ShringaraBeginner

मतलब निकल है तो, पहचानते नहीं

Matlab Nikal Gaya Hai To, Pehchante Nahin

Sahir Ludhianvi

1 min read 4 versesDestiny

4 verses · ~1 min

मतलब निकल गया है तो, पहचानते नहीं यूँ जा रहे हैं जैसे हमें, जानते नहीं

अपनी गरज़ थी जब तो लिपटना क़बूल था बाहों के दायरे में सिमटना क़बूल था अब हम मना रहे हैं मगर मानते नहीं

हमने तुम्हें पसंद किया, क्या बुरा किया रुतबा ही कुछ बलन्द किया क्या बुरा किया हर इक गली की ख़ाक तो हम छानते नहीं

मुँह फेर कर न जाओ हमारे क़रीब से मिलता है कोई चाहने वाला नसीब से इस तरह आशिक़ों पे कमाँ तानते नहीं

इति

Rasa: Shringara
Stanzas: 4
Lines: 11
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Geet (lyric song)
Metre: geet
Rhyme: irregular

The atmosphere is one of poignant romantic betrayal, characterized by the sharp, lingering bitterness of a lover who has been discarded once their usefulness has faded. A visual rendering of this scene would depict a desolate, narrow alleyway at dusk, where a forlorn figure reaches out toward an aloof, retreating silhouette that pointedly refuses to turn back or acknowledge the gesture. The composition centers on the painful contrast between the intimate, protective embrace once shared—represented perhaps by abandoned, tangled garments on the ground—and the cold, taut bowstring held by the departing lover, symbolizing an aggressive severance of ties. Ultimately, the work conveys a tone of tragic disillusionment, capturing the precise moment when devoted affection meets the cold, indifferent finality of abandonment.

मतलब निकल है तो, पहचानते नहीं (Matlab Nikal Gaya Hai To, Pehchante Nahin), by Sahir Ludhianvi runs to 11 lines across 4 stanzas, set as Three-line and four-line stanzas with a repeating opening couplet. Its governing rasa is Shringara, shaded by Karuna. The metre is geet. Rhyme falls as irregular.

It belongs to the 1921 · 1980 span of Sahir Ludhianvi's working life, and keeps the plain, spoken register that period is known for.

Read it for स्वार्थपरता और बदलते मानवीय संबंध and सच्चे प्रेमी की उपेक्षा का दर्द. 3 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Sita Swayamvar: Bathed in a warm, amber-lit atmosphere of palpable tension and breathless anticipation, the scene captures the climactic moment from the Ramayana where Prince Rama effortlessly strings the celestial bow of Shiva to win…

Words worth pausing on

गरज़: स्वार्थ, मतलब
बलन्द: ऊँचा, श्रेष्ठ
कमाँ: धनुष

Threads

Destiny

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.