A Timeless Portrait Of Words

Mei pal do pal ka shayar hu, pal do pal meri kahani hai, pal do pal mere hasti hai, pal do pal meri jawaani hai...
The Real con Artist; Image Source: Filmfare

The Real con Artist; Image Source: Filmfare

When life didn’t wish to listen to his cry, he found a voice that played to his beats. When the world was fighting over beliefs, he wove words that spread kindness over everything. When the borders were created, he dearly loved someone irrespective of his affiliation. He taught what an ideal human society looks like when humanity lost faith. Amongst those who have known how to blend words, it is only Sahir Ludhianvi who is capable of making magic that goes beyond what humans typically believe. In addition to being an exceptional writer, passionate shaayar, and a notable lyricist, he was also a truly wonderful human being to be around.

All his life, Sahir was claimed to have had only one love, his mother and only one hate, his father. He spent a troubled childhood resulting in severing all ties with his biological father, who remarried. In subsequent years, he faced abuse, lawsuits, instability, poor accommodations and destitution for the majority of his young life. Abdul Hayee, a native Punjabi, later took the name Sahir and the surname was kept after his hometown Ludhiana. After attending Khalsa High School, he was unable to graduate even after being enrolled three times at university. While he was never a good student academically, Sahir was highly regarded among students during his college years because of his enchanting ghazals and impeccable nazms in Urdu, which outshined his academic records.

As a tribute to his memory, the university built an auditorium and a botanical garden under his name, 'Gulistan-e-Sahir'. It is not uncommon to see his old group photograph hung in a corridor or mark sheets of an "expelled student" preserved in magazines, as he is one of the most celebrated alumni of SDC College.

In those days, India and Pakistan had not yet established themselves as independent nations, so Sahir, then a student, moved to Lahore and wrote an Urdu book of poetry called Talkhiyaan, which was about bitterness. Initially, he had difficulty finding a publisher, but after struggling for two years and hopping between Ludhiana and Lahore, he was able to secure one in 1945. In no time, Sahir's first published piece was so popular that many saw him as a promising poet of his time; he actually became one!

While Sahir was heavily influenced by the sociopolitical culture of that time, his writings often irked the community, creating trouble for him. One of his works once gained him a warrant in Lahore because it supported communism and the prevailing situation didn't conform to his ideals of peace and integrity. A year later, he left Lahore but had to witness the trauma of partition, which left a lasting effect on him. Therefore, his timeless writings and nazms that we hear today were influenced by love and life but still encompassed patriotic values and empathetic sentiment as well. Thus, it was Sahir Ludhianvi's pitch for an ideal society, where neither religion nor affiliations mattered and human dignity was valued above all; and this remained a hidden gem in his writings.

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)

In this excerpt, his idea of god demonstrates how this great mind worked and weaved the world with clarity and purity of his thought while the environment around him is still very chaotic. Those who understood the meaning behind his shaayaris and did not simply listen to the words were soothed and enriched by them.

Sadly, this timeless beauty wasn't preserved for long since such gatherings were losing their appeal to people's eyes and gradually losing its audiences. Having been impacted yet again by his poor financial circumstances, Sahir decided to move to the film industry in the role of a lyricist. There was a time when lyricists were ignored by the industry, but Sahir Ludhianvi became an industry legend within a matter of a few years. Naturally, his skill and words dominated the industry as he provided some of the best songs that make for a beautiful caravan of rhythmic poetry. After working with top industry players, he went on to become a noted poet and film lyricist. In spite of the fact that he was reportedly taken over by his success at some point in time, he still survived. Though in his later life Sahir's health deteriorated after his mother's death and he took to drinking regularly.

Yet there was another aspect when he grew close to Amrita Pritam due to their unending appreciation for each other's creativity during his initial years in Bombay. Like Amrita puts it, "Sahir mere Sartre the or mein unki Simone thi", it is said that the two lovers never got together. As it turns out, Sahir always had commitment issues and was scared to talk openly about their relationship knowing the reaction of her mother, which is why the story ended on a very poignant note. Nevertheless, it is one of those love stories that is told like a timeless tale. As for Sahir, he had dozens of affairs over his lifetime but never found true love like her.

Despite the ups and downs of Sahir's life, his art was never affected by the various events that shaped his decisions and choices. It felt as if he complimented those moments and experiences through the words. It's been a hundred years since the tale of this all-time beauty began, but like one of his poetry quotes: Main zindagi ka sath nibhata chala gaya, har fikr ko dhuen mein urata chala gaya; Sahur Ludhianvi lived an unforgettable life and his poetry endures as a timeless piece of art.

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