From Bbk to Chicago, a literary giant who bridged continents, cultures

Known for his pluralistic vision and challenging political dogma, eminent Urdu scholar and author Professor CM Naim who passed away in Chicago on July 9, was an intellectual with a fearless range and remained closely attached to Lucknow and his hometown Barabanki despite spending decades in the United States, writers and other scholars closely associated with him recalled on Thursday. He was 89.

- Anupam Srivastava

Even after he became an American citizen, Naim never severed his ties with Barabanki, visiting it frequently, often staying for months at a time—especially when his mother was alive, according to noted writer and former IPS officer Vibhuti Narain Rai. “For the last five years we hadn't met, but earlier, whenever he came, he would always make time for an evening with me,” Rai told Hindustan Times, reflecting on a friendship that spanned decades.

Born on June 3, 1936, Naim’s journey from small-town India to the University of Chicago was shaped, in part, by geopolitical currents.