People’s poet Sahir Ludhianvi wrote of social justice, platonic love and hope
CHANDIGARH: Next only to Faiz Ahmad Faiz in his verses being quoted in troubled times, Sahir Ludhianvi (March 8, 1921 — October 25, 1980) continues to be a favourite in invocation of lines of his poems and songs in the subcontinent.
If ‘Hum Dekhenge’ by Faiz became the song of protest at the anti-CAA rallies, Sahir’s entreaty against violence ‘Khoon Hindu ka bahe ya Musalman ka nasal-e-adam ka khoon hai akhir’ was the anthem for peace on the social media after violence broke out in Delhi.
Born as Abdul Hai in Ludhiana, he had a traumatic childhood, leaving home with his mother Sardar Begum, who, tired of her feudal philandering husband, chose to live in want and struggle. The deep empathy for women in his poems and songs was born of this dark reality.
Paying a tribute to Sahir, Ludhiana-based poet, writing in English, Nalini Priyadarshani says: “Sahir was a revolutionary poet whose sensibilities were way ahead of his times and his empathy for women is found both in his poems and songs. It only seems natural that he shares his birthday with the Women’s Day”.
ANTHEMS OF RESISTANCE
Author Husain Mir described Sahir as ‘An exemplary progressive’, in a book ‘Anthoms of Resistance’ which discusses the contributions of Urdu poets to the ‘Progressive Writers Movement’ and rates his second book ‘Parchhaiyan’, a long anti-war poem as he grew up in the aftermath of the first of the first World war, as his best. He says, “While Sahir’s poetry is a call for social justice of various kinds, his most poignant and heartfelt work was in the cause of peace”.
On the comparison between Sahir and Faiz, scholar of Urdu literature and a founder of Rekhta Foundation Anisur
Rahman, says: “Faiz was a phenomenal poet of Urdu and influenced many including Sahir. Although both shared the Marxist ideology, yet they were different. Sahir was comparatively romantic even in his social realism and had a greater musicality. However, both of them have remained very popular with the young generation after generation!”
SONGS TO REMEMBER
His entry as a lyricist in Hindi films gave him financial stability and his contribution was in giving a fresh breath to the film songs. He gave lyrics to many films in the 1950s and 1960s but his three all-time great films include ‘Pyaasa’, ‘Phir Subah Hogi and ‘Naya Daur’. Ludhiana’s famous Punjabi poet Surjit Patar says: “He took the standards of the Hindi film song to great heights and sometimes merged his early poetry into songs with finesse like ‘Jinhe naaz hai hind par woh kahan hain?’ On the exploitation of women, Patar adds, “He also wrote one early Punjabi song for a film — ‘Guvandi’ — made in Lahore and was sung by Shiv Dyal Batish.”
Meanwhile, London-based Punjabi poet Amarjit Chandan laments, “The first thought comes: Wish he had written in his mother tongue as well like Faiz and Jalib who maintained a close contact with Punjab. Indeed Sahir contributed to the literary training of my generation and our youthful dreams of love and ‘woh subah’.”
His long-time admirer, author Kewal Dhir of Ludhiana is planning a gala ‘Jashne-Sahir’, which he has been holding uninterrupted for the last 50 years. Kewal who has also brought out a book in Urdu recently on the muchloved poet called ‘Dastan-eSahir’. “It will be the 51st ‘Jashn-e-Sahir’ in my hometown this year,” he says.
PRINCE OF THE PLATONIC
Hearing film songs penned by Sahir like ‘Kuch ajnabi se aap hain, Kuch ajnabi se hum’, ‘Hum aapki ankhon mein iss dil ko basa dein tau’, ‘Jaane kya tune kahi’, ‘Kabhi kabhie’ and many others, it is evident that he is the undisputed ‘prince of the platonic’. And such was the tone of his relationships, starting with Ishwar Kaur in college, Sudha Malhotra as the singer of his songs and our very own dame of Punjabi letter, Amrita Pritam.