Hum Dekhenge - In Support of Faiz

In late 2019, after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, when India was witnessing countrywide protests, with Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh as the most prominent centre, there were protests in several university campuses also. During this turmoil, in one of the campuses a group of students took out a procession chanting Faiz’s nazm hum dekhenge. All of a sudden, Faiz was in the line of fire of Facebook patriots. You were made to feel as if Faiz was instigating some jihad or war against India. Most of those crying hoarse would not have bothered to read the nazm or to understand the context. Why bother? Some whipping boy was needed and Faiz, being a Pakistani, was a readymade target. So what if he was dead long ago? So what if there was no evidence of Faiz having dished out anti India rhetoric? Let us not place Faiz in the narrow compartment. He had a universal appeal.

Here, I want to alert my readers to not get distracted into thinking about CAA and the protests, the Government and the protestors, who was right and who was wrong, and to please keep the focus on a great poet and this immortal piece of poetry.

Why I am writing in defence of Faiz, you may ask. Well, Faiz, like Dinkar in India, was the voice of conscience of the people. This nazm, ham dekhene, sounds to me so similar to Dinkar’s clarion call simhasan khali karo ki janta aati hai. The vilification of Faiz was neither necessary nor warranted. I do not rule out the possibility of some elements using the nazm as a provocative tool, fully knowing how those unaware of the underlying meaning and the context would react, in an attempt to give themselves publicity and to gain sympathy as the name of Faiz would be involved.  If you pull certain words out of the context you are bound to misinterpret. Even further, if someone deliberately chooses a few selected lines to misguide and instigate, the outcome would be disastrous. So, let me, first of all explain the context.

After staging a coup and seizing power in Pakistan, Zia Ul Haq was looking to consolidate his hold on power. He thought that the Mullahs, on the fringes of the Pakistani society till then, should be encouraged to wield more clout. And this started hardline islamisation of the, till then open and liberal, Pakistani society. It would be difficult to believe today but the current Pakistani society is a far cry from what it once used to be, progressive and enlightened. Faiz, an incorrigible rebel, revolted and faced incarceration – including terms in prison and long terms of exile. This powerful nazm is a call for revolt and arousal of optimism in an oppressed society.

In the year 1985, a decree of General Zia-ul-Haq prohibited women from wearing sarees. Pakistan’s world-renowned singer Iqbal Bano, clad in a black saree, protested against the decree singing this nazm of Faiz Ahmed Faiz in front of a crowd 50,000 strong in a Lahore stadium. The stadium echoed with chants of ‘Inqilaab Zindabad’.

Now let me come to the nazm itself.

hum dekheñge

Lāzim hai ki hum bhī dekheñge

Vo din ki jis kā va.ada hai

Jo lauh-e-azal meñ likhkhā hai

We long to see, obviously we would see

The day of eternal justice promised to man

The day that is scripted on the page of eternity

 

Jab zulm-o-sitam ke koh-e-girāñ

Ruuī kī tarah uḌ jā.eñge

Ham mahkūmoñ ke pāñv-tale

Jab dhartī dhaḌ-dhaḌ dhaḌkegī

Aur ahl-e-hakam ke sar-ūpar

Jab bijlī kaḌ-kaḌ kaḌkegī

When the gigantic mountains of oppression

Will, like heaps of cotton, evaporate

When, underneath the feet of us, the ruled subjects

The earth will intensely vibrate

And, over the heads of those in power

The thunder of lightning will cannonade

 

The beauty of poetry lies in perfect choice of words. Faiz has chosen ‘dhadkegi’ for the oppressed (mahkūmoñ). Dhadkana means throb – a state combining hope, excitement and anxiety. For the oppressor (ahl-e-hakam) it is kaḌkegī. Kadakana is the thunder of lightning – something that generates the fear. That is what a revolutionary expects.

