Urdu poet Iftikhar Hussain, better known by his pen name Muztar Khairabadi, was born in Khairabad in 1928. In 2015, his grandson, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar released a collection of poems by Khairabadi.
According to reports, none of Khairabadi’s poems were published during his lifetime and most of his work was lost over time. On the other hand, Javed Akhtar’s work has been carefully documented, with the poet having been conferred with a number of awards and accolades for his poetry – including the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, a Sahitya Akademi award as well as five National Film awards.
Here’s a look at poems from the grandfather-grandson duo that experiment with the same themes:
On Love
On Self Introspection
On Time
On Childhood
On Heartbreak
Translation: Aaqib Raza Khan
Design: Rhythum Seth
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