aurat ne janam diya – sahir ludhianavi

Click here for overall comments and on any passage for meanings and discussion.The composition is beautiful and powerful, all the more so because of its simplicity, but I do have some issues. There is a strong element of conventionality still lingering in an otherwise progressive view. Sahir plays up the act of birthing as if it is the most important (the only?) contribution that woman makes. He does identify the most important phenomenon … the sale of female bodies, a consequence of economic exploitation, but his refrain “aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko” is a problem. There are other progressive poets (Kaifi Azmi-aurat) who have gone beyond this position but it remains for feminist poets to claim the rightful place of woman e.g. Fahmida Riaz (chaadar aur chaardivaari) “the drops of sweat on the brow of Earth sparkle with the lustre of my labour”.

aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko, mardoN ne use bazar diya
jab ji chaaha masla kuchla¹, jab ji chaaha dhutkaar² diya1. caress and squeeze 2. shoo away
Woman gives birth to man, man puts her in the bazaar, caressed and squeezed at whim and fancy but shooed away at any pretext.

tulti³ haiN kahiN dinaroN⁴ meN, bikti haiN kahiN bazaroN meN
naNgi nachvai jaati haiN, ayyashoN⁵ ke darbaroN meN
ye vo be-izzat⁶ cheez hai jo, baT jati hai izzat-daaroN⁷ meN
aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko, mardoN ne use bazar diya3. gets weighed 4. gold coin, money 5. lecher 6. disreputable 7. respected
Weighed in coins here, sold off in the bazar there. She is made to dance naked in the palaces of lewd debauchery. She is the object of disrepute that is shared among the respectable. Woman gives birth to man, man puts her in the bazar.

mardoN ke liye har zulm⁸ rava⁹, aurat ke liye rona bhi Khata⁹
mardoN ke liye har aish¹⁰ ka haq¹¹, aurat ke liye jeena bhi saza
mardoN ke liye lakhoN sejeN¹², aurat ke liye bas ek chita¹³
aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko, mardoN ne use bazar diya8. abuse, tyranny, excess 8. allowed, permissible 9. mistake, crime 10. luxury 11. Right 12. lakhs of beds 13. funeral pyre
Every excess is permitted to man, for woman even sobbing is a crime. Man has the right to lechery, but even trying to make a livelihood is a crime for woman. Thousands of beds for men, only the funeral pyre for woman. Woman gives birth to man, man puts her in the bazar.

jin seenoN ne unko doodh diya, un seenoN ka beopaar kiya
jis kokh¹⁴ meN inka janm Dhala, us kokh ka kaarobar kiya
jis tan se aaye konpal¹⁵ ban kar, us tan ko zalil¹⁶ o Khwaar¹⁷ kiya
aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko, mardoN ne use bazar diya14. womb 15. tender shoot (branch) 16. disgraced 17. maligned, put into disrepute
The bosom that fed him, is a commodity for sale. The womb that gave him birth, is now traded in the bazar. The body that nurtured him, is now disgraced and maligned. Woman gives birth to man, man puts her in the bazar.

sansar ki har ek besharmi, Ghurbat¹⁸ ki god meN palti hai
chakloN¹⁹ meN hi aa kar rukti hai, faaqoN²⁰ se jo raah nikalti hai
mardoN ki havas²¹ hai jo aksar²² aurat ke paap meN Dhalti hai
aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko, mardoN ne use bazar diya18. poverty 19. grinding wheels 20. starvation 21. lecherous desire 22. often
Every shameful act on this earth is nurtured in the lap of deprivation. The pathway that starts with hunger leads to the grinding wheel from which there is no escape. Sahir comes back strongly to the role of economic necessity with a beautiful play on words … grain is ground in grinding wheel for basic bread (juxtaposed with faaqa-hunger) and the poor are “ground in grinding wheels of poverty”. It is the lecherous desire of man that often is cast as the sin of woman. Woman gives birth to man, man puts her in the bazar.

aurat sansar ki qismat²³ hai, phir bhi taqdeer²⁴ ki heTi²⁵ hai
avatar²⁶ paiamber²⁷ janti hai, phir phi shaitan ki beTi hai
ye vo badqismat maaN hai jo beToN ki sej pe leTi hai
aurat ne janam diya mardoN ko, mardoN ne use bazar diya23. fate, future 24. fate 25. disgrace, blame 26. manifestation (of god) 27. prophet
Woman is the future of the world, yet is blamed for all ills. She gives birth to avatars and prophets, still is the daughter of Satan. She is the unfortunate mother destined to sleep in the bed of her son. Woman gives birth to man, man puts her in the bazar. I come back to the possibly controversial thought that I had raised earlier. By putting Woman on the pedestal as in “sansar ki qismat” and by making such a big deal about “motherhood” (and apple pie is not far behind), I think that Sahir does her a disservice. This composition is a great step forward for the times but not quite there. There is more to woman than motherhood. Why is she restricted to giving birth to great ones rather than becoming great herself. See Fahmida Riyaz’s “Aqleema”.