Soulful poetry endeared the poet-lyricist to masses

Vandana Shukla

Poets are immortalised in collective public memory. They don’t die. Lyricist Nida Fazli (born in 1938), whose real name was Mukhtda Hassan, died of heart failure in Mumbai on Monday. His simple, layered dohe (couplets), geet, nazm and ghazals are hummed by connoisseurs and commoners alike. Infused with philosophy of life, the simple but lucid use of Hindi and Urdu words enriched his expression and made Nida a household name in India and neighbouring countries.

Kashmir is where the lyricist's ancestors hailed from and Nida means voice. It was the velvety vocal chords of the late ghazal singer Jagjit Singh that dressed Nida's words in musical soirees to have them stamped in public memory. Ironically, it was on Jagjit Singh’s birth anniversary that Nida breathed his last. Nida’s father too was an Urdu poet who migrated to Pakistan during Partition in 1947. But Nida stayed back.

He started writing at an early age, from his days of graduation at Gwalior College. Search for work took him to Mumbai, where he started writing for weekly magazines ‘Dharmayug’ and ‘Blitz’. His simple yet soulful style attracted filmmakers and writers at mushairas and kavi sammelans.

Stating his love for poetry in an interview, he once said he was deeply influenced by the colloquial simplicity of Meera, Surdas and Kabir's poetry. Critical of the flowery language of traditional poets, he wrote critical essays in the 60s on contemporary poets in his book ‘Mulaqatein’, enraging established poets such as Sahir Ludhianvi, Ali Sardar Jafri and Kaifi Azmi.

As a result, he was boycotted and kept out of poets' gatherings. Things began to improve when filmmaker Kamal Amrohi approached him after Nisar Akhtar, songwriter for his film 'Razia Sultana' (1983), died before completing the project. Nida wrote the final two songs which caught the attention of other filmmakers.

In times when film songs vanish like a bubble, his lyrics "Kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahin milta, kahin zameen to kahin aasman nahin milta", " Hoshwalon ko khabar kya zindagi kya cheez hai" and "Apni marzi se kahan apne safar ke hum hain" have retained their popularity for decades.

It was with the release of Jagjit Singh’s album ‘Insight’ in the 90s that Nida became a much-sought-after name with his seamless use if colloquial Urdu and Hindi phrases beautifully depicting India's composite culture. His attendance at mushairas and kavi sammelans attracted poetry lovers in droves, who would complete lines of his couplets from memory. Nida was a Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi awardee.

Collection of works
Lafzon ke phool
Mor naach
Aankh aur khwab ke darmiyaan
Safar mein dhoop to hogi
Khoya hua sa kuch