Abdullah Zakariya was born on August 20, 1969, in Alauddin Patti, a village in Azamgarh district. He belongs to the family which gave us the great religious scholar Maulana Abdussalam Nadvi, who wrote the foremost critique on Urdu poetry, ‘Sher-ul-Hind’, a book which is still revered and regarded pivotal.
The atmosphere of his home was quite religious. His initial education took place in a village Madrasa, then he enrolled in another Madrasa called Jamiat-ul-Falah in Balaria Ganj, from where he passed the university scholarship examination and went to Delhi for further education where he obtained BA and MA degrees from Jamia Millia Islamia. He was fond of poetry from his childhood and was inspired by his uncle Akhtar Hussain, whom himself possessed a Diwan and wrote under the pen-name ‘Urfi Aafaqi’. His collection of poems ‘Samundar Phir Bulata Hai’, was published by the Lucknow Urdu Academy.
Abdullah Zakaria worked with NDTV for almost 18 years. He is currently based in Mumbai and is a documentary filmmaker by profession.