – Talking to the Self
Inkaar (1990) – Refusal
Maah-e-Tamaam (1994) – Full Moon
Kaf-e-Aa’ina – The Edge of the Mirror
Prose
Gosha-e-Chash
Awards and achievements
She was awarded one of Pakistan’s highest honours, the “Pride of Performance” for her outstanding contribution to literature.Her first award was the Adamjee Award for her book Khushboo.
Early life and Education
She was an outstanding student throughout and was highly educated. She received two undergraduate degrees, one in English Literature and the other in linguistics, and obtained MA degrees in the same subjects.She also held a PhD degree.
She taught English literature for nine years at Abdullah College in Karachi before joining the civil services. During her government service, she earned scholarships and pursued studies in the West.She did MA from Harvard university.
She had a habbit of not wearing shoes.She would take off her chappals at all the times and would be invariably be loosing them. She retained this habbit throughout her life. She always took her shoes off when driving a car. Several years later on a rainy day she onced stopped outside a shoe shop in Jinnah Super Market, Islamabad blowing the horn desperately. The salesman ran outside and was asked to bring a pair of shoes to the car. He was amused and Obliged her immediately. She had dropped one shoe on the road somewhere and could not reach her next destination without it!
Marriage and Death
She was engaged to her cousin Dr. Naseer Ahmed in 1975 and got married in 1976.But their marriage ended in an early divorce.She had one son named Muradf Ali from him.
She was on her way to work when suddenly her car collided with a bus on 26 December 1994.The accident took place in Islamabad which took away her life.
During one of her trip to India she wanted to meet a well known palmist popular in celebrities.He forewarned Shakir that she would not be able to complete her fifth book, which she was working on at the time, and that she would die young,which proved to be true.She was 42 when the accident occured.Even the sky mourned on her death…..it was raining that day.