Parveen Shakir – Google doodle on the great Pakistani Urdu poet

Happy Birthday Parveen Shakir! Google today celebrates the 67^th birthday of the great Pakistani Urdu poet with an enchanting doodle. She was also a teacher and a civil servant of the Government of Pakistan.

Parveen Shakir was born on November 24, 1952 in Karachi in Pakistan. She was highly educated. She received two undergraduate degrees, one in English literature and the other in linguistics, and obtained MA degrees in the same subjects from the University of Karachi. She also held a PhD and another MA degree in Bank Administration. She was married to Syed Naseer Ali, who was a Pakistani doctor. But her marriage didn’t last long and ended in divorce.

The release of Parveen Shakir’s first collection of poems titled Khushbu (which means Fragrance) won her the Adamjee Literary Award in 1976, and her distinguished contributions to Urdu poetry awarded her one of the highest civil prizes in Pakistan, the President’s Award for Pride of Performance in 1990.

Throughout Parveen Shakir’s decorated career, she continued to publish notable books of her poetry, including Sad-barg (Marsh Marigold), Khud Kalami (Talking To Oneself), Inkaar (Denial), Kaf-e-Aina (The Mirror’s Edge), and Mah-e-Tamaam (Full Moon), as referenced to the Doodle art.

On December 26, 1994, her car collided with a bus while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death at only 42, a great loss to the Urdu poetry world. The road on which the accident took place is named after her as Parveen Shakir Road.

The Parveen Shakir Trust was organized in 1994. The trust holds the Parveen Shakir Urdu Literature Festival, which aims to foster the next generation of Urdu literary figures. Google today honors the pioneering Pakistani poet on her 67^th birthday with the utmost respect.