Trivial Pursuit 139

                                                            Hasrat Mohani

                                                       Maulana Hasrat Mohani with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar 








Maulana Hasrat Mohani (1875–1951) is famous for coining 'Inquilab Zindabad'; the famous slogan of Indian freedom fighters.

Popularized by revolutionaries such as Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan, this phrase was used by Hasrat Mohani at a labour strike in Kolkata for the first time.

Hasrat Mohani's real name was Syed Fazl ul Hasan. He was a freedom fighter by nature, a journalist by profession, and a poet by heart. 

He once wrote a poem 'X' which is immensely popular; but unfortunately, not many people know that it is Hasrat Mohani's creation.

Hasrat Mohani wrote this beautiful poem remembering his beloved wife. He was imprisoned for fighting against the British rule and was facing torture for supporting the 'Khilafat movement'. With all the hardships, instead of penning down his sorrows, he wrote 'X'. 

The lovely creation 'X' was in hibernation since 1928, until it was made famous by another singer 'Y' who got a lot of fame because of 'X'. 


Till date, many singers have sung their own version of 'X', but the most popular is the one sung by 'Y'. 


'Y' also recorded a version of Hasrat Mohani's poem 'X' for a famous Hindi film released in 1982.

'Y' belongs to the 'Patiala Gharana' and is a world renowned singer. He is addressed by prefixes like 'Legendary' and 'Maestro', but sadly, no one remembers Maulana Hasrat Mohani any more.



Identify 'X' and 'Y'.






Additional Trivia : 




** Another version of how Hasrat Mohani wrote 'X', is by Rahul Pandita, who adds in his memoir of Balli Maran : 

'X' was written on a terrace in Balli Maran by a youthful Hasrat Mohani who had fallen in love with a girl living in the next house. She would often come to the terrace on the pretext of drying clothes. 




** 'Hai mashq-e-sukhan jaari
Chakki ki mashaqqat bhi
Ik turfa tamasha hai
Hasrat ki tabiyat mein..' 

- Hasrat Mohani


Hasrat Mohani wrote this famous couplet in his jail diary 'Mushahidatezindan'.







** 'Kahkashan' is an Indian Television series about six great masters of modern Urdu poetry : 

Hasrat Mohani, Jigar Moradabadi, Josh Malihabadi, Majaz Lucknawi, Firaq Gorakhpuri, and Makhdoom Mohiuddin. 

The serial was Researched, Scripted and Produced by Ali Sardar Jafri.
It was Directed by Jalal Agha and Music was scored by Jagjit Singh.
The serial was telecast on 'Doordarshan' in 1991- 1992. 

In the Television series, Mr. Farooq Sheikh played the role of Hasrat Mohani and Deepti Naval played the role of Hasrat Mohani's wife Nishat Unnisa Begum.