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| Blog Day : | 4251 | Post No. : | 15471 |
Back here on the blog after a fairly long break.
I daresay it would’ve been even longer if it were not a very special occasion today.
From today, we start the centenary celebrations of Sahir Ludhianvi’s birth.
Since he was born on 8th March 1921, today happens to be his 99th birth anniversary.
So yes, it is a very special occasion for Urdu poetry and classic HFM lovers. As a massive Sahir fan, I thought I owed it to him to write a post for the occasion. I’ve written so often about him here, on practically every birth and death anniversary, and have nothing new to say anymore – and yet it feels like a betrayal of sorts to let this day go by, without paying tribute to him.
So when Avinashji, an even bigger Sahir fan than myself, requested me to write a post for Sahir on this occasion, I could not, but agree. 
But I must also admit that for the first time I told Avinashji that I don’t think I’d be in the right mental frame to be able to do this. For me, writing a post here is an investment of emotion – and right now, to be honest, I feel quite empty within. If it were not for Sahir, I don’t think I’d be able to pull myself together for this post.
To Avinashji’s credit, as always, he provided me with a list of songs and lyrics that I could choose from. And left it to me to see whether I could come up with a post. I owe this post to him too.
Ok, enough about myself and my “mental frame” – this post is about Sahir, not about me.
What can I say about Sahir that I haven’t said before?
Actually nothing.
But since it’s Sahir, whatever I’ve said before can hopefully be repeated, without sounding boring.
Just like whatever Sahir wrote as social messages, not once but repeatedly in different ways, was never boring, and only meant as a reminder to society, to show people a mirror.
For me, as for many others, Sahir was much more than just a poet or lyricist. Yes, he was a lyricist par excellence. But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have had this level of regard for him if he’d limited himself to just writing lyrics or poetry on mundane matters, however beautifully worded.
Sahir’s greatness, in my mind, has a lot to do with the topics he chose to express his views on. And the manner of such expression.
Sure, he could write about romance – “abhi na jao chhod kar” will always be one of my all-time favourite romantic songs.
Sure, he could write about heartbreak too – “jaane wo kaise log the jinke pyaar ko pyaar milaa”, another favourite.
Sure, he could write about love in its multitude of shades – is there a more exquisite ode to love than “ye ishq ishq hai ishq ishq”?
Sure, he could write bhajans with consummate ease – “tora mann darpan kehlaaye” and “aan milo aan milo shyam saanwre” are just two examples.
Sure, he could write light-hearted, fun songs too – the first song that comes to mind in this category is an all-time favourite “sar jo tera chakraaye”.
Sure, he could write, and wrote quite often, on a mother’s love for her child – “tu mere pyar ka phool hai”, “tere bachpan ko jawaani ki dua deti hoon” and “tu mere saath rahega munne” come to mind.
And yet, Sahir rises, no, TOWERS, above all others when it comes to writing on social issues.
No one, NO ONE, showed a mirror to society as earnestly as Sahir. It was as if he truly came into his own on these occasions.
Whether he was writing about injustice towards the oppressed, society’s shocking treatment of women, casteism, communalism, labor exploitation, or the futility of war, Sahir’s words were like cries of anguish, straight from the heart. You could feel the raw sincerity in them, even if they were often laced with cynicism, sarcasm or anger. Or, occasionally, even hope.
So many songs come to mind.
“Tu Hindu banega na musalmaan banega” – where Sahir calls out communalism in all its ugliness
“Cheen-o-arab hamara” – where Sahir sarcastically exposes India’s hypocrisy over wealth disparity
“Jinhe naaz hai Hind par wo kahaan hain” – Sahir at his cynical best, showing society a mirror of its ugly reality
“Khuda-e-bartar teri zameen par” – where Sahir busts the myth about the glory of war, pointing out that there are no winners in war, only bloodshed
“Ponchh kar ashq” – where Sahir exhorts the oppressed to rise and demand their rights from the oppressor, pointing out that colour, religion, caste, race can never be above humanity
“Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko” – Sahir’s famous lament about society’s treatment of women
“Wo subah kabhi to aayegi”– where Sahir, in one of his less frequent refrains, chooses hope over despair
and many more.
Every single time asking questions of society, pointing out its flaws, exhorting it to reform.
That each of his songs is STILL relevant more than 50 years after he wrote them, is truly sad, and a reflection of Indian society – but no one can ever fault Sahir for not doing his utmost to put his writing ability to good use. If society is still languishing in darkness, it certainly isn’t Sahir’s fault.
And it is for this particular trait of Sahir’s that he has a very special place in my heart.
Yes, he’d have had his own place in my heart anyway for lyrics like “wo afsaana jise anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin, use ek khoobsoorat mod dekar chhodna achha”.
But his attempt at social awareness, and his speaking truth to power, takes my regard for him to a different level altogether.
If I may say so, and no disrespect meant to any lyricists who have come since, but no one comes close to Sahir’s intensity in this one matter.
Or maybe times have changed too.
Now, coming to the song for today.
Avinashji gave me a few options – of the lot, I picked the title song of “Samaj Ko Badal Daalo” (1970). Lyrics have been provided by Avinashji, of course.
It’s a lament, not uncharacteristic of Sahir, where he lets loose on society itself, blaming it for its own ills. That it tolerates corruption and crime is the biggest reason society suffers these, in the first place. Reform cannot start unless society decides to step up, and adopt a zero tolerance policy towards these. Hence “samaj ko badal daalo”.
