Neeraj

Gopaldas Saxena known by his pen name .. Neeraj was an Indian poet & author of Hindi literature. He was born on 4 Jan. 1925 in Puravali, India & died on 19 July 2018 aged 93 in Delhi, India.

He was awarded the Padma shri in 1991 & Padma Bhushan in 2007.

After the deaths of Jaikishan & SD Burman ,for whom he had written popular film songs, his career came to an end. He became depressed & failed to write.

A gentle person, anybody who met him wouldn’t forget him easily. His songs are of different genre, from the ‘Mera naam Jokar’ “Ae bhai jara dekh ke chalo’ to the unforgettable “Prem Pujari’. ‘Phoolan ke rang se ‘ & Rangila re.. ‘

As the back story goes, Dev Anand had asked him to start the song with ‘Rangila re..’ During the night Neeraj came up with the beautiful song. ‘Rangila re.., tere rang mein yu ranga hai mera mann, Chaaliya re.., na buzi hai kisi jaal se ye jalan…

With his mastery on Hindi & Urdu he came up with verses like ..

Shokhiyo mein ghola jaye poolon ka shabab, usme fir milayi jaye thodisi sharab, hoga yu nasha jo taiyaar, woh pyaar hai…’

Take a fair amount of mischief, some mirth & jokes in liberal showers

get the surge of he ocean from a coral reef,

and mix radiance of flowers Then add a small measure of liquor, the state of giddy stupor

That you get from all the above is what we call love!

Very rarely would one find the definition of love than this! It is barely translated, but so much is lost in translation! The very gist of the original Urdu words!!!

But I hope you get the general idea of his talent & unique usage of words!!!!

All the songs from ‘Sharmilee’ ‘Aaj madhosh hua jaaye re, mera mann.. , from ‘Gambler ‘ ‘Chudi nahin ye mera dil hai… or ‘Mera man tera pyaasa.. declaration of love never so enchanting & bold.

‘Tere Mere Sane’ ‘Jaise Radha ne mala japi Shyam ki.. song beautiful, pictured beautifully. ‘Ek maine kasam li, ek tune kasam li.. in the love story the song brings them closer & at par with each other.

We lost the Doyen of Hindi Poetry. Nay, our very words have left us. Uncared for. Alone.