RMIM Archive Article "156".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
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# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Sahir and Majrooh, the poets - Part 5
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# 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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The lost love is beautifully portrayed in Sahir's Matay-e-ghair
(property of some one else), presumably addressed to his own lost
love, who was married to some one else. Sahir's referring to a
woman as a property is a bitter remark against the social prac-
tice of treating women as an object of possession. It does not
show his own attitude. Two stanza of this poem have been used in
the song by Talat and Asha in Sone kee Chidia, (Pyar par bas to
naheen hai mera lekin phir bhee...), but the context and imagery
is totally different in the song. I will quote here three stanza
not used in that song:
"Too kisee aur ke daaman kee kalee hai lekin
Meri raatein teri qhushboo se basee rahatee hain.
Too kaheen bhee ho, tere phool se aariz kee qasam,
teri palkein meree aankhon pe jhukee rahatee hain........"
(Aariz: cheeks)
"Tere haathon kee kararat, teri sanson kee mahak
tairtee rahtee hain ahsaas kee pahanayee mein
Dhoondhatee rahtee hain, taqhyeel kee baahein tujhko
sard raaton kee sulagatee hui tanhayee mein.
(hararat: warmth; pahanayee: expanse; taqhyeel: thoughts)
"Meree darmaanda jawaanee ki tamannaon ke
muzmahind khwaab kee tabeer bataa de mujhko.
Tere daaman mein gulistaan bhee hain, aur kaante bhee
meraa haasil, meree taqdeer bataa de mujhko......"
(darmaanda: sick/weak; muzmahind khwaab: faint dream; gulistaan:
flowers (garden)
We dont' know whether Sahir got "gulistaan" or "kaante" from his
love, but certainly he got all the gulistaan from his fans.
Another poem on a similar theme is "Teree aawaaz". Here is one
stanza:
"Too mere pass na thee, phir bhee sahar hone tak
teraa har saans mere jism ko chhoo kar guzraa
Qatraa qatraa tere deedar kee shabnam tapkee
lamhaa lamhaa teree qhusboo se muattar guzraa......"
(deedar: sight; muattar: fragrant)
Most Urdu poets use the ghazal style, but Sahir wrote very few
ghazals. In his ghazals, he never followed the practice of in-
cluding his name in the "maqtaa", since he believed that the poe-
try should be above the poet's ego. Here is an example (it is
actually a rubayee-loosely matlaa and a sher of ghazal)
"Junoon nawaaz nazaraon kee yaad aatee hai
ghurez-paisha bahaaron kee yaad aatee hai,
Shab-e-firaq kee tanhaayian sataatee hain
to kaise-kaise nigaron kee yaad aatee hai...."
(Junoon nawaaz:maddening; ghurez-paisha:elusive; Shab-e-firaq:
night of separation)
Sahir was very fond of Hindi poetry, that strongly influenced his
style. The structure of his poems was mostly based upon the Hin-
di geet and the chhand formation. The style of his famous "Aao ki
koi khwaab bunein" is typically Hindi. His depiction of women
ranges from Prasad's "Naaree tum kewal shraddha ho..." to
Mathilee Sharan Gupta's " Ablaa jeevan hai tumharee yehi kahaani,
aanchal mein hai doodh, aur aankhon mein paanee". He was also in-
fluenced by a classic Hindi poet-Malik Mohammad Jaayasee. It
seems Jaayasee was quite ugly. Once the king made fun of his
looks, to which Jaayasee replied "Mohika hansesi ki kohrahi?".
(Meaning: did you laugh at me or the one who made me?). This
thought showed up in Sahir's " Apmaan rachaita kaa hoga, rachnaa
ko agar thukraoge." (in the film Chitralekha).
Sahir did not believe in religios rituals, but, contrary to what
some people say, he did have a strong humanistic faith in God, as
the Creator. I am sure of that because I heard it from a very au-
thentic source---Sahir himself. That was the most inspiring small
mushaira that I ever attended. It was there that I heard "par-
chhaiyan" and "Tajmahal".
Sahir faced his greatest tragedy of life when his mother died in
1978. He never really recovered from this shock. Being very
aloof, shy, alienated from the commercialized society, his mother
was his only link with the world.
Before closing, let me quote this from Sahir:
"Tere naghmaat tere husn kee thandak lekar, mere tapte huye mahol mein aa
jaayenge,
Chand ghariyon ke liye hon ya hamesha ke liye, meree jagee huyee raaton ko
sulaa jaayenge..."
Sahir got his "hameshaa kee neend" in 1980. That ended one of the
most glorious chapters of the Urdu poetry. There have been many
great poets, but Sahir was much more. He belonged to the class of
leaders - Ghalib, Jigar, Firaaq, and Faiz. He was an "event" in
the history of Urdu poetry. He inspired a whole generation of In-
dians, and gave a new direction to the Urdu poetry. He was a rare
mixture of poetic excellence, and social awareness. He was
supreme in non-film poetry, but, even in films he maintained a
certain minimum. He rarely stooped to trivial--not even in Johny
Walker type songs.
Sahir died at a young age of 59, while he still had several pro-
ductive years left. Now, how to conclude this rather long article
about some one who symbolized excellence? Considering his modes-
ty, quoting Sahir himself may be unfair to him. I will, there-
fore, quote a well known couplet from another poet:
"Barrhe shauk se sun rahaa thaa zamaana.
Tumhee so gaye dastaan kahte-kahte...."
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian