Death of Sadia Dehlvi marks ‘End of an Era’, a woman who weaved magic with her words!

Parul Srivastava August 7, 2020

501 2 minutes read

Dehlvi means ‘Someone who is from Delhi’! She made Delhi city an emotion!

2020 has become one of the toughest years. On August 5th, another legend passed away. Yes, we are talking about Sadia Dehlvi, a woman who was a true Dilliwali. Her death has marked the end of an era. She will also be remembered for her incredible work, and at the same time, her charisma and magnetic aura will be badly missed. She was 63.

She was suffering from metastatic breast cancer and after a long brave battle, she bid her final goodbye on August 5. She was a Delhi based activist, writer, and columnist with daily newspaper, the Hindustan Times. ( Just in case if you don’t know). Notably, it was reported that she peacefully died at her home in Nizamuddin East in Delhi.

She was a prolific writer. In 2009, she published her first book Sufism: The heart of Islam. Two years, later her second book, The Sufi Courtyard: Dargahs of Delhi, she gave details on Delhi’s Sufi history. She was also the editor of Urdu’s journal Bano. She hailed from a very influential family and her grandfather, Hafiz Yusuf Dehlvi, founded Shama in 1938, an iconic Urdu Film and literary monthly. Dehlvi weaved magic through her words. She went on to write a book on Delhi’s culinary history in 2017, titled Jasmine and Jinns: Memories and Recipes of My Delhi (Highly recommended)

Sadia Dehlvi as a filmmaker, and her equation with Khushwant Singh

Sadia Dehlvi was a woman full of life and passion ( people close to her say). She was a terrific writer and she always kept exploring things. She also tried her hands into filmmaking and surprised everyone with her phenomenal work. Her work includes – The Sufi Courtyard, Amma and Family which feature Zohra Sehgal and Not a Nice man to know, where she worked with renowned author Khushwant Singh. Notably, she was a very close friend of late author Khushwant Singh. They shared a very warm bond and he had dedicated his book – Not a Nice man to Know to her.

A close friend of Dehlvi, Rakshanda Jalil wrote that she wanted to celebrate her life. She said she wants to remember her for the sparkling person that she was. She was a great raconteur and could really spin a story with a twinkle in her eye. She was a great cook and her benchmark was her mother; if her mother nodded in approval, that meant it was alright. The family was important for her.

sadia dehlvi

Her work and craft is something that will be remembered forever! She was an inspiration to many women out there.

Here is the link to the self -obituary that she wrote. Give it a read and you will realize how she wanted the world to remember her, and we are remembering her exactly like that.

Rest in Power, ma’am! Thank you for making Delhi an emotion!