Jameela Nishat Biography 
Jameela Nishat is an Urdu writer, poet, editor, educationalist, social activist and feminist from Hyderabad. Her father, Syed Bin Mohammad, a portrait artist was a close friend of M F Hussain. Nishat is also one of the speakers at HLF - Hyderabad Literary Festival and was one of the feminist poets at 100 Thousand Poets for Change Conference held in Salerno, Italy in 2015. She is the founder of "Shaheen Collective - Shaheen's Women Resource and Welfare Association", dedicated to Muslim women and stands against domestic and social violence. She founded this organization in 2011. Butterfly Caresses, Lams Ki Sawghat, Lamhey Ki Ankh and Lava are her published works till now. She is a recipient of Maqdoom Award and Devi Award by The New Indian Express.
Jameela Nishat hails from Hyderabad, Telangana. She was born into a middle-class family and her father was a portrait artist, who headed the Department of Painting in Jawaharlal Nehru Technology University in Hyderabad. Jameela grew up, imbibing the best from the world of art and literature. She completed English literature from Hyderabad’s prestigious Osmania University. Nishat started writing at an early age and published her first poem in the year 1970. She also published her poetry works in literal magazines like Kitab Numa, a journal published by Jamia Millia University in Delhi, in the early phase of her writing career. She published her first poetry collections – Lava in year 2000. Some of the poems from this collection were translated to English by Hoshang Merchant.
In the late 1990s, she gave up a secure Central Government job to improve the lot of voiceless Muslim women, and of those belonging to the Scheduled Caste and backward classes. She took inspiration from her own life to do something for women. Initially she wanted to follow her father’s footsteps and enter the world of paint and colours. But she was not allowed to go to an art school, as many of her family members found the idea revolting. Over the years she made some courageous efforts in promoting communal harmony and challenging patriarchy, thus making her name among top feminists from south India.
Published: March 01, 2019
Updated: March 01, 2019
