Agra: Doyen of Hindi poetry Gopal Das Neeraj passed away on Thursday evening at the AIIMS trauma centre in the national capital. He was 93. A Padma Bhushan awardee, Neeraj had suffered a head injury following a fall at his house in Agra and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Dr Rajesh Malhotra, chief of the AIIMS trauma centre, said.“He was shifted to the trauma centre here on Wednesday night in a critical condition. He had kidney failure, infection all over his body and head injury. He passed away on Thursday at around 7.30 pm,” he said.His daughter and political leader, Kundanika Sharma, told TOI that the eminent Bollywood lyricist of yesteryears had not been keeping well for the past two years due to lung infection. “He was with me in Agra on Tuesday when he felt uncomfortable after having breakfast and we rushed him to a private hospital, from where he was referred to the AIIMS,” she said.Kundanika told TOI that her father’s body will be donated to the JN Medical College in Aligarh as per his own wish. “His body will be kept at our Balkeshwar residence in Agra for people to pay their last respects before it is donated,” she said.At one time, Neeraj’s songs were considered a valuable addition to any Bollywood movie although the death of his favourite music directors, S D Burman and Shanker-Jaikishan, led him to leave Bollywood and return home to Uttar Pradesh where he has a huge fan-following. A large number of audience would wait till late in the night in every mushaira and kavi sammelan just to listen to Neeraj who was always the last to take the stage.Some of his unforgettable Bollywood songs include ‘Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se’ (Prem Pujari 1970), ‘Mera man tera pyasa’ (Gambler 1964), ‘Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye phoolon ka shabaab’ (Prem Pujari), ‘Jeevan ki bagiya mehkegi’ (Tere Mere Sapne 1971) ‘Rangeela re tere rang mein’ (Prem Pujari), ‘Woh hum na the, woh tum na the’ (Cha Cha Cha 1964) and ‘Ae bhai, zara dekh ke chalo’ (Mera Naam Joker 1970).For his numerous accomplishments, Neeraj was awarded Padma Shri in 1991 and then Padma Bhushan in 2007. The then UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav also awarded him the state’s highest, Yash Bharti Samman, in 1994.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief at the demise of the poet and announced full state honours for his last rites. He also announced a Rs 1 lakh award in Neeraj’s memory to be given to five young Hindi poets every year.

Stay updated with all the Agra Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.