Zindagi or Jeevan Songs Series
I started this series on my Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne on 18 Oct 20. Since then, many other members have put up these songs. Here, I shall be giving you one of my own, per day.
I hope you liked my choice for Song #37 – Ek haseen shaam ko dil mera kho gaya in Zindagi or Jeevan Songs series. Let’s start with Song #38.
Song #38
Kahan jaa raha hai tu ai jaane wale
Theme-word: Ye jeevan safar ek andha safar hai
Remembering Mohammad Rafi on His Birth Anniversary 24 Dec
End of the year is the time of the year for retrospection. We were so keen to usher in New Year. But, did we do anything new at all? Did we get rid of old habits and adopted new virtues? Did we think of new ways to solve life’s problems? Or, we were just puppets at the hands of Time and drifted aimlessly?
As with everyone, I too get philosophical at the end of the year. In the end of the Year 2015 and beginning of the Year 2016 I wrote two important essays on philosophies. I am giving you the second one since it has the link of the first one in it:
Philosophies That May Help You
Whither Goest Thou?
This song was penned by Shailendra and composed by Shankar Jaikishan for the 1955 Amiya Chakravarty movie starring Nutan as Gauri who is running away from the life of oppression.
It was sung by Mohammad Rafi whose Birth Anniversary is tomorrow, 24 Dec.
As with all Lyricists of that era, Shailendra too was seeped in scriptures. He has relied, no doubt, on the following:
“Quō vādis? (Classical Latin: [kʷoː ˈwaːdɪs], Ecclesiastical Latin: [kwo ˈvadis]) is a Latin phrase meaning “Where are you marching?”. It is also commonly translated as “Where are you going?” or, poetically, “Whither goest thou?”.
It also may refer to a Christian tradition regarding Saint Peter. According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter (Vercelli Acts XXXV), Peter flees from crucifixion in Rome at the hands of the government, and along the road outside the city, he meets the risen Jesus. In the Latin translation, Peter asks Jesus, “Quō vādis?” He replies, “Rōmam eō iterum crucifīgī” (“I am going to Rome to be crucified again”). Peter then gains the courage to continue his ministry and returns to the city, where he is martyred by being crucified upside-down. The Church of Domine Quo Vadis in Rome is built where the meeting between Peter and Jesus allegedly took place.”
Please look at the extraordinarily beautiful lyrics penned by Shailendra:
कहाँ जा रहा है तू, ऐ जानेवाले
अँधेरा है मन का, दिया तो जला ले
कहाँ जा रहा है तू, ऐ जानेवाले
कहाँ जा रहा है
ये जीवन-सफ़र एक अँधा सफ़र है
बहकना है मुमकिन, भटकने का डर है
सँभलता नहीं दिल किसीके सँभाले
कहाँ जा रहा है तू, ऐ जानेवाले
कहाँ जा रहा है
जो ठोकर ना खाए, नहीं जीत उसकी
जो गिरके सँभल जा,ए है जीत उसकी
निशाँ मंज़िलों के ये पैरों के छाले
कहाँ जा रहा है तू, ऐ जानेवाले
कहाँ जा रहा है
My Own Poetry
I have many many poems on the subject. I have selected one for you about Life’s Lessons:
How many of us are able to read correctly,
When important lessons Life gives out?
Some are given directly but most are indirectly,
But we are still filled with unsurety and doubt.
These precious lessons then lie in vain,
Instead of learning we merely complain.
Life is the greatest teacher of them all,
There is so much to learn as we go along.
Some of us, not a single one, can recall,
Others by these have actually emerged strong.
These are provided by God totally free,
But we pretend to be blind and don’t see.
Many lessons are meant for a life’s phase,
You just can’t apply them later at will.
Some would last only for a few days,
Like the expiry date on a medicinal pill.
We can save ourselves grief if we act,
But we fail to gauge their impact.
We pray to God to give us various things,
And He often makes our prayers come true.
We never ask for ability to read what Life brings,
Most often than not we haven’t got a clue.
So, let’s ask God to gift us the blessing,
That Life’s lessons don’t find us guessing.
The Song
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy: Kahan ja raha hai tu ai jaane wale….
I hope you enjoyed my choice for Song #38 in the series.
Please await Song #39 – Duniya mein agar aaye hain.
