Poet Ahmad Rahi’s 8th death anniversary today

September 2 marks the 8th death anniversary of a legendary Punjabi poet and writer Ahmad Rahi. He was a recipient of the Pride of Performance, left for the world hereafter eight years ago on September 2, 2002, leaving behind a glowing trail of unforgettable melodies spanning over 1,900 songs and around 260 film scripts.

Ahmad Rahi was Born in the Eastern Punjab city of Amritsar on 12 November 1923. He wrote about the Partition of India. He also wrote hundreds of songs for films. His first book, Tarinjan, was published in 1952. It was a poetry book about the Partition of India.

His real name was Ghulam Ahmad but renowned poet Saif Uddin Saif, a very close fried and class fellow of the poet, asked him to have Ahmad Rahi as his name. The poet liked the name and was known by it till the end of his life.

After Intermediate, Rahi could not continue his studies due to financial constraints but Ahmad Rahi had many extraordinary achievements on his credit, besides being a great pillar of the Pakistani film Industry.

Another aspect of Rahi's poetry is the influence of Punjabi folk tales and folk music. The folk heroines Heer, Sahiban, Sohni all are present as living characters. Rahi got engaged in writing scripts and songs for movies. In his late 70s, Rahi no longer active in literary or film work.

Full report here Samaa