Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui (1892–1977) was a noted

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 ...

writer and a professor at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

in India.

Literary life and style

Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui was born in 1892 in Mariyahu, Jaunpur in

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 ...

. He was one of the most distinguished

writers of the 20th century, known for his unique style of expressing himself in speech as well as in his writings. He was not only a satirist and a humorist, but also a critic, a biographer, a writer of life-sketches and an accomplished essayist. Noted for his mild satire and humour, impressionistic criticism, a lively style of expression and an eye and feeling for the right word, he has few equals in

Urdu literature Urdu literature (, ) comprises the literary works, written in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal'' () and '' nazm'' (), it has expanded into other styles of writing, includin ...

. He has been called ''a visionary with a solution'' in academic circles. Two short extracts from an article published on 13 October 2002 in ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', Pakistan's leading English-language daily newspaper, reflect the consensus view on Siddiqui in the academic world:

Aligarh

Any study of his writings without keeping in mind the scholarly, literary and cultural ambiance of

and the city of

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

would make little sense. Most of the themes, events and characters in his works are, in one way or another, related to Aligarh but one also catches glimpses of Mariyahu, his place of birth. However, Aligarh is invariably the main source of his inspiration and creativity.

Sahitya Akademi Award

He received the 1971

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

Award for his book "Ghalib ki Shakhsiyat aur Sha'airi" (lit. "

Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 179715 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, he also produced a significant body of work in Persian. Ghali ...

's Personality and Poetry").

Literary works

* Mazameen-e-Rasheed * Khundaan * Ashufta Bayaani meri. * Ghalib ki Shakhsiyat aur Sha'airi * Ganj Haye Giran maaya * Hum Nafsan e Raftah * Iqbal ki Shaksiyat aur Sha'airi * Jadeed Ghazal * Tanziat o muzhikat

Death

Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui died in Aligarh in 1977.

References

External links

Urdustan Radio

Article on Urdu

His biography

from Iqbal Cyber Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Siddiqui, Rasheed Ahmad 1894 births 1977 deaths Urdu-language humorists 20th-century Urdu-language writers Linguists of Urdu Indian critics Aligarh Muslim University alumni People from Aligarh Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University