Awaz Bin Sayeed Bin Awaz Bin Jabir Bin Abdullah (3 March 1934 – 2 July 1995) ( ur, ) (pen name: Chaand, ), was a modern short-story writer, poet, playwright, Khaka-naveez and humorist from Hyderabad, India.

Early life and family

Awaz Sayeed was born on 3 March 1934 to Sayeed Bin Awaz Bin Jabir Bin Abdullah (father) and Noorunnissa Begum Al Khulaqi (mother). Awaz Sayeed was a Hadhrami Arab by descent belonging to a family of Hyderabad Deccan, with roots in

Mukallah Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east of ...

in Hadhramaut (present-day Yemen). He belongs to the Al-Musalli Clan of the Al-Yafai Tribe. His father served as State Financier under His Highness Sultan Omar bin Awadh Al Qu'aiti (Nawab Sir Jan-Baz Jung Bahadur K.C.I.E.) and His Highness Sultan Sir Saleh bin Ghalib Al Qu'aiti (Saif Nawaz Jung Bahadur). Sayeed completed his early education from Anwar-ul-Uloom High School. Thereafter, he passed out Matriculation from the City College in April 1948, Intermediate from the Chaderghat College in April 1952 and took enroled in Anwar-ul-Uloom College to pursue Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) but only completed the first year owing to his getting employment in the Food Corporation of India in 1954. Awaz Sayeed married Kaneez Fatima in 1960.

Literary career

Sayeed's first Urdu afsana ''Jeetey Jaagtey'' was published in 1949 in ''Nizam-e-Lahore''. Thereafter, several of his stories have been published in Urdu magazines of the Indian Sub-continent. He also wrote humorous works including ''Shaqsi-Khaka-Nigari'' (life-sketches) in which he portrayed known personalities of

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and ''nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of t ...

. Awaz Sayeed's stories have been translated into English, Hindi, and Malayalam. Some English translations of his Urdu short stories have been included in at least two recent English compilations of translated works by Urdu writers of the Indian Sub-Continent. The first book ''Despairing voices: a collection of modern Urdu short stories'' edited and translated by Syed Sarwar (Satyam Publishing House, 2011) includes his four Urdu short stories ''Raat Wala Ajnabi'' ('The Night's Stranger'), ''Udaas Nasal Ka Aakhri Aadmi'' ('Last Man of the Melancholic Race'), ''Andha Kunwan'' ('Dry Well') and ''Coma''. The second book ''New Urdu Writings: From India and Pakistan'' by Rakhshanda Jalil (Westland Ltd, 2013) includes the story ''Chubhan'' ('Pin-Prick'). The 1998 M.Phil thesis of Nusrat Jahan is titled ‘Awaz Sayeed Ki Shaqsiyat Aur Fan’ (عوض سید - شخصیت اور فن) and the 2006 M. Phil thesis by Aliya Maqsood is titled 'Awaz Sayeed Ba Haisiyat Khaka Nigar' (عوض سید - بحیثیت خا کہ نگار).

Books

Awaz Sayeed wrote seven books: six of them short stories: ''Sai Ka Safar'' (1969), ''Teesra Mujasamma'' (1973), ''Raat Wala Ajnabi'' (1977), ''Kohe-Nida'' (1977), ''Benaam Mausamon Ka Nauha'' (1987) and ''Kuwaan Aadmi Aur Samandar'' (1993) and a book on ''khake'' (personality sketches) called ''Khake'' (1985). The second reprint of the book ''Khake'' was produced in 2006 by his son

Ausaf Sayeed Ausaf Sayeed (born 18 September 1963) is an Indian diplomat, belonging to Indian Foreign Service of 1989 batch. He is currently serving as the Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa & Overseas Indian Affairs) since March 2022. Career Sayeed is a c ...

in association with the Urdu Academy Jeddah. The book was released by Arjun Singh, the Minister of Human Resource Development,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, during a special function in Jeddah. In August 2009, Sayeed's published and unpublished works was published in two volumes titled ''Kuliyaat-e-Awaz Sayeed'' by his son Ausaf Sayeed, which was released by Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice-President of India. The book has been published by Educational Publishing House, New Delhi.

Death

Sayeed died on 2 July 1995, following a heart failure while on a visit to Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is buried at the Rosehill Cemetery, Peterson in Chicago.

External links

Awaz Sayeed’s Urdu Literature Page

Fascinating Sketches -- Arab News

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayeed, Awaz Hadhrami people Indian male short story writers Indian people of Yemeni descent Urdu-language short story writers Urdu-language poets from India 20th-century Indian Muslims Writers from Hyderabad, India 1930 births 1995 deaths Indian humorists 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian short story writers Writers from Andhra Pradesh Indian male poets 20th-century Indian male writers