Kisiki muskuraahaton pe ho nisar
Kisika dard mil sake to le udhar
Kisike vaste ho tere dil me pyar
Jeena isi ka naam hai

Remembering legendary Shailendra. Shankardas Kesarilal (30 August 1921 – 14 December 1966), popularly known by his pen name Shailendra, was a popular Indian Hindi lyricist. Noted for his association with the filmmaker Raj Kapoor and the composers Shankar-Jaikishan, he wrote lyrics for several successful Hindi film songs in the 1950s and the 1960s. Shailendra was born in Rawalpindi, and brought up in Mathura.The native place of his ancestors is located in the Akhtiyarpur, Ara district of Bihar.   Shailendra came in contact with Indra Bahadur Khare at the Kishori Raman School. Both started composing poems, sitting on the rock located on the bank of a pond in between railway 27 quarters and railway line near to Mathura station. Afterwards Shailendra moved to Bombay for films and Indra Bahadur Khare got fame in Raashtreey Kavita.Shailendra not only possessed the felicity of language but also had an elusive combination of simplicity and depth, something which Kapoor admired. He wrote many title tracks of the actor-director’s movies, including Barsaat mein hum se mile tum from Barsaat (1949), and Awara hoon from Awara (1951). “Shailendra wrote in the common man’s language. He was economical in his use of words, yet his writing was very meaningful. Take for instance, Teesri Kasam’s Sajan re jhooth mat bolo. One does not have to stretch the imagination to fathom its meaning. What’s easily understandable, lives on,” says Mumbai-based musicologist Kushal Gopalka.Shailendra penned lullabies, bhajans, love songs and even item numbers with equal ease and panache. He began his career by writing fiery poems as a member of Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA). It was during an IPTA event that Kapoor heard him read his poem on Partition, Jalta hai Punjab. Impressed, the actor asked the poet to write lyrics for his directorial debut, Aag (1948). Shailendra, who then worked with the Indian Railways, declined. Later, he went back to Kapoor during the making of Barsaat to make extra money as his first child was on the way.Bollywood legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar‏ tweeted, “Namaskar.Aaj mahan kavi Shailendra ji ki jayanti hai. Main unki pratibha ko naman karti hun.”

Namaskar.Aaj mahan kavi Shailendra ji ki jayanti hai. Main unki pratibha ko naman karti hun. https://t.co/guJO8oFZQ5

— Lata Mangeshkar (@mangeshkarlata) August 30, 2017

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