Sahir — the magic lives on
Dr Naresh Raj

SAHIR LUDHIANVI was not merely a romantic poet but true to his pen name, he was a magician of words. He employed romanticism in a subtle manner to bring out the agony of the distressed vividly.

The only son of a Jagirdar, he could have lived in affluence and in luxury but his father who was a typical feudal lord, did not believe that women, too, deserved respect like men. Thus, Abdul Hyee (Sahir’s real name) had to choose, as a child, between his rich father and the poor but self-respecting mother. And it was not a difficult choice for him. Sahir had a poet’s sensibility right from a tender age. He adored his mother not only as a child but also throughout his life. His mother also made every sacrifice, like selling her jewellery to educate her son. Thus, Sahir had to face hardships very early in life and this made him sensitive to the troubles and turmoils of the struggling humanity. He hoped and believed that the sufferings of the poor could convert enslaved India into a paradise. All around him he saw darkness, despondency and misery. He wrote;

(I see no light, no destination and my life goes round and round in emptiness. On day to be swallowed by endless time and yet there are moments when I hope and yearn.)

As a student of Government College, Ludhiana, in 1943 he fell in love with a Hindu girl and was expelled from the college. As he humorously put it many years later, when he was honoured by his old college:

(I do not belong here, yet having been expelled from here, I still can claim a relationship.)

Like Adam expelled from the garden of Eden the memory and the hurt remained with the poet throughout his life. In one of his poems he petulantly complains to his beloved:

(You might not be aware, yet a poor simple soul has been ruined by your love.)

But love was not the only problem in his life, he had to earn for himself and his mother. Poverty has blasted numberless hearts and Sahir expresses the fact in a beautiful manner:

(It is inconceivable that I should think of forgetting you, but the sorrows of the world have driven me mad.)

He edited the famous Urdu Magazines Abad-i-Latif and Shakir. After the partition of the country he migrated to Lahore as a Muslim refugee where he edited the famous Urdu bi-monthly Savera. One of the editorials criticising the government so infuriated the authorities that warrants for his arrest were issued. He fled to India, and came to Delhi. Later, he moved to Bombay where the film world was waiting to be conquered by him. His mother, who had been left in Pakistan, was brought to India by his friend Parkash Pandit. Licentiousness of his father and the narrow-mindedness of his beloved’s father were two rude jolts which made him sad as well as violently opposed to the established order. He could feel the privations and humiliation suffered by countless millions throughout the world. The bitterness of his mind flowed in painful yet exquisite songs. That is why his first collection of poems bore the title Talkhian (bitter moods).

His poems like Taj Mahal, Madame and Chakley will make the self-satisfied, sit up and ponder whether we all are not responsible for most of the suffering in this world. The question will continue to ring in the ears of those who have a heart to feel for the unhappy and the unfortunate. One day their conscience may urge them to atone for the sins committed by them and their forefathers. A day might dawn when the privileged will seriously try to bring about social justice. Then and then only will Sahir’s dream of a world of brotherhood and fellow feeling materialise. He hoped for such a world in these lines:

woh subah kabhi to ayegi."

(When women will not be sold for a handful of sliver, love will not be sacrificed at the altar of Mammon, nor will self-respect be made a commodity and the masters of the world will tremble over their sins. Such a dawn will come one day.)

Sahir wanted to see faces of youths and children flowing with bubbling joy. He did not recognise the distinctions of caste, creed and religion. He dreamt of a world free from exploitation, aggression and arrogance. His poems like Jagir and Chakley bear ample testimony of his feelings. He was disconsolate on seeing human beings enslaved in the name of race and the innocent being exploited by the self-acclaimed patriots.

Sahir’s humanity is not confined to national borders. He suffers with the Africans, the Hispanics as well as the Vietnamese. He is opposed to the high handedness of the mighty. He believed in the freedom of all — big and small. On the Republic Day, he asked the rulers of the country:

"Aao ke aaj gaur karen is sawal par, dekhe the humne jo, voh hasin khwab kya hue.

(Let us sit and think calmly about the fate of our dream, why is it that the country progress, yet the poor gain not a bit. What about the facilities for the common folk for. For I find out streets brining and cities flooded with human blood. Is this the fraternity and civilization, we so much boast of.)

Sahir was aware of the sins of the masters of the world and with his pen he, too, was fighting in the front ranks of those who stood for human dignity. As long as the spark of freedom glows in the human breast, Sahir will live in people’s memories.

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