6 verses · ~2 min
अब न इन ऊंचे मकानों में क़दम रक्खूंगा मैंने इक बार ये पहले भी क़सम खाई थी अपनी नादार मोहब्बत की शिकस्तों के तुफ़ैल ज़िन्दगी पहले भी शरमाई थी, झुंझलाई थी
और ये अहद[1] किया था कि ब-ई-हाले-तबाह[2] अब कभी प्यार भरे गीत नहीं गाऊंगा किसी चिलमन ने पुकारा भी तो बढ़ जाऊँगा कोई दरवाज़ा खुला भी तो पलट आऊंगा
फिर तिरे कांपते होंटों की फ़ुन्सूकार[3]हंसी जाल बुनने लगी, बुनती रही, बुनती ही रही मैं खिंचा तुझसे, मगर तू मिरी राहों के लिए फूल चुनती रही, चुनती रही, चुनती ही रही
बर्फ़ बरसाई मिरे ज़ेहनो-तसव्वुर ने[4] मगर दिल में इक शोला-ए-बेनाम-सा[5] लहरा ही गया तेरी चुपचाप निगाहों को सुलगते पाकर मेरी बेज़ार तबीयत को भी प्यार आ ही गया
अपनी बदली हुई नज़रों के तकाज़े न छुपा मैं इस अंदाज़ का मफ़हूम[6] समझ सकता हूँ तेरे ज़रकार[7] दरीचों को बुलंदी की क़सम अपने इकदाम का मकसूम[8] समझ सकता हूँ
अब न इन ऊँचे मकानों में क़दम रक्खूंगा मैंने इक बार ये पहले भी क़सम खाई थी इसी सर्माया-ओ-इफ़लास के[9] दोराहे पर ज़िन्दगी पहले भी शरमाई थी, झुंझलाई थी
इति
The Poet
साहिर लुधियानवी
Sahir Ludhianvi
1921 · 1980
Sahir Ludhianvi possessed a voice that refused to separate the agony of romance from the brutal inequalities of the world. Born Abdul Hayee in 1921 in Punjab, he adopted the pen name Sahir, meaning magician, and proved it entirely accurate through a lifelong mastery of Urdu poetry. As a prominent figure in the Progressive Writers Movement, he rejected the traditional obsession with the idealized beloved. Instead, he forced his readers to look at the poverty, the exploitation, and the hypocrisies of society that destroy love before it can even bloom. When he entered the Hindi film industry, he fundamentally changed the stature of the lyricist. Directors and composers adapted their music to his words, rather than the other way around. Through films like Pyaasa and Kabhi Kabhie, he brought profound literary dignity and fierce anti establishment critique to mainstream cinema. He passed away in 1980, but his poetry remains a burning torch. Sahir remains the ultimate poet of the disenchanted, a man who wrote beautiful verses to express an absolute refusal to accept an ugly world.
Paired Painting
A Nobleman and a Maiden in a Palace Interior
In this deeply expressive canvas, the master painter Mahadev Visvanath Dhurandhar invites us into the hushed, dramatic intimacy of a palatial chamber. The air is thick with unspoken tension as a noble figure, adorned in traditional finery and bearing the subtle readiness of a sword at his side, turns toward a delicate maiden. She clings to him with a mix of earnest devotion and anxious hesitation, her dark garments and luminous pearls contrasting against the warm glow of the interior. Dhurandhar bridges academic realism with Indian narrative depth, capturing not merely a scene of courtly life, but the heartbeat of human emotion suspended in time. Every fold of fabric and shadowed archway whispers of a story left to our imagination, evoking the timeless dance of love, duty, and quiet drama within the princely halls of India.
Open the viewer →