Sahir Ludhianvi

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Sahir Ludhianvi or Abdul Hai was a hindi lyricist and an important member of the Progressive Writers Association. After the partition he left for Lahore but then came back to India in the year 1949 to avoid persecution by the Pakistani state and settled in Bombay. Made debut in the hindi film industry by penning songs for the 1951 film Naujawan and 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). 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 was:

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?