 

Jab arz-e-ḳhudā ke ka.abe se

Sab but uThvā.e jā.eñge

Ham ahl-e-safā mardūd-e-haram

Masnad pe biThā.e jā.eñge

Sab taaj uchhāle jā.eñge

Sab taḳht girā.e jā.eñge

When from the Kaaba on this earth of God

All idols will be removed

When we, the pure of heart,

Denied the glimpse to the seat of power,

Will be seated on the same high seat

When the crowns will be disgorged

And thrones of power, to dust flattened

 

This is where the trouble starts. If you read only the first two lines, you would get an impression as if this is an Islamic call for destruction of idols. And Indian Hindus, perennially nursing wounds caused by the Islamic invaders having destroyed their places of worship, would certainly get agitated by these lines. However, if you read the lines together, it becomes clear that ‘kaaba’ and ‘but’ are metaphors for the seat of power and the occupants thereof. Why did Faiz use these metaphors, one may ask? There are two explanations. Firstly, the imagery and metaphors used by a poet are usually lifted from the immediate surroundings of his upbringing. Secondly, the target audience. You have to speak a language that your audience understands.

(Let us look how similar these lines are to the opening lines of the poem of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar:

सदियों की ठण्डी-बुझी राख सुगबुगा उठी,
मिट्टी सोने का ताज पहन इठलाती है;
दो राह, समय के रथ का घर्घर-नाद सुनो,
सिंहासन खाली करो कि जनता आती है ।)

Let me return to Faiz and his nazm:

Bas naam rahegā allāh kā

Jo ġhā.eb bhī hai hāzir bhī

Jo manzar bhī hai nāzir bhī

The world will be only the Almighty’s domain

The Almighty who is both, invisible and in attendance

The Almighty who is both the spectator and the spectacle

 

Anyone familiar with the basic tenets of Islam would not use terms like ‘hazir’ and ‘manzar’ for Allah. The Allah of Faiz was the Universal God, Omnipresent, Omniscient and all pervasive.   

uTThegā anal-haq kā na.ara

jo maiñ bhī huuñ aur tum bhī ho

Aur raaj karegī ḳhalq-e-ḳhudā

Jo maiñ bhī huuñ aur tum bhī ho

There will be a war cry of ‘I am the truth’ (Anal-Haq)

The Truth embodied in you and me

And only the creation of God will rule

The same creation, which are you and me

 

Let me explain ‘anal-haq’.  This phrase was coined by Hussain bin Mansoor Al-Hallaj (c. 858 – 26 March 922), a Sufi saint and mystique. Anal haq is a famous controversial statement which led to a painful execution of its first narrator. Anal al Haq means “I am the Truth.” This is similar to the sanatani concept of ‘aham brahmasmi, denoting the presence of Brahm in everyone. The orthodox Muslims interpreted this to mean that he was claiming to be God himself, an act of blasphemy, whereas he had proclaimed, in his sublime spiritual ecstasy, simply a total annihilation of ego. Mansoor Al-Hallaj climbed the gallows with his head held high, not the least daunted by his imminent death. So, there should not be no doubt left about the nazm being a ‘faith neutral’ rebellious war cry.

I am not going to delve into whether the nazm, hitherto not known to a large section of Indian masses, was deliberately chosen by the agitators to give the oppressor-oppressed feel to the agitation, but the anti-agitation crowd certainly got unnecessarily agitated. I wanted to put the record straight by explaining the nazm with a proper perspective. As I have said above, a poet invariably makes use of metaphors and images that come naturally to him. 

My conclusion: This nazm, like the rest of Faiz's poetry, is an absolutely faith neutral piece of poetry, the type that defined the great progressive poets of the era - Sahir Ludhianavi being another one. You could agree or disagree with Faiz's political leanings and ideology, but please don't read what he has not said.

