Born in Hyderabad, India, in 1925, Akbar came to Britain in 1955 to pursue higher studies in architecture, and has lived there ever since. He and his Italian wife have two children and seven grandchildren. For some years in the mid-seventies he presented a weekly programme for Asian listeners from BBC Radio Oxford. His main achievement has been to establish his reputation as an Urdu poet, and seven volumes, including his latest in English, have been published to date.