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Gopaldas Neeraj

Gopaldas Neeraj
Born	Gopaldas Saxena (1925-01-04)4 January 1925 Puravali, United Provinces, British India
Died	19 July 2018(2018-07-19) (aged 93) Delhi, India
Occupation(s)	poet, songwriter
Spouse	Savitri Devi ​ (m. 1945⁠–⁠2001)​
Children	Milan Prabhat Gunjan[1][2]
Awards	Padma Shri Padma Bhushan

Gopaldas Saxena (known by his nom-de-plume, Neeraj; 4 January 1925^[3] – 19 July 2018^[4]) was an Indian poet and author of Hindi literature. He was also a poet of Hindi Kavi sammelan (Poets Meet). He wrote under the pen name "Neeraj".^[5]

Biography[edit]

Gopaldas Saxena was born in the village of Puravali, near MahewainEtawah districtofUttar Pradesh, India, on 4 January 1925. He was born into a Hindu family of the Kayastha caste. Besides writing, he earned his living teaching in a college and was a Professor of Hindi Literature in Dharma Samaj College, Aligarh.^[6][7] Around 2012, Neeraj was the chancellor of Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.^{[citation needed]}

Several poems and songs written by Neeraj have been used in Hindi movies. He wrote songs for several Hindi films and was proficient in both Hindi and Urdu. In a television interview, Neeraj called himself an unlucky poet who had to concentrate on the poetry form instead of writing songs for films.^{[citation needed]} His career as a film lyricist ended when he became depressed by the deaths of some of the film music directors with whom he had worked.^[8] He noted in particular the deaths of Jaikishan of the music duo Shankar–Jaikishan, and S. D. Burman, for both of whom he had written highly popular film songs.^[6]

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991^[9] and Padma Bhushan in 2007.^[10]

Neeraj died, aged 93, on 19 July 2018 in New Delhi. He had been admitted to hospital with a lung infection.^[11]

Filmography[edit]

Some of the popular film songs written by Neeraj include:

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gopaldas Neeraj.

• NeerajatIMDb
• Get All Poems of Gopaldas Neeraj at Hindi Sahitya
• गोपाल दस नीरज- कविताकोश Gopaldas Neeraj at Kavita Kosh Archived 29 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• C.M. announces Rs. 20 lakh assistance for Gopaldas Neeraj Foundation
• International Hindi association features Gopaldas Neeraj^{[permanent dead link]}
• Life and work of Neeraj Archived 10 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• भारतीय साहित्य संग्रह में नीरज की कृतियाँ Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
• An account from the Atlanta appearance by the poet Neeraj which took place in October 2004