Gandhi Jayanti Special

 

“Sherdil Gandhi” and Lahore’s Lalchand Falak

by 

Akhilesh Jha

On 9 November 1921, when Mahatma Gandhi arrived at Lahore’s Mian Mir Railway Station, it felt as if the whole of Punjab had gathered there to welcome him. The entire city was fragrantly decorated with marigold flowers. At every step, people stood with garlands in hand to honor Gandhi. Those who could not garland him threw flowers over his vehicle. With great difficulty, he first reached the house of Lala Lajpat Rai, at whose invitation Gandhi had come to Lahore. That evening was the first convocation ceremony of ‘National College, Lahore’, held at Bradlaugh Hall. The college had been founded only a few months earlier, in May 1921.

In the afternoon, after addressing a women’s gathering, Gandhi’s entourage moved towards Bradlaugh Hall around 2:30 pm. Along with him were an American journalist, Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Azad Subhani, and several other local leaders of Punjab. It seemed as though the entire city of Lahore was moving with Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Lala Lajpat Rai had reached Bradlaugh Hall ahead of Gandhi to oversee the convocation arrangements. But even he had to struggle to make his way inside. Although tickets had been issued for the day’s program, those eager to see and hear Gandhi showed no intention of buying or presenting them. The audience with tickets remained standing outside, while inside, the hall was so crowded that one journalist later wrote that there wasn’t even space to open a notebook to write.

At first, Lajpat Rai was troubled and restless, but soon his anger rose to the skies. Gandhi’s arrival was imminent. He took the microphone on stage and began requesting people to remain quiet and sit according to the number of seats available. But no one was listening. Frustrated, he exclaimed: “I can see that Punjab is not yet ready for Swaraj. I see no discipline among the youth of Punjab. If order is not restored here, I will cancel the program altogether.” He shouted in rage from the stage, but it had no effect— the hall continued to overflow with people.

Just as Lajpat Rai, furious and disheartened, was about to cancel the event, one of the organizers invited a young poet from Lahore to recite his verses. The poet adjusted his turban and had barely recited the opening couplet when the entire Bradlaugh Hall fell silent, as if enchanted by a magic wand. The first verse was:

Ijāz-e-qaum, māyā-e-jān-e-watan hai tū,

Kyun kham na ho jahān ka sar tere rū-ba-rū.

Bhārat ka lāl, Hind ka farzand-e-arjmand,

Hai āj bhi mehr-o-māh se rutba terā buland.

(You are the glory of the nation, the life-breath of the homeland,

Why should the world’s head not bow before you?

O son of India, beloved child of Hind,

Even today your rank stands higher than the sun and moon.)

Lala Lajpat Rai could hardly believe his eyes that the same people who moments ago refused to listen to him were now standing transfixed, as if turned to stone. As that ghazal was being recited, Mahatma Gandhi entered Bradlaugh Hall. The whole hall once again resounded with chants of “Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai!” On the stage, beneath portraits of Lokmanya Tilak, Gandhi, and Lajpat Rai, Gandhi and other leaders took their seats.

The poet who had cast this spell on Bradlaugh Hall was Lalchand Falak. He had composed a long ghazal in praise of Gandhi, titled “Sherdil Gandhi” (Lion-hearted Gandhi). Falak was not just a poet—he was also a revolutionary, a journalist, and a publisher. Accused several times of spreading revolution in Punjab, he had been jailed multiple times, and in 1917, he was sentenced to life-long exile. However, after the end of the First World War, when the British released some of the exiled prisoners, Falak was among them.

That day, Gandhi conferred degrees upon the first graduating batch of National College, Lahore. The students wore white robes with saffron khadi stoles draped over their shoulders. The college imparted swadeshi education with the aim of building India’s bright future. The medium of instruction was Hindustani, and the faculty included professors educated at Oxford and other prestigious universities of the world. Two years later, Sardar Bhagat Singh enrolled there as a student. When he later founded the ‘Naujawan Bharat Sabha’, Lalchand Falak—who was a friend of Bhagat Singh’s father and uncle—was among those who supported him.

When the country won independence and was divided into two, Lalchand Falak—once the pride of Lahore—was forced to migrate as a refugee to Delhi, where he lived in obscurity until his death in 1967. In poetry, Falak is regarded as a poet in the tradition of Allama Iqbal. In his ghazal “Sherdil Gandhi”, the way he paired the opening line of one couplet with the opening line of another, and likewise joined the closing lines of different couplets, shows his brilliance. No other poet composed such a qaseedah (panegyric) on Mahatma Gandhi.

Here are some further verses from that ghazal:

Karte hain wasf teri shujā‘at kā log qu’l,

Sidq-o-safā ke tūne khilāe hain khoob gul.

Zinda kiyā hai tūne zamāne mein nām-e-Hind,

Nighat se ho gayā hai mu‘attar mashām-e-Hind.

(All the world praises your valor,

You have blossomed flowers of truth and purity.

You have revived India’s name in the world,

The fragrance of Hind fills every breath.)

Tū ek muhabb-e-mulk hai, insān kā khairkhwāh,

Sab rahrawān-e-manzil-e-hastī kī nek rāh.

Ehsān kul jahān pe hai besh-o-kam tere,

Dikhlāenge chamak ke yeh naqsh-e-qadam tere.

(You are love for the nation, well-wisher of humanity,

The righteous path for all travelers of life’s journey.

Your favors are spread across the entire world,

Your footsteps will shine as guiding marks for ages.)

About the Author 

Akhilesh Jha, a renowned Gramophone Historian and Civil Servant working in the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, visited Sevagram Ashram to pay heartfelt tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, on two significant occasions: Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2024, and on the anniversary of his martyrdom on January 30, 2025. He wrote this piece as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.