Parveen Shakir being remembered today
The 18th death anniversary of renowned poet Parveen Shakir is being observed today (Wednesday).
ISLAMABAD: Parveen Shakir was an Urdu poetess‚ teacher and a civil servant of the Government of Pakistan. Parveen Shakir was born on 24th November 1952 in Karachi.
She was highly educated. She received two undergraduate degrees‚ one in English literature and the other in linguistics‚ and obtained MA degrees in the same subjects from the University of Karachi. She also held a PhD‚ and another MA degree in Bank Administration.
In 1982‚ Shakir qualified the Central Superior Services Examination. In 1991‚ she obtained an MA degree in Public Administration from Harvard University‚ USA.
Shakir started writing at an early age and published her first volume of poetry‚ “Khushbu” in 1976. She subsequently published other volumes of poetry - all well-received “Sad-barg” in 1980‚ “Khud Kalami” and “Inkar” in 1990‚ “Kaf e Aina” besides a collection of her newspaper columns‚ titled “Gosha-e-Chashm” and was awarded one of Pakistan s highest honours‚ the Pride of Performance for her outstanding contribution to literature. The poetry books are collected in the volume “Mah e Tamam” with the exception of “Kaf e Aina”.
Shakir started writing at a young age‚ penning both prose and poetry‚ and contributing columns in Urdu newspapers‚ and a few articles in English dailies. Initially‚ she wrote under the pen-name‚ "Beena".
She was a teacher for nine years before she joined the Civil Service and worked in the Customs Department. In 1986 she was appointed the second secretary‚ CBR in Islamabad.
Shakir married a Pakistani doctor‚ Naseer Ali‚ with whom she had a son‚ Syed Murad Ali-but the marriage did not last long and ended in a divorce.
On Dec 26th‚ 1994‚ Shakir s car collided with a bus while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death‚ a great loss to the Urdu poetry world. The road on which the accident took place is named after her.
