'Tera Mujhse Hai Pehle Ka Naata Koi': Urdu is Umbilically Tied to Hindustan

Films and songs from the 'Golden Era' of Indian cinema are testimony to the unifying power of Urdu in Hindustan.

Urdu is inseparable from the cultural ethos of India. It is what makes India 'Hindustan'.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Thwacking communal hardliners earlier this week, the Supreme Court of India condemned the practice of labelling Hindi as the language of Hindus and Urdu as that of Muslims. Criticising it as “a pitiable digression from reality, India’s unity in diversity and the concept of universal brotherhood”, the top court observed, “prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that Urdu is alien to India”.

Dubbing the brewing of religious nationalism as a stratagem of seizing power, the court dismissed the plea of a municipal councilor of Patur in Maharashtra against the usage of Urdu on a signboard, clarifying that “Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language that was born in this land” like Marathi and Hindi.

Hailing Urdu as “the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (Hindustaaniyat) or the composite cultural ethos” of India, the bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K Vinod Chandran reminded that “language belongs to a community, to a region, to people” and is not representative of any religion but the fulcrum of a culture.

The court’s observation is most appropriate since, like all languages, Urdu has flourished due to people’s patronage whereby most Indians now speak a mix of Hindi and Urdu, without ever realising the paradox.

'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'

Shaping the finest sentiments of the human heart, Urdu verses have influenced generations of Indians with their stirring lyrics, emotive poetry, and romantic ballads. In fact, the clarion call of the freedom fighters, “Inquilab Zindabad” too is an Urdu phrase.

However, it must be asserted that if India’s pluralism and democratic spirit has survived the devious machinations of fundamentalists, the credit in a huge way goes to the calming influence of Jawaharlal Nehru and the inspirational Urdu lyrics of Hindi films of the 'Golden Era' (1945 to 1970). 

One can castigate Hindi films on several counts but it is irrefutable that after the grotesque events of the 1947 partition, film songs played a prominent role in strengthening harmony and friendship across this multi-coloured, multi-layered, and multi-lingual nation.

Embellished with an enormous number of Urdu words and metaphors, the correct nomenclature for these film songs would be “Hindustani songs” and not Hindi songs. Hence, it is not wrong to say that Urdu verses helped unite Indians.

Though largely remembered for their romanticism, the impact of film songs on the sub-conscious mind of the nation is so deep that they have shaped our ideals of “Hindustaaniyat” (Indianness), peaceful co-existence and secularism. Positioning humanism and compassion as superior or better than religious dogmas, these songs not just saved India’s secular fabric from destruction but also strengthened our roots of democracy.  

Penned by poets of remarkable erudition, integrity and sensitivity like Sahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra, Kaifi Azmi, Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Rajendra Krishna, Raja Mehndi Ali Khan, Hasrat Jaipuri and others, the sublime lyrics were set to memorable music by gifted composers like Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Sachin Dev Burman, Ravi, Vasant Desai, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Chitragupt and many others of their ilk.

Many elders who saw that era, like my late father, believed that Urdu verses in the soulful voices of Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Mukesh, Geeta Dutt, and others chiselled the Indian ideals and concepts of morality, language, fashions and life styles.

Nehru’s secularism was a much-needed elixir for the survival of a nascent democracy. But if his ideals of “unity in diversity” have withstood the test of time, the overriding influence of Hindustani films and songs, in its own way, has had some part to play in it.

Think of leading films like Mother India (1957), Ganga-Jamuna (1961), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Seema (1955), Godaan (1963), Garam Coat (1955), Haqeeqat (1964), Shaheed (1965), Jagriti (1954), Dosti (1964), Sadhana (1958), Baiju Bawra (1952), or Naya Daur (1957). These films, through their songs and stories of common men and women, perhaps showed Indians the need for living together, and that hatred or killing were not tenets of any religion.

