हिन्दू चला गया न मुसलमाँ चला गया
इंसाँ की जुस्तुजू में इक इंसाँ चला गया।
Asrarul Haq, better known as Majaaz, who wrote these lines that resonate with our reality today, was born in 1911 in a small town in Luchnow called Rudauli. He studied in Aligarh Muslim University and emerged as a radical poet amongst others from the time like Ali Sardar Jafri, Jaanisaar Akhtar, Manto, Chughtai and more.
Majaaz’s poetry characterised by a revolutionary fervour, romance, irreverence, restlessness and passion, can console and quicken the hearts today, just as it did in his time.
This week for Bol, singer and musician Vidya Shah sings Majaaz’s powerful triumphant poem, reminding us in these bleak times that:
बहुत कुछ और भी है इस जहाँ में
ये दुनिया महज़ ग़म ही ग़म नहीं है
