SAHIR KI SHAAYARI SAMAJNE AUR SAMJAANE MEIN HAI , SAUDA KARNE KE LIYE NAHI (SAHIR AAJ SAU SAAL KE HOTE , LEKIN UNKI SHAAYARI HAZAARO SAAL TAK RAHEGI) BY- Ali Peter John

Sahir Ludhianvi was the poet of the people , who dreamt of the "woh subah kabhi to aayegi ",the poet who wrote about a new India when there would be no corruption among politicians , when labourers would get their dues , when farmers would get the price for the grains and vegetables they grew in their fields ,when children would not be forced to work and when women would not be sold like cattle in different kinds of bazaars... Ali Peter John

It is more than sixty years since Sahir used his powerful pen to put down his feelings about life and how he could only hope and dream of a better future for all Indians and for India.

His poetry set a nation on fire when it was written and it still has the power to create a fire because nothing that he dreamt of has even come anywhere near what he felt would be a reality one day.

Sahir was a disillusioned Indian and a broken- hearted poet and the only times he seemed to be in high spirits was when he wrote poetry about love, especially love that was betrayed and doomed, which ultimately made him scream out," jalaa do , jalaa do isse , jalaa do ye duniya , tumhari hai , tum hi sambhalo ye duniya".

He continued writing his brand of poetry till he wrote his last few songs for his best friend, Yash Chopra, especially in" Kabhi Kabhie" which had his own poems mostly sung by Amitabh Bachhan.

One of the songs sung by Amitabh in the film had a very strong autobiographical element in it when Amitabh sang, " Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon... kal koi kyon mujhe yaad kare, mashroof zamaana kyon mujh par waqt barbaad kare".

I was going through these lines of Sahir written almost fifty years ago and for the first time, I realised that my" hero" Sahir could also be so very wrong.

He is not only remembered, but there are people who are willing to worship him and even build temples in his honour.

Since the last five years, it has become some kind of a trend to revive and resurrect the tradition, culture, poetry and the personality together with his love story with the Punjabi poetess, Amrita Pritam it has not only come out because of the ardent admiration of people who confess and swear to be his fans but because they have found in Sahir one more way of drawing in curious audiences and tell them stories about Sahir and entertain them with some of his most lasting and meaningful songs.

It was the late actor, Tom Alter who played Sahir in a one-man show in which the actor's recital of Sahir's poetry in the purest form of Urdu was the highlight. Tom performed this act all over India and his performance was considered as one of the best in the Urdu language.

However, another very commercial attempt at taking a look at the love story between Sahir and Amrita, with Shekhar Suman and Deepti Naval playing the lovers was a very shoddy effort, but helped the makers and the two actors make a lot of money at the cost of the status and dignity of both Sahir and Amrita.

It was nothing but a way of taking advantage of a well-known subject and make money and more money.

This is the centenary year of both Sahir and Amrita and I can see people in all kinds of corners, crannies , colleges , amateur theatre groups and professional theatre groups trying their own ways to tell the story of Sahir and Amrita or even just Sahir or just Amrita. When last heard of, IPTA of which Sahir was an active member were also planning a play on Sahir...

And what is surprising is that little girls and boys who never knew who Sahir was and who never knew how to spell his name are now running around to write biographies and work on theses on him.

And now there seems to be a race between some of the best-known filmmakers to "attack" the subject of Sahir while it is still hot.

What will these films have to say about Sahir and Amrita when they have been constantly in the news or fiction or controversy circles for the last fifty years?

I am sure, if Sahir was alive or if his friendly ghost dressed in white was around now , he would have screamed out aloud again and changed his words to, "Bandh karo ye bakwass ab kya mere naam aur meri shaayari ka bhi dhandha karoge kya , ye sab mujhe bilkul pasand nahi, bandh karo, nahi to phir ek baar chillaunga Jala do , jala do , tumhari hai tumhi sambhalo ye duniya”.