RMIM Archive Article "153".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Sahir and Majrooh, the poets - Part 2
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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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It did not take long for the intelligentsia to get disillusioned
by the self-gratification practices of the bureaucracy. Very soon
the middle and the lower order leadership were also infected with
the corruption. Obviously it was much simpler for them to build
their own houses rather than build the country. As a result, the
intelligentsia, still committed to the reconstruction of the na-
tion, looked for a stronger message. For some, the Russian model
was the only hope for achieving the elusive "inquilaab". For some
others, Gandhian socialism was still the right answer. Majrooh
was in the former class, Sahir in the later.
Both Sahir and Majrooh were bitter at the broken dream. Both be-
lieved in the revolution. Both were impatient. Majrooh would
rather get up and just snatch the power, leaving the reac-
tionaries behind. Sahir would carry every body forward with him.
Sahir would achieve it simply by the force of conviction, and by
waiting long enough in spite of being impatient. I will quote
their poems illustrating their thoughts. Before that, let me em-
phasize that Majrooh never showed any disrespect for Gandhi. He
probably just thought that Gandhism will not work in the new si-
tuation.
Once a rather unfortunate incident took place. Referring to a
contemporary right-wing leader, Majrooh wrote what may have the
dubious distinction of being the meanest couplet in Urdu:
"Aman kaa jhandaa is dharti par, kisne kahaa lahraane na paaye,
yeh hai koi Hitler kaa chelaa, maroo saathi, jaane na paaye"
Majrooh later apologized for this sher. In any case, we should
not judge him too harshly on this sher. It must have been said at
the spur of the moment, when the tempers were running high. How-
ever, it does indicate how strongly Majrooh felt.
The important difference between Majrooh and Sahir's poetry was
that Majrooh was offensive, but subtle and polite-- the charac-
teristics of the Lucknow school of poets. Sahir, on the other
hand was direct, explicit, and hard hitting. Sahir's subject of
poetry did not suit the ghazal-style that is basically a tender
form of poetry. May be that is one reason why Sahir did not write
many ghazals. Majrooh's skill and greatness was probably in his
ability to incorporate the rough power and concepts of the left-
ist revolution into the delicate fabric of ghazals without
violating the fundamental tenderness of theq ghazals. At one
stage Majrooh does declare that he is not going to write through
tears or sighs. He will say what he wants- openly and clearly:
"Ab khul ke kahoonga har gham-e-dil, Majrooh naheen woh waqt, ki jab
ashkon mein sunaana tha mujhko, aahon mein ghazal-khwan honaa thaa."
Majrooh regarded the private banks as a manifestation of ugly
capitalism. This is how he visualizes the death of capitalism:
Zabeen par taaj-e-zar, pehloo mein zindan, bank chhaati par
uthegaa beqafan jab ye janaaza, ham bhee dekhenge.."
(zabeen- forehead; taaje zar- the crown of wealth, zindaan- prison)
Now notice Majrooh's revolution expressed through all the tender-
ness of a ghazal:
"ab zameen gaayegi hal ke saaz par naghme
vaadion mein naachenge har taraf taraane se
manchale bunenge ab rango-boo ke pairaahan
ab sanwar ke niklega husn karkhaane se.
Ab zunoon pe woh sait aa parhi ki ai Majrooh
aaj zakhm-e-sar behtar hai dil pe chot khaane se"
(hal-plough, pairahan-clothes; karkhana- factory; zunoon-craze;
sait-moment, zakhm-e-sar- wound on the head; behtar- better)
Majrooh's call for breaking (torhein) the chain:
"Ghulaam rah chuke, torhein ye band-e-ruswaai
khud apne bazu--e-mehnat kaa ehatraam karein.."
(band-e-ruswaai- chain of humiliation, bazu-e-mehnat: arms of
hard work, ehatraam: respect)
Finally, Majrooh's model:
"Meri nigaah mein hai arz-e-Moscow, Majrooh
Woh sarzameen ki, sitaare jise salaam karein"
(arz-e-Moscow- The land of Moscow; Sarzameen- soil, land;
salaam-bow)
Notice the use of sitaare, referring to stellar bodies with a
tangential reference to the American flag.
Before closing Majrooh, and moving over to Sahir, let me quote
some of the non-political jems of Majrooh:
"Bahaane aur bhee hote jo zindagi ke liye.
ham ek baar teri arzoo bhee kho dete
Bacha liya mujhe toofan kee mauj ne varnaa
kinare waale safeena mera dube dete..."
"Woh tak rahe the, hamee hans ke pee gaye aansoo
woh sun rahe the, hamee kah sake na afsaana.."
"Aarzoo hee rah gai Majrooh, kahte ham kabhee
ik ghazal aisee, jise tasveere janaana kahein..."
(tasveer-e-janaana- picture of the beloved)
"Tere siva bhee kaheen thee panaah, bhool gaye
nikal ke ham teri mehifil se raah bhool gaye..."
"Kis-kis ko hai tere taghaful kaa doon jawaab
aqsar to rah gayaan hoon, jhuka kar nazar ko main.
Allah re woh aalam-e-ruqhsat ki der tak,
takta rahaa hoon yoon hi teri rah-ghuzar ko main."
(taghaful: to ignore; aalam-e-ruqhsat: the situation (world) at
the time of leaving)
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian