Neeraj was born to write poetry: Sameer
My father, the late lyricist Anjaan, was close to Neeraj. They were of the same age and entered the industry at the same time. They had attended several mushairas and kavi sammelan together. When I was a child, there was a book [in which] Neeraj had written a popular poem on the occasion of Diwali. [A few lines from it read] ‘Jalaao diye par rahe dhyaan itna, andhera dhara par kahin reh na jaaye’.
When I became successful during the ’90s, and when he came to know that I’m the son Anjaan, he had called me. [He said that] he liked my type of poetry and that I write simply and aesthetically. So, whenever he comes to Mumbai, he’d like to meet me. When he finally came... I was keen to meet him... When I went there, he said that he wants to bless me because I was his best friend’s son. He said, ‘Your father was a great writer, and both him and I come from the literary world. Whenever I listen to his poetry, it touches my heart’.
I asked him for a piece of advice and he [told me]: ‘Whenever you write, try to write something different if you want to be remembered just like us’.
Looking at Neeraj’s poetry, I can only say that it’s not an easy task to write ‘simple and straight’. He gave me many ideas. He hugged me twice and invited me to come over to his place. He told me that his sons and grandchildren were fans of my songs. Unfortunately, I missed that chance.
I remember once when I was watching TV, Neeraj was reciting a poem, and I felt it was so close to him: ‘Main toh mast fakeer ho yaaron, mere nahin thikana re. Jaisa mera aana re, waisa mera jaana re’.
That’s the real definition of Gopaldas Neeraj. He was a ‘mast’ poet. His life was wholly dedicated to poetry, and he didn’t know anything else. He was born to write poetry. And people like him do not die [because] their work is always there.