URDU POET SALAAM MACHHALISHERI WORKED IN RADIO KASHMIR AS WELL

                                                                                                                          

                                                                      

   KASHMIR 2010 

( photo Autar Mota )

 To this photo , i am adding a brief story on noted urdu poet Salaam Machhalishehri ..

"Vahee Haseen shaam hai 
Bahaar jis kaa naam hai 
chalaa huun  Ghar ko chorr Kar 
Na jaane jaaungaa kidhar 
koyi  nahin jo Tok kar 
koyi  nahin jo rok kar 
kahe ke laut  Aaaiye
Meri qasam na jaaiye 

…………………………Meri qasam naa jaaiye... "

( Salaam Machhlishehri )

Salaam Died on 11^th Novemebr 1972. He  served in All India Radio (Urdu Service). Born in 1921,he died young .

Noted media personality  and poet Farooq Nazki informs me  that he had a brief posting at Radio Kashmir srinagâr . He felt  attracted by the natural Beauty of the valley. Adds Farooq Nazki,

"Salaam ki shairi par bahut kam kaam huwa  hay.....keh saktay hain unko nazar andaaz kiya gayaa."

Salaam was  was fluent in the use of Urdu, Persian and English languages.

  Liquor and poetry  brought him  closer to Majaz and  Naresh Kumar Shad though he was close to   many other leading  progressive poets of the country .

Ali Sardar jafri would introduce him in  Mushairas with this sentence

" Yeh hain salaam aur inn ki shairi Wale qum assalaam.. Aayiye salaam sahib...."

When Majaz was in Ranchi Mental Hospital ,Salaam wrote a long touching poem..Salaam would always tell his friend Prakash Pandit

"Yaar Prakash ..jab milein to Beer pilaaya kar.Yeh Chhai Vaai chhorr.."

                                                                 

                                            ( Salaam Machhlishehri )

When Majaz was in Ranchi Mental Hospital ,Salaam wrote a long touching poem..Salaam would always tell his friend Prakash Pandit

"Yaar Prakash ..jab milein to Beer pilaaya kar.Yeh Chhai vaai chhorr.."

Subhe dum yuun Hi fusurda ho gayaa

Aey dile Naazuk tujhe kyaa ho gayaa.

Shukriya Aey gardishe jaame sharaab,

Me bhari mehfil mein tanhaa ho gayaa.

Raat dil ko thhaa sehar ka intezaar

Ab yeh gham hai kyon savera ho gaya..

(Salaam Machhalishehri)

His other close friends from AIR included Prem Nath Dar, Ravish Siddiqui and Saghar Nizami.

Salam established his progressive outlook when he wrote his poem Malaah ki Biwi or A Boatman's Wife.He was barely 20 years old at that time..I quote some lines from this poem .The poem presents the anxiety of a wife whose husband is on a fish catching mission in deep sea in rainy and stormy season.

Baithi huun akeli kutiya mein iss dum woh bahut Yaad Aate hain.

Tareeq gataayein zaahir hain pinhaa hain sitaaron ki shaamein.

Uff kaisi bhayaanak hain yarubb beraham samandhar ki raatein.

Baadal bhi daraate hain mujh ko toofan bhi shor Machaate hain

Paani ki bheint na charr jaaye kamzor si naav kahin yarubb.

Aissa na kahin ho toofaani gardaab mein Gum ho jaayein woh.

Aissa na kahin ho lehron ki aagosh Hi mein so jaayein woh.

Uff aissi bhayanak taareeki toofaan ka yeh andha manzar.

Mumkin hai ki iss toofaan mein woh bhi hosho hawaas ganvaa baithe.

Mein dukhiyaa huun laawaris huun kar reham zaraa mujh par yarubb.

Mehfooz o salamat laut Aayein iss raat woh apney ghar yarubb.

He  loved Lucknow and  its  captivating cultural aura   . He  was a regular visitor to Famous Hazratganj Coffee House  that used to be frequented by Feroz Gandhi, Ale Ahmed Suroor,Syed Sajjad zaheer, yash Pal, Majaz, Kali Parshad, Josh Malihabadi  and Arif Naqvi . Salaam would be often seen gossiping with some of them   over a cup of coffee.

A critical appraisal of his life and literary contributions was conducted by Dr. Aziz Indori and published titled- Salaam Machhalishehri – Shakhsiyat aur Funn.

Many of Salaam Machhalishehri’s ghazals  have been sung by  Jagjit Singh. He had also written Sonnets in Urdu.

 He  wrote  on all subjects  in true  style of a progressive poet . I also  found  his handling of Sharaab ( Wine ) in Urdu poetry  altogether different . I quote ..

Saaqi ho zaraa chashme karam aur piyeingay.

Haan aur zaraa aur ki hum aur piyeingay.

Duniyaa Teri Azmat ki kasam kuchh nahin sharaab,

Duniyaa Teri nafarat ki kasam aur piyeingay..

And..

Farzaana hai nashe mein deewana nashe mein hai...

Jab mein nashe mein huun to zamaana nashe mein hai.

Jhaanko meri sharaab ki bottle mein gul rukhon,

Tum kyaa tumhaara Aainakhaana nashe mein hai.

Yeh teer kahin tum pe palat jaaye na bacho

Sarkaar ki aankhon ka nishaana nashe mein hai..

So long so much on salaam Machhalishehri..

(Autar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.