Not many may be aware that Rahat Indori was very sought after for mushairas and kavi sammelans — not just in India but all over the world. He had participated in poem recitals the world over. Whether it was Australia or China, he had been invited to almost every major country to hold centre stage. In fact, more than a decade ago, after his return from China, he had told a film writer-friend that Indian films, according to him, had a huge potential market in China because at that time, there were as many as four Urdu newspapers doing well in that country.
One day, the self-respecting Indori decided to call it quits from lyrics-writing for Bollywood films. Of course, he made an exception for friends like Mahesh Bhatt and Rumi Jafri after that, but for all practical purposes, he never pursued film lyrics writing after the day he decided to give it up. The reason he took the harsh decision was as follows:
Vidhu Vinod Chopra had rejected three of his mukhdas for a song he was penning for his Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.. Convinced that his mukhdas were very good and appropriate and, therefore, disturbed by the triple rejections, the celebrated writer and lyricist took an impulsive decision to never again write for films, such was the hurt he had felt. In fact, while leaving Chopra’s office, he mentally made a couplet which he narrated to a friend to underline why he was quitting lyrics-writing. The couplet went thus:
Bahut mushkil hai ghazalon ki rotiyaan khaana
Behre ko bhi sher sunaana padta hai
He was not the least bothered about where the money would come from if he didn’t write for films, because not only did his mushairas and kavi sammelans keep him busy but they were also a source of huge income for the genius. He confided in a friend that he used to spend days together in foreign countries for performances. Besides the performances, he revealed, guests used to be so impressed with his poetry that it wasn’t rare for them to invite him home for dinner or tea. Gifts for himself and the family would be a regular feature, besides the meal, of course.
Rahat Indori had supreme confidence in himself and his talent. He was not exactly good-looking. He was extremely dark-skinned, a bit stocky and his sparkling white teeth stood in stark contrast to his skin tone. At a kavi sammelan in Bhopal many years ago, when Rahat was still young and had not made a name for himself in films but was, nevertheless, a force to reckon with on stage, the public burst out laughing at his appearance when he rose to recite his poems. Not the one to be bogged down by the mocking laughter of the guests, Rahat thundered, “Don’t go by my looks. Wait till you hear me out. If you don’t fall in love with this face after listening to my poems, you can change my name from Rahat Indori to whatever you like.” Needless to add, he got a huge round of applause — not just for his super-confidence but also for his performance after the self-uplifting comment.