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May 27, 2015
Urdu Academy pays tribute to Shakeeb Jalali
[Report in Urdu by Kausar Saiyed]
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The Urdu Academy of North America dedicated its May 17, 2015 literary event to the life and work of prominent Urdu poet Shakeeb Jalali. The event, held at Chandni Restaurant, Fremont/Newark CA, was chaired by a renowned visiting poet from Pakistan, Nazir Qaiser.
[Picture shows from left: Tashie Zaheer, President of the Urdu Academy, poet Nazir Qaiser visiting from Pakistan and MC Arshad Rahid,]
Poet Arshad Rashid was MC of the session. He presented a well-researched maqala on the life and work of Shakeeb Jalali who was born as Syed Hassan Rizvi on October 1, 1934 .
As usual, a number of Urdu enthusiasts recited Shakeeb Jalali's poetry: Ahmar Shehwaar, Dr. Priya Satia, Hatim Rani, Irshad Khan, Jafar Shah, Khalid Rana, Lubna Manzar, Moiz Khan, Nagesh Avadhany, Salman Siddiq, Suhail Zaidi, Tasadduq Attari, Zafar Shah, Zeeshan Abbasi and Abdus Sattar Ghazali.
Shakeeb Jalali's ancestors were from a small town, Saddat Jalali, near Aligarh, India. He was the only child and was hardly ten when his mother died in an accident, a few months later his father also passed away leaving him all on its own and a new series of hardships clouded Jalali’s life.
He passed his Matriculation Examination from Badayun (Uttar Pradesh) and then moved along with his sisters to Rawalpindi. He passed Intermediate Examination from Rawalpindi and B.A. Examination from Sialkot.
Shakeeb Jalali arranged publication of different Urdu magazines, worked in many literary magazines and later moved to Lahore. Owing to economical crises, Jalali joined Thal Development Authority and was posted at Joharabad and Bhakkar. 
His life as a poet began in 1947 when he was only 15 years old. Despite all the hassles that kept him occupied he somehow always spared time for poetry. However, none of his work got published in his life. He shared his work with a few peers, but could never get the due recognition.
Agonized and disappointed with his life Shakeeb Jalali committed suicide on railway track on November 12, 1966. He was married in 1956 and left behind a son Syed Hussain Aqdas Rizvi (Aali) and a daughter Hina Batool.
His poetry work was published after his death: Rooshni Ay Rooshni in 1972 by Maktaba-e-Fanoon and several additions by Mavara Publications and Kuliyat e Shakeb Jalali in 2004 by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore.
Shakeb is perhaps the most underrated poet in the Urdu language. Poets like Irtikhar Arif And Adeem Hashmi are found paying high tributes to Shakeb in their reviews but other than that Shakeb is one of those names which got suppressed more than anything for being too attractive.
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