Incomparable poet of ‘Shola tha jal bujha hoon...’

Mukul Bansal

In the early 1980s, the legendary Pakistani ghazal singer, Mehdi Hasan, had come to Shanmukhananda Hall in Bombay to perform at a concert. While introducing Mehdi Hasan to the audience, Naushad, the iconic Bollywood music composer, had said, “Janab-e-Mehdi Hasan saheb Khuda ke khaas waqt mein banaye hue khaas logon mein se hain (God makes artistes like Mehdi Hasan in His special moments).” I would say that about poets like Ahmed Faraz, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and a legion others, too.

It's a happy coincidence that some of the most popular ghazals of Mehdi Hasan have been written by Ahmed Faraz, be it, Ab ke hum bichhde, shola tha jal bujha hoon or Ranjish hi sahi (this ghazal in Mehdi Hasan's gayaki topped the charts in the sub-continent in those days)."

Faraz's ghazal Shola tha jal bujha hoon, hawayein mujhe na do/Mein kab ka ja chuka hoon, sadayein (do not call after me) mujhe na do/Aisa na ho ke mein palat kar na aa sakoon/ har bar door jaake sadayein mujhe na do, took his popularity to dizzying heights in India and Pakistan. The poet captured the emotions of a shikasta-dil perfectly, with dignity and self-respect, and Mehdi Hasan's exceptional and soulful rendition of the ghazal struck a chord in the hearts of millions of listeners.

When I started listening to Faraz's poetry from my father in the early 1980s, I gradually learnt to appreciate the fact that how true it was that he was a bulund shayar (of a high standard, the literal meaning of the word Faraz is bulundi or height).

I recall listening to Faraz's poetry off and on, but the sher cherish listening to from that period is: Chhura ke haath bahut door bah gaya hai chand, kisi ke saath samandar mein doobta hai koi.

I first met Faraz in Ambala in the early 1980s. A digression here is called for. One of the renowned Urdu poets of this era, Nasir Kazmi, was born in Ambala in 1925 before he left for Pakistan after the Partition.

Ambala had the tradition in the late 1970s and the 1980s of holding annually an India-Pakistan mushaira, 'Sham-e-Bahar', in which Urdu poets from all over India and Pakistan, including those Pakistani poets who were sent into exile by the then totalitarian regime of Zia-ul-Haq such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Iftikhar Arif, Fahmida Riyaz and many more, would participate.

One day, this was in 1982 or 1983, my father informed me that Ahmed Faraz was coming to Ambala to participate in the annual mushaira that year. I looked forward to meeting him, one of my favourite poets, whose revolutionary and love poetry had made inroads into my heart and mind.

When Faraz came to Ambala, a tall, handsome man, I remember a few of us went going with him by car to let him meet other poets from India and Pakistan who were putting up in the Circuit House in Ambala cantonment. There was bonhomie among the poets in the car when Faraz said: "Has this car been made in India (it was the old Fiat car)?" When told yes, he remarked, "India has made good progress."

When we reached our destination, we went inside a big room and tea was ordered. Someone requested Faraz to recite his poetry. He nervously played with the packet of cigarettes in his hands, it was a touching moment, and started reciting a nazm in his usual dignified manner.

I remember only a few lines of the nazm, titled, 'Ek Khyal': Baam-e-falak (terrace of the horizon) pe suraj, chaand, sitare bhi the/hamne byaz-e-dil (on the paper/surface of my heart) pe utara ek khyal, hijr-o-visaal (between parting and meeting) mein farak hi saara ek khyal... Kuchh un logon ki bhi socho, jin logon ne umr ganwai aur sanwara ek khyal (think of those people too who frittered away their lives and nurtured but one thought in their hearts).

Faraz was the star attraction on the mushaira night (in Ambala). I remember, on the audience's farmaish, he started reciting, Ranjish hi sahi, dil hi dukhane ke liye aa... when somebody from the audience asked him to recite the ghazal in tarranum (to sing it).

Faraz replied to the guzarish of his admirer by saying: "Wo kaam maine Mehdi Hasan ke liye chhor diya hai!"

I met Faraz twice in Ambala and three or four times in Delhi where he came over the years to participate in mushairas. We had struck a personal rapport but space doesn't permit me to write about a memorable finale to our meetings yet.

(To be continued)