Send us a textAhmad Nadeem Qasmi, a leading figure in modern Urdu literature, was born in 1916 near Sargodha. After earning his master's degree, he worked in the Reform Commissioner’s office in Lahore in 1936. During the 1940s, his friendship with Manto inspired him to write scripts for films, but none of those films came to fruition. Following the Partition, he worked briefly as a scriptwriter for Radio Pakistan in Peshawar. Soon after, he joined the editorial board of the reputed journal ‘Savera’ and was elected Secretary General of the Progressive Writers Association, Pakistan. Because of his anti-establishment attitude, he was arrested and imprisoned for seven months. In 1963, he launched his journal, ‘Funoon,’ which remained one of the most prestigious literary journals until the end. Qasmi achieved great success as a poet and a short story writer. He published nearly 50 books of short fiction, poetry, and literary criticism. The government of Pakistan conferred on him the highest civilian honors. Qasmi passed away in July 2006.Gulzar had a close personal relationship with Qasmi and affectionately called him ‘Baba.’ He dedicated a short opening poem to ‘Baba’ in his poetry collection ‘Raat Pashmiine Ki.’jis tarah tan jhulasti garmi meinthande dariya mein dubkiyaan le kardil ko raahat naseeb hoti haiaisa hi itminaan hota haiek achhi si nazm ko padh kar!lagta hai zindagi ke dariya meinek taari laga ke nikle hainruuh kaisi nihaal hoti hai!! Just as the body finds comfort from the scorching heat, by plunging into a cold river, so does the heart find solace in reading a well-crafted poem!It feels as though we have come out after the absorption in the river of life.How joyful the soul becomes!![Trans. by Surinder Deol]

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