Background
Jaun Elia was born on 14 December 1931 in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.
Jaun Elia was born on 14 December 1931 in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.
He was the brother of Rais Amrohvi and Syed Muhammad Taqi, two renown journalists and psychoanalysts. He was fluent in Arabic, English, Persian, Sanskrit and Hebrew. His father, Shafiq Hasan Elia, worked in art and literature.
Shafiq was also an astrologer and a poet.
Being a Communist, Elia was averse to the idea, but finally accepted it as a compromise. He migrated to Pakistan in 1957, and decided to live in Karachi.
Poet Pirzada Qasim said: "Jaun was very particular about language. While his diction is rooted in the classical tradition, he touches on new subjects.
He remained in quest of an ideal all his life.
Unable to find the ideal eventually, he became angry and frustrated. He felt, perhaps with reason, that he had squandered his talent.".