I honestly don’t think it’s a bad assessment of why we are the way we are.
Without coming across as too preachy, let me share a few thoughts quickly.
We Indians love to blame our politicians for everything. We blame them for corruption, for the poor state of our roads, education and healthcare, for dividing society along communal lines – basically everything.
And yes, since they are our leaders, and have power, it’s not unfair to place responsibility and accountability on them.
And yet, where do these politicians come from?
They don’t fall from the skies, they come from amongst US.
So if we’re complaining about corruption and bigotry in our politicians, we first need to acknowledge that we, as a society, are ourselves guilty of these very shortcomings in our character. We carry a lot of baggage historically, and don’t have a particularly high moral compass ourselves. Our politicians then just exploit our weaknesses.
For example, politicians pander to our base instincts, dividing us based on identity, or other group characteristic. And we fall for it. Every single time.
Then again, when it comes to governance, they manage to get away with promises because we don’t make a serious enough effort to hold them accountable anyway. We behave like slaves – and get treated as such. So our leaders end up with power, but no accountability.
This is OUR fault. If we didn’t allow them to exploit us like this, if we raised the bar and held them accountable to us, things would be very different.
So when Sahir writes “samaj ko badal daalo”, it does resonate a lot with me. And hopefully with others too.
End of “preaching”.
The song itself is sung by Rafisaab, at the start of the film, as credits roll. I remember seeing this film as a young boy – what I remember most about it from that time is that the hero (Parikshat Sahni, who was then still Ajay Sahni) gets stabbed midway in the film and dies. I’d never seen a film till then where the hero dies midway :-), so I couldn’t reconcile easily to this at all.
A few years ago, I watched this film again, just out of curiosity. I wouldn’t call it a bad film as such (I’ve seen worse), but the last 30 minutes or so, are very dark and depressing. After watching this film, it might linger in your mind – and you’re likely to feel sad for a while.
Considering people usually look towards cinema for escapist fare, and don’t want to be reminded of daily miseries of life, this film is definitely not one you should watch if you want a feel-good feeling from the film. Don’t get misled by the fun “tum apni saheli ko” song, picturised on Prem Chopra.
But none of this takes away from Sahir, who is the reason for this post. Rafisaab singing Sahir’s lines are always a joy for me – even if it’s a sad song.
I hope you will also listen to it – and possibly agree that what we need most is for society itself to reform, otherwise we will continue bad practice of the past, and only regress.
In my opinion, the greatest danger to a society is not economic bankruptcy (which, however hard, CAN be corrected through appropriate economic policy), but moral bankruptcy (which eats away at the very fabric of society, and is therefore far more difficult to correct).
Thank you for reading.
Audio
(audio) (lyrics noted are as per this link)
Song-Samaaj ko badal daalo (Samaaj Ko Badal Daalo)(1970) Singer-Rafi, Lyrics-Sahir Ludhianvi, MD-Ravi
Lyrics(Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
(Ye ek katha jo laakhon logon ke ae
Jeevan ka darpan hai
Desh pita ke charnon mein
Ham sab ki ore se arpan hai)
***
Samaaj ko badal daalo o o
Samaaj ko badal daalo o o o
Samaaj ko badal daalo
Zulm aur loot ke rivaaz ko badal daalo
Samaaj ko badal daalo
Kitne ghar hai jinme aaj raushni nahin
Kitne ghar hai jinme aaj raushni nahin
Kitne ae tan-badan hai jinme zindagi ee nahin
Mulq aur kaum ke mizaaj ko badal daalo o
Mulq aur kaum ke mizaaj ko badal daalo
Samaaj ko badal daalo o
Zulm aur loot ke rivaaz ko badal daalo
Samaaj ko badal daalo o
Sainkdo ki mehnaton par
Ek kyun paley
Sainkdo ki mehnaton par
Ek kyun paley ae
Oonch neech se bharaa
Nizaam kyun chale ae
Aaj hai yahi to
Aise aaj ko badal daalo o
Aaj hai yahi to
Aise aaj ko badal daalo
Samaaj ko badal daalo o
Zulm aur loot ke rivaaz ko badal daalo
Samaaj ko badal daalo
————————————
Devnagri Script lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
————————————-
समाज को बदल डालो ओ ओ
समाज को बदल डालो ओ ओ ओ
समाज को बदल डालो
ज़ुल्म और लूट के रिवाज़ को बदल डालो
समाज को बदल डालो
कितने घर है जिनमे आज रौशनी नहीं
कितने घर है जिनमे आज रौशनी नहीं
कितने ए तन-बदन है जिनमे ज़िन्दगी ई नहीं
मुल्क और कौम के मिज़ाज को बदल डालो ओ
मुल्क और कौम के मिज़ाज को बदल डालो
समाज को बदल डालो ओ
ज़ुल्म और लूट के रिवाज़ को बदल डालो
समाज को बदल डालो ओ
सैंकड़ो की मेहनतों पर
एक क्यूँ पले
सैंकड़ो की मेहनतों पर
एक क्यूँ पले ए
उंच नीच से भरा
निजाम क्यूँ चले ए
आज है यही तो
ऐसे आज को बदल डालो ओ
आज है यही तो
ऐसे आज को बदल डालो
समाज को बदल डालो ओ
ज़ुल्म और लूट के रिवाज़ को बदल डालो
समाज को बदल डालो ओ