A sad day indeed

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The country on Friday remembered two personalities who played the marvelous and commendable role of forwarding Pakistan’s potential in arts. Celebrated Urdu poet Qateel Shifai and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan both left for their eternal abodes on July 11, 2001. Numerous gatherings witnessed speakers pay rich tributes to the famous poet. Attendees said that Qateel Shifai gave too much to Urdu poetry. He deciated his life and worked by mixing up nature, beauty and romance, creating beautiful montages in the process. Qateel Shifai was born on 24 December 1919 in Haripur, Hazara Division. He adopted Qateel Shifai as his pen name in 1938 under which he was known in the world of Urdu poetry. “Qateel” was his “takhallus” and “Shifai” was in honor of his ustaad Hakim Mohammed ‘Shifa’ whom he considered his mentor. In 1946, he was called to Lahore by Nazir Ahmed to work as the assistant editor of the monthly ‘Adab-e-Latif’, a literary magazine published since 1936. His first ghazal was published in the Lahore weekly ‘Star’, edited by Qamar Jalalabadi. In January 1947, Qateel was asked to pen the songs of a film by a Lahore-based film producer. The first film he penned the lyrics for was “Teri Yaad” (1948). He won numerous awards as a lyricist. Many of his poem collections were published, one amongst them being “Mutriba” which got him the highest literature award in Pakistan. Over 20 collections of verse and over 2,500 songs for Pakistani and Indian films were published. His poetry has been translated into numerous languages including Hindi, Gujarati, English, Russian and Chinese. Qateel Shifai received the ‘Pride of Performance Award’ in 1994 for his contribution to literature, ‘Adamjee Award’, ‘Naqoosh Award’, ‘Abbasin Arts Council Award’ and ‘Amir Khusro Award’ in India. He died on 11 July 2001 in Lahore. Shifai’s counterpart Ustad Salamat Ali Khan also left the world behind on July 11, robbing the country and the world of enormous talent. Born in 1934 in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, Salamat Ali Khan was introduced to classical music together with his elder brother Nazakat Ali Khan under the guidance of their father Ustad Vilayat Ali Khan at the tender ages of five and seven respectively. He was initially taught the basis of ‘dhrupad’ but later concentrated on learning ‘khayal’ due to its increasing popularity. It was only after two years of training that he made his debut at the prestigious Harballabh Mela in 1941. Salamat was already a perfect artiste in his boyhood. At Partition, Ustad Salamat and his family migrated to Pakistan and settled at Multan. After about a decade they moved once again, this time to Lahore, where they resumed their radio programs. In 1955 Nazakat-Salamat were invited to the All India Music Conference in Calcutta. They were the only artistes of the subcontinent to be booked consecutively for 10 years at the Calcutta conferences. The 1965 war between India and Pakistan, however, put an abrupt end to that. In 1974 after some differences, the brothers parted ways and Salamat became something of a solo act. And he continued to shine, touring England, America, Holland, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Nepal and Singapore. In 1977, the government of Pakistan awarded him the Pride of Performance as well as the Sitara-e-Imtiaz.
The end finally came on the 11th July 2001, the world of classical music losing a musical genius whose life was wholly dedicated to the cause of classical music.