Kaifi Azmi was born in 1919 in Azamgarh,UP, India. Uncertain
about his date of birth Azmi Saab however was certain that he was born in
enslaved India, grew old in Independent India and that he would die in
Socialist India. He was born as Akhtar Husain Rizvi, in a small hamlet, Majwan,
in the district of Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh in a family of landlords
He is considered to
be one the greatest Urdu poets of 20th century. Together with Pirzada Qasim,
Jon Eliya and many others he participated in many memorable mushairas of 20th
century. Azmi was only 11 when he wrote
his first ghazal Itna To Zindagi Mein Kisi Ki Khalal Pade. Having managed to
get himself invited to a mushaira, he
recited a couplet of the ghazal.
The president of the mushaira, Mani
Jaisi, appreciated the boy’s talent but
most of the people present , including his father, thought he recited
his elder brother’s ghazal. His father and his clerk decided to test his talent
when the brother denied it. They gave him one of the lines of a couplet and
asked him to write a ghazal in the same meter and rhyme. Azmi accepted the
challenge and completed a ghazal. This particular ghazal was to become a rage
in undivided India and it was immortalized as it was sung by legendary ghazal
singer, Begum Akhtar.
Azmi abandoned his studies of Persian and Urdu during the
Quit India agitations in 1942 and shortly thereafter became a full time Marxist
when he accepted membership of the Communist Party of India in 1943. During
this period, the leading progressive writers of Lucknow noticed him. They were
very impressed by his leadership qualities. They also saw in him a budding poet
and extended all possible encouragement towards him. Consequently, Azmi started
to win great acclaim as a poet and became a member of Progressive Writers’
Movement of India.
At the age of twenty-four, he started activities in the
textile mill areas of Kanpur. As a full time worker, he left his life of
comfort, though he was the son of a zamindar. He was asked to shift his base to
Bombay, work amongst the workers and start party work with a lot of zeal and
enthusiasm and at the same time would attend mushairas in different parts of
India.
In Bombay, he joined Ali Sardar Jafri in writing for the
party’s paper, Qaumi Jung. In 1947, he visited Hyderabad to participate in a
mushaira. There he met, fell in love with and married a woman named Shaukat.
Shaukat Kaifi later became a renowned actress in theatre and films. They had
two children together, Shabana Azmi (b. 1950), a renowned actress of Indian
cinema and Baba Azmi, a noted cameraman.
Azmi Saab was also an active member of Indian People’s
Theatre Association (IPTA) and in later years its president. His role in
theatre was very important — he ensured that even after the communist movement
started dying, its cultural component was kept alive. Once or twice he got
young writers to produce plays and perform them at the Bhulabhai Desai Hall to
collect funds for the Communist Party.
Azmi Saab’s stint in film includes working as lyricist,
writer and yes even actor!
Azmi Saab also won great critical accolades for the script,
dialogues and lyrics of M.S. Sathyu’s Garam Hawa (1973), based on a story by
Ismat Chughtai. The film, chronicles the plight of the minority Muslims in
North India and is set in Agra after the first major partition exodus. Balraj
Sahni played to perfection the central role of an elderly Muslim shoe
manufacturer who must decide whether to continue living in India or to migrate
to the newly formed state of Pakistan. Garam Hawa remains today one of the most
poignant films ever to be made on India’s partition
Kaifi Saab has won various awards and he has been honoured
by various national and international institutions. These include the Uttar
Pradesh Urdu Academy Award, the Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Sahitya Academy
Award for his collection, Awaara Sajde, the Maharashtra State Urdu Academy’s
Special Award for his contribution to Urdu literature and the Afro-Asian
Writers’ Committee’s Lotus Award. He also won the National Award and Filmfare
Award for the screenplay and dialogue of Garam Hawa. Azmi Saab was also the
subject of a documentary film Kaifi Azmi (1979) made by Raman Kumar. His son
Baba Azmi is a reputed cinematographer while son-in-law Javed Akhtar is a well
known writer, lyricist and poet and daughter-in-law Tanvi, a fine actress in
her own right.
