He was one of the last remaining representatives of the Progressive Writers Association, a writers' association that wielded unparalleled influence during India's freedom struggle.His poetry remains solidly rooted in the tradition of Urdu poetry with its ardent longing for intense emotions and passionate espousal of radical causes. His poems celebrate love, compassion and human equality.
Background
Born as Akhtar Hussain Rizvi in a family of landlords of a small town of Uttar Pradesh, Kaifi Azmi was a very renowned Urdu poet of India. Though his father, Syed Fateh Hussain Rizvi was a landlord, he also worked as a Tehsildar in a small state in Uttar Pradesh.
Career
Like most of the Urdu poets, Azmi began as a ghazal writer, cramming his poetry with the repeated themes of love and romance in a style that was replete with clichés and metaphors. However, his association with the Progressive Writers' Movement and Communist Party made him embark on the path of socially conscious poetry.
In his poetry, he highlights the exploitation of the subaltern masses and through them he conveys a message of the creation of a just social order by dismantling the existing one. Yet, his poetry cannot be called plain propaganda. It has its own merits; intensity of emotions, in particular, and the spirit of sympathy and compassion towards the disadvantaged section of society, are the hallmark of his poetry. His poems are also notable for their rich imagery and in this respect, his contribution to Urdu poetry can hardly be overstated.
Azmi's first collection of poems, Jhankar was published in 1943. His important works including anthologies of poetry, were Aakhir-e-Shab, Sarmaya, Awaara Sajde, Kaifiyaat, Nai Gulistan, an anthology of articles he wrote for Urdu Blitz, Meri Awaaz Suno, a selection of his film lyrics, and the script of Heer Ranjha in Devanagari.
His best known poems are Aurat, Makaan,Daaera,Saanp, and Bahuroopni.