Meri mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse
Posted on: May 5, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Ever since Mughal emperor Sahajehan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, it has become a symbol of eternal love. In terms of its architecture and grandeur, it is regarded as the eighth wonder of the world. It is estimated that nearly four million tourists- both domestic and foreigners visit Taj Mahal annually. For young couples, visiting Taj Mahal is like visiting the temple of love.
I had visited Taj Mahal only once – in 1985 and was very much impressed not only by its architecture but also for its romantic aura. But Sahir Ludhianvi had a contrarian view which he expressed in his poem on Taj Mahal . In a nutshell, he regarded Taj Mahal as an opulent monument built by an emperor on the strength of power and wealth. By building this mausoleum, the emperor has played a cruel joke on the common man whose love is as real as that of his but has no means of advertising the same. So he tells he beloved to to meet anywhere but at the Taj Mahal.
It was a surprise for me to know that a shorter version of this poem was used as a song in the film GHAZAL (1964). I do not know as to how I missed this song for such a long time. The song was ‘meri mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse’ , sung by Mohammed Rafi. The song is picturised on Sunil Dutt in a gathering in which Meena Kumari and Rehman among others are present. After listening to the song, the first thought that came to my mind was how the producer/director of the film had the courage to include this song in the film which goes against the general perception about Taj Mahal and its creator. There was a commercial risk in that there could be some adverse reaction from the prospective audience on this song. Sahir had written a full length poetry on Taj Mahal in his younger days which had 6 stanzas when he was very much attracted towards communist ideology.
It is stated that this poem was rejected by Naushad for inclusion as a song for the film ‘Leader’ (1964) as it lacked romantic touch. Instead he asked Shakeel Badayuni to write a fresh song on the Taj Mahal for the film. Thus ‘ek shahenshah ne banwaa ke hanseen taj mahal’ was born. Madan Mohan who was entrusted with the music direction of ‘Ghazal’ (1964) was keen to include Sahir’s poem as one of the songs in the film. At first, Sahir was not receptive to the idea but later on he relented. In the song only two out of six stanzas of original poem were used probably to make it ‘light’ on the audience. Since ‘Ghazal’ failed at the box office, its songs were forgotten over a period of time including ‘mere mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse’. On the other hand ‘Leader’ fared reasonably well at the box office and its songs became popular. Incidentally, the lyrics of this song can be sung in the tune of ‘ek shahenshah’.
It may look ironic that a poet having a radical view on the Taj Mahal wrote songs for the film TAJ MAHAL (1963) which became not only very popular but one of its songs ‘jo waada kiya to nibhaana padegaa’ fetched Sahir the Filmfare Award for the best lyricist. Of course, in the poetry, the poet expresses his views, emotions, imaginations (akin to the poetic liberty) whereas in the film song, his writing is restricted by the demand of the story and also the commercial consideration. In any case, in the film ‘TAJ MAHAL’ the songs were on the romantic and poignant sides of Shahjehan and Mumtaz Begum and not on Taj Mahal. Nevertheless, in one of its songs ‘jurm-e-ulfat pe hamein log sazaa dete hain’, he did include a couplet on the true eternal love :
takht kyaa cheez hain aur laal-o-jawaahar kyaa hai
ishq waale to khudaayi bhi lutaa dete hain
Many may not agree with what Sahir Ludhianvi had said in his poem on Taj Mahal but there is no denying the fact that his poetry is par excellence. After listening to this song and reading the full poem, one thing is sure for me now. Whenever I get an opportunity to revisit Taj Mahal, some Urdu words from his poem will ring in my mind when I watch the ‘satwat-e-shaahi’ (grandeur) of Taj Mahal from ‘chamanzaar’ (garden) where ‘gulkaari’ (flowers and vines) would remind me of ‘ajdaad kaa khoon’ ( ancestors’ blood).
This song is more of poetry than a melody.
Audio
Video
Song-Meri mehboob kahin aur mila kar mujhse (Ghazal)(1964) Singer-Rafi, Lyrics-Sahir Ludhianvi,MD-Madan Mohan
Lyrics
taaj tere liye ik mazahar-e-ulfat hi sahi
tujh ko is waadi-e-rangeen se aqeedat hi sahi
meri mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse
meri mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse
meri mehboob
anginat logon ne duniyaa mein mohabbat ki hai
anginat logon ne duniyaa mein mohabbat ki hai
kaun kehtaa hai ki saadiq na thhe jazbe unke
lekin unke liye tashheer kaa saamaan nahin
kyon ke wo log bhi apni hi tarah muflis thhe
meri mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse
meri mehboob
ye chamanzaar ye jamunaa kaa kinaaraa ye mahal
ye chamanzaar ye jamunaa kaa kinaaraa ye mahal
ye munaqqash dar-o-deewaar ye mehraab ye taaq
ik shahanashaah ne daulat kaa sahaaraa lekar
ham gareebon ki mohabbat kaa udaayaa hai mazaak
meri mehboob
meri mehboob
meri mehboob kahin aur mila kar mujhse
meri mehboob kahin aur mila kar mujhse
meri mehboob
5 Responses to "Meri mehboob kahin aur milaa kar mujhse"
May 6, 2012 at 2:09 am
I love this poem by Sahir. It was his expression as a thinking, communist poet. A paean to the love of the common man. I was surprised to encounter this poem in the film, I had no idea it was set to music. I didn’t like it sung out actually… it is more a thing to be recited. But Madan Mohan did like good poetry a lot, which can be seen in the fact that most of his songs have excellent lyrics.
Sahir’s vocabulary was excellent, and he certainly knew which was the most apt word to describe a situation.
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December 20, 2013 at 2:22 pm
This poem Taj Mahal is included in Talkhiyan, the first collection of poems by Sahir Ludhianvi published in 1945 while he was just 24. These are just two of the seven stanzas. Sahir did not sing his poetry. Even his recitation was good but not extra-ordinary; but because of his thought content and perfect blending of poetry and revolutionary ideology, he was in great demand in Mushairas. People suffered even bad poetry in the hope of listening to their favorite poet Sahir. It was impossible for him to conclude without reciting Taj Mahal as it was so popular among the listeners of poetry despite its terse diction. Sahir was not alone in having this approach towards Taj Mahal as a ramnant of feudal India. One of the greatest poets of Hindi, Sumitranandan Pant concluded his poem on Taj with the following words:
Maanav aisi bhi virakti kya jeevan ke prati
Aatma ka apman pret aur chhaya se rati
Shav ko den hum rang roop aadar maanva ka
Maanav ko hum kutsit roop bana den shav ka.
I daresay Pant was influenced by Sahir. Sahir was unique in the sense that he was one of the big Urdu poets before joining Bollywood. In Hindi, Narendra Sharma was the only lyricist who had attained eminence as a poet before writing lyrics in films.
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December 20, 2013 at 3:53 pm
I do not think that Sumitranadan Pant was influenced by Sahir’s Poem of Taj Mahal. Pant wrote the poem ‘Taj’ in 1935.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
May 5, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Saahir Ludhianvi was nothing if not a cynic. What I see in this poetry is the arrogance of a poet who has the power of destroying the illusion of beauty of something as physical as Taj Mahal, with mere words. He is even capable of seeing his own arrogance with cynicism.
It would have been an idea to reproduce the whole poem here. I have read it before but dont remember it.
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October 8, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Taj tere liye mazhare-ulfat hi sahee
Tujhko is waadi-ye-rangeen se aqeedat hi sahee
Meri mehboob kahin aur mila kar mujhse,
Bazm-e-shahi mein gharibon ka guzar kya ma’anee?
–Sahir Ludhianvi
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