# RMIM Archives.. # # Subject: Sahir - Facts and Fiction

# Different pieces on Sahir (compiled from diff articles)

# An Article On Sahir's Life. (Guri)

# The Sahir-Sudha-Story (Guri)

# A Nazm by Sahir (Naveed and Ali Minai)

# # Source: RMIM, alt.language.urdu.poetry

# # Maintained by: subraman@cs.umn.edu (Satish)

Subject: An Article On Sahir's Life. (from the RJGK-22 posting)
Posted by: buxi@ix.netcom.com (Guri)

1921: Abdulhayi (later known by his takhallus SAHIR LUDHIAN- VI) is born to a Jagirdar family in Ludhiana, Punjab. He has several step-mothers, but he is the only child of his father who is one big *aiyaash*.
1934: He is in his early teens when his mother takes the bold step of getting away from that man, forfeiting all claims to the financial assets. Dad sues for child-custody and loses. There are threats that he will make sure Sahir does not live with his mother very long, even if that means taking the child's life. Mom finds friends who keep a close watch on Sahir and don't let him out of sight. Fear and financial deprivation surround the formative years of this young man who did okay in school.
1939: He goes to college, is popular for his *extra- curricular* talents, falls in love with one of his admirers - the daughter of another rich man of Ludhiana's bourgeois society. Poverty and lack of the courage to fight another man-like-his-father bring this affair to it's inevitable sad end, made sadder by the fact that the girl's father pulls strings to get him expelled from college.
1943: Out of college, and by now having finished writing his first serious work *TalkhiyaaN*, Sahir leaves Ludhiana and goes to Lahore to find a publisher who would take it. He does, after two years of getting shuttled here and there.
1945: *TalkhiyaaN* gets published, and now starts a fairly good period for the Shayar Sahir. He is made the editor of Adab-e-Lateef, Shaahkaar, and later Savera - successful urdu magazines.
1949: Sahir leaves Lahore...basically because he has written stuff in *Savera* that the new Pakistan Govt. decides is too inflammatory, and therefore there is a warrant out for his arrest! He comes to Delhi , leaves Delhi in another few months because, as he tells a friend, *Bombay needs me*! And thus starts a most memorable career for one of Bollywood's darling poets - a career that spans 31 years and gives Indian films over 200 Golden Greats - songs, ghazals, nazms that will be hummed to, identified with, and *fought over* :) by generations to come! Sahir is considered a *romantic*: personal romance and the resultant disillusionment, followed by universal romance and the resultant frustration with *the way it is*. He does not mince words, does not sublimate emotions, expresses thoughts clearly and directly. He gets angry and sarcastic, and at the same time he dreams. It is the dreamer in Sahir that gives him his characteristic style: *narm-o-naazuk swar, shabdoN ki sundar taraash-kharaash aur neeNd mein doobaa huaa vaataavaran*:

aao ke koyi khwaab buneN kal ke vaastE varnaa ye raat aaj ke sangeen daur ki
Das legi jaan-o-dil ko aise ke jaan-o-dil taa-umr phir na koyi haseeN khwaab bun sakE.
gau hum se bhaagtee rahi hai tez-gaam umr khwaaboN ke aasrE pe katee hai tamaam umr
ye khwaab hi to apnee jawaanee ke paas tHe ye khwaab hi to apne amal ki asaas tHe
aao ke koyi khwaab buneN, kal ke vaastE !

[ tez-gaam: fast paas: lesson asaas: foundation ]

Subject: The Sahir-Sudha-Story

Posted by: buxi@ix.netcom.com (Guri)

Hi guys! I've been asked to tell what I know about the Sahir-Sudha scene... The following is strictly-speaking trivial gossip, although the*sources* of this info are people who supposedly knew/worked with Sahir...So, please read the first line of this post before again, and now, let's dive right into the Sahir/Sudha saga...I'm reproducing an e.mail message I had sent someone about this a few days ago: What I say comes from various bits and pieces of info gath- ered over several years from some reliable and some not-so- reliable sources...so, take it with a grain/pinch...:) Sahir comes from a slightly dysfunctional family...even for their times (details in my article later with RJGK 22)...Sudha comes from a okay with the dtr doing playback/performances 'becoz she was good at it'. Sahir, by the time he came into Sudha's life, had already gone through a multitude of emotional experiences...fell in love for the first time in college before he'd written a lot of his 'known' stuff...he had come to a deprived state from being the son of a Jagirdar...the girl's parents were rich...they pursuaded the dtr. to get out of the affair...he insisted in a foolish manner (basically amounting to sadak- chhap romeo-giri)...the girl's father pulled some strings and got him expelled from college...he wrote *Talkhiyaan*: his best-known non-filmi thing...went to Lahore...got it published there (this is 1943-45)...did well as a shayar in Lahore for the next 5-6 years...then came to Delhi and the next year got lapped up by Bollywood...1949-50. He was famous before he started in Bollywood...Sudha was starting to get work...he met her...fell in love...(the 'sources' are very casual about this: 'vo to dil-fek aadmi tha ji')...but once again the girl's family...this one didn't like him becoz he was 'too vagrant'...even though he was rich now...so, what he got out of it was more Now comes the making of Didi ...remember that Sahir was nev- er course, he'd never thought vengefully...so, when there was a situation where he could do something 'for' the love of his life, he jumped...N.Dutta fell sick, and Sahir sug- gested that Sudha could do the music herself...she was al- ready the selected female singer (again, the fact that Sahir was always 'singing' praises of her talents was helpful)...so, there you have it...the perfect 'filmi' si- tuation where celluloid/vinyl is mimicking real life...a la Gurudutt/Vaheeda or Raj Kapoor/Nargis or.... None of the ex-loves in particular were ever the singled out subject of Sahir's poetry, but the feelings/thoughts ex- pressed were those *lived* by himself...that's what makes poets like him great...a lot of people go through experi- ences like this...but few can put them across as momentous- ly!! End of story!

