Death Anniversary Perhaps Sahir Ludhianvi knew women more than women themselves

I don't need to be related to my relatives who have never shown me any signs or feelings of being related to me in any way. But, I have some men and women who are not even remotely related to me but are still very close to me. Some of my favorite 'relatives' are K.A.Abbas, Dev Anand, Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, and Dharmendra and if there is one man who I believe is a part of me that is just like me, it is Sahir Ludhianvi.

When my first book, 'Voices in Turmoil' was released more than 50 years ago, some journalists present there asked me who my favorite poets were and they expected me to say Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, and Shelley, but when I said Firaq Gorakhpuri, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi, they did not know what to ask me next. Most of them had never heard of these names. From that day onwards I had a bond with Sahir that I cannot describe in words. I was thinking like him, I was believing in things like him, I was loving like him and I was drinking like him.

It was such a strange coincidence or a plan made by destiny that I started working with K.A.Abbas was an assistant and I was very happy when I came to know that Sahir was a close friend of Abbas who used to visit Abbas regularly. It was like a dream come true for me when I met him at a party in Taj Mahal Hotel, in Mumbai and I spent several minutes talking to him in those few minutes, I got to know Sahir very well but little did I know that Sahir was an ocean and there was no limit to knowing Sahir as he was so many men in one man. I will keep writing about Sahir but now I write about Sahir and the women in his life.

His mother, Sardar Begum was the most profound influence and inspiration in his life. She was married to an aristocrat who had many lives and Sardar Begum was one of them. Her husband was a very cruel man and used to torture his wife and son called Abdul Hai. The fight between husband and wife went to court and Sahir showed the first sign of rebellion when he gave evidence against his father. His mother became a single mother and took care of Sahir from Ludhiana to Lahore and Bombay where Sahir became famous as a lyricist in Hindi films and his mother did not live long enough to see her only son become a legend.

Sahir was destined to have lovers and the first girl he fell in love with was Ishrat Kaur, who studied with him in school, but this love story came to an end when Sahir moved to Lahore. Was it a long-lost love?

There was a love story between Sahir and the famous Punjabi poet and writer Amrita Pritam. It is difficult to say who loved whom more. Sahir was one of those lovers who expressed his love not in words but through signs and suggestions. The story of Sahir smoking countless cigarettes in front of Amrita without saying a word and leaving the stubs in the ashtray and Amrita touching the stubs with her lips assuming that she was touching Sahir's lips is very popular and is now beyond folklore. Amrita has written about such anecdotes and incidents in her autobiography 'Rasidi Ticket' which suggests that she loved Sahir more than Sahir loved her.

Sahir got lost in the world of films and it was here that he met a singer who was not yet so popular, Sudha Malhotra, whom he is said to have loved so much that he wrote songs, especially for her and even inspired her to set music for one of his favorite poems, which became one of the most popular songs of that time and of all times.

There are other stories about Sahir and his association with women, but they all remain in the realm of rumors and gossip.

What Sahir felt about women can be felt from a song written by him for the film Sadhna, the first two lines of which are 'Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko, mardon ne use bazaar diya'. If you listen to his songs about mothers and prostitutes in films like 'Pyaasa' and 'Trishul', you will have to agree with me that Sahir knew and felt more about a woman than women themselves. He remained unmarried and sometimes when he came home drunk, he used to say, "It is good that we did not get married, otherwise what would have happened to that lady who would have married me."

Right now I have told you only this much about Sahir. I will tell you more when I get to know him completely.

Song: Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko
Mardon ne use bazaar diya
Jab dil chaaha masla-kuchla
Jab ji chaaha dhutkaar diya
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Tulti hai kahin dinaaron mein
Bikti hai kahin bazaaron mein
Nangi nachvaayi jaati hai
Ayyashon ke darbaaron mein
Yeh woh beizzat cheez hai jo
Bant jaati hai izzatdaaron mein
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Mardon ke liye har zulm ravaan
Aurat ke liye rona bhi khataa
Mardon ke liye laakhon sejein
Aurat ke liye bas ek chita
Mardon ke liye har aish ka haq
Aurat ke liye jeena bhi sazaa
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Jin hothon ne unko pyaar kiya
Un hothon ka vyopaar kiya
Jis kokh mein inka jism dhala
Us kokh ka kaarobaar kiya
Jis tan se uge kopal bankar
Us tan ko zaleel-o-khaar kiya
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Mardon ne banaayi jo rasme
Unko haq ka farmaan kaha
Aurat ke zinda jalne ko
Qurbaani aur balidaan kaha
Ismat ke badle roti di
Aur usko bhi ehsaan kaha
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Sansar ki har ek besharmi
Gurbat ki god mein palti hai
Chaklon hi mein aakar rukti hai
Faaqon se jo raah nikalti hai
Mardon ki hawas hai jo aksar
Aurat ke paap mein dhalti hai
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Aurat sansar ki kismet hai
Phir bhi taqdeer ki heti hai
Autaar-payambar janti hai
Phir bhi shaitan ki beti hai
Yeh woh badkismat maa hai jo
Beton ki sej pe leti hai
Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko

Movie- Sadhna

Cast- Sunil Dutt and Vyjayanthimala

Music Director- N.Dutta

Lyricist- Sahir Ludhianvi

Singer- Lata Mangeshkar

Sahir Ludhianvi Movies