तेरे माथे पे ये आँचल बहुत ही खूब है लेकिन ...!

Poet of romance and rebellion Rajbir Deswal
RISING from the parapets of a mansion, I see a pale moon. Like the mulla’s robe and the Baniya’s ledger book, like the poor-man’s youth and the widow’s charm—It’s all useless. What to do, O my saddened heart, tormented heart. This is what loosely translated verse of Majaz Lakhnavi mean when he says:
"Ek mahal ki aad se, nikla wo peela mahtab,
jaise mulla ka amama, jaise baniye ki kitab,
jaise muflis ki jawani, jaise bewa ka shabab,
Ai ghame dil kya karoon, ai vahashte dil kya karoon"
The Indian Postal Department issued a stamp in memory of the legendary Asrar-ul-Haq "Majaz" Lakhnavi in March 2008 while very recently they held a seminar in Chandigarh in memory of this Urdu poet.
Majaz Lakhnavi had a place reserved in a pub in Hazrat Ganj in Lucknow wherepeople queued up to hearhis latest verses

Very many instances relating to the "poet of romance and rebellion" were recalled at the seminar. Experts on him, who had had the privilege of sharing some part of their life with Majaz, recalled with nostalgia certain facts, which make interesting reading.
Majaz slipped into depression and had to be kept in a mental asylum twice.
His habit of excessive drinking made his liver weak. People accuse him of "choosing to move ahead with death in mind," due to his habit of drinking, but many of his so-called friends themselves offered him liquor, so that he could "recite something new".
When Majaz used to head towards the "pub" in Hazrat Ganj in Lucknow, people used to line up to see the legendary poet and the institution that he was.
Even girls used to stop in those days to catch a glimpse of Majaz. They waited for his turn to recite his poetry in mushairas. Some had even taken a vow to name their sons after him.
He had his place already "reserved" in the pub and no one else dared to occupy the place meant for Majaz. Slowly, people surrounded him and there would be a horde of fans encircling him . He would then be requested to recite his creations.
Past midnight when the "fun" would be over, Majaz would be left all by himself. The rickshaw -pullers would then make a beeline to take him home. His mother would always keep the rickshaw fare under his pillow.
The seminarists recalled that Majaz had never touched any girl in "andhera aur ujala" and that the fascination he had was all for the simple beauty in a woman. His memorable lines from Ek Naujawan Khatoon Se say in abundant terms what the champions of women empowerment would have loved to quote:
"Tere maathey pe ye aanchal bahut hi khoob hai lekin,
Tu is aanchal ka ik parcham bana leti to achha tha."
(The cloth that covers your forehead makes you look charming yet; If you had made a loftier flag out of it, then it surely would have been more meaningful). Flag is a symbol of revolution and sovereignty (of the self in this case).
Tarana he wrote is still the anthem of Aligarh Muslim University. It goes like this:
"Ye mera chaman hai mera chaman, mein apne chaman ka bulbul hoo(n)
Sirshaare nigaahe nargis hoon(n), paabasta-e-gesoo-e Sumbul hoo(n)"
(This is my garden, my own garden. And I am its nightingale. Drunk am I on the look of the narcissus beyond by the tresses of the "sumbul" (Spikenard, hyacinth).
Majaz Lakhnavi’s sister was the mother of Javed Akhtar. The latter liberally uses his maternal uncle’s expressions in his own creations. Asrar-ul-Haq died at the age of 44.