The departed: Perveen Shakir remembered

ISLAMABAD:

Yesterday, 19 years ago, Perveen Shakir of “Khushboo” fame passed away but for her friends and fans, the fragrance of her poetry still remains in the city’s winter air, said her close friends.

Friends, poets and members of the Perveen Shakir Memorial Trust (PSMT) attended a ceremony at H-8 Graveyard to mark Shakir’s death anniversary on Thursday here.

Shakir died in a car accident in Islamabad in 1994, aged 42.

Shakir’s well-wishers laid a floral wreath on her grave and offered prayers. The Pakistan Post in Lahore launched a commemorative stamp for Shakir the same evening.

Before her death, Shakir was recognized as an accomplished poet. Her first and the most popular book, “Khushboo” (Fragrance) was published in 1976. Later, Shakir, who was also a civil servant, published four more books. She also published a collection of her poetry by the title “Mah-e Tammam” (The Full Moon).

Parveen Qadir Agha, a former federal secretary and PSMT chairperson said “she was a great friend. She got well-deserved appreciation during her lifetime and the admirers of her poetry have not reduced after her death.”

Agha said she once requested Shakir to write a “sehra” — a poem sung in praise of a bridegroom — for her nephew’s wedding. Shakir at first felt it was a strange request but then Shakir arrived at the wedding with a beautiful sehra poem that everyone loved.

“She did it for friendship’s sake even though it might have meant making a compromise on her principles,” Agha said. Three books on Shakir’s life and poetry are expected to be launched at the annual session of the trust in February in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2013.