Content from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifi_Azmi
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=436174&TPN=3
Do also read
http://stageplatter.blogspot.com/2010/02/careless-whispers.html
Nazm
jab bhii chuum letaa hun un hasiin aankhon ko
sau chiraaGh andhere mein jhilmilaane lagte hain
Khushk Khushk honton mein jaise dil khench aataa hai
dil meN kitne aa’iine TharTharaane lagte hain
phuul kyaa, shighuufe kyaa, chaand kyaa, sitaare kyaa
sab raqiib qadmon par sar jhukaane lagte hain
zehn jaag uthtaa hai, ruuh jaag uthtii hai
naqsh aadmiyaat ke jagmagaane lagte hain
lau nikalne lagtii hai mandiron ke siine se
devtaa fazaaon mein muskuraane lagte hain
(shiGhuufe : blossoms; raqiib : competitor; zehn : mind;
ruuh : soul; naqsh : foot-prints)
rakqs karne lagtii hain muuraten Ajanta kii
muddaton ke lab-bastaa Gaar gaane lagte hain
phuul khilne lagte hain ujRe ujde gulshan mein
tishnaa-tishnaa gaiti par abr chhaane lagte hain
lamha bhar ko ye duniyaa zulm chhod detii hai
lamhaa bhar ko sab patthar muskuraane lagte hain
(rakqs : dance; Ajanta : Caves in India famous for murals;
Gaar : cave; Gaiti: earth ; tishnaa : thirsty)
Ram Ka Doosra Banwas
Ram banwaas se laut kar jab ghar mein aaye,
yaad jungle bahot aaya jo nagar mein aaye
raqs-e-diwaangi aangan mein jo dekha hoga,
6 december to Sri Ram ne socha hoga,
itne deewanae kahan se mere ghar mein aaye
Dharam kya unka hai kya zaat hai yeh janta kaun,
ghar na jalta to unhe raat mein pahenchanta kaun,
ghar jalane ko log mera jo ghar main aaye
shakahaari hain mere dost tumhare khanjar,
tumne babar ki taraf phenke they saare patthar,
hai mere sar ki khata zakhm jo sar main aaye
paon sarju main abhi Ram ne dhoye bhi na they,
ki nazar aaye wahan khoon ke gehre dhabbe
paon dhoye bina sarju ke kinare se uthe,
Ram yeh kehte hue apne duare se uthe,
Raaajdhaani ki faza aaye nahin raas mujhe,
6 dec ko mila doosra banwaas mujhe
Ghazal
sunaa karo merii jaan in se un se afsaane
sab ajnabii haiN yahaaN kaun kis ko pahchaane
(afsaane : fiction; ajnabii : strangers)
yahaan se jald guzar jaao qaafile vaalon
hain merii pyaas ke phuunke hu’e ye viiraane
(qaafilaa : caravan; viiraane : ruins)
merii junuun-e-parastish se tang aa gaye log
sunaa hai band kiye jaa rahe haiN but-Khaane
(junuun : frenzy; parastish : worship; but-Khaane : idol
temple)
jahaan se pichhle pahar ko’ii tashnaa-kaam uThaa
vahiin pe tode hain yaaron ne aaj paimaane
(tashnaa-kaam : thirsty; paimaane : cups)
bahaar aaye to meraa salaam kah denaa
mujhe to aaj talab kar liyaa hai sehraa ne
( talab : called; sehraa : desert)
hu’aa hai hukm ke “Kaifi” ko sang-saar karo
masiih baithe hain chhup ke kahaaN Khudaa jaane
(hukm : judgement; sang-saar : stoning; masiih : messiah)
Ghazal
patthar ke Khudaa vahaan bhii paaye
ham chaand se aaj laut aaye
diivaaren to har taraf khadii hain
kyaa ho gaye meh’rbaaN saaye
jangal kii havaayeN aa rahii hain
kaaghaz kaa ye shah’r ud na jaaye
Lailaa ne nayaa janam liyaa hai
hai Qais ko’ii jo dil lagaaye?
hai aaj zamiin kaa ghus’l-e-sehat
jis dil mein ho jitnaa Khuun laaye
sehraa sehraa lahuu ke Kheme
phir pyaase lab-e-Furaat aaye*
meh’rbaan : affectionate
Qais : Majnuu’s actual name
ghus’l-e-sehat : Ritual bath after recovering from sickness
sehraa : desert
Kheme : tent
lab-e-Furaat : Bank of river Euphrates
* Alludes to the battle of Karbala.
