Entertainment News Desk – It is a day to remember Sahir Ludhianvi, the creator of many songs like ‘I am a poet of Pal Do Pal, Pal Do Pal Meri Jawaani Hai’, on his death anniversary. He left this world on 25 October 1980 in Mumbai. He was born in slave India and moved to Pakistan during partition. He was the first Urdu poet and lyricist of the film world. The Government of India honored him with Padma Shri. A postage stamp was also issued in his name. He received the Filmfare Award. Apart from this, he continued to receive many awards and honours, but he remained carefree, writing songs, smoking cigarettes and sometimes falling asleep after sipping tea. Despite having a mother, respect, money and fame, he remained a bohemian throughout his life. So many interesting stories related to the life of a very ordinary person are still floating in the air, what can I say? Anyone with even the slightest interest in poetry starts narrating tales of Sahir Ludhianvi, both those who have seen or heard him live and those who have merely experienced his songs.
Abdul Hai became Sahir Ludhianvi
Born in Ludhiana, Punjab, this child named Abdul Hai started showing his talent at a very young age. He fell in love with Amrita Pritam and was expelled from college. This incident happened in the year 1943, when Sahir was just 22 years old and in the same year his first book of poetry, Talkhiyan, was published. Amrita also loved him deeply. But, her father did not like at all that his Sikh daughter should love a Muslim boy. She dreamed of spending her life with him. It is another matter that later both of them spread the magic of their pen. Sahir did not marry and Amrita did, but with the passage of time she did not let her love for Sahir diminish. He expressed his feelings by writing openly. Similarly, I have brought some interesting stories from the garden of the life of the great poet Sahir Ludhianvi. You should read them too.
Those two pieces of cigarette and the craving for tea
Prakash Pandit was a very close friend of Sahir. In his view, Sahir never woke up before 10-11 o’clock. He was such a friend that he never lived alone. There were always some people around him. He used to break the cigarette into two parts so that it does not become too much. This would harm his health. It is a different matter that as soon as one piece was finished, he would burn another and drink that too. His fondness for tea was such that he would drink tea as soon as he woke up in the morning, drink it throughout the day, and if he could, he would keep sipping tea even while sleeping. He had such a habit of talking that hardly anyone gets a chance to do so with friends. Along with poetry, he also used to tell stories. He used to tell his own and others’ stories with equal passion. Sahir was like this.
A look at Pakistani agent and Sahir
Khawaja Ahmed Abbas was a novelist and filmmaker. Through his autobiography I am not an island, he tells that he had written an open letter in India Weekly, in which he had requested to call Sahir back to India. Some copies of it reached Lahore. Sahir read it and came back to India with his mother and then settled here. There is another story of his return from Pakistan. Sahir reached Lahore in September 1947. Hameed Akhtar, Sahir and Ammi started living together. Hameed Akhtar had to go to Karachi for some work for a month. Meanwhile, some people scared Sahir so much that he returned to India before Hameed Akhtar returned. He was threatened by saying that Pakistani intelligence agents were keeping an eye on Sahir. They can arrest him any time. After this, Sahir secretly left from there in disguise. At that time there was no system like visa-passport to come to India from Pakistan. Only Vanchit Sahir knows the truth about his return from Pakistan, but the stories have become famous. When I received a check of 62.50 paise as royalty
A book by Sahir Ludhianvi was published. The name was Gaata Jaaye Banjara. It was published by Star Publications of Delhi. The name was given by Sahir himself and this was the first book of this publishing house in the Pocket Book series. Its price was one rupee. This incident happened in the year 1957. Its publisher was Amar Verma. He shared this story with BBC. He said- I was scared and also wanted Sahir Saheb to publish the first book of the Pocket Book series. But he immediately gave permission. When I sent him a check of 62.50 paise as royalty, I was hesitant. I was also scared. What will they think? But, Sahir replied – You are calling it a small amount. For the first time in my life someone has given me royalty. I will remember this for the rest of my life.
