SYED Masoodul Hasan Tabish Dehlvi (1911-2004) was remembered on Sept 23 on the eighth anniversary of his death as a classical poet, broadcaster, civility and humble human being.

Tabish was a connoisseur of Urdu literature and his splendid association with literature has left a long-lasting impression on the minds of the people. Urdu ghazal would never attain the same exalted status that it had achieved in Tabish’s dominion. The weather was turbulent for Urdu ghazal at the time of the Progressive Movement and many turrets of Urdu ghazal started staggering but Tabish had never been out of sight or out of mind. He always kept up the importance of ghazal -- in all ways -- which proved justified in later years. He remained standing in the line of classical poets even in the presence of poetic maestros like Fa’ani ,Yagana, Asghar, Jigar and Hasrat. This was only possible because Tabish had in him his own self-created style.

He was also widely admired as a broadcaster and Urdu newsreader. He had a full-fledged broadcasting carrier (1941-1972) which started from All India Radio and then he moved to Radio Pakistan after the 1947 period.

He intoduced many classical and ghazal singers, announcers and newsreaders and drama artistes to Radio Pakistan. He arranged and conducted mushairas, literary talk shows, live commentararies and musical and religeous programmes. When he was conducting famous students programme ‘School Broadcast’, he used to visit different schools of Karachi in search of school talent for feature writing, drama, debates, quiz competitions and ‘bait bazi’. That adolescent talent now became a necessity of every television channel in the country.

Masood Tabish is considered a legend in Urdu new reading. He had all the ingredients of an excellent newsreader, i.e., narration voice, correct pronunciation, pauses and, last but not least, a good knowlege of current affairs and history.

On a number of occasions there were mistakes/blunders in Urdu translation but Tabish delivered correct news to radio listeners and got acknowledgement from his colleagues N. M. Rashid, Meera Jee, Manto, Ansar Nasri, Shahid Dehlvi and others.

Always respected and admired for his civility, Tabish was a man of principles and character.

In recognition of his services and achievements, he did receive many awards, including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, though he deserved more.

S. A. HUSSAIN Toronto, Canada