His dramas are his reflections, his short stories are his observations and his poems are his sensibilities and in his Natiya Qalamhe has expressed his faith.
Jazim Bazaz
This is an inspiring story of a Srinagar man who started his career from a child artist in erstwhile Radio Kashmir Srinagar, stamped himself as an ace multi talented broadcaster through sheer performance in his field of profession and retired as Deputy Director-General in All India Radio. The man is none other than Bashir Arif, a popular figure among radio listeners. In his fraternity, he is known for his wisdom, intelligence and ability to drive others along with himself. He was proficient at handling all aspects of broadcasting and precisely tagged ‘Radioman”.
Bashir Arif was born at Drogjan Dalgate in 1954 in a right family having an immense liking for literature. He was blessed that literature, language, syntax, composition and interesting discussions were freely available in his family and he had an opportunity to listen to his elders. This inculcated a passion for reading in him which he followed religiously. That really helped him as a poet and a short story writer. Precisely, a suitable domestic environment helped him as a child to explore his potential. There is an adage: ‘Give a man a horse he can ride’. He found his ride well in time and that eased his future endeavours in the field of art and literature.
He was well equipped with the passion to stand on his own. In 1966 he was inducted as a family member Nazir Lala in the world-famous Radio family feature Zoona Dab broadcast from Srinagar Radio in 1966. Bashir Aarif was appointed as Programme Executive in 1982 and served at the different stations of AIR that not only elevated his stature but also gained a lot of experience much needed for future endeavours. 1n the year 1991 Bashir Aarif qualified IBS through UPSC and was appointed as Station Director and his first place of posting was AIR, Leh where he proved that sky’s the limit of innovations. He blended a Ladkhi Folk song with the Kashmiri song which he himself wrote and late Ghulam Nabi Sheikh composed His Neunam Bala Yaeri …Janana Zaeri bozya which touched the horizons of popularity in Kashmir and Leh.
Bashir Arif has not only kept the admirers on toes by his performances may it be through his voice and pen. His inclination towards poetry, short stories and drama has carved out of him a skilful artist who knows when and what to deliver in the best of the medium. He has in his credit Deeda Giryaan, poetry collection, Meyaani Wacchik Kotar, a collection of Kashmiri short stories, Sar Ho Wandai Padan, a collection of Natiya Poems and My ugly Indian Face, an account of his life and experience (English). Besides above mentioned Bashir Arif has written lyrics for Bollywood films like Shikara, Bab etc
Bashir Aarif is the recipient of Sadiq Memorial Award 1981, Hyderabad Karnataka Urdu front award 1985, Khilat e Tauqeer by Kashmir Young writers Association, Khil e Noor by Kashmir Markaz e Adab Wa Saqafat and Al Haj Fazil Kashmiri Memorial Award 2021 by Fazil Memorial Foundation.
He proudly says: “If want to know me, judge me through my contributions both as a broadcaster and writer. My dramas are my reflections, my short stories are my observations and my poems are my sensibilities and in my Natiya Qalam I have expressed my faith.”
His immense contribution to the art, culture and literature is immense as one can find all this in his work. As a broadcaster, he promoted quality programmes and never compromised on the quality of a programme. He remained focussed on quality quality, not quantity. “When you are a writer, an actor and reader, the job gets easier to find a suitable programme. As a writer, you would analyse its depth and accuracy, as an actor you can judge the scene and sequence and as a reader you can add dimensions to the content. All these things helped me and that was my success,” he says with confidence.
Late Farooq Nazki, once commenting on the abilities of Bashir Arif said: “It is not an easy job to comment about a person whom you have seen coming up from a child artist to the highest official position in broadcasting. Growing from a child artist into a fine broadcaster, short story writer, poet and drama voice is in itself an achievement. He has a liking for music and sometimes composes a song and sells it to an audience, and such an uphill task needs passion and he has impressed one and all by virtue of his abilities. Bashir is a man for the crisis. He is an organiser and official who can manage things efficiently in difficult times and in peaceful times he is a treat for his poetry and prose and for his nice dramatic performances.”
Bashir Dada, a well-known poet, playwright, actor/director describes the personality of Bashir Aarif as: “He did not appear on the Horizon of Art and Literature all of a sudden. He got introduced by a team of Stalwarts like Shri Somnath Sadhu. Who can forget this verse: Bu Karai Tcheh Pomperen Gathh Yih Shabbah Guzar Saanay. After that, he did not look back and contributed (and continues to contribute) a lot to Kashmiri poetry. to me, he is in the first line of short story writers where Akhter Mohi ud din figures at the top and if we read Bashir Aarif’s short stories without knowing the writer, one can feel the flavour and standard of Akhter Mohi ud din and his contemporary short story writers. his great sense of humour. He believes in bringing smiles to gloomy faces. Yes, Bashir Aarif can bring smiles on the face of a person breathing his/ her last.”
