One of the greatest Urdu poets of 20th century, Kaifi Azmi remained mostly unknown to English readers and known only in later days as the father of Shabana Azmi, the renowned Indian actress. But to the discerning Urdu reader, not just Kaifi but his lady-love Shaukat had also been a matter of lore.
The magnificent love story of revolutionary poet Kaifi Azmi and his lady love Shaukat, was strewn together by Shaukat later through her myriad memories of the 50 years spent together. The book was in Urdu, but later translated as 'Kaifi and I' by Nasreen Rehman and was launched this year by the writer's daughter Shabana Azmi.
Born to a family of landlords in Majwan in the district of Azamgarh, UP, Kaifi Azmi was fortunate in
having a liberal and modern father. His father took up a job as a tahsildar in various small towns in
Uttar Pradesh. Although his fater wanted Kaifi to have a modern "English" education, pressure from
relatives who wanted him to be a theologian saw him admitted to the Sultan-ul-Madris seminary in
Lucknow. He soon ran into trouble with the authorities there, organizing a union and launching a
strike which ran one-and-a-half years. Once the strike was called off, Kaifi Azmi was expelled and
there ended his relatives' ambitions. Denied the kind of education he and his father wanted,
Kaifi Azmi took courses at Lucknow and Allahabad universities that helped him acquire a command
over Urdu, Arabic and Persian.
Although his initial work was in the familiar lovelorn style of ghazals and the established themes of Urdu poetry in general, his leftist ideas gave birth to a rich vein of socially conscious and inspiring poetry. Kaifi's involvement with the Communist Party lead to his association with the Indian People's Theatre Association of which he remained an active member, and even served as a President. He encouraged new writers and had their plays performed at Bhulabhai Desai hall, for Communist Party fund raisers.
Shaukhat arried Kaifi Azmi. They had two children together, Shabana Azmi (b. 1950), and Baba Azmi. She was more of an actres working with the Indian People's Theatre Association.
The magnificent love story of revolutionary poet Kaifi Azmi and his lady love Shaukat, was strewn together by Shaukat later through her myriad memories of the 50 years spent together. The book was in Urdu, but later translated as 'Kaifi and I' by Nasreen Rehman and was launched this year by the writer's daughter Shabana Azmi.
Although his initial work was in the familiar lovelorn style of ghazals and the established themes of Urdu poetry in general, his leftist ideas gave birth to a rich vein of socially conscious and inspiring poetry. Kaifi's involvement with the Communist Party lead to his association with the Indian People's Theatre Association of which he remained an active member, and even served as a President. He encouraged new writers and had their plays performed at Bhulabhai Desai hall, for Communist Party fund raisers.
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