25/10/2019
An introduction to Sahir's poetry -- on his 39 anniversary.
(from the preface of my book Sorcery, Vudya Kitaban, 1989.)
Sain Sucha
It is amazing how one can feel deeply indebted to a person whom one has never met, or even seen. And, without ever having been close to that person, share his descriptions and dreams, be a vessel for his emotions – cry when he grieves and feel elated when he so inspires. From my childhood, through adolescence, right into my thirties, and to quite an extent even today, that is the relationship between Sahir and me.
As a grown-up human being, I am a thorough mixture of that little bit which my genes carried in them and a whole lot of impressions which are imprinted upon my mind from external sources during the last five decades. There are some names which are more prominent than others in their claim to have influenced me; but none more salient than Sahir, if I were to name the person who guided and formed my emotional life in my youth.
This does not mean that I am, in any way, an admirer without reservations. On the contrary, there are many things by him which I disagree with, and some totally refute. Yet, most of what he wrote came close to my heart – it is another thing that on closer scrutiny not only the mind rejected what the heart cherished, but also quite often won over the heart – it is another thing that on closer scrutiny not only the mind rejected what the heart cherished, but also quite often won over the heart.
Just to show how I felt towards Sahir I should refer to an important incident – when I left Pakistan for England in 1960 I had a major problem to solve. Without having a prearranged job, or accommodation, I was forced to carry the minimum with me. Among my precious possessions I had TULKHIAN , a collection of poems by Sahir. Should I take it with me or not? I decided not to carry the book. Instead, I confined myself to my room for almost two weeks and memorised the whole book – about a hundred pages and some eighty-five compositions. Today, after nearly thirty years, I can still recite most of the book from memory. Did I like Sahir!
Therefore, this book is a long-overdue, homage to Sahir.
Sahir Ludhianvi (1) was born in Ludhiana, E. Punjab, India in 1921. He died 25th, October 1980. This makes him contemporary with Faiz and Faraz(2), two other eminent poets from South Asia. In chronological order Faiz precedes him and Faraz follows. Both Sahir and Faiz received acclaim in the late thirties and early forties- Sahir's 'TAJ MAHAL' and Faiz's 'DON'T ASK ME MY DARLING FOR THE LOVE WE HAD ONCE' were published shortly after each other. Their inclination to paint the same shades of thought as verbal images made them aware of one another's presence, and potential. Both of them happened to be in, or nearby, Lahore during this early period of their intellectual development. period of their intellectual development. Sahir admits that Faiz's impact on him generated negative vibrations resulting in a lifelong resentment against a man simply because that man projected those thoughts which Sahir would have liked to have written himself had the other one not endorsed them first. It is most unfortunate, because both of them were extremely gifted poets and, before this clash, were independently writing great poetry, at that very crucial time in Indian history. Some people say that Sahir was influenced by Faiz, and these two must have impressed Faraz. How much of it is true, no one knows; except each of them, in their moments of objective truth. All three are highly respected poets, within the medium which they decided to use for their expression. Faiz is profoundly sophisticated and subtle, Sahir is deeply introverted but t straight in his message, Faraz is more versatile and can project his thoughts in whichever manner he chooses.
As far as diversity in class struggle is concerned Sahir was definitely the most conscious of it. Faiz and Faraz have used classes in the abstract form-rich vs. poor, culprit vs. victim – without much emphasis on the nature of atrocities which different people within various classes inflict or are inflicted upon. Sahir drew attention to the particulars as well; especially when he wrote about the universal victimisation of women as a separate issue. Already from the forties he wrote poems like 'AT NOOR JEHAN'S TOMB', 'WOMAN GAVE BIRTH TO MEN, MEN PUT HER IN THE STREET, 'BROTHELS' etc; and that was long before the Women's Liberation Movement came into vogue in the West. He also had, what the social scientists call, the inner view of the poor class, and put forward their case more blatantly than any other contemporary well-known Urdu/Hindi poet, with the probable exception of Habib Jalib. Thus, while he perhaps fell short of sustained sophisticated presentation of composed thought, he made up for it with the directness of his presentation of universal and individual problems, as well as the lyricism of the highest order, in Urdu poetry.
