Meera Sen and Meeraji

Meera Sen was a Bengali girl who became an irremediable obsession for the major modernist Urdu poet Meeraji (1912-1949). Some say that one day when he was sitting in the hockey ground of Panjab University with his friends, he saw her passing by and got instantly fascinated by her movement and her ravishing beauty. Another account has it that Meera Sen studied in F. C. College and Meeraji lived in a house whose wall joined the college wall. He dug a small hole in the wall and tried to follow her movement with his peering eyes. In yet another story, Meeraji is said to be following her from home to college and college to home. Keeping some distance, he shadowed her every day but never spoke to her. Only once he could gather courage with great difficulty to speak a word to her. She stopped to listen to him but Meeraji could hardly express his intent.

Meeraji cared little if his love was platonic, or if he was simply given to lust; he only knew that Meera Sen had turned into a phantom for him, a dream lost in the haze of despair. This is when he started growing wild and donning a new garb with a chain of beads in his neck, two rings in his ear lobes, a scarf on his head and an unkempt moustache touching his lips. Most interestingly, this poet born Sanaullah Sani Dar changed his name to Meeraji after Meera Sen.

Reference: There are clearly recognisable references to Meera Sen in Meeraji’s petry.

Also see Meera ji’s poetry: https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/kulliyat-e-meeraji-ebooks/

Meera Sen was a Bengali girl who became an irremediable obsession for the major modernist Urdu poet Meeraji (1912-1949). Some say that one day when he was sitting in the hockey ground of Panjab University with his friends, he saw her passing by and got instantly fascinated by her movement and her ravishing beauty. Another account has it that Meera Sen studied in F. C. College and Meeraji lived in a house whose wall joined the college wall. He dug a small hole in the wall and tried to follow her movement with his peering eyes. In yet another story, Meeraji is said to be following her from home to college and college to home. Keeping some distance, he shadowed her every day but never spoke to her. Only once he could gather courage with great difficulty to speak a word to her. She stopped to listen to him but Meeraji could hardly express his intent.

Meeraji cared little if his love was platonic, or if he was simply given to lust; he only knew that Meera Sen had turned into a phantom for him, a dream lost in the haze of despair. This is when he started growing wild and donning a new garb with a chain of beads in his neck, two rings in his ear lobes, a scarf on his head and an unkempt moustache touching his lips. Most interestingly, this poet born Sanaullah Sani Dar changed his name to Meeraji after Meera Sen.

Reference: There are clearly recognisable references to Meera Sen in Meeraji’s petry.

Also see Meera ji’s poetry: https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/kulliyat-e-meeraji-ebooks/