Urdu Poets (Israrul Haq Majaz)

Asrarul Haq Majaz was the darling of the Urdu world, the most famous and loved poet of his generation. His nazm, 'Aawara' Aye gham-e-dil kya karoon, Aye wahshat-e-dil kya karoon....[What to do O aching heart, what to do O frenzy wild] is considered one of the most popular verses of Urdu poetry.

Majaz was the uncle of Javed Akhtar and brother-in-law of Jaan Nisaar Akhtar. He was born in 1911 in Rudauli (UP). He received his early education in Lucknow and Agra, and then got his B.A. at Aligarh Muslim University. He started writing poems while in Aligarh and soon became a popular among the masses and well-respected among the literati. Majaz is also well-known for writing the anthem for Aligarh Muslim University, 'ye meraa chaman'.

He was the first Urdu poet who looked at woman with a different persepective, as a 'hamsafar' [companion] and yearned for an intelligent, enlightened and equal life partner.

His ghazal 'Tere maathe pe yeh anchal bohot khoob hai/ Lekin tu isse ek parcham bana leti to achchha thaa' was the foremost progressive voice in 30s. A darling of poetry-lovers, Majaz was so popular that Ismat Chughtai recounts, Girls college mein ladkiyan usse shaadi ke liye qura nikaalti theen"[it was a pastime among hostel girls to play draw of lots to decide which girl will marry him].

They kept his picture under their pillow but no father was willing to give him a daughter. After all, he was a poet with no other means to eke out a decent living for his family. Majaz and Jazbi were the original voices of the Progressive Writers' movement that later brought Faiz, Sardar Jafri and scores of other poets along and for the first time turned poetry into an instrument of changing lives of masses.

No generation of poets was as popular in any country as the young poets' crop during the Progressive Writers' Movement in the era of 1930s and 40s. The choice of words and the natural lyricism of his poetry gripped the audiences. His unique romantcism is most ably demonstrated

in following ghazal that also reflects the tragedy of his life:

Kuchh tujhko hai khabar ham kya kya ai shorish-e-dauraan bhool gaye
Woh zulf-e-pareeshan bhool gaye, woh deedae-giryan bhool gaye
Ab gul se nazar milti nahin, ab dil ki kali khilti nahin
Ai fasl-e-bahaaran rukhsat ho hum to luft-e-bahaaran bhool gaye
Ai shauq-e-nazaara kya kahiye, nigahon mei koi surat hi nahin
Ai zauq-e-tasavvur kya kahiye hum to surat-e-jaanan hi bhool gaye
Sab ka madawa kar daala apna madawa kar na sake
Sab ke gireban see daale apna hi girebaan bhool gaye
Ab apni wafa ka yeh aalam hai, unki wafa ko kya kahiye
Ek nashtar-e-zeher aageen rakh kar sarhaane, rag-e-jaan bhool gaye

Majaz was the natural choice when All India Radio started airing its programmes and he named the Urdu programme 'Awaz'. But his unrequited love affair with a girl and financial problems cost him dearly.

This unique generation of poets had awaited the dawn of independence and dreamt of an independent nation. He wrote anti-imperialistic poems like; 'Musafir bhaag waqt-e-baykasi hai/tere sar par ajal mandra rahi hai....and the immensely popular Tarana-e-Alighar...Sarshaar-e-nigaah-e-nargis hoon'

The post-partition riots and the violence in Mumbai of which he was a witness had shattered him. The promised dawn was not as glittering as the poets had dream of. He had started asking money from friends and others. Some politicians like Sarojini Naidu and a few bureaucrats of Delhi helped him.

He was admitted to hospital but came out and once again the 'fans' came around. In Lucknow and Delhi, he often wandered on the streets at night. People heard his cries of 'Maa.n, maa' at the monkey bridge in Lucknow.

As Josh once told him, Majaz ghadi rakh kar piya karo' asking him to drink steadily, the maverick poet laughingly said,' Josh sahab main ghada rakh kar peeta hoon'. Once Josh wrote 'Pindnama' in a magazine asking him to cut down on his drinking while praising Sheikh Abduallah [of Kashmir] in the same breath and Majaz replied,

'Nutq hairaan, dahan dareeda hai,

yeh shuneeda nahin deeda hai,

rind-e-barbaad ko naseehat hai,

sheikh ki shaan mein qaseeda hai'.

Whatever Majaz wrote...either.....

Jalaal-e-aatish o barq-e-sahaab paida kar,

ajal bhi kaanp uthe tu woh shabaab paida kar
Tu inquilab ki aamad ka intezar na kar,

jo ho sake to inquilab paida kar

or

Chhalkein tere aariz se gulaab aur zyada.

Allah kare zor-e-shabaab aur zyada...

And the lesser poetic:

Ilaahabad mein har soo hain charche

ki dilli ka sharaabi aa gaya hai
Guaabi laao chhalkao ki shaida-e-gulaabi aa gaya hai
Yahan ke shaharyaaron ko khabardaar kar do
ki woh mard-e-inquilabi aa gaya hai

His poetry struck chord with the generation of youths before and after independence. But the bloody riots of partition and bloodshed in Punjab shocked the nation and more so the progressive poets.

Poets were lamenting like Wamiq Jaunpuri who wrote: Yeh do-aab hai, sah-aab hai, Punjab nahin. Majaz was also left disillusioned. He fell ill and after recovery he was no longer the same person.

On a chilly winter night, he was taken away by a group of 'fans' who left him all alone on a hotel roof after drinking till late night, and he died alone in the bitter cold. Lucknow mourned and the nation mourned. At the age of 44.

Ab iske baad sub'h hai aur sub'h-e-nau majaz

hum par hai khatm shaam-e-ghareeban-e-lucknow.

A part of Lucknow died that day.

bohat mushkil hai dunyaa ka saNvarnaa
teri zulf ka pech-o-kham nahi hai