Naresh Kumar Shad – Great Urdu Poet who lost his fight to alcoholism in his early 40s

Naresh Kumar Shad was a great Urdu poet who lived in the 20^th century (1927 – 1969). He authored several popular ghazals, other forms of poetry like Qat’aa and Rubai. Shad Namah, Lalkar, Dastak, Shad aur uski Shayari, Qashen and Wijdan are among his published collections. Though liquor remained his catalyst and inspiration to write several thoughtful poems, this addiction took away his life at a young age of 42 and also left him penniless.

Naresh Kumar Shad was born in Ahiyapur, Urmar Tanda, British India. Now his birthplace is a part of Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. His father Nauhariya Ram Dard Nakodari was an Urdu journalist and poet, who taught young Naresh Urdu and Persian languages. As a government servant he was initially posted at Rawalpindi and later transferred to Jalandhar. He published his first collection of Urdu poems – Dastak in 1950 at a local publisher while working at Jalandhar. The book turned popular in the local Urdu circle, and his work got recognized at a young age of 22. From there on, he published several ghazals, Qat’aa and Rubai.

Naresh Kumar Shad – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He was a master of Qat’aa and Rubai, comparing ghazals. However his works in ghazal earned him more recognition. He was also interested in prose.

2. His talent was very much compared to his contemporary poet and Bollywood lyricist from Punjab, Sahir Ludhianvi.

3. He worked in government sector, and was also a journalist.

4. Initially he used the penname ‘Shad Nakodari’ which signifies his birthplace, Nakodar. However he later removed ‘Nakodari’ tag and kept ‘Shad’ only.

5. He got recognized as a shayar at a very young age of 22, and within the short-lived life of two decades as a poet, he contributed so many Urdu poems.

6. He was married and had one son. However he was fully addicted to liquor. He had multiple diseases at a young age and didn’t have enough money for treatment.

7. He was quite active in the mushairas (poetic gatherings) which was attended by many celebrated poets of his time. Being alcoholic, he was not so attached to other poets, and didn’t fully attend mushairas most time.

8. He was only 42 years old when he left this world. We celebrate his 50^th death anniversary in 2019.