Gopaldas Saxena (known by his ''nom-de-plume'', Neeraj; 4 January 1925 – 19 July 2018) was an
Indian poet and author of
Hindi literature
Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...
. He was also a poet of Hindi Kavi sammelan (Poets Meet). He wrote under the pen name "Neeraj".
Biography
Gopaldas Saxena was born in the village of Puravali, near
Mahewa
Mahewa is a village in Etawah district, in the Uttar Pradesh State, this was the first block of Independent India in 1950 with the name of Agrami Vikas Yojana by General lord Mayor, and a pea processing plant was established here with the help ...
in
Etawah district
Etawah district is one of the Districts of Uttar Pradesh, districts in the western portion of Uttar Pradesh States and territories of India, state of India. Etawah town is the district headquarters. The district covers an area of 2311 km. ...
of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, India, on 4 January 1925. He was born into a Hindu family of the
Kayastha
Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Ka ...
caste.
Besides writing, he earned his living teaching in a college and was a Professor of Hindi Literature in Dharma Samaj College, Aligarh.
Around 2012, Neeraj was the chancellor of
Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Several poems and songs written by Neeraj have been used in Hindi movies. He wrote songs for several Hindi films and was proficient in both
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
and
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
. In a television interview, Neeraj called himself an unlucky poet who had to concentrate on the poetry form instead of writing songs for films. His career as a film lyricist ended when he became depressed by the deaths of some of the film music directors with whom he had worked. He noted in particular the deaths of Jaikishan of the music duo
Shankar–Jaikishan, and
S. D. Burman, for both of whom he had written highly popular film songs.
He was awarded the
Padma Shri
The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
in 1991
and
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...
in 2007.
Neeraj died, aged 93, on 19 July 2018 in New Delhi. He had been admitted to hospital with a lung infection.
Filmography
Some of the popular film songs written by Neeraj include:
References
External links
*
Get All Poems of Gopaldas Neeraj at Hindi Sahitya गोपाल दस नीरज- कविताकोश Gopaldas Neeraj at Kavita Kosh
C.M. announces Rs. 20 lakh assistance for Gopaldas Neeraj FoundationLife and work of Neeraj
भारतीय साहित्य संग्रह में नीरज की कृतियाँ
An account from the Atlanta appearance by the poet Neeraj which took place in October 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neeraj, Gopal Das
1925 births
2018 deaths
Hindi-language poets
Hindi-language writers
Indian male songwriters
Indian songwriters
Hindi-language lyricists
20th-century Indian writers
People from Etawah
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education
People from Aligarh
20th-century Indian male writers
Indian lyricists