Kunvar Mohindar Singh Bedi

Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi was an Indian Urdu poet, known as Sahar (pen name). Sahar was born on 9 March 1909, in Montgomery (now in Pakistan), Punjab. After the Partition of India-Pakistan, his family shifted to Fazilka, India. Sahar was a bureaucrat by profession and his works expressed the idea of love, peace, and Hindu-Muslim harmony in the context of the Partition. His poetries are of diverse topics which include traditional themes of love and yearning, themes of unity, peace between India and Pakistan, and also humor. His poetry is considered to belong to the same trans-religious and transnational tradition as that of other well-known poets from the Indian subcontinent such as Muhammad Iqbal, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and Ahmad Faraz.

Sahar's first book of poetry was T̤ulu-i saḥar (1962), translated "Advent of Daybreak". In the year 1983, Sahar published a collection of autobiographical poetry titled, Yadonn ka Jashn ("A Celebration of Memories"). Sahar was also involved in the Indian film industry and produced three movies: Man Jeete Jag Jeet (1973), Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam (1974), and Charandas (1977). Jashan-e-Sahar ("A celebration for Sahar"), held in the U.A.E., was an international event, which celebrated Sahar’s poetry in 1992. Also, an award was created in his honor known as the Kanwar Mohinder Singh Bedi Award, presented by Haryana Urdu Akademi, which also carried a cash prize of INR 25,000.