Consider these stanzas from the song ‘Main Zindagi Ka Saath’ from Hum Dono (1961) – “Barbadiyon ka sog manana fizool tha / Barbadiyon ka jhashan manata chala gaya “; “Jo mil gaya usi ko muqaddar samajh liya /Jo kho gaya main usko bhulata chala gaya”; “Gham aur Khushi mein fark na mehsoos no jahaan/ Main dil ko us muqaam pey lata chala gaya.” The song goes way beyond the context of the film and becomes a philosophy of life.
Sahir wrote on a variety of themes — romance, despair, cabaret, freewheeling ditties, agony, human relationships, philosophy, catharsis, existential questions. They had a strong visual aspect to them. He took recourse to nature’s beauty for romantic themes, synthesising nature with love and using nature’s breathtaking splendour to draw a parallel with the emotions one experiences in love.
In Humraaz (1967), he wrote: “Shabnam key moti, phoolon pey bikhrey / Dono ki aas faley / Neele gagan ke taley, dharti ka pyaar paley”. In Jaal (1952),…