YKDN LIVE FEST AT KANDAGHAT – YET ANOTHER TRIBUTE TO SHAKEEL BADAYUNI

This year was one year when I failed to pay tribute to my favourite poet and lyricist Shakeel Badayuni on his Death Anniversary on 20th April. But, did I really fail? How can I? I live Shakeel and his poetry and lyrics. I have a Facebook group called ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne’ (YKDN). On 22 April 2017, we had the second Annual Meet of the YKDN group in my home station Kandaghat (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills’). An account of the YKDN Meet in 2016 can be found at: ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Group Meet At Whispering Winds, Kandaghat’.

At the end of the Fest, my sister Suman Saxena paid the following tribute to Shakeel Badayuni (there can’t be a YKDN Fest without him). By the way, the entire lot of participants were divided into two groups: Basant and Bahaar and Suman was the leader of the Bahaar group that won the Fest.

Tribute to Shakeel Badayuni
————————————-
Sab karishmat-e-tasavvur hai ‘Shakeel’
Warna aataa hai na jata hai koi

Here is what I wrote on her poet spontaneously without giving it too much of a thought:

Shakeel का कलाम उन्ही की ज़ुबान से,
सुनते ही फरिश्ते बन जाते हैं इनसान से,
दिल की तरंगें उठके गिरने का नाम नहीं लेतीं,
सांस थम जाती है जशन-ऐ-अरमान से।
और क्या मैं लिखूं इस बारे में Suman?
यही के उन जैसा शायर कहाँ चला गया जहान से?
शुक्र गुज़ार हूँ आपका, आपने जज़्बात की कदर की,
वर्ना आजकल लोग नज़र आते हैं मेहमान से।
अल्लाह, मुझे Shakeel की बज़्म में ही जगह देना,
कल जब मैं उठ जायूँ इस जहान से।

Doesn’t look like I will ever fail to pay tribute to Shakeel Badayuni. A sizeable portion of my blog Sunbyanyname is already devoted to Shakeel whose ‘takhallus‘ means: Handsome, Idealistic, Sensitive. Just how ‘sensitive’ he could get can be made out from just two couplets from his songs:

फिर आह दिल से निकली, टपका लहू जिगर से
शायद वो जा रहे हैं, छुपकर मेरी नज़र से

and….

तूने वो दे दिया ग़म, बेमौत मर गये हम
दिल उठ गया जहाँ से, ले चल हमें यहाँ से
ले चल हमें यहाँ से
किस काम की ये दुनिया जो ज़िंदगी से खेले रे
हम को भी साथ ले ले, हम रह गये अकेले

And yet, he was a poet of Husn and Bahaar. What did he have to say about the latter, Bahaar or the group Bahaar commanded by Suman Saxena? Here are a few examples:

ज़रा सुन हसीना ऐ नाज़नीं
मेरा दिल तुझ ही पे निसार है
तेरे दम से ही मेरे दिलरुबा
मेरी ज़िंदगी में बहार हैI

आई हैं बहारें मिटे ज़ुल्म-ओ-सितम
प्यार का ज़माना आया दूर हुए ग़म

बहारों की दुनिया पुकारे तू आ जा
तेरे मुन्तज़िर हैं सितारे तू आ जा

दो दिन की बहार प्यारे
दिल में बसा ले प्यार

हम-तुम ये बहार
देखो रंग लाया प्यार

मुस्कराएँ जो तेरे लब तो बहारें आईं
खिल गए फूल पड़ी तेरी जहाँ परछाईं
तूने गुलशन मेरा महकाया है
तेरी सूरत ने गज़ब ढाया है

तू है ऐसी कली जो गुलशन में
साथ अपने बहार लायी हो

And here is a special one for Yaad Kiya Dil Ne group from Shakeel:

ये बहारें ये फ़िज़ा, देखकर ओ दिलरुबा
जाने क्या दिल को हुआ, तुम याद आये

The fact is that I can go on and on and on and yet not come to the end of what Shakeel had to write about Bahaar!

So, how do you put both these things together: One side ‘Dard‘ (Ache) and extreme sensitivity and on the other side Husn (Beauty) and Bahaar (Spring)?

Simple! Many a times, he combined both together and made it into ‘Irony’ especially for those who understood the deep emotions. For others who like their poetry and lyrics as ‘fast food’, he made it look like as if there was ‘Bahaar‘ and happiness and celebrations around.

