Rahat Indori

Rahat Indori

Rahat Indori (1 January 1950 – 11 August 2020) was an Indian Bollywood lyricist and Urdu language poet.^[1] He was also a former professor of Urdu language and a painter.^[2] Prior to this he was a pedagogist of Urdu literature at Devi Ahilya University, Indore. He died on 11 August 2020 in a hospital from cardiac arrest.^[3] He was tested positive for infection with coronavirus just a night prior to his death.

Famous Urdu poet Rahat Indori, whose powerful and lucid poetry filled halls and connected with the young and old alike, died of a heart attack at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Tuesday while being treated for COVID-19, his son said. He was 70.

Rahat Indori was that rare poet who was easily connected with the young generation.

In fact, his lines, delivered in a trademark expressive style, almost teasing as it were, were very popular with Tik-Tok users and those who did not even care or understand Urdu poetry.

Earlier this year, his poem "Bulati hai magar jane ka nahi" went viral on social media, making him a sensation among the youth.

Memes using the poem's opening lines flooded social media during Valentine's Day.

"He was a giant for me. He was a great Urdu scholar. He was a fearless voice of our times. He said whatever he wanted to say fearlessly, always. If you have to compare a western rockstar to anyone that would be Rahat saab. People used to sit till 3 in the morning to listen to him in mushairas. If he read his poem a bit early, the halls would empty out," Mr Kirkire told PTI, calling his death a huge loss to Indian literature.