The worldwide Centenary celebrations of the famous Urdu Poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz were held in 2011-12 with the entire world paying tributes to his unique poetic genius that has kept his verse as fresh as the morning dew even more than a hundred years after his birth.And it shows no signs of fading away from the hearts of poetry lovers the world over.
His poetry is beyond boundaries and rules over the hearts of lovers of verse.Faiz had a vital connection with the Doon valley through three people.
Faiz has lived and will live on in the hearts of millions of poetry lovers across the world. s Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born on February 13 in Sialkot in pre-Partition Punjab..It was indeed a fortunate and auspicious day for the world of poetry. He grew up surrounded by literature with a father who was a friend to many writers, including Muhammad Iqbal. His schooling took him to lahore where he studied Arabic and English literature.
When he began teaching at the M.A.O College in Amritsar, Faiz made friends with Mahmood –uz-Zafar,the college principal, and his wife, Dr.Rasheed Jahan,who were from Dehra Dun. Due to their influence, Faiz was attracted to the Progressive movement and became the founding member and secretary of the Punjab branch of the PWA. Mahmud uz Zafar invited Faiz to help in the ‘technical’ matters such as finding addresses for authors, writing letters and preparing copies of the manifesto. The fact that Faiz was well versed in Poetry and literature, that he knew most Punjabi authors and poets well and that he himself was ‘to some extent’ a poet pleased Mahmud Uz zafar no end. He showed Faiz the Manifesto and explained the plans of Sajjad Zaheer and the ‘founders’ upon which Faiz agreed, whole heartedly, to help in whatever way he could.
After her short story “Dilli ki Sair” (A Tour of Delhi) and play Parde ke Piche (Behind the Veil) appeared in the Urdu anthology Angare in 1931, Rasheed Jahan shot into prominence. She also wrote several plays, including adaptations of works by Anton Chekhov, Munshi Premchand, and James Joyce.
The genesis of the movement was the 1932 publication of a collection of ten Urdu short stories, Angaray, by four young writers, Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmad Ali,Mahmud uz zafar and Rasheed Jahan. The movement’s guiding light was, undoubtedly, Sajjad Zaheer,
Both were were among the pioneers of progressive writers' movement in India. Faiz was greatly influenced by them and became an active member of the association. So the second part of Naqsh-e-Faryadi depicts the change in his thinking that came with his coming into contact with progressive writers. Thus begins the period of Faiz's poetry with a purpose.
But Doon’s “Faiz connection” did not end with the death of Mahmood-uz Zafar and Rashid Jahan. It carries on till today due to a very interesting development , an almost spiritual link between the Saiduzzafar family of Dehra Dun and the great poet .This link exists even now. The link is none other than a dignified, graceful and amazingly brilliant lady called Dr.Sarvat Rahman. She was a close friend and neighbour of the family of Mahmood-uz-Zafar in the good old days of the Doon valley (1920s to 1950s).
Her volume “100 Poems By Faiz Ahmed Faiz” was brought out in 2002 and remains one of the most sought –after publications by lovers of the Urdu language and poetry.It brought Faiz close to the hearts of those who do not read the Urdu script but are keen to read it in Roman script and translations.
Interestingly ,this volume is dedicated “to the memory of Hamida, Rashida Apa and Mahmud.” Hamida was Mahmuduzzafar’s sister and Sarvat’s best friend.
Sarvat Rahman ,Doon valley’s living legend, was a 16 year old girl in 1941 , a young student of lady Hardinge Medical College. Her friend Hamida , who belonged to Dehra Dun, told her that Faiz was in
Delhi with her brother Mahmuduzaffar and sister in law Rashid Jahan. Sarvat went to meet him and he gave her his first book-Naqsh-e-Fariyadi”.
She first translated his poems into French and then from French to English. She was practicing as a medical doctor in France for many years before returning home to the Doon valley and settling in to her translations of Urdu poetry around thirty years ago.