 

(Looking forward to hearing from my friends and readers. If you are kind to leave a comment please leave your name - KV)

 Sansar Hai Ek Nadiya Dukh Sukh Do Kinare Hain - Raftaar (1975)

मेरे प्रिय गीत (6)

I am writing a piece on a favourite song after a long gap. I was playing the collection of Mukesh on my Saregama Caravan. Those who have the instrument would know that you do not have any control over the order and choice of songs. They are randomly lined up by a software. Suddenly this song “संसार है एक नदिया दुःख सुख दो किनारे हैं’ from the film Raftaar (1975) came up and I was impulsively compelled to write this.

Although I was listening to this song after a long gap, I got reminded that this has been one of my most favorite songs of Mukesh. I realised how fond I had been of this song ever since it was released in 1975, when I was a teenager. My admiration for the song grew manifold as I started to understand the meaning of the lyrics from the viewpoint of a student of literature.

It is a purely personal choice because, to me, this song should be right up there among the top 5 or 10 songs of Mukesh and among the songs of the year 1975. However, if I try to match my personal preference with the popular choice, there would be a mismatch. Those days Binaca Geetmala, the most popular ranking program on radio, was the standard parameter. This song was not among the top 32 songs of the year and, if I recall correctly, not even a Sartaj Geet. 

The reasons are not difficult to understand. Firstly, the factors driving the mass appeal are not always the ingredients of the song in aesthetic terms. Secondly, those days, barring exceptions, the success of a song/album was directly linked to the success of the film. This film did not have a great run on the box office and the song failed to shoot up on the charts. Let us look at the basic information about the film. The movie was directed by Dinesh-Ramanesh (I do not think many would have heard the names), starring   Vinod Mehra, Moushumi Chatterjee, Danny Denzongpa and Madan Puri. Vinod Mehra was not a big draw at the box office, and never graduated to the big league as a solo lead. The film was a mediocre melodrama and got branded as a B Grade film, having average run in theatres. 

The music was composed by Sonik-Omi and the lyricist was Abhilash. As regards Sonik-Omi, in spite of composing some great songs in films like Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, Mahua and Dharma they were mostly stuck in B-Grade films. To their credit they have one of the best qawwalis ever - Raaz ki baat kah doon to (Dharma). As regards Abhilash, the lyricist, apart from this song, he has to his credit Itni Shakti Hame Dena Data (Ankush), one of the best ever bhajans in films. But, the fact remains, Sonik-Omi were no RD Burman or Laxmi-Pyare and Abhilash was no Anand Bakshi, and their names could not push the sales of albums. As I say this, I do not want to show any disrespect to them. But commercial success is documented and tangible. 

Now, let me discuss my reasons for loving the song. Basically I go for a song for three key ingredients – the quality of poetry, the quality of composition and, of course, the quality of rendition. The quality of picturisation would be an icing on the cake but these three are the main deciders.

I will discuss these elements in the reverse order, singers first. This song has been sung by Mukesh and Asha Bhosle, with chorus in support. I do not think my readers can recall many great duets of Asha-Mukesh. There may not be more than a couple of dozen songs sung together by them. I can list some popular ones: Phir na keeje meri gustaakh nigaahi ka gila, Nain tumhaare mazedaar o janaabe aali , Teetar ke do aage teetar , Wo subsh kabhi to aayegi , Hum dono milke kaaghaz pe dil ke. The two had their unique styles. Mukesh was master of melancholy, and his reputation rests predominantly on that. Asha Bhosle has, in an illustrious career of several decades, sung songs of every genre with remarkable ease but her best came in peppy songs. In this song, melancholic-philosophical in tone, Mukesh is at his best in a familiar terrain and Ashaji has complemented him absolutely superbly. So, the effect is magical.

 

As regards the tune, Sonik-Omi have composed this song in Raag Shivranjani in Kaherva taal, which is ideal for its soothing pace. This is a pretty good example of Shivranjani, mostly sticking to the standard notes with only minor deviations. The most remarkable feature of the composition is brilliant use of violin in solo pieces, in the opening instrumentation as well as between the stanzas, giving it a space independent of the multi-piece orchestra which accompanies the chorus. Those who have seen the movie would know that Madan Puri is a musician in the film and he is seen with a violin on the screen in the song. The song is a bit long with four stanzas but the composers have managed to retain absolute control throughout the song, which was quite remarkable during those days without computers aiding the recording. 

