Kazi Nazrul Islam Jayanti is a regional festival in Tripura. This holiday celebrates the life of Kazi Nazrul, a famous poet, musician and revolutionary who was born on May 25th, 1899. Nazrul Islam was born into a Bengali Muslim family on May 24th 1899. During his youth, Kazi Nazrul Islam served as muezzin or the person who recites the call to prayer at a local mosque where his father Kazi Faqeer Ahmed was the imam and caretaker.
He gained an interest in the arts while working with a rural theatrical group. After serving in the British Indian Army in the Middle East during the first world war, he moved to Calcutta to work as a journalist, where he formed his social and nationalist views.
Inspired by left-wing ideology, Nazrul gained the nickname, the "Rebel Poet". His writings explore themes such as love, romance, freedom, spiritualism, nature and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best known for his poems and songs. Nazrul wrote and composed music for nearly 4,000 songs, collectively known as Nazrul Geeti, which still remain popular among Bengali speaking people.
The birth anniversary of the "Rebel Poet" is also celebrated in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. Nazrul Islams work was a source of inspiration for the Bangladesh independence movement. In his 40s, Nazrul began losing his voice and memory due to what was later diagnosed as a rare disease called Picks disease. This incurable neurodegenerative disease caused a decline in Nazruls health and forced him to live in isolation in India. Nazrul and his family moved to Bangladesh at that governments invitation in 1972, who also conferred upon him the status of "national poet".