Neeraj: The poet in search of truth, romance and humanity

He was a great poet and helped bring sensitivity, romance and wistfulness to Hindi cinema with memorable songs like "Karwan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahein" and "Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye", which live on decades after they were written.

Noted poet Gopaldas Saxena 'Neeraj', who passed away in a Delhi hospital last night after a prolonged illness at the age of 93, believed poetry was the only medium that could describe the beauty of the soul.

In an interview with PTI in 2016, the poet-lyricist reflected on the nature of poetry itself.

"Aatma ke saundarya ka shabd-roop hai kaavya, maanav hona bhaagya hai, kavi hona saubhaagya (Poetry is the word form of soul's beauty. Those born humans are lucky, those as poets, even luckier)."
"Aaj ka bhagvaan to vigyaan hai, tum jise bhagwan kehte wo to bas anumaan hai (There is no god but science, what you call god, is a mere guess)."