 

Now let me discuss the most important of the three reasons, my biggest reason for loving this song, the lyrics. Hindi film industry presents such a wide spectrum of lyrics. At one end of the spectrum are songs penned by poets and lyricists like Sahir, Shakeel, Kavi Pradeep, Shailendra, Neeraj and many more, which can qualify for genuine poetry of high order. At the other end you would find a lot of meaningless garbage without substance. This song is, in my view, genuine and sublime poetry with philosophical flavour. Let us discuss and analyse the lyrics.

 संसार है इक नदिया, दुःख-सुख दो किनारे हैं
ना जाने कहाँ जाएँ, हम बहते धारे हैं

These lines make a statement about man being driven by the vagaries of destiny and reminds me of the following Rubai of Omar Khayyam:

Into this Universe, and Why not knowing,
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing:
     And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.

चलते हुए जीवन की, रफ़्तार में इक लय है

इक राग में एक सुर में, सँसार की हर शय है 
इक तार पे गर्दिश में, ये चाँद सितारे हैं

This stanza conveys that behind the apparent randomness there is a harmonious design, a pattern about everything in the universe. Once, while reading a poem titled The Rhythm Of Life by George Krokos, a contemporary Australian poet, I felt how similar was the poem to this stanza:

The rhythm of life is like an endless melody
and goes on regardless of where we might be.
Throughout the day and all during the night
it never stops tho’ it’s not obvious to sight.

धरती पे अम्बर की, आँखों से बरसती है

इक रोज़ यही बूँदें, फिर बादल बनती हैं

इस बनने बिगड़ने के, दस्तूर में सारे हैं

This stanza takes the philosophy of life to the next level, talking about the cyclic nature of creation, evaporation and recreation, about the indestructibility of the “elements”. The natural process of rain is symbolic of the essential processes of life. Having been a student of literature I often think about similar pieces. And this stanza reminds me of Walt Whitman’s poem The Voice of the Rain:

 I am the Poém of Earth, said the voice of the rain,

Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,

Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely formed, altogether changed, and yet the same,

I descend to lave the drouths, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,

And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn,

And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin, and make pure

and beautify it: 

How much more can be compressed in one song? In the next two stanzas we witness a switch – from the cosmic whole to the individual components, from the universe to the central component of the universe, the individual human being.

कोई भी किसी के लिए, अपना न पराया है

रिश्तों के उजाले में, हर आदमी साया है

कुदरत की भी देखो तो, ये खेल निराले हैं

The philosophical content of these lines is not as lofty as the first two stanzas. However, those who have watched the film would realise that these lines represent a transition establishing a new phase of relationship between the characters played by Madan Puri and Moushumi Chatterjee, both trapped in the agonies of the past.

है कौन वो दुनिया में, ना पाप किया जिसने

बिन उलझे काँटों से, हैं फूल चुने किसने

बेदाग नहीं कोई, यहाँ पापी सारे हैं

These lines make a very strong statement that the journey of life presents both – thorny pains and rosy delights. The lines inspire for continuing the journey of life with equanimity towards pains and pleasures as they unfold. Let there be no guilt for the errors and life must keep moving on.

Lastly, though the movie was a mediocre, run of the mill, melodrama, this song's picturisation is absolutely fantastic and both the actors are extremely impressive on the screen.

So, that is all about the song and its appeal. I doubt if the song has ever captured so much attention of my readers. Here is the YouTube link of the song. Please listen to it again, with a fresh outlook:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvZop3HFgwc

(For the trivia lovers here is some additional information. Mukesh has another brilliant song in Shivranjani to his credit - Kai Sadiyon Se Kai Janmon Se from film Milaap, another one set in Kaherva taal. If you hear the two songs one after another, the two sound so similar.)

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:

The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for illustration of the points. This blog claims no copyright over these, which rests with the respective owners.