Parveen Shakir
(H/DR Adeeb Ahmed, Karachi)
Parveen Shakir was born on 24th
November, 1952 in Karachi, Pakistan. She was highly educated with two masters
degrees, one in English literature and one in linguistics. She also held a Ph.D
and another masters degree in Bank Administration.
She was a teacher for nine years before she joined the Civil Service and worked
in the Customs department. In 1986 she was appointed the second secretary, CBR
in Islamabad.
A number of books of her poetry have been published. In chronological order,
they are Khushboo (1976), Sad-barg (1980), Khud-kalaami (1990), Inkaar (1990)
and Maah-e-Tamaam (1994). Her first book, Khushboo, won the Adamjee award. Later
she was awarded the Pride of Performance award, which is the highest award given
by the Pakistan government.
On 26th December, 1994, on her way to work, her car collided with a truck and
the world of modern Urdu poetry lost one of its brightest stars.
Parveen Shakir initially wrote under the pen-name of 'Beena'. She considered
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi her 'ustad' and used to called him 'Ammujaan'. She was
married to Dr. Nasir Ahmed but got divorced from him sometime before her
untimely demise in 1994. They had one son - Murad Ali.