Her distinguished contributions to Urdu poetry earned her one of the highest civil awards in Pakistan.
Google paid tribute to the late Pakistani poet Parveen Shakir with a doodle on Sunday to mark what would have been her 67th birthday.
Parveen Shakir was an Urdu poet, teacher and a civil servant of the Government of Pakistan.
Parveen was born on November 24, 1952, in Karachi. Parveen Shakir started writing at a young age, penning both prose and poetry, and contributing columns in Urdu newspapers, and a few articles in English dailies. Initially, she wrote under the pen-name, “Beena”.
She was a teacher for nine years before she joined the Civil service of Pakistan and worked in the Customs Department.
In 1986 she was appointed the second secretary, Federal Board of Revenue (old name Central Board of Revenue) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
On her birthday, Doodle also shared the translation of her couplet, one of the finest pieces of her poetry:
“Give him a chance to come to grow a blossom in my heart, let him come to wound my heart once more! Give scent a chance to alert in my unfilled entryways, let him come to enrich my home. Around here, live many individuals he knows, cannot he go under the affectation of meeting another person?”
Parveen Shakir, “Let Him Come to Sprout a Flower in my Heart”
Parveen Shakir published her first volume of poetry, Khushbu, to great acclaim, in 1976. She subsequently published other volumes of poetry Sad-barg in 1980, Khud Kalami and Inkaar in 1990, and Kaf-e-Aina.
She also published a collection of her newspaper columns, titled Gosha-e-Chashm and was awarded one of Pakistan’s highest honours, the Pride of Performance for her outstanding contribution to literature in 1976. The poetry books are collected in the volume Mah-e-Tamaam with the exception of Kaf-e-Aina.
Shakir’s first book, Khushboo, was awarded the Adamjee Literary Award in 1976. Later, she was awarded the Pride of Performance, one of Pakistan’s highest honors in 1990.
Parvin Shakir passed away in a tragic car accident in Islamabad on 26 December 1994, on her way to work. The accident also resulted in a great loss to the Urdu poetry world.
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