The Poet's Voice: Sikandar Ali Vajd - Ajanta (nazm)

Sikandar Ali Vajd (1914 - 1983) was a prominent Urdu poet and scholar from Aurangabad. He was a member of the Hyderabad Civil Service, and, in 1972, was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha. He served for a long time in Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu, working with Maulvi Abdul Haq before Partition, and then as the president of the Maharashtra chapter of the Anjuman. In this capacity, he oversaw the curation and editing of many valuable manuscripts. Vajd was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1970 for his literary contributions.
Vajd published thre collections of poetry - Lahoo Tarang, Aftab-e Taaza, and Aoraaq-e Musavvar. Though he wrote numerous ghazals, his real forte was in nazm, where he wrote some of the greatest masterpieces in the history of Urdu, including "Ellora", "Ajanta" (this poem), and "Taj Mahal".
This poem was, in fact, written at the behest of the tourism department of Hyderabad State to highlight a major historical site in the Nizam's domians, but Vajd turned it into a timeless poetic masterpiece.
Audio Credit: Moin Siddiqui