Difference between revisions of "Sahir Ludhianvi"
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Where are they, the guardians of self-hood? | Where are they, the guardians of self-hood? | ||
Those who are proud of India, where are they? | Those who are proud of India, where are they? | ||
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| + | Cheen-o-Arab humaara’ song ws a satirical take on two of Iqbal’s poems, ‘Taraana-e-Hind’ (Anthem of Hindustaan) and ‘Taraana-e-Milli’ (Anthem of the Community). The former goes ‘Saare jahaan se achcha, Hindustaan humaara’ (Better than the entire world is this India of ours), while the latter’s opening lines are the same as the song in Phir Subah Hogi, namely, ‘Cheen-o-Arab humaara’. | ||
Revision as of 16:57, 15 June 2019
Sahir Ludhianvi or Abdul Hai was a hindi lyricist and an important member of the Progressive Writers Association. Prior to partition in 1947 he left for Lahore from Ludhiana but then came back to India in the year 1949 to avoid persecution by the Pakistani state which thought his writings in Journal Savera inflammatory and settled in Bombay. Sahir made his debut as a lyricist with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948 and his first song was "Badal Rahi he Zindagi", he made a mark for himself by writing songs for movies like Naya Daur/The New Age (1957) and Phir Subha Hogi/Morning Will Come (1958). On October 25th, 1980, Sahir Ludhianvi died due to a massive heart-attack. The story goes that Nehru had given a speech in which he had remarked ‘I am proud of India.’ Guru Dutt asked Sahir to work this line into the refrain of the song. The result wasa sort of an anti-anthem:
Ye kooche, ye neelaam-ghar dilkashi ke
Ye lut-te hue kaarvaañ zindagi ke
Kahaañ haiñ, kahaañ haiñ, muhaafiz khudi ke?
Jinheñ naaz hai Hind par voh kahaañ haiñ?
These streets, these auction houses of pleasure These looted caravans of life Where are they, the guardians of self-hood? Those who are proud of India, where are they?
Cheen-o-Arab humaara’ song ws a satirical take on two of Iqbal’s poems, ‘Taraana-e-Hind’ (Anthem of Hindustaan) and ‘Taraana-e-Milli’ (Anthem of the Community). The former goes ‘Saare jahaan se achcha, Hindustaan humaara’ (Better than the entire world is this India of ours), while the latter’s opening lines are the same as the song in Phir Subah Hogi, namely, ‘Cheen-o-Arab humaara’.