Nazm
Somnath
but-shikan ko’ii kahiin se bhii na aane paaye
hamne kuch but abhii siine mein sajaa rakhe hain
apnii yaadon mein basaa rakhe hain
dil pe ye soch ke path-raao karo diivaanon
ke jahaan hamne sanam apne chhupaa rakhe hain
vahiiN Ghazni ke Khudaa rakhe hain
but jo tuute to kisii tarah banaa lenge unhen
tukde-tukde sahii daaman mein uthaa lenge unhen
phir se ujde hu’e siine mein sajaa lenge unhen
Gar Khudaa Tuutegaa ham to na banaa paayenge
uske bikhre hu’e tukde na uthaa paayenge
tum uthaa lo to utha lo shaayad
tum banaa lo to banaa lo shaayad
tum banaao to Khudaa jaane banaao kaisaa
apne jaisaa hii banaaya to qayaamat hogii
pyaar hogaa na zamaaneN mein muhabbat hogii
dushmanii hogi, adaavat hogii
hamse uskii na ibaadat hogii
vahshat-e-but-shikanii dekh ke hairaan huun main
but-parastii mera shevaa hai ke insaan huun main
ek na ek but to har ek dil mein chhupaa hotaa hai
uske sau naamoN meN ek naam Khudaa hotaa hai
Kaifi Azmi
but-shikan : idol breaker
siinaa : chest
path-raao : barrage of rocks
diivaanaa : frenzied
sanam : idol
Ghazni : Afhan invader
qayaamat : day of judgment
adaavat : animosity
daaman : part of the dress
tukRe : pieces
ibaadat : worship
vahshat : frenzy
hairaan : shocked
but-parastii : idol-worship
shevaa : trade, profession
Meri khwabo ko tum ashqo me dubote kyun ho?
Jo meri tarha jia karte hai kab marte hai
Thak gaya hu mujhe so lene do rote kyun ho?
Soke bhi jagte rahte hai janbaz suno.
…….kyun sazai ho chandan ke chita mere liye
mai koi jism nahi jalao ge mujhe
rakh ke saath bikhar jaunga dunia mein
Dekhi zamane ki yari,
bichre sabhi bari bari,
kya leke mile ab dunia se,
ansoo ke sivaa kuch paas nahi.
yea phool hi phool the raho me
yea kanto ki bhi aas nahi,
nafrat ki dunia hai sari
bichre sabhi bari bari.
raat bhar mehman
hai bahare yahan
raat gar dhal gayi
phir yea khusia kaha
daur yea chalti rahe
rang uchal ti rahe
roop badalte rahe
jam badalti rahe
Kaifi Azmi
Famous verses
Aaj ki raat bahut garam hawa chalti hai
Aaj ki raat na neend aayegi
Hum sub uthen, main bhi uthun, tum bhi utho
Koi khidki isi deewar mein khul jayegi
- Makaan
Tu jo bejaan khilonon se behel jaati hai
Tapti saanson ki haraarat se pighal jaati hai
Paaon jis raah mein rakhti hai fisal jaati hai
Banke seemaab har ik zarf mein dhal jaati hai
Zist ke aahni saanche main dhalna hai tujhe
uth meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe…
– ”Aurat (Woman)
Waqt Ni Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam
Hum Rahe na Hum, tum rahe na tum.
- Film Kaagaz Ke phool 1959
Tum Itna Kyun Muskuraa Rahe Ho
Kya gum hai jisko Chupa rahe Ho.
- Film Arth (1982)
zindeji bhar mujhe nafrat si rahi asko se
Meri khwabo ko tum asko me dubote kyon ho?
Jo meri tarha jia karte hai kab marte hai
Thak gaya hu mujhe so lene do rote kyon ho?
Soke bhi jagte rahte hai janbaz suno.
kyon sazai ho chandan ke chita mere liye
mai koi jism nahi jalao ge
mujhe rakh ke saath bikhar jaunga dunia mein
thokar jahan khaogey waha paogey mujhe.
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