100 years of Sahir Ludhianvi: Not a pal do pal ka shayar

‘Quran na ho jisme wo mandir nahi tera, Geeta na ho jisme wo haram nahi tera… Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega, insaan ki aulaad hai, insaan banega’ – Dhool Ka Phool (1959)
Beyond love and romance, patriotism and empathy that mirrored in his timeless nazms and writings, a hidden gem within the works of shaayar Sahir Ludhianvi, who turns 100 on March 8, was his unparalleled pitch for an egalitarian society, the place not the religions however humanity was revered, above all.
Born as Abdul Hayee on March 8, 1921, in Ludhiana of undivided Punjab, Sahir Ludhianvi via his writings echoed his perception of ‘One God’, irrespective of individuals worshipping him as ‘Ram’ or ‘Rahim’.

More than 40 years after his passing, these treasures of his writings stay unparalleled nonetheless and he wrote: ‘Kaabe mein raho ya Kaashi mein, nisbat to ussi ki zaat se hai, Tum Ram kaho ya Rahim kaho, matlab to ussi ki baat se hai’ ; ‘Ishwar allah tere naam, sabko sanmanti de bhagwan, saara jagat teri santaan.. koi neech na koi mahaan… janam ka koi mol nahi… karam se hai sabki pehchaan..’
Veteran Urdu poet and author Kewal Dheer (83), writer of the e book ‘Daastan-e-Sahir’, says, “Beyond the magic of his romantic and patriotic poetry and lyrics, what individuals typically neglect is what he wrote about a perfect society. He was a born Muslim however for him Ram and Rahim have been one, he noticed God as one and he revered people, not the religions. That’s the thoughts and coronary heart from the place he wrote lyrics corresponding to ‘Sansaar se bhaagte phirte ho, bhagwan ko tum kya paoge….iss lok ko bhi apna na sake uss lok mein bhi pachtaoge… ye paap hai kya ye punya hai kya, reeton par dharm ki mohrein hain… har yug mein badalte dharmon ko kaise aadarsh banaoge…’
Sahir accomplished his education from Khalsa High School in Ludhiana, and after separation of his dad and mom, he was residing along with his mom and maternal uncle. He then acquired admission at SCD Government College, Ludhiana, in arts stream, and a duplicate of his admission type (along with his signatures), which the faculty has now preserved as an illustrious doc, reveals that his curiosity was in 5 topics — English, Persian, philosophy, Urdu and historical past — and his hobbies have been ‘cricket’ and ‘photography’. Reinforcing the truth that expertise issues greater than the marks on the report card, Sahir’s admission type signifies that he wasn’t a superb pupil academically and had cleared matriculation in ‘second division’.
And at this time, for Ludhiana’s SCD College, its ‘expelled’ pupil is their most celebrated alumnus. The campus buzzes with the immortal reminiscences of its shaayar pupil — his outdated group {photograph} hanged within the hall, his not-so illustrious marksheets preserved in magazines, an auditorium and a botanical backyard ‘Gulistan-e-Sahir’ devoted in his title.
According to principal Dharam Singh Sandhu, Sahir was an arts stream pupil in school from 1939-41 however had spent solely two years in faculty, and left when his commencement was nonetheless incomplete. “There was an era in Hindi film industry when not a single film came which did not have Sahir’s lyrics. Though he could not complete graduation from our college and left after two years, we are proud of his association with our college. This shows that more than the marks on the report card, it is the talent and passion of a student that matters. He wasn’t a brilliant student academically but entire world knows him today…”
The story goes that Sahir was expelled from faculty for having an affair with a woman, Ishar Kaur, and sitting on the faculty lawns together with her, a lot to the disagreement of principal ACC Hervey, a British man.
But Kewal Dheer disagrees and says that he was not expelled however “asked to leave”. Another story means that he was requested to go away the faculty throughout his second 12 months of commencement as a result of his poems in opposition to British rule irked the authorities.
Dheer provides that earlier than Ishar Kaur, there was one other girl, Prem Chaudhri, whom Sahir beloved and he or she was his classmate. “She had died due to tuberculosis and Sahir was heartbroken. He loved her,” Dheer says.
He was awarded Padma Shri in 1971.
He was nearly a loner when he died in Mumbai on October 25, 1980, after a cardiac arrest, says Dheer. “After his mom’s demise, his ingesting and smoking downside had elevated, “ Dheer says.
But one one who was probably the most heartbroken after Sahir’s demise was one other artistic genius of Punjab — author Amrita Pritam, who was head over heels in love with him.
In Sahir’s timeless nazm, which he had written for Amrita, he wrote…’Wo afsaana jise anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin, usey ik khoobsurat modh dekar chodna achha..’, indicating that in all probability for Sahir, his affair with Amrita was a ‘beautiful journey but without a destination’.
Amrita, however, was madly and deeply in love with Sahir. Her works — Sunehray (Messages), Dil Diyaan Galiyaan (Lanes of my coronary heart), Aakhari Khat (The Last Letter), and her autobiography Raseedi Ticket — spoke of how madly she beloved him.
And when in 1980, Amrita acquired to find out about Sahir’s dying, breaking into tears, she mentioned, ‘Ajj main apne dil de dariya vich, main apne phul pravaahe ne…’ (Today, in my coronary heart, I’ve cremated myself too).
Sahir’s musical classics which stay immortal within the Hindi movie trade until at this time embrace: ‘Main Zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya..’, ‘Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khyaal aata hai’, ‘Abhi na jao chod kar ki dil abhi bhara nahi..’, ‘Main pal do pal ka shayar hun’, and ‘Tum agar saath dene ka waada karo.’
Among his classics that shook the soul of the nation, elevating voice in opposition to the institution and demanding a society the place poor and downtrodden are handled equally, have been the lyrics that he penned for movie Pyaasa (1957): ‘Ye koochey ye nilaamghar dilkashi ke, ye lut tey huye karwaan zindagi ke.. kahaan hain, kahaan hai, muhafiz khudi ke, jihne naaz hai Hind par wo kahaan hain?’ And ‘Ye mehlon, ye takhton, ye taajon ki dunia, ye insaan ke dushman samaajon ki dunia, ye daulat ke bhookhey riwaazon ki dunia, ye dunia agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai…’

His works additionally spoke boldly of girls’s oppression in society and inequality she faces all through life. For the movie ‘Sadhna’ (1958), he wrote that it’s a girl who provides start to a person however what he does to her is shameful. He ‘sells’ her, takes pleasure from her after which humiliates her. ‘Aurat ne janam dia mardon ko, mardon ne usey baazar dia… jab jee chaaha masla kuchla, jab jee chaaha dutkaar dia… mardon ke liye har zulm rava, aurat ke liye rona bhi khata. Mardon ke liye har aish ka haq, aurat ke liye jeena bhi saza..’
Knowing nicely of how issues change when curtains fall on the play referred to as life, Sahir wrote, ‘..Kal tumse juda ho jaunga, wo aaj tumhara hissa hoon… main pal do pal ka shayar hoon, pal do pal meri kahaani hai..’