(Listen Rahat saheb Poetry in his voice, his wife's interview - Ghazal Music composed by Abbas Raza Alvi)
موت آگٗیی تو موت کا سب خوف ٹل گیا
سر پر لٹک رہی تھی تلوار کی طرح
{Maut Aagaei toe maut ka sub khauff Tal gaya
Ser per Latek rahee thee talwaar ki tarah}
Renowned poet and writer Om Krishan Rahat was one of the most senior and famous literary figures of Sydney living in Australia for more than two decades.
He died at the age of 93 on 12th September 2018. He was a bridging figure between the Indo-Pakistani communities of Australia. His literary work has been translated in various languages but he proudly called himself an Urdu poet. His wife Sudesh Rahat always accompanied Rahat sahib in poetry gatherings and she kept track of his poetry and books. She often tipped him for his verses when he would forget the lines.
Speaking to SBS Urdu she says that she learnt Urdu from her husband after they got married. She says she remembers every single mushaira, nashist and mehfil where Rahat sahib recited his shayari.
“I still remember Rahat sahib’s first Australian poetry gathering held in late nineties where audience were overwhelmed by the newly arrived poet and repeatedly requested to share more ghazals,” she said.
Mrs Sudesh Rahat translated Rahat sahib’s Urdu poetry in Hindi as Rahat did not know Hindi.
کہیں بھی راحت آپ کا مقام نہیں
گناہ گاروں کی فہرست میں بھی نام نہیں
ہماری روح پگھلتی ہے شعر کہنے میں
یہ کام لوگ سمجھتے ہیں کو ؑی کام نہیں
ہم اس کے فیض سے جنت مکین تو ہیں
ادھر ہماری کسی سے دعا سلام نہیں
{Kahin bhi rahat aapka koi maqaam nahin
Gunahgaroon ki fehrist main bhi naam nahin
Hamari rooh pighalti hai sher kehney main
Yeh kaam log samajhtey hain koi kaam nahin
Hum uskay faiz sey jannat makeen to Hain lekin
Idher kissi se hamari dua salam nahi}
Mr O K Rahat was born in Ludhiana in India on 26th January 1925, and went to college with the likes of Sahir Ludhianvi. After he got married he spent most of his life in Faridabad before migrating to Australia.
Source: Omila Bil
While sharing the memories, Mrs Sudesh Rahat said that the father of Rahat sahib, Maharaj Krishan, was a close friend of the famous Urdu poet Akhtar Shirani and Rahat became interested in Akhtar Shirani’s melodious poetries from childhood. Rahat recited his first verse in the age of 13.
آیں مگر مت ان سے گھبرانا ہزاروں مشکلات
وہ تیرا امتحاں ہوں گی تو ان کا امتحاں بن جا
Dr Shabir Haider is a senior poet and founding member of many Urdu literary organizations of Australia. He remembers Rahat sahib’s first poetry recitation in Wollongong (NSW) mushaira when he mesmerized audiences with his inspirational poetry. Dr Shabir admires Rahat’s work and personality.
“Om Krishan Rahat was a great poet and fiction writer. A great human being who has distributed love through his work and supported human rights and values. We have a big loss in the literary world of Australia.”
Mr Rahat was creatively busy until the last breath of his life. Abbas Raza Alvi is a poet/composer who was close to Mr Rahat even in last days of his life.
Source: Omila Bil
Alvi has composed music of Rahat’s poetries in the past and near completion of his latest CD of Rahat’s Ghazals and nazam. Abbas Raza Alvi remembers Rahat as a great human being.
“Rahat Sahib was a poet whose heart was filled with the feelings & sufferings of the poor, and poverty of an ordinary person. Rahat Saheb will be regarded as one of the best Urdu Ghazal poets in Australia”.
O K Rahat has been awarded by Urdu academies of U.P (India), Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal. Also recipient of Rajendra Singh Bedi and Khwaja Ahmed Abbas awards as well as Nishan-e-Urdu from Urdu Society of Australia besides various awards from Urdu/Hindi literary and social organizations across Australia.
Rahat sahib was a mentor for many new and young poets of Sydney. Writer, journalist and Poet, Ashraf Shad, is the founder of various literary organizations including the Urdu Society of Australia and Urdu International. He acknowledges the role played by Rahat sahib in Australian literary circles for more than two decades.
“When Om Krishan Rahat First came to Australia it was a blessing for many upcoming poets in Sydney. Rahat Saheb became their mentor and at the same time enriched the literary environment of the city. There was no Mushaira where Rahat Saheb was not present and he became a major and distinguished voice of the Australian literary community from the subcontinent. He will be remembered for long by his friends and followers”.
Mrs Sudesh Rahat acknowledges that the Australian Urdu community gave love and great respect to her poet husband and thanked literary community of Sydney for keeping Mr Rahat close to their heart.
میں نے انساں سا خودسر نہیں دیکھا راحت
Source: Omila Bil
اپنےمحسن کو بھلا دیتا ہے احسان کے بعد
{Main ne insaan sa khudsar nahin dekha rahat
Apne mohsin ko bhula deta hai ehsaan ke baad}
یا تو مجھ سے چھین لو بت تراشی کا ہنر
ورنہ میں جو بت تراشوں گا خدا ہو جاٗے گا
{Ya to cheen lo mujhse ye but taraashi ka hunar
Varna main jo but tarashoonga khuda ho jayega}
Source: Omila Bil
Courtesy: Omila Bir/A R Alvi
