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Neeraj Ji was a shayar of Hindi and a Kavi of Urdu,” A reluctant lyricist, it took film director R. Chandra several years to persuade Neeraj to move to Bombay. When Chandra first proposed that he should move to Bombay and write lyrics for films, the offer was disdainfully turned down by Neeraj. The director, he had said, was free to choose any of his poems but he would not write on demand.
Six years later when Chandra made his film Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal (1966), he picked the poem, Karwaan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahe (The caravan did pass/As I strained to see through the dust) and arguably immortalised it. Even after half a century, the song remains as popular and has arguably become synonymous with Neeraj.
He did move to Bombay for some time and bonded with S.D. Burman and Jaikishen. But with the death of Burman in 1975 and Jaikishen earlier in 1971, the poet decided to move back to Aligarh. Raj Kapoor, for whose film Mera Naam Joker, he wrote the number, Aye bhai, zara dekh ke chalo…, is said to have told him in zest that once people get into Bollywood, they reach a point of no return.
But Neeraj, or so folklores have it, apparently retorted that people like Kapoor may find no life or meaning beyond Bollywood but for him it held no charm. And true enough, he returned to Aligarh and kept writing poems till the very end. He would often attend functions in Delhi and other cities and recite his poems.
At a time when Urdu was ruling the roost in the Hindi film industry, ‘purer’ Hindi songs of Neeraj came as a whiff of fresh air with unusual turn of words like “Badal, Bijli, Chandan, Paani” to describe ‘love’.
Many of his poems stand testimony to his unique imagery. Take these lines for example,
Jheelon ke honthon par, meghon ka raag hai
Phoolun ke seenay mein, thaandi thandi aag hai
(On the lips of the lakes is the melody of the clouds
A cool flame burns in the flowers’ heart…)
Having lost his father at the age of six, he was forced to start working for a living at a tender age. He taught Hindi in a college in Aligarh for many years
26 авг 2024