--guri

Subject: A Nazm by Sahir
Posted by: srazvi@hawk.depaul.edu (Syed Razvi)

I am posting this nazm by Sahir Ludhianvi which is titled as 'Teri Aavaz". This nazm I don't think is as popular as his other nazams, but it is as beautiful as the other nazms. I have felt a strong influence of Faiz on Sahir in this particular piece. May be it is just my imagination, but I would like to hear from you guys. Anyway here it is .

Raat sunsaan thee, bojhal thee(n) faza kee sanse(n)
Rooh pe chhye huay thay bay naam ghmo(n) kay sye
Dil ko yeh zid thee keh too aye tassali denay
Meri yeh koshish thee key kambakhat ko neend aajye

Dair tak aankho(n) mei(n) chubhtee rahi taaro(n) kee chamak
Dair tak zehan sulagta raha tanhyee mei(n)
Apnay thukrye huay dost kee pursish kay liyay
Too na ayee is raat kee pehnyee mei(n)

Yun achanak teri aavaz kahi(n) say ayee jaisay parbat ka jigar cheer kay jharna phootay
Ya zameeno(n) kee mohabbat mei(n) tarap kar naagah Aasmano(n) say koee shokh sitaara tootay

Shehad sa ghul gaya talkhaba-e-tanhayee mei(n)
Rang sa phail guya dil kay siah khanay mein
Dair tak yoo(n) teri mastana sadae(n) goonjee(n)
Jis tarah phool chataknay lage(n) veeranay mei(n)
Too bohat door kisee anjuman-e-naaz mei(n) thee
Phir bhee mehsoos kiya main nay keh too ayee hai
Aur naghmo(n) mei(n) chupa kar meray khoay huay khvab,
Meri roothi huee neendo(n) ko mana lyee hai
Raat ki satah par ubhray teray chehray kay naqoosh
Wohi chup chap si aankhe(n), wohi sada si nazar
Wohi dhalka hua aanchal, wohi raftar ka kham
Wohi reh reh ke lachakta hua naazuk paikar
Too meray paas na thee, phir bhee sehar honay tak
Tera har sans meray jism ko choo kar guzra
Qatra qatra teray deedar ki shabnam tapkee
Lamha lamha teri khushboo say mo'attar guzra
Ab yehi hai tujhay manzoor to aay jaan-e-qarar
Mai(n) teri raah na dekhoo(n)ga siah raato(n) mei(n)
Dhoond lei(n)gi meri tarsi huee nazre(n) tujh ko
Naghma-o=shair ki umdee huee barsato(n) mei(n)
Ab tera piyar satye ga to meri hasti
Teri masti bharee aavaz mei(n) dhal jye gee
Aur yeh rooh jo teray liyay baychain si hai
Geet ban kay teray honto(n) pay machall jye gee
Teray naghmaat teray husn ki thandak lay kar
Meray taptay huay maahol mei(n) aajyen gay
Chund ghanto(n) kay liyay ho kay hamesha kay liyay
Meri jaagi huee raato(n) ko sula jye(n) gay

Any comments, corrections, or suggestions will be appreciated.

--Naveed

Here is a reply to the above posting from Ali Minai with some more details on Sahir's work and life.

Subject: Re: A Nazm by Sahir Posted by: Ali Minai (aminai@holmes.ece.uc.edu)

-- Yes, the poem has a very Faizian quality to it, but then, the ro- mantic poems of Faiz and Sahir have a very similar tone and dic- tion anyway. It is hard to say who influenced whom, or if the mood was in the air. IMO, Sahir was one of our major modern poets and has been somewhat unfairly neglected in comparison with Faiz. His canvas was more limited, his work less voluminous, but I think he was more successful than Faiz in expressing progressive ideas as poetry. Faiz succeeds in such poems mostly when they follow from some personal experience (zindaaN ki aik shaam, zin- daaN ki aik subh, subh-e aazaadi, chand rOz aur meri jaan, etc.). His overtly revolutionary poems (aa jaao, afriqa, and such), are notably uninspired. And, of course, he is at his best in ghazals that express his beautiful humanist ideals. He was, by nature, a humanist, and a Marxist only because that was the face of human- ism in the developing/colonized world. Sahir, on the other hand, wrote numerous very successful revolutionary poems. Of course, such generalizations are always dangerous, and there are excep- tions on both sides. One thing that, ultimately, distinguishes Sahir iand Faiz in their personal, romantic poetry is the great optimism which suf- fuses Faiz' work. To some extent, it reflects his success as a poet and his relatively happy personal life. In contrast, Sahir, with his unfulfilled (though not unrequited) love for Amrita Preetam, his desperate economic situation, and his low self- esteem, is very bitter. After all, he named his collection "tal- KHiyaaN". The poem posted here is one of his rare sweet love poems --- which is why it is so reminiscent of Faiz. It reminds me espe- cially of "mauzoo'e suKHan" in its imagery. However, it is a much smoother work. A very beautiful poem.

A couple of minor corrections: > Raat sunsaan thee, bojhal thee(n) faza kee sanse(n) > Rooh pe chhye huay thay bay naam ghmo(n) kay sye ^^^^ There is no "huay" here. > Dil ko yeh zid thee keh too aye tassali denay > Meri yeh koshish thee key kambakhat ko neend aajye ^^^ There is no "yeh" here. > Apnay thukrye huay dost kee pursish kay liyay > Too na ayee is raat kee pehnyee mei(n) ^^^^^^^ That should read "too na aayee magar is raat ki pehnaaee mayN".

-- Ali Minai