My first introduction to Shiv Batalvi came when I chanced upon the song “Mai Ni mai main ik shikra yaar banaya” sung by Pushpa Hans. The song was so poignant, and Pushpa Hans' crystal clear voice added to the pathos of the lyrics. We were intrigued by the word “Shikra”. Research indicates that “shikra’ is a bird that, once it abandons its nest, never returns there to nest again. Of course, the initial curiosity about understanding the song led inevitably to the man who had composed it – and that man is Shiv Batalvi.
Shiv was born in 1936 into a Brahmin family in Pakistan. The family moved to Batala after partition. Shiv died in 1973 at the age of 36 and his young life encapsulates tremendous talent nurtured in an otherwise ordinary Punjabi life. Shiv’s father was a “patwari” – the lowest ranking, but not the least powerful, revenue official in the hierarchy of Government officials. Shiv passed the matriculation (grade 10) exam from Punjab University but never finished college. His father managed to get Shiv a job as a “patwari”but it didn't last long. Shiv moved to Chandigarh where he worked in the State Bank of India but his main focus remained his poetry.
Shiv was fond of drinking and, according to one of the many legends that surround his young life, he would recite his poetry, in a state of drunkenness, at the traffic round-about in Madhya Marg, Chandigarh, for the benefit of anyone who was willing to listen.
Shiv’s poetry is characterized by an overwhelming sense of loneliness and loss. Some of his finest love poems are believed to have been written to lament his love for the daughter of Gurbaksh Singh “Preetlari” who was married off to someone in the United States . The poem “mai ni mai main ik shikra yaar banaya” is said to refer to her leaving India for the US .
Shiv Batalvi has emerged as a major Punjabi poet and has been likened to Waris Shah. His epic poem, Loona, is now recommended reading for Punjabi literature courses in both Punjabi and Punjab Universities. Don’t miss out on this great Punjabi poet! Even if you do not know how to read Punjabi you can listen to some of his finest poetry in the album titled "Birhan Da Sultan" by Jagjit and Chitra Singh. My personal favorites on this album: Eh Mera Geet Kise Na Gaona, Rog Ban Ke Reh Gaya Pyar Tere Shehar Da and, of course, Mai ni Mai.
Shiv often recited Asaan taan joban rutey marna – was it a death foretold? or the expression of a death wish stemming from some deep sorrow that found expression in his poetry? Although the image of Shiv as the eternally suffering lover heightens the aura of tragic love around Shiv's poetry, Shiv himself denied any connection between his personal emotions and his poetry and was supposed to have been happily married.
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There is also the version that Shiv was deeply in love with a woman who would not reciprocate his feelings probably because he was married. Hence, the lament: "Ik kudi jehda naa mohabbat." While Jagjit Singh has admirably lent voice to this poem of Shiv but it is Mahender Kapoor who has captured the anguish and pain of the brilliant but love-torn Punjabi poet.
I remember, as a young boy, I went to hear the then almost unheard of Shiv at Government College, Ludhiana, in the early 1960s. Shiv simply refused to take the stage until there was pin-drop silence. When both sides refused to give in, lesser artistes had to be called in to take the programme forward. It was many years later that I realised I had missed the opportunity to hear the great Shiv! I never got the opportunity again -- like so many great poets -- as he died so young.
One favourite :
Arjoi
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Tu jo sooraj chori keeta
Mera si.
Tu jis ghar vich nhera keeta,
Mera si.
Ih jo dhup tere ghar hasse, meri hae.
Is de baajhoN meri umar haneri hae.
Is vich mere gham di mehak batheri hae,
Eh dhup kal si meri, aj vi meri hae.
MaeN hi kiran-vihoona is da baabal haaN,
Is de angi meri agan samoi hae,
Is vich mere sooraj di khushboi hae,
Sikhar dupehre jis di chori hoi hae.
Par is chori vich tera kuj vi dosh naheeN,
Sooraj di har yug vich chori hoi hae.
RoNdi roNdi sooraj nu har yug aNdar,
Koi na koi sada dupehri moi hae.
MaeN nir-loa, risham-vichuna araz karaaN,
MaeN ik baap adharmi tere duvaar khaRa,
Aa hatheeN ik sooraj tere sees dharaaN,
Aa aj aapni dhup lai tere paer phaRaaN.
MaeN kalkhaai deh, tu maenu bakhsh daveeN,
DhupaaN saahveN muR na mera naam laveeN.
Je koi kiran kade kujh puCHe, chupp raveeN,
Ja maenu ‘kaala sooraj’ keh ke Taal daveeN.
Eh ik dhup de baabal di arjoi hae,
Meri dhup mere lai aj toN moi hae,
Sane sooraje teri aj toN hoi hae,
Dhup jide ghar hasse, baabal soi hae.
Tu jo sooraj chori keeta,
Tera si.
Mera ghar ta janam-divas toN
Nhera si.
The Request
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The sun that you stole
Was mine.
The house that you threw into darkness,
Was mine.
The sunshine that smiles in your home, is mine.
My life is bleak without it,
The odor of my grief is heavy on it,
It was mine yesterday and is mine today.
It is I, bereft of light, who am its father.
It is my fire that is embedded in its limbs.
The smell of my sun is in it,
The sun that was stolen from me in broad daylight.
But you cannot be blamed for this theft.
The sun has been stolen in every era.
An afternoon has always died,
Weeping for the sun.
I, lightless, beamless, have a request,
I, a faithless father, stand at your door.
Let me place a sun upon your forehead,
And beg you for my sunlight.
I, who died long ago, beg you to bestow this on me.
Never utter my name again in the sunlight.
If ever some ray asks a question, remain silent,
Or call me a ‘black sun’ and let it go.
This is the request of a father of sunlight.
From this day, on my sunshine is dead to me
Along with the sun it is yours now,
Wherever it smiles, is the home if its father.
The sun that you stole
Was mine.
The house that you threw into darkness,
Was mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er33f4yWlh0
i am loving shiv kumar and his poetry also.
he was a very serious person about his poetry and love.
mai hamesha os da shukarguzar rahanga ki ohna sanu eni khoobsurat poetry and shayeri diti.
pyar karan da tang dasya ki jis nu duniya yaad rakhe.
shiv kumar sahib da main dilon satikaar karda haan.
Can you tell me what is the name of gurbaksh singh preetlari's daughter?
Gurbakhsh Singh's six children are Navtej Singh, Hriday Pal Singh, Urmila Anand, Pratima Patra, Anusuya and Uma.
Anusuya married with rich man she died this month
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