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ABDUL HAIE
SHAHIR LUDHIANVI
(1922-1980)
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Sahir was the son of a rich landlord, known for his love of pleasure and luxury. He had married several times, but had only one male issue-Sahir-to perpetuate his race. After he fall out with Sahir's mothers, the landlord father went to the coart to claim guardianship of his son. But Sahir preferred to stay with his mother, foregoing a life of luxury in favour of a more contented and honourable existence. Shair had his education at Government College, Ludhiana, from where, however, he was externed perhaps for his non-conformist behaviour. But his native city is proud of his prodigal son as ia proved by the re-naming of a street in Ludhiana as "Sahir Ludhianvi Road."
Through Shair give ample evidence of his poetic abilities right in his college days, he really shot into fame with the publication, in 1943, of his poetical collection:
Talkhian. Two poems of this volume, "Taj Mahal" and "Chakley" (both of which are included in this anthology), became immediately popular. In the former, the poet elicits our sympathies for the artisans and labourers without whose skill and industry such a dream in marble could not have been concretised. In the "Chakley", the poet peeps behind the veil of boasted Eastern piety, and shows us the stinking brothels and their unfortunate inmates, for whose tragic fate only the society is to blame.
Apart from the enlightened vision which informs his poetry, Sahir wins our admiration through his simple, unaffected style, which, without breaking with the tradition of rhyme, radif, and seems fresh and forceful, unencumbered with far-fetched concents, pseudo-mystical thought, or over-embellished diction. Whether he writes
nazms, ghazals, or songs, he articulates his thoughts with sincerity, spontaneity, and directness.
Goaded by economic necessity, Sahir went to Bombay and started writing film songs. He made a signal contribution towards improving the quality of these songs, by enricing their content, and toning up their language. Cinema brought him fame and money, but it obstructed, one feels, the full growth of his poetic genius, so that the public had to wait in vain for another collection as authentic and artistic as
Talkhian. His film songs were published under the title: "Gata Jaee Banjara." But film songs, written to suit a particular mood and measure are different from lyrical poetry, which springs as naturally as a water spring. His long poem, "Parchhaiaan", is an impressive anti-war document. The insistent note of pain and pathos heard in his
nazms and ghazals is the result of both environmental and despite the opportunities that came his way, Shair was a lonely man, who remained unmarried all his life. He died in 1980 at the age of 58.
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