Ishar Singh (poet) - Poems

Poems

Although intended to create laughter, Ishar Singh’s compositions were not simply a form of idle and frivolous entertainment. Rather, they were intended as a satire on common social, cultural and religious values.

Ishar Singh used his piercing wit to puncture the pomposity of the rich and powerful, and to expose popular prejudices and injustices, many of which had been entrenched in the Indian psyche for centuries.

His acute observations touched on every aspect of life, from the minutiae of family relationships to matters of grand theology. No subject was taboo for him, and many of his pronouncements might be considered too close to the bone in today’s more politically correct age.

His creation ‘Bhaiya’ was the medium through which Ishar Singh attacked the various hypocrisies, superstitions and other absurdities he observed around him. Bhaiya was used in various guises - sometimes as himself, sometimes as his father or any other character - depending on the subject matter.

In total, Ishar Singh is thought to have composed over 2,500 poems, of which several hundred featured in 12 published collections: Bhaiya; Rangila Bhaiya; Nirala Bhaiya; Nava Bhaiya; Gurmukh Bhaiya; Bhaiya Tilak Piya; Bhaiya Vaid Rogian Da; Premi Bhaiya; Desh Bhagat Bhaiya; Mastana Bhaiya; Hansmukh Bhaiya and Oncemore Bhaiya.
Although many of the poems in these books were written years, or even decades, earlier, most were not published until the last few years of his life. Indeed, it was only after retiring from the Post office in 1954 that Ishar Singh attained truly widespread fame.
As late as 1955, when he had already published five books, he complained that his works were being denied a proper audience. He described how he had even been forcefully quietened in gurdwaras for reciting poems that were considered inappropriate in a holy setting. But it was in the same year that he made his ultimate breakthrough, when his poem Mera Marna (My Death) gained an audience on All India Radio. It caused an overnight sensation, and was quickly followed by Mera Jamna (My Birth).
In the later years of his life, tens of thousands of people would turn up to his performances at kavi darbars, where he was usually the final - and most popular - act on the stage. He was in huge demand to speak at weddings and parties, but would never charge for his appearances. He had no need to, as audience members showered him with money and other gifts.

One of his chief patrons was the Maharajah of Patiala Yadavindra Singh, but his poems were appreciated by a wide strata of society, and he was always at pains to retain the common touch. For although he was a well-read man whose poems displayed his full learning and erudition, they were always written in the earthy language of the Punjab.
But while the language was often plain and somewhat rustic, there was a keen art behind the poetry, which employed carefully structured meter and rhyme. Many of his poems were delivered in rhyming couplets, while others used varying combinations of rhyming lines.
It was through this mix of tight rhythmic structure, straightforward humour and - above all - fearless commentary, that Ishar Singh was eventually acknowledged in the field of Punjabi poetry as the 'Has Ras de Badshah' (King of Humour).
He was handed this title by the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Pratap Singh Kairon, when he first read out Mera Marna on All India Radio. But it was a reputation he truly earned among his rivals after they set him the daunting challenge of turning his poetic wit to the most sombre event in Sikh history – the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur. In 1675, the religion's ninth founding Guru was publicly executed in the main thoroughfare in Delhi – at the behest of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb - for refusing to convert to Islam.
On the anniversary of the martyrdom nearly 300 years later, Ishar Singh rose to the challenge, and delivered his poem to a serious-minded audience in a Delhi maidan. Moments later, the audience was reportedly rolling around in amusement. In a delicate balancing act of tone and judgement, Ishar Singh lampooned the brutal and bloody intolerance of the Islamic rulers, while venerating the sanctity of the Guru’s ultimate sacrifice. Many observers considered this his finest work.