main rahi masoom
Main Rahi Masoom

 

jinse ham chhoot gaye, ab vo jahaan kaise hain?
shaakh-e-gul kaisii hai? khushboo ke makaan kaise hain?

ai sabaa ! too to udhar hii se guzartii hogii
us galii men mere pairon ke nishaan kaise hain?

pattharon vaale vo insaan, vo behis dar-o-baam
vo makiin kaise hain? shiishe ke makaan kaise hain?

kahiin shabnam ke shigoofe, kahiin angaaron ke phool
aa ke dekho merii yaadon ke jahaan, kaise hain

le ke ghar se jo nikalte they junoon kii mash’al
is zamaane men vo saahib-e-nazaraan kaise hain?

yaad unkii hamen jiine bhii na degii ”raahii”
dushman-e-jaan vo masiiha_nafsaan kaise hain?

– Jinse Ham Chhoot Gaye by Dr Rahi Masoom Raza

Dr Rahi Masoom Raza, popular for Ghazals, anthology of poems and writing the script for the famous Mahabharat was born on September 1. While the entire nation recalls the genius of the maverick those who reside in the very district he belonged to seem to have forgotten him and his contribution to the literary world and Arts.

Very few functions in recent years have been organized by the people in the district in memory of the literary stalwart.

Rahi by his work managed to reach a level where he was appreciated by one and all in the country. He was one of the chosen few people who left a mark in Arts and Literature. Not only has the ink with which he wrote faded, even the person has faded from the memory of Ghazipur.

His son Sultan Naheed Khan has been quoted as saying in a report, “People of Ghazipur should think that his birthday is being celebrated in whole of India. Not giving Rahi his due is one of the reason’s why Ghazipur is still a backward district. If people of Ghazipur remember him then Ghazipur would be considered a top district of India.”

Rahi spent his entire life in the Barbarahna locality in Ghazipur. He was born on 1st September 1927. They were four brothers and five sisters. What started of at the age of 10 as a means of teasing people eventually with words sung in a tune got ingrained as a passionate professional streak.

He started composing songs and then eventually those tunes reached the masses and got a thumping response. He further honed his skills of writing dialogues and he went on to pen scripts.

 

rahi
Courtesy Rekhta

 

Rahi wrote Andha Gaon a novel in 1966 an gave such vivid description of the Gangauli village, a place he was associated to that people thought it to be his residing place. He lived in this house where his father Vashir Hasan lived and practiced law.

Once he succeeded in this project, he wrote nearly 300 books including Topi Shukla, Himmat Jaunpuri and Ose ke boond. He even wrote nearly 100 scripts for the Doordarshan. In 1979 he was awarded for the best dialogues award in Filmfare for the hit film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki followed by ‘Mili’ and ‘Lamhe’,which he won posthomously.

While he achieved so much his village refuses to remember this man who gave one of the best adaptations of an epic onscreen called Mahabharata. The serial became one of the most popular TV serials of India, with a peak television rating around 86%.

While dialogues of Rahi still rule supreme for many, on his birthday which is days from now one can hope the greatness of the man is not forgotten.

Several of Raza’s works vividly depict the agony and turmoil of the consequences of the partition of India.

Singer Parvati Khan is his daughter-in-law. She is married to his son Nadeem Khan, who is a director and cinematographer.

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