By Sahir Ludhianvi
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko,
Mardo ne use bazaar diya
Jab jee chaha masla kuchla,
Jab jee chaaha dhutkar diya
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Tulti hai kahin dinaaron me,
Bikati hai kahin bazaaron me
Nangee nachvaayee jaatee hai,
Aiyyasho ke darbaaron me
Yeh woh beizzat cheez hai jo,
Bat jaati hai izzatdaaron me
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Mardo ke liye har zulm rava,
Aurat ke liye rona bhee khata
Mardo ke liye laakho sejein,
Aurat ke liye bas ek chita
Mardo ke liye har aish ka haq,
Aurat ke liye jeena bhi saza
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Jin hotnhon ne inako pyaar kiya,
Unn hothon kaa vyopaar kiya
Jis kokh me inka jism dhala,
Uss kokh kaa karobaar kiya
Jis tan se uge kopal ban kar,
Uss tan ko zaleelo khar kiya
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Mardo ne banayi jo rasmein,
Unko haq ka farmaan kaha
Aurat ke zinda jalne ko,
Kurbaani aur balidaan kaha
Kismat ke badle roti dee,
Aur usko bhi ehsaan kaha
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Sansaar ki har ik besharmee,
Ghurbat kee god mein paltee hai
Chaklo hi me aake rukti hai,
Faako mein jo raah nikalati hai
Mardo kee hawas hai jo aksar,
Aurat ke paap mein dhalti hai
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Aurat sansaar ki kismat hai,
Phir bhi takdeer ki hetee hai
Avtaar payambar janatee hai,
Phir bhee shaitaan kee betee hai
Yeh woh badkismat maa'n hai jo,
Beto'n ki sej pe letee hai
Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko.....
Translation:
Woman gave birth to men
And men gave her the marketplace
To crush and trample at will
To reject and cast off at will
Woman gave birth to men…
She is weighed somewhere in dinars
And sold somewhere in bazaars
She is made to dance naked
In the courts of the debauched
She is that dishonoured creature
Who is shared out between the honourable
Woman gave birth to men…
For men, every torment is acceptable
For a woman, even weeping is a crime
For men, there are a million beds
For a woman, there is just one pyre
For men, there is a right to every depravity
For a woman, even to live is a punishment
Woman gave birth to men…
The lips which gave them love:
They traded those very lips
The womb in which their bodies were formed:
They reduced that womb to mere merchandise
The body from which they grew, like buds:
They shamed and abased that body
Woman gave birth to men…
The customs that men created
Were given the name of rights
The burning alive of a woman
Was decreed to be sacrifice
In return for purity she was given bread
And even that was called a favour
Woman gave birth to men…
Every disgrace in this world
Is nurtured in the lap of hardship
The path that begins in hunger
Leads inevitably to the brothel
It is often the lust of men
That takes shape in the sin of women
Woman gave birth to men…
Woman is the destiny of the world
But she is still the one abased by fate
She bears reincarnations and prophets
But she is still the Devil’s daughter
This is that ill-fated mother
Who lies on the bed of her sons
Woman gave birth to men…
Sahir Ludhianvi (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980) was a popular Urdu poet and Hindi lyricist, he worked extensively in Hindi films. Sahir was born in Ameenpur Bazar, Lyallpur, British India (now Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan) and died in Bombay (now Mumbai) at the age of 59. His real name was Abdul Hayee, Sahir Ludhianvi is his pseudonym. He won the Filmfare Award twice, in 1964 and 1977, and in 1971 was awarded the Padma Shri. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on his birth anniversary on March 8, 2013 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
(The above poem was also included as a song in the 1958 film Sadhana, starring Sunil Dutt and Vijayanthi Mala. The song was sung by singing legend Lata Mangeshkar)