Delhi loses its story-teller Sadia Dehlvi
new delhi — Writer, columnist, filmmaker and activist Sadia Dehlvi died here late on Wednesday after a prolonged battle with cancer. She had turned 63 on July 16.
“Sad to hear about the tragic demise of Sadia Dehlvi, a well known cultural figure of Delhi, a dear friend and a wonderful human being. Rest in Peace,” tweeted eminent historian S Irfan Habib. Sadia, who hailed from the
‘Shama’ family, edited Bano, an Urdu women’s journal. Her grandfather Hafiz Yusuf Dehlvi founded in 1938 Shama, an iconic Urdu film and literary monthly. Sadia was a columnist with The
Hindustan Times and regularly contributed to several prominent Urdu, Hindi and English newspapers
and magazines.
A woman of many talents, Sadia also produced and scripted documentaries and television programmes, including Amma and Family
(1995), starring Zohra Sehgal, a veteran stage actor.
A close friend and confidante of the late author Khushwant Singh, Sadia was also the associate producer of the TV series Not a Nice
Man to Know (1998) with Khushwant Singh (who had penned a similarly titled anthology) interviewing
women from various fields.
She also acted in the TV series Zindagi Kitni Khoobsoorat Hai
(2001).
Khushwant Singh, in fact, was a great admirer of Sadia’s work, and wrote in his anthology that he dedicated to her: “To Sadia Dehlvi, who gave me more affection and notoriety than I deserve.” His book, Men and Women in my Life features sadia on the cover and includes an entire chapter on her.
She was the author of two seminal works Sufism: The Heart of Islam and The Sufi Courtyard: Dargahs of Delhi, besides innumerable articles on women, minorities, Islamic spirituality and Delhi’s heritage and culture.
She is survived by her son Arman Ali Dehlvi. —