Mareez, born Abbas Abdul Ali Vasi (22 February 1917 – 19 October 1983), was a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

poet, mainly popular for his Ghazals. He is popularly known as ''

Ghalib ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Kala Mahal, Agra, Maratha Confederacy , death_date = , death_place = Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, British India , occupation = Poet , language ...

of Gujarat''. He left studies in young age and started working in rubber shoe factory. Having been interested in poetry, he took up journalism but remained financially unstable throughout his life. He wrote Ghazals published in collections but many of his works remained uncredited which he sold during his financial difficulties. His popularity escalated after his death.

Early life

Abbas Vasi was born in a

Dawoodi Bohra The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, South ...

family on 22 February 1917 in Pathanwada area of Surat,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

to Abdul Ali and Amatullah Vasi. His father was a teacher in Madrasah Taiyabiyah School, Surat. He was third among eleven siblings. His mother died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

when he was young. He studied only till second grade as he was not interested in studies. Noticing his disinterest, his father discontinued his studies and sent him to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

to work. From young age, Abbas was interested in

Marsiya A marsiya ( fa, مرثیه) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious. Background The word ''Marsiya'' is derived from the Arabic word ...

s as his elder sister Rukhaiya used to recite Marasiyas written by

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Anis and Dabeer. He wrote his first poem on the first birthday of his cousin when he was fourteen years old. He used to go to Zhapa Bazar in Surat where the group of people interested in Urdu and Gujarati Ghazals gathered on regular basis. He met Ameen Azad (1913-1992) there whom he acknowledged as his teacher or ''Ustad''. Amin Azad named him, ''Mareez''.

Career

He went to Mumbai in 1932 and started working at Universal Rubber Works which manufactured rubber shoes. Though his earnings were not good he used to spend them on books. He fell in love with his cousin. His marriage proposal was rejected by her father because of his financial condition and habits of smoking and drinking. He was deeply shocked by the incident. He left the rubber shoe factory and started working as journalist. He also briefly worked as a salesman of bookseller, Shrafali and Sons, Bhindi Bazar, Bombay. He had edited a special edition of ''Gulshan-e-Dawoodi''. He worked briefly with ''Vatan'' and ''Matrubhumi'' dailies. ''Vatan'' stopped publishing following the Partition of India. He published ''Azaan'', ''Khushbu'' and ''Umeed'' magazines but they were stalled due to financial constraints. His friend and poet, Asim Randeri helped him and he presented his first ever Mushayara, recitation of Ghazals, on

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

in Mumbai in 1936. He also worked in ''Leela'', a magazine published by Randeri. He married his wife Sona in 1946 and uncle of his wife, Salehbhai Abdul Kader introduced him to

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and he participated in Quit India Movement in 1942. In 1960, he joined as an editor of ''Insaaf'', a weekly of Muslim

community which helped him stabilize financially. He was appointed by Sayyedna

Taher Saifuddin Taher Saifuddin (4 August 1888 – 12 November 1965), also known as Tahir Sayf al-Din, was the 51st and longest serving Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. Saifuddin adapted the modernisation in Western and European ideas, and establishe ...

, Dā'ī al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra. After death of Sayyedna, the weekly stalled so he returned to freelance journalism. In 1964, he was infected with tuberculosis and was admitted to Sarvoday Hospital,

Ghatkopar Ghatkopar (Pronunciation: �ʱaːʈkopəɾ is a suburb in eastern Mumbai. The area is served by the railway station on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the metro station on Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. History Ghatkopar in ...

for two months with monetary help of his admirer Pravin Pandya. In 1965, a wealthy person who wanted to be poet hired Mareez to write poems in his own pen name ''Tabeeb''. The book ''Dard'' was published in September 1966 causing uproar in literary circles and his admirers resulting in it being withdrawn from the market. He confined himself to his home in last two years. He was knocked down by speeding

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...

while crossing road just outside his home on 13 October 1983. He had multiple fractures in thigh. He was admitted to hospital in

, Mumbai and underwent successful surgery on 19 October 1983. He died on the same day following heart attack in the hospital. He was buried the next day at Kurla Dawoodi Bohra Kabrastan in Zarimari area.

Works

His pen name, ''Mareez'', literally means "a sick man". He wrote some

Nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' (). is significantly ...

and many Ghazals. In his financially difficult times, he sold his creation for which he was not credited. His first collection of Ghazals, Nazm and Muktak; ''Aagman'' was published in 1975. He dedicated it to Pravin Pandya. His second collection ''Nakshaa'' was published posthumously in 1984. Some of his poetry is published in ''Disha'' (1980) along with others. His complete works, ''Samagra Mareez'', was published by his son in 2012. It was edited by

Rajesh Vyas 'Miskin' Rajesh Vyas (Gujarati: રાજેશ વ્યાસ), better known by his pen name Miskin, is a Gujarati poet from India. Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, he completed his doctorate in Gujarati literature. He writes ghazal poetry and columns i ...

. His religious poetry was published in religious and social magazines. Some of them were later anthologized in ''Akidat'' (1991) edited by his son Mohsin Vasi and poet Gulamabbas 'Nashad'. He also partially translated Urdu poetry, '' Siqva Jawab E Siqva'' by Iqbal in Gujarati. He had also written two books, ''Mazloom-e-Karbala'' and ''Hurr'' dedicated to

Imam Hussain Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

which are not available in publication. Raeesh Maniar published his biography titled ''Mareez : Astitva Ane Vyaktitva''. It was later adapted into a play titled '' Mareez'', directed by

Manoj Shah Manoj Sakarchand Shah (born 5 February 1955) is an Indian theatre director, actor and producer known for his works in the Gujarati theatre. He has directed over 90 plays, such as one-man plays and biographical plays, in different genres . He is ...

Recognition

He was felicitated in 1970 and in 1981 by Mareez Sanman Samiti for his contributions. He was awarded

Premanand Suvarna Chandrak The Premanand Suvarna Chandrak or Premanand Gold Medal is a literary honour awarded every two years, though sometimes annually, to an established Gujarati writer in order to recognize and promote excellence in Gujarati writing. It is given by an in ...

posthumously in 1984.

Personal life

He was introduced to Sona in the 1940s and they fell in love. They married in 1946. His son Mohsin was born in 1947 and his daughter Lulua in 1952.

References