Exclusive interview with his son on Parveen Shakir's 26th birthday: 'Happiness and festivals lack that my mother is not with me'

  accident and only a small family of mother and son became more incomplete.

"I think of my mother all the time, but when there is a festival, a happy occasion or an occasion for Eid, my mother's thoughts come to mind. When everyone's family is together, I feel that my mother is not with me. There are. '

This was said by Syed Murad Ali who is the only son of famous Pakistani poet Parveen Shakir.

Parveen Shakir died on December 26, 1994 in a traffic accident. Murad was 15 at the time and an O-level student.

Parveen Shakir is known in Pakistan as a romantic poet. The subject of his poetry was mostly love and woman. Belonging to a literary family, she was involved in teaching and later took a government job after passing the civil service exam.

The day of the accident is etched in my mind today

In an exclusive interview with the BBC on the occasion of Parveen Shakir's 26th birthday, Murad Ali said that he still remembers the cold morning of December 26 when his mother was separated from him forever due to an accident.

Murad Ali said, "It was raining. My mother got ready as usual and went to the office." The call came at about half past nine. "Your mother has had an accident. Come to Pims."

Murad immediately called Parveen Shakir's close friend Parveen Qadir Agha and she too came to the hospital.

"It was raining that day and the traffic signals were not working and the bus hit his car," Murad said.

"On arrival at the hospital, I was told that when he (Parveen Shakir) was brought, his pulse was pounding, but then he was pronounced dead."

'His happiness was at the center'

Murad still misses the moments he spent with his mother.

He said, "No matter how busy my mother was, she would eat dinner at home and we would talk at the dinner table. How was the day at school?" How is your study going How is your time with friends And there was a little bit of political talk, even though I was young at the time, I didn't understand. '

Murad Ali says that he used to be very fussy about food but his mother also cooks the food of his choice. "I love my mother's hand-made peas and Amy used to make Raho fish which I loved very much."

"His happiness was at the center," says Murad.

"My mother was busy, the time I had left after consultations and office work came to me and those are just a few of the memories I have."

He said that it is very difficult to be a single mother in Pakistan. She used to go to consultations, go to the office and spend time at home. She used to do multi-tasking. Today I realize that she worked hard. She would have a hard time, she would do a lot of things at once, I don't understand how she managed it.

Murad said that even during his stay in the United States, his mother took care of his happiness despite his busy schedule. He smiled as he recounted such a happy event.

"We were about to be two years old when we were in the United States and a ten or twelve year old boy loves to watch cartoons and it's a pleasure to go to a place in the United States to see Disneyland," he said. I was very sorry we couldn't go there.

"One day my mother said we were going to a new place. I asked where they were going and my mother said let's go. Then the next day she took me to Disneyland. '

According to Murad, he was very happy that day that his mother remembered his wish.

' She wanted to send me away despite loving me '

Murad Ali was Parveen Shakir's only child and the center of their love, but she still wanted to take him away from her. Explaining the reason, Murad said, "She used to tell me that we would put you in a boarding school. At first when I was young she wanted to put me in Aitchison, then Hassan Abdal asked to put me in Cadet College and then it was Lawrence College.

"I told him you love me, these are all good places but I'm your only son, I don't want to go."

According to Murad, Parveen Shakir made an order to him for refusing to go boarding.

"They said, 'OK, write me a long letter, then tell me why you don't want to go.'

"Then I wrote a letter and my mother read it and said, 'OK, you don't want to go, then you will stay with us.'

She wanted to make me a neurosurgeon

Murad Ali said that his mother had given him clear guidelines regarding his education and future.

"She said, 'Become a doctor, and be a neurosurgeon, which is a rigorous education. You do that,' and she insisted."

She said she did not compromise on her studies, even scolding her in front of her friends once her marks dropped.

Murad admits that his mother Parveen Shakir was very far-sighted. "She used to say that you must study computer, computer is very important, the world will go that way in future and this statement of hers came true."

Murad said he has a master's degree in computer science. 'I became a software engineer, I work for TESLA. This is the same company that makes electric cars. If she had, she would have been very happy that I had succeeded and she would have been happy.

Murad Ali said that Parveen Shakir always asked her to work hard and "she herself was very hardworking."

"One of the things I've learned from my mother's life is to work hard. He once told me that it is not necessary for me to have a job, the royalty of my books is enough. I work so that you can study more and become a better person.

She used to say that if you work hard, you will become something. Nothing can be achieved without hard work.

Parvin Shaker Ki ' Self-talk '

Murad also remembers moments in the life of his mother Parveen Shakir when she used to take a walk after dinner and write poetry.

"Amy loved to walk, especially after eating. She used to talk to herself, maybe she was reading poetry or maybe she was repeating poetry."

Murad says she was thinking in those moments. "When she liked something, she would write it down in her diary. She had a couple of diaries that were incomplete."

Murad Ali said that this incomplete poetry of Parveen Shakir was published under the name of 'Cuff Mirror'. Parveen Shakir had already decided on the name of her book.

My daughters ask how was the grandmother?

Murad has named a part of his eldest daughter's name Parveen to include his mother's name in his voice.

He said, "I have two daughters. The eldest is Shanze Parveen Ali." She is seven years old. I have named Parveen after my mother and the other is named Maria.

"She asks about her grandmother, there are pictures of her in many places in the house, medals, etc., so she asks who they are. I say your grandmother is dead, so it is a pity that my mother could not be found at that time, at that time my mother is very worried.

"I wish they were here at the time, they would have a relationship with these kids."

After the death of Parveen Shakir, the government took up the cause of Murad's education

Murad Ali said, "I felt very lonely after my mother left because I had no brother or sister. In such a situation, my aunt and grandmother came to live with me in Islamabad.

After Parveen Shakir's death, her friends tried their best not to miss her mother.

Murad said, "I was raised by my mother's friends. Although there is no substitute for a mother's blessing, my mother's friends became my family and their children my cousins.

According to Murad, Parveen Qadir Agha was not only her mother's name but also loved her like a mother.

Due to Parveen Shakir's government job, he got a government house at different places in Islamabad. The last house he got before his death was in G-Ten Two.

"When my mother died, the government let me have this house," Murad said. Until I graduate, it will be a great support.

Murad's education was also taken over by the government of the day. "The then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto set a monthly stipend of Rs 60,000 for me which was very helpful to me and I was able to complete my education," Murad said.

Islam settled in the Sacrament

Murad says that since Parveen Shakir spent most of his life in Islamabad, the elders decided to bury him in Islamabad, which he did not attend.

"My mother was buried in the H8 cemetery in Islamabad because she lived here all her life, most of her friends and acquaintances were here," says Murad Ali.

"Many people came to the funeral, bureaucrats, poets, people from his office, my grandmother and aunt also came from Karachi and my father also came that day," says Murad.

پروین شاکرٹرسٹ

After the death of Parveen Shakir, his friends together founded the Parveen Shakir Trust.

The chairperson of this trust is Parveen Qadir Agha. She was a senior in Parveen Shakir's office and a good friend of his.

Parveen Qadir Agha said that the purpose of the trust was to nurture Murad and when he grew up, now the purpose of the trust is to highlight the poetry of Parveen Shakir.

The collection of poems published after the death of Parveen Shakir, 'Kaf Aina', features a poetic ghazal which seems to have been written for his son Murad. Two of his poems are enough to express their relationship.

God willing, your eyes will always be laughing

Happy days have passed

I don't mind if I can't see you

Wherever it is, the star sign keeps passing