Pyar, Ishq aur Mohabbat

Although films reached only a minuscule fraction of the Indian population in the post 1950s era, the “lyrical showers” of filmy songs by state-controlled radio influenced a large cross-section of citizens. Drumming up themes of compassion, altruism, philanthropy and common sense, sometimes laced with humours, these melodic Urdu-fied songs were heard and liked by the young and old.

Who can ever forget Rafi sahab’s eternal messages of "Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega, Insaan ki aulaad hai, insaan banega” (Dhool Ka Phool, 1959), or “Kar chale hum fida jaano tan saathiyo, Ab tumhare hawaale watan saathiyo” (Haqeeqat) and “Ab koyi gulshan na ujdey” (Mujhe Jeene Do,1963).

But if such moral sermons helped douse the fires of enmity, tender Urdu verses raised visions of a better tomorrow.

Like When Mukesh crooned “Woh subah kabhi Toh aayegi” in Asha Bhosle’s company, and Suraiyya exuded love with “Salaame hasrat qubool kar lo”, or when Lata Mangeshkar echoed feminine desires with “Nagma-o-sher ki saugaat kise pesh karun.” Citing a large number of songs is impossible within a short article but it is apparent that these songs affected every sphere and spectrum of life.

This infusion of Urdu metaphors with equally engaging tunes taught a vast generations of Indians the nuances of love, romance and literature, while also baring the vicissitudes of life.

Since every nuance of artistic creation has an imprint of its own, Urdu words like ishq, mohabbat, rooh, pahlu, deedar, mehboob, sukoon and many others became major influencers and motivators of hopes, aspirations, dreams and desires of a nation.

And yes, ask someone in love as to how Sher (Urdu couplets) and Ghazals (several couplets of common hue strung together) accentuated their pain and pleasure to perfection before their beloved.

Hum Saath Saath Hai

Examine the history of any nation and it becomes apparent that the various patterns of its art, literature, music, painting and crafts are dictated by the cross-currents flowing within its social and political veins. Art has an enormous ability to inspire and influence, yet it is equally true that social atmosphere exerts an impact on the quality of its artistic forms and content.

That is why the advent of a great number of Urdu lyricists of exceptional thought, feeling, and sensitivity into Hindi films, just after independence, was nothing short of a blessing for secularism. The sentiments expressed by these humane thinkers were woven into fine “musical fabrics” that have withstood generations of wear and tear to the larger social fabric of India.

Deeply emotional in their appeal and set to equally heartrending music, the Hindustani film songs beat the more severe literary forms of poetry amd managed to burrow deep into what is today called 'massey' mindsets and identities. Since reading of classical Urdu texts was possible only for a few, the finer elements of the Urdu language as well as the wisdom and beauty of poets like Mirza Ghalib, Majaaz, Meer, Bahadur Shah Zafar and others were brought to people’s collective consciousness in simple language only through film songs.

Hindustani gave birth to newer symbols of cultural assimilation by popularising various genres like Geet, Ghazal, Bhajan, Nazm, Qawwali and others.

Depicting emotional upheavals of the heart and mind with rare motifs, they lent gravitas and maturity to the diverse emotions of a new nation.

Because many of the lyricists of the time were influenced by Nehruvian ideals of secularism and socialism, songs became the communicators of a new, post-colonial nation’s anxieties about poverty, equality, religious identity, wealth deprivation, income generation, social exploitation, leisure and luxury. They became memoirs of war and peace. For a nation torn by communal violence and years of oppressive foreign rule, these lyrics perhaps provided a new language for living together a new world, beyond the hard lines of castes, creed, religions and tradition.

The Supreme Court is right in concluding that “one cannot have a day-to-day conversation in Hindi without using words of Urdu or words derived from Urdu.” Frankly, try what they may, devious communal elements will never succeed in breaking the umbilical cord between Urdu and Hindi, the bedrock of our relations and Constitution!

(Deepak Mahaan is a documentary filmmaker and an eminent author. A specialist on Cinema and Sports, he has published numerous pieces in prestigious publications in India and abroad. He tweets at @mahaanmahan. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)