03 March: Firaq Gorakhpuri’s death anniversary

"बहुत पहले से उन क़दमों की आहट जान लेते हैं तुझे ए ज़िन्दगी, हम दूर से पहचान लेते हैं
'फ़िराक' अक्सर बदल कर भेस मिलता है कोई काफ़िर कभी हम जान लेते हैं कभी पहचान लेते हैं " - Firaq Gorakhpuri

Raghupati Sahay (b. 28 August 1896 – d. 3 March 1982), better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was a writer, critic and one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets of India. Born to a family of aristocrats, Firaq had a taste of Urdu poetry at very tender age. He started writing poetry in Urdu in teens and developed his own niche. He established himself among peers including Muhammad Iqbal, Yagana Changezi, Jigar Moradabadi and Josh Malihabadi. He was selected for the Provincial Civil Service (P.C.S.) and the Indian Civil Service (I.C.S.), but he resigned to follow Mahatma Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement, for which he went to jail. Later, he joined Allahabad University as a lecturer in English literature. It was there that he wrote most of his Urdu poetry, including his magnum opus Gul-e-Naghma which earned him the highest literary award of India, the Jnanpith Award, and also the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu. He was awarded Padma Bhusan award in 1968.