Of the three Sahir is the only one who lived for many years on the fringe of poverty, and wrote commercially for the film industry in Bombay. This makes it somewhat tedious to decide when Sahir expressed his inner voice and when he voiced the situation which was relevant in a particular sequence in a movie. Nevertheless, it is not an impossible task to separate the independent poet and thinker from the complier who satisfied certain needs in a given manner. When the strings from Bombay did not manipulate his hand he wrote for India and the majority of Indians – the poor, the suppressed, and the youth. He wrote from the heart, for the heart. Of course, he wrote for the mind too; but in a way that one did not need to go round musing over the contents for a couple of days and then suddenly get the feeling of rapture when the hidden meanings emerged. Instead, he wrote in a note which was so masterly composed that one picked up the tune and sung it with him as soon as one heard it – sung with him songs which in the beginning were pessimistic, bitter and dejectory, but later on those which contained optimism, hope, and implied salvation. Most of his poetry was written with the intention of representing and reaching ordinary human beings; and, therefore, in a medium which was within their reach. That is not to say that he wrote about simple matters. No! He wrote about the complexities of life and human experience in a language that the contents, despite their depth, were accessible to everybody who understood Urdu or Hindi – and this means his poetry reaches almost 800 million (3) hearts, and minds.
Actually Sahir is one of the most prominent historians of the modem India – not a chronologist of political events but a historian of the Indian psyche. His writings reflect the mood of Indian society from the thirties to the day when death claimed his pen. His early compositions show resentment and protest against the British presence in India, the mass confusions of the urban sector during the Second World War as to their role for and against the two foreign power blocks in relation to the chances of getting rid of the British Raj. The forties and fifties show hopefulness arising from the success made by the socialistic thought in Russia and Eastern Europe, and, simultaneously, a deep sense of helplessness which prevailed among the intellectuals after the partition of Imperial India into Pakistan and Bharat It is not until the fifties that a completely new surge of awareness became dominant in India and Sahir wrote 'THAT DAWN SHALL RISE, ONE DAY' and 'WITH US, THAT DAWN SHALL RISE'. With that Sahir was no longer a mere protestor. He, along with few other writers who could feel the coming change, became the critic and wrote 'WOMAN GAVE BIRTH TO MEN, MEN PUT HER IN THE STREET, and sometimes the seer who talked about 'THE ADVENT OF LIGHT', and at times the prudent who suggested 'LET'S WEAVE A DREAM'.
Still, most of Sahir's poetry is not on a happy note. He was basically not a happy person. Yet, he was capable of inducing positive thinking whenever he decided to do so. He was awarded the title of 'Sri Padam' by the President of India. His work was acknowledged internationally when he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (4) in literature. On the other hand, in spite of the popularity of his compositions among the general public, he is ignored by the elitist intellectuals in South Asia; intentionally, and wrongly I believe. Although many books exist in Urdu containing his works, and several of his poems are translated into other languages, indigenous as well as international, there is no proper anthology of Sahir in Urdu or English. I have inquired from reliable sources (5) but the answer has been in the negative. The slander of commercialism is not an acceptable charge. To place a person of such high calibre as Sahir, and all of his work, into a permanent shadow on such grounds would be an act of sacrilege. As his name depicts, he had been a sorcerer (6) for over forty years and the magic of his poetry must reach the coming generations, both at home and abroad.
If this effort of mine should succeed in transmitting some feelings of his poetry into English then I am content.
I have taken the liberty of making a subjective choice in selecting the material for this book. For the accuracy in translation I have concentrated more upon the meanings of Sahir's ideas than the form of the poems; therefore, if the readers of English interpretations do not find in them the exquisite lyricism which I have mentioned earlier then the shortcomings are mine, not Sahir's. I am aware that there are several other compositions by Sahir which I could have included in the anthology, but the economics of the situation bid me to take my leave at the present stage. I only hope that other enthusiasts and translators will be encouraged by this little selection, and perhaps we shall see a much larger representation of Sahir, and other noteworthy writers from South Asia, in the future on the trans-cultural platform.
Sain Sucha
Sollentuna, Aug. 7th, 1989.
Sollentuna 25 October 2019
(1) He was named Abd-al-Haye by his parents.
(2) I feel guilty of negligence when only the names of Faiz and Faraz are mentioned; because during that period, there were many other writers who produced excellent literature. The reason I have cited these three persons here is that there is a certain undercurrent which is common to their writings and which, without becoming obvious, could always be felt by their readers, at least by those who I am acquainted with.
Therefore, no disrespect is intended to the others if I have failed to name them in this book
(3)The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language.
(4) Incorrect. He received the Soviet Land Nehru Award.
(5) Among others Mr. Ralph Russell.
(6) Sahir means a sorcerer or a wizard in Urdu.
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