Tome & Plume: Many Still Pipe Warbles Of Bard Kaif Bhopali

The Queen of Night was sparing no effort to peep through the autumnal cloud-clad firmament to bathe the City of Lakes with her silver light. Under the dim skylight, the city’s settings wore a more mysterious look than usual.   The very world of Bhopal, swathed in mystery, has infinite possibilities to unfold. The past clings to the city.

The present adds a fresh fragrance of the spring to it. Against this magical backdrop, you remember a Bollywood number from the film of yesteryears Pakeezah, the pure one: Chalo Dildar Chalo Chand Ke Paar Chalo… Aao Kho Jaaye Sitaaron Mein Kahin ... Chhor de Aaj Yeh Duniya Yeh Zameen…  (Let’s go, dear, beyond the boundaries of the moon; let’s take a hike amidst the stars; let’s buzz off the world.”

These mystic words emerged from the golden pen of Urdu poet Kaif Bhopali whom the city takes pride in. Yet the today’s world rarely remembers this lyricist whom a bard like Rahat Indori revered as his teacher. Once, the bard said he had learnt the ABC of Urdu poetry from Kaif Bhopali who was known for terseness. He was a fine combination of the elegance of Lucknow and openness of Bhopal.

Kaif was born in Lucknow as Khwaja Mohammad Idris on February 20, 1917. His ancestors were from Kashmir and began to live in Lucknow from where they came to the then Bhopal. Afterwards, he left for Mumbai and composed many songs for Bollywood hits, like Daeera (1953), Pakeezah (1972), Shanker Hussain (1977) and Raziya Sultan (1983).  Jagjit Singh also sang a few Ghazals composed by the poet, but few write about him even on his birth and death anniversaries.

The situation has come to such a pass that even if those who murmur the lyrics – Chalo Dildar Chalo sung by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar – many times a day they do not know anything about the writer of the lyrics. His compositions were terse as well as straight. The flow was as natural as a waterfall. Kaif Bhopali earned a name in Bollywood at a time when lyricists like Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Azmi, Majoorh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Shailendra, and Hasart Jaipuri were reigning supreme. To find a place among the stars, one needs to be one.

The bard from Bhopal, too, shone in the world of words with his sheer brilliance.  So brilliant was the wordsmith that, he rendered 13 chapters of the Holy Quran into another language, that too in a versed form, just at the age of 13. None can be oblivious of the song: Apne Aap Raaton Mein Chilmanein Sarakti Hain… (Film: Shankar Hussain).

Lata Mangeshkar gave voice to the lyrics.   A buff of Urdu poetry knows how his Ghazals and Nazms used to hold the audience in thaw. A rebel in him often came out. Kaif wrote: Mai-Kasho, Aage Badho, Tishna Labo Aage Badho, Aapna Haq Maanga Nahin Jaata Hai, Chheena Jaata Hai… (March on, the thirsty, march on. And slake your thirst.

You must not beg your rights. Snatch them.” According to Persian dictionary, ‘Mai-Kasho’ signifies drinkers, but the use of this word in the sense of ‘protester’ against exploitation of the poor by the rich is something that only Kaif could think of.  Kaif carolled the songs of love for mankind. His religion was: love all.

Maa ki Aagosh Mein Kaal, Maut Ki Aagosh Mein Aaj, Hum Ko Duniya Mein Ye Do Waqt Suhane Mile… (Yesterday we were into the lap of mother. Today we are into the embrace of death. We’ve two pleasant times in this world.)” These lines are swathed in mystery and unfold infinite possibilities. It shows linking of two extremes, life and death, and its mystic union. The bard breathed his last into the lap of his beloved city – Bhopal – on July 24, 1991.