Gham is qadar badhe ke main ghabra ke pi gayaa

This article is written by nahm, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Rafi Sahab’s legendary associations: 02
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Saahir Ludhianvi’s 100^th birth anniversary
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It is Sahir Ludhianvi’s 100^th birth anniversary on 08/03/2021 and I have the good fortune of writing for the last remaining song/snippet from ‘Pyasa’ 1957 to post on this occassion. There is no better showcase then the musical canvas of this classic film, I could not ask for a better opportunity. Thank you Avinash ji for giving me this gift.

It is arguably the best of Sahir, among the very best of S. D. Burman and most intense music score by him. It was Rafi sahab’s voice that becomes the poet and the poet becomes a Rafi personified because of the voice over in playback, in romance, in confusion, in jest, in irritation, in poetic narration, in bitterness, inebriation, in rebellion, and in cursing. Sahir made the so-called curse words in urdu palpable in poetry.

This is the list of all songs of “Pyaasa(1957)” already posted in the blog:

S. D. Burman was never averse to having both Lata and Asha Bhonsle sing for his song, but they are conspicuously absent in this music score. Geeta Dutt is singing for both Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha in this film.

My post on Sahir Ludhianvi’s remembrance day in 2020 is for the song where I have highlighted the effect of Iqbal on the Sahir and his poetry. This blog is one of the widely followed and read serious blogs on film music, and I thought, the aficionados of Sahir’s poetry would have some opinion to put forward, regarding my theory which I gave in that post.

I am reproducing a brief intro of Sahir from the book “Yeh un dinon ki baat hai” by Yasir Abbasi :

“Talkhi (bitterness) entered Sahir’s life early when his father chose to name him Abdul Ha’ee purely to spite a nieghbour. With a troubled childhood behind, he was still in his early 20’s when he stormed the literary arena with his first collection of poems, Talkhiyaan(1944). Films beckoned with Aazadi ke rahh par (1948), but it was with Naujawan and Baazi (both in 1951) – that he arrived with a bang. Widely regarded as the finest lyricist to grace Hindi cinema, he scaled dizzying heights with Pyaasa (1957). He was always vociferously critical of any kind of oppression, and in his indictment of social ills, he spared no one – be it the society(Aurat ne janam diya – Sadhna/1958), a bygone emperor (mere mehboob kahin aur – Ghazal/1964) or God (aasman pe hai khuda – Phir subah hogi/1958). Yet the same man could stir up romance like no one else when he wrote Abhi na jaao chhod kar (Hum dono/1961) or kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayaal aata hai (Kabhie kabhie/1976). Temperamental but absolutely sublime at his craft, Sahir Ludhianvi elevated the lyricist in hindi films and raised the bench mark to a level that a few could touch.”

I have no arguments with the above introduction, but to add a few more dimensions in the expressing the intricacies of human relationship and romantic entanglements, Sahir’s intro is incomplete without these songs:

1. Tum agar mujh ko na chaaho to koyi baat nahin
2. Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaayen
3. Zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi wo barsaat ki raat
4. Jo baat tujh mein hai teri tasveer mein nahin

There are many more, but the above should give a fair idea of the term ‘absolutely sublime’ in the above intro.

One more small para in the same book, an absolute gem, is this:

Aisa mehsoos hota hai ki Sahir ne apni shakhsiyat ka saara gudaaz shai’ri mein bhar diya hai aur sha’iri ki saari jaaduiyat apne khat-o-khaal mein jazb kar li hai. Aaine se aaina-gar ka ubharna lateefa hi sahi lekin Talkhiyaan ka mutaal’aa keejiye to uss ke musannif ki rooh bolti dikhaayi degi – musannif se baatein keejiye to ma’aloom hogaa aap us ki nazmein padh rahe hain.

Here is a list compiled by Avinash ji of the songs/films of the team of SDB and Sahir.

The list ends abruptly in 1957, as the association between Sahir and SDB ended soon after the master piece Pyaasa.

Rafi sahab’s association with both these geniuses continued independently till the end of their lives. Here is their tally in the blog:

All the available songs by Rafi sahab under S. D. Burman are already posted in the blog. A few more Rafi songs written by Sahir remain to be posted.

Video

Song-Gham is qadar badhe ke main ghabra ke pi gaya (Pyaasa)(1957) Singer-Rafi, Lyrics-Sahir Ludhianvi, MD-S D Burman

Lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)

gham is qadar badhe
ke main ghabraa ke pee gayaa
is dil ki bebasi pe taras khaa ke
pee gayaa
thhukraa rahaa thhaa mujhko
badi der se jahaan
thhukraa rahaa thhaa mujhko
badi der se jahaan
main aaj sab jahaan ko
thhukraa ke pee gayaa aa …
main aaj sab jahaan ko
thhukraa ke pee gayaa aa …

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Devnagri script lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
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ग़म इस क़दर बढे
के मैं घबरा के पी गया
इस दिल कि बेबसी पे तरस खा के
पी गया
ठुकरा रहा था मुझको
बड़ी देर से जहां
ठुकरा रहा था मुझको
बड़ी देर से जहां
मैं आज सब जहां को
ठुकरा के पी गया…
मैं आज सब जहां को
ठुकरा के पी गया…