Saahir - The man who didn't want the world
Here is an article i found over net, about the life-and-times of legendary Sahir. After the intense discussions over his style and works(involving ryzers Jaya, Madhavan, Richa, Ghizala...), I thought it would be nice to share some more about what went into making his voice the most revolutionary and anti-establishment at a time when everybody was singing the happy tunes of New-Found-Freedom. Thanks to Asha Ahuja for writing this article and letting it float over the Net-Sea for petty fishermen like me to net and display it for everybody's net-gain..!! Here it goes:
Ludhiana, October 24
Though his body lies buried in a graveyard in Bombay, he lives in the hearts of lovers of poetry, music and arts. His poetry is identified with truth, beauty and goodness!These lines eulogise one of the greatest poets of India, who by linking his name with Ludhiana has immortalised this city.
He is Sahir Ludhianvi whose 21st death anniversary falls tomorrow.Sahir’s relevance in today’s world is greater as he had advocated world peace and championed the cause of the downtrodden and the have nots. The progressive movement fired his imagination and he longed for peace, justice and universal love. Sahir appeared on the scene of Urdu poetry when giants like Firaq, Faiz and Majaz were at the height of their popularity. With such stalwarts around, he could not escape their influence but his own sensibilities and his powerful imagination soon weaned him from their influence and he came to his own.
He was born in an atmosphere of tyranny. The Bengal famine, and the atrocities of the British on Indians induced him to write against the British. The British, scared of the power of his poetry banned his work.Born in a feudal family of Ludhiana , Abdul Hayee ‘Sahir’ had a childhood draped in affluence but soon the hedonistic orgies of his father, made him leave the house and he chose to stay with his dejected mother in penury. His father tried to get him liquidated but his mother protected him fiercely. This incident sowed in him the seeds of hatred and revulsion for the feudalistic order, and that shaped the course of much of the future events of his life.
Left alone to earn his living, Sahir had a chequered career. His education was cut short when he was asked to leave Government College for Boys at Ludhiana as a penalty for an amorous adventure and his unorthodox views. His first anthology ‘Talkhiyan’, projected Sahir as a poet who echoes the sentiments of the younger generation. Talkhiyan has remained the most popular of his anthologies. Principal Azad Gulati says of “Talkhiyan”: “Sahir’s intensity of perception, subtle power of observation, soundness and solidity of thematic content coupled with meterical musicality, his knack of choosing appropriate words and the sensuous freshness of his imagery make the poems in this anthology a thing of real beauty.” “Parchhaiyan” is Sahir’s unique achievement as a long anti-war poem. This poem is a veritable paean of human soul hungering for a life free from the harrowing shadows of war.
His other anthology ‘Aao Key Koi Khwab Bunien” raises a voice against political tyranny.Sahir found the cinema to be a potent vehicle for conveying his ideas and urges to the masses. He raised film songs to new heights, and through them depicted the aches and thrills of life.In one of his couplets Sahir has said, “I return back to the world whatever it has bestowed on me in the form of experiences and tragedies.”Sahir’s poems have crossed national limits. The list of his rewards is endless. He was given the Padmashri. His books have been translated into English, French, Arabic, Persian and Russian.
The Ludhianvis hold mushairas on his death anniversary.Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, paying a tribute to Sahir has written. “A revolutionary in his thoughts, He was a mortal by birth He is still remembered by all specially by the fair sex Unmarried, he died But pretty girls still Put roses on his grave on his Birthdays As at the statue of Pushkin in Moscow."
Ludhiana, October 24
Though his body lies buried in a graveyard in Bombay, he lives in the hearts of lovers of poetry, music and arts. His poetry is identified with truth, beauty and goodness!These lines eulogise one of the greatest poets of India, who by linking his name with Ludhiana has immortalised this city.
He is Sahir Ludhianvi whose 21st death anniversary falls tomorrow.Sahir’s relevance in today’s world is greater as he had advocated world peace and championed the cause of the downtrodden and the have nots. The progressive movement fired his imagination and he longed for peace, justice and universal love. Sahir appeared on the scene of Urdu poetry when giants like Firaq, Faiz and Majaz were at the height of their popularity. With such stalwarts around, he could not escape their influence but his own sensibilities and his powerful imagination soon weaned him from their influence and he came to his own.
He was born in an atmosphere of tyranny. The Bengal famine, and the atrocities of the British on Indians induced him to write against the British. The British, scared of the power of his poetry banned his work.Born in a feudal family of Ludhiana , Abdul Hayee ‘Sahir’ had a childhood draped in affluence but soon the hedonistic orgies of his father, made him leave the house and he chose to stay with his dejected mother in penury. His father tried to get him liquidated but his mother protected him fiercely. This incident sowed in him the seeds of hatred and revulsion for the feudalistic order, and that shaped the course of much of the future events of his life.
Left alone to earn his living, Sahir had a chequered career. His education was cut short when he was asked to leave Government College for Boys at Ludhiana as a penalty for an amorous adventure and his unorthodox views. His first anthology ‘Talkhiyan’, projected Sahir as a poet who echoes the sentiments of the younger generation. Talkhiyan has remained the most popular of his anthologies. Principal Azad Gulati says of “Talkhiyan”: “Sahir’s intensity of perception, subtle power of observation, soundness and solidity of thematic content coupled with meterical musicality, his knack of choosing appropriate words and the sensuous freshness of his imagery make the poems in this anthology a thing of real beauty.” “Parchhaiyan” is Sahir’s unique achievement as a long anti-war poem. This poem is a veritable paean of human soul hungering for a life free from the harrowing shadows of war.
His other anthology ‘Aao Key Koi Khwab Bunien” raises a voice against political tyranny.Sahir found the cinema to be a potent vehicle for conveying his ideas and urges to the masses. He raised film songs to new heights, and through them depicted the aches and thrills of life.In one of his couplets Sahir has said, “I return back to the world whatever it has bestowed on me in the form of experiences and tragedies.”Sahir’s poems have crossed national limits. The list of his rewards is endless. He was given the Padmashri. His books have been translated into English, French, Arabic, Persian and Russian.
The Ludhianvis hold mushairas on his death anniversary.Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, paying a tribute to Sahir has written. “A revolutionary in his thoughts, He was a mortal by birth He is still remembered by all specially by the fair sex Unmarried, he died But pretty girls still Put roses on his grave on his Birthdays As at the statue of Pushkin in Moscow."
posted by Varun at 10:00 AM
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