Gopaldas Neeraj, noted poet and lyricist, passes away at 93

Image courtesy: Instagram

NEW DELHI: Gopaldas Neeraj, the doyen of Hindi poetry, passed away on Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 93. He was admitted to the AIIMS here due to illness. Neeraj had suffered a head injury following a fall at his house in Agra and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Dr Rajesh Malhotra, chief of the AIIMS trauma centre, said. "He was shifted to the trauma centre here last night in a critical condition. He had kidney failure, infection all over his body and head injury. He passed away today at around 7.30 pm," he said. Neeraj's family was by his side during his last hours. Neeraj, who has also penned songs for Hindi film, was conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award in 1991 and was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2007. His style is easy to understand and considered to be high-quality Hindi literature. He has contributed many songs to the Hindi film industry and earned the reputation as a prominent songwriter. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh the renowned poet was born on January 4, 1925. Neeraj was born in the village of Purvali near Mahewa in UP. Gopaldas Saxena adopted the pen name ‘Neeraj’ when he started writing poems.