Chandigarh, December 30
“Anginat logon ne duniya mein mohabbat ki hai, kaun kehta hai ke sadik na the jazbe unke, lekin unke paas ye tashhir ka samaan na tha, kyonki wo log bhi apni hi tarah muflis the.”
This may be one the more appropriate examples of the streak of rebellion in Sahir Ludhianvi, a champion of the underdog, who is primarily known as a romantic poet. The local Majlis Journalists and Artists Association today held the 20th Sahir Ludhianvi musical evening here.
The evening started without a fuss with the rendition of one of the finest bhajans written by Sahir, Allah tero naam, Ishwar tero naam sung soulfully by an accomplished Ranjana, who hails from Kerala but lives in Jalandhar. There were no tiring speeches or lengthy introductions, for a change, to mark the beginning of the programme. The décor complimented the soulful mood of the evening.
Mrs Reeta Sharma, general secretary of the association, referred to Sahir’s first published work, Talkhiyaan (Bitterness), at the age of 23. “The maturity of the work didn’t match his age”, she said.
Sahir’s sensitive poetry and numerous memorable songs have a special place in the hearts of music lovers. This was borne out by the engrossment of the audience when Brijesh Ahuja and Ranjana, lead singers of the evening, sang that all-time classic penned by Sahir, Abhi na jayo chhod kar, ke dil abhi bhara nahin. Brijesh, in the numerous songs he rendered, emerged as a natural, handling classical compositions with effortless ease. Other singers included, among others, Richa Sharma, Harpreet Singh, Ajay Bakshi and Ravi Bakshi.
The highlight of the evening was the competent performance of that all-time hit qawwali, Na to karvan ki talash hai, na to humsafar ki talash hai by all the artistes who had participated in the programme. It was quite a treat to hear all the singers contributing their bit to a complex composition adroitly. The orchestra performed very well too.
Mr Satish Sekhri, a die-hard Sahir fan, was especially invited by the organisers from Pune to interact with the audience. Mr Sekhri enlightened the audience about various aspects of Sahir’s life and poetry. He also dwelled on the intensity of Sahir’s poetry but emphasised that unlike other poets Sahir was a pastmaster in expressing simple feelings.
Very few people know that Sahir was the first lyricist to get royalties from music companies. He also saw to it that All India Radio started mentioning the lyricists along with the singers and the music composers for the songs being aired.
Lt-Gen Daljeet Singh, GOC-in-C, Western Command, and his wife, Mrs Mohini Daljeet Singh, were the chief guests.
