Jigar Barelavi, born Shyam Mohan Lal in 1890, enjoys his reputation as a poet, writer and critic. He wrote in a style that incorporated the modernist trends of poetry with respect to diction and thematic preferences. This is also reflected in his critical writings where he engaged with the issues of language and poetic style. His book Sehat-e-Zaban discussed the issues of literary language. 
Jigar practised all forms of poetry but he excelled in the writing of ghazal, rubai, and mathnawi. His rubais were collected in Ras. He also wrote his autobiography called Hadees-e-Khudi. It became a popular reader as it developed a sustained narrative where language played a significant role towards engrossing the attention of readers. He also published books on several other topics. 
He passed away in 1976.