Her name too was Bahaar – the senior courtesan in the court of Emperor Akbar (Mughal-e-Azam) (Please also enjoy ‘Immortal Songs Of Mughal-e-Azam’) and she was jealous of the love that existed between Prince Salim and a junior courtesan Nadira (Anarkali; the blossom that sprouts in Bahaar! (Height of Irony)). So she tattled to the Emperor and he immediately had Anarkali imprisoned. When you are in love you can do anything. Hence, Prince Salim amassed an army against his own father to rescue Ananrkali. Salim was defeated and sentenced to death and it was Anarkali who offered to die in his place! This was accepted by Emperor Akbar. Before being entombed alive to die, she asked for a few hours of the night with Salim. It was granted on the condition that she would make him smell a sedative in a rose flower so that he won’t interfere with her being taken to the dungeon.

Shakeel had nothing to do with the above story; it is just historical. So where did he come in? He had to make a song that would bring out the irony of this situation! He was – this is what I have dubbed him as – the King of Irony. He came up with this outstanding song that was composed by Naushad in a Qawwali in K Asif’s 1960 movie Mughal-e-Azam. He composed it in Raag Jaijaiwanti, Taal Kaherava (Please read: ‘The Best Raaga Based Songs In Hindi Movies – Raag Jaijaivanti’).

Each word of this qawwali has been scripted keeping in mind the dual meaning of total happiness at Salim and Nadira being together for the night and, at the same time, pointing indirectly (and cleverly) to her being entombed to death in the morning.

Shakeel’s fans (the Basant Group, for example) can delve in ‘Irony’ as much as Shakeel did! They selected this qawwali to pay tribute to what should have been their rival group: the Bahaar group. Please see how outstandingly they did it:

नग़मो से बरसती है मस्ती
छलके हैं खुशी के पैमाने
आज ऐसी बहारें आई हैं
कल जिनके बनेंगे अफ़साने
अब इसे ज्यादा और हसीं ये प्यार का मौसम क्या होगा?

No one could have even thought of it but Shakeel did and his fans did!

Last year (56 years after the movie was released), the Akademi for promoting South Asian Dance form in UK paid tribute to the genius of Shakeel, Naushad and K Asif by re-enacting (in dance form) that magnificent night when Anarkali was granted her wish to spend a part of night with Prince Salim, her lover.

(Ladies and gentlemen, we of the Bassant Group also take the help of Shakeel to convey a further message to the Bahaar group through a rare Shakeel song sung by Kishore Kumar (of course with Asha Bhosle) in the year 1955):

ये चार दिन बहार के
हँसी-ख़ुशी ग़ुज़ार के
भुला दो ज़िन्दगी के ग़म

तुम्हारे दिल में हम रहें
हमारे दिल में तुम रहो
किसी से अपनी दास्ताँ
न हम कहें न तुम कहो
ज़माना चाहे कुछ कहे
ज़फ़ा करे सितम करे
जुदा न होंगे तुम से हम
भुला दो ज़िन्दगी के ग़म)

Ladies and gentlemen please enjoy the magic and irony of one of the greatest songs that Shakeel wrote so as to remember him on his 48th death anniversary: Jab raat hai aisi matwaali phir subah ka aalam kyaa hoga?

ये दिल की लगी कम क्या होगी
ये इश्क़ भला कम क्या होगा
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली – २
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २

नग़मो से बरसती है मस्ती
छलके हैं खुशी के पैमाने – २
आज ऐसी बहारें आई हैं
कल जिनके बनेंगे अफ़साने – २
अब इसे ज्यादा और हसीं ये प्यार का मौसम क्या होगा – २
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २

ये आज का रंग और ये महफ़िल
दिल भी है यहाँ दिलदार भी है – २
आँखों में कयामत के जलवे
सीने में सुलगता प्यार भी है – २
इस रंग में कोई जी ले अगर मरने का उसे ग़म क्या होगा – २
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २

हालत है अजब दीवानों की
अब खैर नहीं परवानों की – २
अन्जाम-ए-मोहब्बत क्या कहिये
लय बढ़ने लगी अरमानों की – २
ऐसे में जो पायल टूट गयी फिर ऐ मेरे हमदम क्या होगा – २
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली – २
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २

When Socrates said: ‘The more you know, the more you come to know how little you know’, no one could have visualised how well it fits in with Shakeel Badayuni, the greatest poet and lyricist.