AMU Tarana- Touching the Chords of the Heart

By Affan Ahmad Last updated Oct 29, 2020

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MILLIONS of AMU students and alumni around the world sing the university Tarana every year. It brings back so many Aligarh memories to countless people. The Tarana itself is a fine piece of Urdu poetry and the story behind it is an interesting one.

One of AMU’s most famous student and an Urdu poet of the highest calibre, Asrar-ul-Haq Majaz, attended the University between 1930 and 1936. It was 1936 when he penned his famous poem Nazr-e-Aligarh. Majaz first recited it the same year in the Union Hall, in the presence of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) A.B. Ahmed Haleem. Haleem stopped the recital when Majaz reached the lines

“Yahaan ham ne kamandeN daalii hain, Yahan hum ney shabkhoon (night raids) maare haiN;

Yahan hum ne qabaayen nochii hain, yahan hum ne taaj utaare haiN”

(Trans: We have scaled buildings here and ambushed here, We have torn garments here and removed crowns here), and walked out.

The huge gathering of students asked him to continue but Majaz did not. He had to relent later and completed it in the Union Hall’s lawns (between Morrison court and Union building).

Although Majaz left the university campus, his poetry continued to influence students. Ishtiaque Ahmad Khan, a student of BEd (1954-55) was also one such person. An address by the VC, Dr. Zakir Husain, to the final year students inspired Khan to do something long-lasting for the university. He thought of putting Majaz’s Nazr-e-Aligarh to tune and was confident of it becoming the university song.

Khan created the tune in the last week of September 1954, and requested the President of the Union, Ahmad Saeed, for his permission to present it to the University. He refused angrily on hearing the poet’s name – Majaz being a progressive writer. But, the VC agreed and even acknowledged that it was one of Majaz’s better work.

It was October 17th, 1954, when Istiaque Ahmad Khan walked to the dais in the Stretchy Hall along with his troupe (Saleh Naiyyar, Ghulam Haider Ejaz, and Fasih). Izzat Yaar Khan, Secretary of SS Hall Music Club, started the tune on the harmonium and soon the hall was reverberating with the sound of “Ye Mera Chaman…” The VC was impressed. Even Saeed appreciated the poem and apologized to Ishtiaque about his stand earlier.

And so the Aligarh Tarana came into being. Majaz died a year after it was first played. A poetic justice indeed!

Dr. Sami Rafiq (Professor in the Department of English, AMU) translated the Tarana into English, in 2014, as part of her book Aahung.

The Full Tarana in Roman Script

Ye mera chaman hai mera chaman, main apne chaman ka bulbul huṅ
Sarshaar-e-nigaah-e-nargis huṅ, paabasta-e-gesoo-e sumbul huṅ
Ye mera chaman, ye mera chaman, Ye mera chaman hai mera chaman,
main apne chaman ka bulbul huṅ!

Jo taaq-e-haram mein roshan hai woh shama yahan bhi jalti hai,
Iss dasht ke goshey goshey se ik jooy-e-hayat ubalti hai
Ye dasht-e-junuṅ deewanoṅ ka, ye bazm-e-wafaa parwanoṅ ki
Ye shehr-e-tarab roomanoṅ ka, ye khuld-e-bareeṅ armaanoṅ ki

Fitrat ne sikhayee hai humko uftaad yahaṅ parwaaz yahaṅ
Gaaye haiṅ wafaa ke geet yahaṅ, chheda hai junuṅ ka saaz yahaṅ
Ye mera chaman hai mera chaman, main apne chaman ka bulbul huṅ!
Iss bazm mein tegheiṅ khiṅchiṅ hain, is bazm mein saaḡar todey haiṅ
Iss bazm mein aankh bichhaayee hai, iss bazm mein dil tak jodey haiṅ