Chandigarh, May 29 -- Poets, writers and lovers of Urdu poetry across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh mourned the passing away of legendary Urdu poet Bashir Badr, recalling his unforgettable presence at mushairas across the region for decades. From the 1970s onwards, scarcely any major mushaira in Punjab, Haryana or Chandigarh felt complete without Badr, whose arrival would often become the highlight of the evening. Paying tribute to him, Hindi poet and director of the Haryana Sahitya Akademi, Chander Trikha, said, "Poets of Bashir Badr's stature never die because their verses continue to live in the hearts of people." He added that Badr was both a people's poet and a poet's poet. Remembering him, young Punjabi poet Ravitej Singh said, "He was a poet not just of his times, but also of its tragedies." Singh recalled how Badr's house in Meerut, where he lived and worked as a professor of Urdu, was burnt down during communal riots. Badr immortalised that pain in one of his most remembered couplets: "Log toot jaate hain ek ghar banane mein, Tum taras nahin khaate bastiyan jalane mein. (People spend their lives building a home, and you show no mercy in burning down entire colonies.)" Chandigarh-based Urdu poet Jatinder Parwaaz also paid tribute to him and recalled the time Badr had stayed at his home for a few days. "I would recite his poetry to him. He would smile, chuckle and sometimes even join in while recalling some of his couplets," Parwaaz said....