RMIM Archive Article "154".

From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Sahir and Majrooh, the poets - Part 3
#
# Posted by: tewary@boulder.nist.gov (Dr. Vinod Tewary)
# Author: Dr. Vinod Tewary
#



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		     Sahir and Majrooh-The Poets
				  by
			   Dr. Vinod Tewary
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If you want to characterize  Sahir  in  one  word,  it  would  be
"talqhiyan"  or  bitterness. The title of his first book was, ap-
propriately, "Talqhiyan".  Sahir is bitter about the  social  in-
justice,  about  the capitalistic values, about the bourgeois so-
ciety, about the war, bitter about love, treatment of the  women,
and about himself, and his feudal ancestors. He writes about him-
self:

	 "Main un azdaad kaa betaa hun, jinhone paiham
	 ajnawee qaum ke saaye kee himayat kee hai.
	 Ghadar kee sait-e-naapaq se lekar ab tak
	 har karrhe waqt mein sarkaar kee qhidmat kee hai."

(azdaad: ancestors; paiham: always; sait-e-napaaq: evil moment)

Ability to make such bold, explicit,  direct,  and  hard  hitting
statements,  about  himself  as well as others, with intellectual
honesty and total conviction, is what elevates a poet to the lev-
el of Sahir.  In the preface of the "Talqhiyan", he wrote:

	 "Duniya ne tazurbaato-hawaadis kee shakal mein
	 jo kuchh mujhe diyaa hai, woh lautaa rahaa hoon main."

(tazurbaato-hawaadis: horrible experiences)

Some of Sahir's poems have been used in  films  as  poems-not  as
songs.  "Tang aa chuke hain kashmashe zindagi se ham" was recited
by Rafi in Pyasaa. In the film "Kabhie-kabhie", Amitabh Bachchan,
in his effective thick voice, recited

	 "Kabhie kabhie mere dil mein qhayal aata hai,
	 ki zindagee teri zulfon ke naram saaye mein ghuzarne paati
	 to shaadab ho bhee saktee thee...."

A very good poem reflecting Sahir's leftist views, and his  faith
in technology, is recited by Balraj Sahni in "Sone kee chidiyaa":

	 "Aaj kee raat bahut garam hawaa chaltee hai,
	 aaj footpath par neend naheen aayegi..."

Pyasaa also had one of his famous  poems  "Sanakhwane  tasdeek-e-
mashriq  kahaan  hain"  in  which this line was changed to "Jinhe
naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hain". A very good song, but a  con-
siderable poetic sacrifice for the purpose of simplification.

Another famous poem "Tajmahal" has been musicalized and  sung  by
Rafi in the film Ghazal. Since the song, understandably, does not
contain the complete poem, it naturally fails to be as  effective
as  the  original poem. Incidentally, Sahir had not seen Tajmahal
before he wrote that poem. (He probably never saw Tajmahal).  "It
would be too depressing to see a royal exploitation of a very hu-
man feeling," he said in a press interview.

If you have not read these poems, get those movies  tonight.  You
will  enjoy some beautiful verse. Pyasaa also contains some lines
from "parchhaiyan" recited by a nurse:

	 "Jawaan raat ke seene pe doodhiya aanchal
	 machal raha hai kisee khwaab-e-marmaree kee taraah....."

Indeed "parchhaiyan" - a powerful, anti-war expression, is one of
Sahir's  most  beautiful  creations.  It may be counted as one of
the treasures of Urdu poetry. It is a long  poem  that  you  must
read  if  you enjoy progressive poetry. Here are a few lines (not
included in Pyasaa):

Lead line: "Tasavvuraat kee parchaaiyan ubhartee hain"

 "Sooraj ke laho mein lithree hui, woh shaam hai ab tak yaad mujhe,
 chaahat ke sunahre qhwaabon ka, anjaam hai ab tak yaad mujhe....
 us shaam mujhe maloom hua, jab baap kee kheti chhin chhin jaaye
 mamtaa ke sunahre qhwaabon kee anmol nishaani biktee hai
 us shaam mujhe maloom hua, jab bhaayee jang mein kaam aaye
 sarmaaye ke qahwaa-khanon me bahnon kee jawaani biktee hai..."

Feel the power of these lines:

	 "bahut dinon se hai yeh mashghala siyaasat kaa
	 ki jab jawaan hon bachche to qatl ho jaayen
	 bahut dinon se hai yeh qhabt hukm-raanon ka
	 ki door-door ke mulkon me qahat bo aayen"

(mashghala- hobby; siyasat-governments; qhabt-craze; qahat:  des-
truction)

Notice the use of the word Hukm-raanon (those who  issue  orders)
instead  of "king". The use of this world, conveying Sahir's dis-
like for monarchy, is simply brilliant. This line, refers to  the
warrior  adventurist kings who attack far-away lands. In particu-
lar it refers to Alexander, the so-called Great. It  may  be  the
first in Indian literature which puts Alexander at his place. The
European historians glorified all Europeans, including Alexander.
The  effect of this cultural onslaught and brain washing has been
such, that even many Indians regard Alexander as  a  hero.  Sahir
would  not have it. Some body who travels all the way from Greece
to India just to satisfy his ego, killing thousands of human  be-
ings,  is plainly a villain according to Sahir.  In a recent poem
entitled "Sipah-salaar", Javed Akhtar  has  expressed  a  similar
disapproval of Alexander.

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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian