koi chaar sau biisii kaa dhandaa hii sikhaa dete to aaj ham naa moTor me.n ghumaate usko

Film : Pyaasa

Year of release : 1957

Spoken by : Abdus Sattaar (Johnny Walker)

Spoken to : God 

Dialogue writer : Abrar Alvi

Abdul is trying to woo Juhi (Kum Kum) in a park. She however rebuffs him and says, she is waiting for a 'motor waalaa' - a car owner. 

A disappointed Abdul tries gamely to convince Juhi to settle for a 'maalishwaalaa' - a masseur. He fails as Juhi walks away with 

"chal haT muye"

He turns to god and remarks

"sunaa tumne ...hunar bhii diyaa to tel maalish. koi chaar sau biisii kaa dhandaa hii sikhaa dete

to aaj ham naa moTor me.n ghumaate usko"

"सुना तुमने...हुनर भी दिया तो तेल मालिश...चार सौ बीसी का धंदा ही सिखा देते, तो आज हम ना मोटर में घुमाते उसको" 

Just then a coconut drops on his head. 

"oh..mar gaye. aapki taareef. naariyal. samajh gayaa... ab nahiin boloongaa"

Why I found this dialogue interesting is that half a century ago, the common people believed (and Abrar just gave a voice to that belief), that anyone who drives a motor car is a crook. Half a century later many honest people in India drive motor cars. So this line might not be acceptable to most people. But even today, you would find that all crooks have motor cars, but all honest people don't. 

So I can understand the climate of opinion that existed half a century ago. 

Abrar Alvi, I doff my hat to you. Pyaasa makes a debut on this blog.