When Urdu Spoke of a Nation
Long confined in popular imagination to the delicate terrains of love and longing, Urdu poetry has often been misread as inward-looking, steeped in intimacy yet distant from the urgencies of the world.
Known for his huge contribution towards the enrichment of Urdu language, Abdul Qavi Desnavi was honoured by search engine Google with a doodle on his 87th birth anniversary on Wednesday.
The doodle showed Desnavi sitting in the middle and writing. The letters of the search engine were also given a calligraphic touch.
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An Indian Urdu language writer, critic, bibliographer and linguist, Desnavi, has contributed immensely towards the evolution of Urdu literature.
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In his five decades of literary career, he has authored a vast body of works covering fiction, biographies, poetry and anthologies.
Some of his noted works are “Sat Tehriren”, “Motala-E-Khotool”, “Ghalib” along with his writings on Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
Born in 1930 in Bihar’s Desna village, Desnavi, belonged to an erudite family.
He had a strong academic background. His primary education was in Arrah. He completed his graduation and post graduation from St. Xavier’s College Mumbai.
Later, he became a Professor in Saifia Post Graduate College in Bhopal. He was made the head of Urdu Department there.
He was a member of several literary and academic bodies.
Desnavi breathed his last on July 7, 2011 in Bhopal where he was living.
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