Indore: From the little boy sharing his thoughts in melody in Ranipura, Indore to one the greatest Urdu poets aka Shayar, Rahat Indori died on Tuesday afternoon, after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
Born to Rafatullah Qureshi, a cloth mill worker and Maqbool Un Nisa Begum, he grew up in Ranipura.
Fascinated with Urdu language, Indori grew up learning and using the language in day-to-day communication. As he passed the phase of a rebellious teenager and became a hopeful youth, it was usual to spot him with his friends sharing his thoughts in Shayari in front of shops in Ranipura.
Indori looked like any other youngster until he recited his poems and dazzled the listener’s mind.
To polish his skills, he completed schooling from Nutan School Indore and graduation from Islamia Karimia College, Indore.
Indori did MA in Urdu literature from Barkatullah University, Bhopal and was later was awarded a PhD in Urdu literature from the Bhoj University of Madhya Pradesh in 1985 for his thesis titled Urdu Main Mushaira.
About 25 years back, Indori moved from Ranipura to Shri Nagar Extension and continued to live there till his last breath. He lost his brother last year, who rests in peace at the mosque in Press Complex.
Controversy was in his blood. In a poem, he would talk about patriotism and love for India and in others, challenge the country for shortcomings.
Even as he struggled with coronavirus and enforced lockdown to control its spread, Indori gave multiple opinions about it. To one of his friends, he talked about dying rather than living in restrictions.
To another famous poet Kumar Vishwas, Indori expressed the will to live on.
