Meeras — A living archive of South Asian poetry

Contemporary · 1931–2002

Iconoclastic Urdu poet of Amroha and Karachi, beloved for his despairing wit and conversational ghazals.

Contemporary

A fictional contemporary poet of the city dawn — original Meeras verse on memory and migration.

Contemporary · 1952–1994

Pioneering female voice of the modern Urdu ghazal, writing love and womanhood with unguarded candour.

Contemporary

Poet, lyricist and filmmaker whose spare, image-rich verse bridges literary Urdu and popular song.

Contemporary

Poet and lyricist of the celebrated Akhtar lineage, known for lucid, rationalist verse and beloved film songs.

Contemporary · 1938–2016

Poet of dohas and ghazals in a living, spoken Hindustani — tender, secular and quietly subversive.

Contemporary · 1947–1996

Poet of grief and devotion, equally at home in the romantic ghazal and the elegy of Karbala.

Contemporary

Reigning voice of the Indian mushaira, whose accessible ghazals carry dignity, doubt and everyday wisdom.

Contemporary · 1945–2021

Karachi ghazal poet of refined diction, remembered for "wo humsafar tha" and a scholar's care for language.

Contemporary

Restless experimenter of the modern ghazal, bending its grammar and diction for over six decades.

Contemporary

A fictional contemporary poet of exile and the East — original Meeras verse on belonging.

Contemporary

A fictional contemporary poet of the open road — original Meeras verse on the everyday.

Contemporary

A fictional young contemporary poet of the screen-lit night — original Meeras verse.