Sadia Dehlvi, Sufi author, activist dies at 63
New Delhi, Aug. 6: Author, activist, food connoisseur and raconteur, Delhi’s very own Sadia Dehlvi, whose name itself reflected her bond with the city, has died after a prolonged battle with breast cancer.
Dehlvi, meaning ‘one from Delhi’, died on Wednesday at her home and is survived by her son Arman Ali Dehlvi. She was 63.
Belonging to a family whose association with the city went back centuries, Dehlvi’s Twitter profile read, “Columnist and author Sufism: The Heart of Islam & The Sufi Courtyard: Dargahs of Delhi. I live in Delhi, a city I love.”
Dehlvi, who wrote about women, minorities, Islamic spirituality and Delhi’s heritage and culture for more than 40 years, was laid to rest on Thursday at the city’s Shidipura cemetery.
A woman of many talents, Dehlvi also produced and scripted documentaries and television programmes, including “Amma and Family” (1995), with veteran actor Zohra Sehgal in the lead.
She was also a close friend and confidante of the late Khushwant Singh, who dedicated his book Not a Nice Man to Know to her.
“To Sadia Dehlvi, who gave me more affection and notoriety than I deserve,” he wrote. Singh’s book Men and Women in my Life, which has a chapter dedicated to her, also has Dehlvi’s photo on its cover.
“Hers was a very illustrious family... I won’t be exaggerating one bit if I tell you that the family was always leading from the front to keep Urdu alive in India,” Yasir Abbasi, who used Dehlvi’s help for his book Yeh Un Dinon ki Baat Hai, told PTI. Dehlvi, who belonged to the royal Shama family, edited the Urdu women’s journal Bano. Her grandfather Hafiz Yusuf Dehlvi founded the iconic Urdu film and literary month Shama in 1938.
“Under the Shama group, they launched other periodicals as well, including Bano and Khilona. Today we can’t even imagine how popular the magazine Shama was. It was found in every Urdu speaking household,” Abbasi said.
Dehlvi was passionate about food, much like her family, which famously hosted Bollywood stars such as Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman in their palatial ‘haveli’.
“The Dehlvis’ spacious house Shama Kothi in Delhi’s tony diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri had become home to many visiting film stars. Their parties were the talk of town. Food was something that the family was very passionate about. Sadia often talked about the many kebabs they used to serve in those parties,” said Abbasi. In 1979, Dehlvi founded Al Kauser, the Chanakyapuri restaurant famous for its kebabs, with her mother. At the age of 60, she donned the hat of a chef and tied up with ITC to celebrate the capital’s authentic cuisine over a six-day dinner buffet festival - Delhi Table spread.