Since time immemorable, poets have been people who’ve held up a mirror to society, and empowered the downtrodden. Sahir Ludhianvi is one such poet and songwriter, whose poetry finds light in the margins of society, whose words rattle the most powerful of weapons, and whose work resonates with generations that come long after his life. In a time and place, where art is trifling, and fame is transient, it is Ludhianvi who finds himself embellished in history books, as well as popular culture.
In something as recent as Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi, the poet is paid a poignant tribute when Gangu asks then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, "Jinhen Naaz Hain Hind Par Woh Kahaan Hain?," a song that featured in Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa [1957]. However, a lesser-known fact is that 'Jinhen Naaz Hai Hind Par' was not written for Pyaasa. Instead it was a nazm that Ludhianvi wrote long before the film. Titled Chakle, the hook line of the powm is "sanā-ḳhvān-e-taqdīs-e-mashriq kahāñ haiñ," that roughly translates to "Where are those who pray to the sacredness of the East?," which was then simplified, and changed to "jinhen naaz hai hind par, woh kahaan hain" for the film.
Just like Chakle, Ludhianvi’s poetry champions women, and scrapes off the glittery curtains that hide their plight.
It is of course a coincidence that the poet’s birth anniversary falls on the same day as International Woman’s Day, but many would call it a fateful occurrence, given how Ludhianvi wrote about women.
He understood their pain, he scorned the hypocrisy of men, and he blatantly penned songs and poems that dived into the discourse of womanhood.
Chakle is only one example for his work on this theme. A year after Pyaasa, he wrote "aurat ne janam diya mardon ko, mardon ne usse bazaar diya. jab dil chaha masla-kuchla, jab ji chaha dutkaar diya" for BR Chopra’s Sadhna [1958], where he unabashedly speaks about how men mistreat women despite the fact that they are the very force of nature that brought them into this world. He wrote another poem on how the world reduces women to merely flesh and body, only to forget that they also have a soul and a beating heart. He writes, "Log aurat ko faqat jism samajh lete hain, rooh bhi hoti hain uss mein yeh kahaan sochte hain,: and that is the dignity with which he wrote about women. The kind of dignity they sought everywhere, in their marriage, in their family, in their lives, they found in between Ludhianvi’s lines.
However, Ludhianvi did not confine himself only to women’s plight. He was an activist, and his activism was entrapped in his art. He spoke about poverty, religious bigotry, capitalism and materialism, love, and separation, oppression, and rebellion. He sought change, and peace whilst drenching his words in a tide of romance. Ludhianvi was a man of love who had acquainted deeply with reality and sorrow. Much like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a poet he looked up to with great admiration, in Ludhianvi’s world, romance and revolution coexisted at all times. If you searched for love in his words, you would find a rebellion. If you searched for a revolution, you would find romance.
He is not a pal do pal ka shair; his poetry was soul stirring back when he wrote it, and will be for the better part of this century. It is nothing to be proud of, like Javed Akhtar proclaimed once when talking about Ludhainvi. He spoke about how the fact that 'Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par' still strikes a chord with the people, is unfortunate because it means that as a society, we have been frozen in time with the same woes poisoning our world that did so back then.
However, the matter of fact is that seven decades later, Sahir Ludhianvi is more relevant than ever, as religious polarisation divides our nation, I am brought back to his words – "Tu na Hindu banega, na , Musalmaan banega, insaan ki aulad hai, insaan banega." He was a staunch secularist, and was disappointed with the society he was living in. So with his words, he demanded for one that he thought to be ideal. It is funny how the face of power changes, but the tribulations remain constant. During his life, he was known as a poet who lived ahead of his time while post his demise, he is known as a poet who lives after his time. When in reality, Sahir Ludhianvi refused to be bound by the constraints of time. After all, he was a man of words, and there is nothing more perennial than words.
As Sahir Ludhianvi marks his 101st birth anniversary today on 8 March, it is imperative to celebrate him for the poet that he was, for his words that even guns feared, and for his gift that keeps on giving even today. Poetry often accomplishes things that the mightiest swords fail to do. As the world grapples with a war today, it is only right to go back to Ludhianvi’s poem, Ae Sharif Insaano, a nazm he wrote after the Indo-Pak war of 1965, where he says "Khoon apna ho ja praya ho, nasle aadam ka khoon hai aakhir. Jang mashrik mein ho ja magrib mein, apne aalam ka khoon hai aakhir." Sahir Ludhianvi was known as the People’s Poet, and seven decades later, people still find solace and refuge in his words.
Takshi Mehta is a freelance journalist and writer. She firmly believes that we are what we stand up for, and thus you'll always find her wielding a pen.
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