Death anniversary of Majrooh Sultanpuri: How a poet who wrote heartfelt things hurt my heart

Majrooh Sultanpuri: I have a strange belief, which many may not agree with, but that doesn't mean that I will change my belief which comes from very close observation and several encounters and experiences. And in these times when lying has become a way of life and even the most powerful men and women are growing into experts in telling lies, I swear that what I will say from now on will be the truth and nothing but the truth.

I was working with K Abbas as his " literary assistant, a post he had created for me because I was the most educated assistant with an MA in English Literature from Bombay University. My monthly salary was Rupees hundred a month, which I sometimes got every month and sometimes had to wait for two or three months and then get the accumulated sum at the same time and that was an occasion to celebrate with a " rice plate " which was available for a rupee at the Juhu Hindu Hotel close to the office of Abbas Sahab, or it was just batata wada and paav and a cup of tea once a day. Abbas Sahab knew that it was difficult for one man to live on the salary he was paying me. He often requested me to look for other Jobs, but I was determined not to leave him at any cost.

Abbas Sahab was a man who always cared for the people working with him and there were men like his secretary and manager, Abdul Rehman ( he had typed the contract between Abbas Sahab and Amitabh Bachchan for "Saat Hindustani" ) and had typed all the major books, articles and short stories of Abbas Sahab who had been working with Abbas Sahab for more than forty years and when I had asked him why he had not tried for another job said,  "working for Abbas Sahab is like offering namaaz. I can even give up namaaze but I cannot think of leaving Abbas Sahab "

With the passing of time, Abbas Sahab who knew about my love for writing got me assignments to write articles in weeklies like "Cine Advance ",  "Film Mirror" and " Deboinair" for which I was paid anything between twenty-five rupees and hundred and fifty rupees. I was once asked to write about Raman Khanna, his new discovery and he introduced him to "Faasla" with Shabana Azmi as his leading lady. Khanna gifted me with a ready-made shirt worth twenty-five rupees when the article I wrote appeared and even offered me a job as his secretary, which Abbas Sahab advised me not to take up .

Abbas Sahab had asked me to write for a weekly called " Screen" after giving me a letter of introduction to the editor, Mr S S Pilai who asked me to interview the renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri. I had only seen Majrooh Sultanpuri in a mushaira held in the large library of Abbas Sahab and was carried away by his personality and his poetry, but I could not even shake hands with him .....

That evening after meeting Mr Pilai I went to Abbas Sahab and told him about my assignment. He was very happy and not only gave me a letter to Majrooh but also promised to talk to him about my need to interview him.

I loved meeting well-known writers and poets and literally didn't sleep that night...

And the next evening, I landed at the bungalow of Majrooh because Abbas Sahab had told me that Majrooh was a very good man and there was no need to take an appointment with him.

The beginning itself was inauspicious as two men cornered me and started asking me all kinds of questions which petrified me, but the letter from Abbas Sahab made things easy for me the letter reached Majrooh and within minutes I heard a voice grumbling and saying, " ye Abbas Sahab ko koi kaam hi nahi lagta hai . Jab chaahe kisi ko bhi letter likhwaake bhej dete hai. Uss launde se kaho ki mere paas aur bhi kaam hai aur mai usse interview nahi de sakta ". I was too sensitive even on the days when I was struggling and starving most of the time. I walked out of the bungalow before Majrooh's man could come to me with the answer that I had already heard. I never went back to that bungalow. There was no need for me to .......

Majrooh was given a "firing" from Abbas Sahab the next day and Majrooh sent me a message through Abbas Sahab asking me to see him. But I had already made up my mind not to meet him again. He could have been the pope of Urdu poetry, but he was a cruel human being at heart. How could a man who wrote great poetry about the " Dil " and the need to love and be loved be so very different in real life? I have met a number of poets and writers, and I have observed how there are twin personalities in some of them, something like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Jeetendra once told me about a poet and writer who wrote great poetry and made good films but was a wife-beater and a wife abuser of the worst kind and I used to think about that poet as an avatar of God

That evening after that experience in the house of Majrooh, I Had an opportunity to make a hundred rupees but I learned lessons for a lifetime.

SAHIR SAHAB NE LIKHA THA " EK CHEHRE PAR  KAHI CHEHRE LAGAA LETE HAI LOG " PAHLE TOH MAINE SIRF YE BAAT SUNI THI,  LEKIN JAISE JAISE WAQT BUDAA HOTE GAYA, MAINE YE SACH JAAN BHI LIYA AUR MAAN BHI LIYA, KYON KI YE BAAT SACH AUR SACH KE SIVA KUCH NAHI HAI

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