A String Of Women 'Colonized' Sahir Ludhianavi's Heart
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
26 October
2023
" Kitabon Mein Chhapte Hain Chaahat Ke
Qisse
Haqeeqat Ki Duniya Mein Chaahat Nahin Hai
"
Sahir Ludhianavi
(Books are replete with the stories of love/ In
reality, there's no love)
While
reading an Urdu daily a few days ago, I again stumbled upon the Sahir-Amrita
angle in a Mazmoon (article) on Sahir and his poetry. By the way, yesterday
(October 25) was Sahir Ludhianavi's Death Anniversary.
Sahir
Ludhianvi
------
Agreed, all
art is autobiographical, but whenever Sahir's craftsmanship is discussed, his
affaires de coeur are also invariably discussed ad nauseam.
Whether it
was Amrita Pritam or Sudha Malhotra, a string of women 'crowded' the landscape
of Sahir's heart (and also his poetry). They (women) colonized his heart. In
other words, Sahir's individual and poetic persona got snowed under an
avalanche of women. But all those women were periodic or episodic muses in
Sahir's creativity.
The great
English poet Lord Byron tellingly wrote in his masterpiece 'Don Juan':
"Man's love is of man's life a thing apart. It's a woman's whole
existence." So, it's time to decolonize Sahir of the women who came and
left when their time arrived.
For all
creative men, women (esp. the blue-stocking type) are like muses. They're not
necessarily the beloved. That's a very hackneyed understanding of a man-woman
relationship. They're creative inspirations and catalysts for those cerebral
writers, painters and poets.
Sahir
didn't exactly love women. Nor did he jilt them. He didn't use them either. It
may sound a bit harsh but the fact is, all women in Sahir's life actually
piggybacked on his success and stardom.
With due
respect to Amrita, she got fame because of Sahir though she too was a talented
writer. But never as talented and popular as Sahir was.
Many
readers are of the opinion that Sahir wrote this couplet, 'Apni Tabahiyon Ka
Mujhe Koi Gham Nahin/ Tum Ne Kisi Ke Saath Muhabbat Nibaah Toh Dee' after
parting ways with Amrita and when he saw that she was happy with Imroz.
This is a
mistaken belief. Sahir wrote this long before he and Amrita separated. Sahir
knew it well that all relationships in life came with an expiry date.
Often a
woman has a very short shelf-life in a poet or writer's life, esp. if that poet
happens to be non-committal like Sahir. Sahir liked women but he never loved
them. He loved a woman's enigma but not her energy.
Attachment
was an intellectual pastime for Sahir, not a full-time commitment. It was a
passion for him, not an obsession. It's therefore time to reconstruct Sahir's
poetic persona, leaving all his women. They didn't contribute to his poetic
greatness and were actually appendages.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/women-colonized-sahir-ludhianavi/d/130975
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