RRR Songs (Songs of Regret, Repentance and Ruefulness)
I started this new series on 17 Jan 21 on my Facebook Group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne. My efforts failed to involve people in writing their own stuff about songs and music rather than copying and pasting from here and there or worse, just sharing url of songs from YouTube. Hence, I had decided to give the group a burial that it deserved rather than making it like thousands of groups on Facebook about songs with nothing unique about them at all.
Hence this series shifted to my page Lyrical.
I hope you liked RRR Song #6: Khushi do ghadi ki mile na mile. Here is the next song:
Song #7
Main yeh soch kar us ke dar se utha tha
A Series Close to My Heart
So now you are hooked to the new series? Some of you have written back (thank you for that) that you can’t wait to see what would be the next song.
I plan. I have given you, so far, six songs of Regret, Repentance and Ruefulness whilst on alternate days I have kept up with the Great Lyricists series.
Lets Move Ahead
Mohammad Rafi – the God of Songs
When you actually listen to Mohammad Rafi you are bound to say, for the nth time, that there was no one like him and no one is going to be. He was the god of songs. All of us have our favourites such as Hemant and Mukesh and yet we know, there is no comparison with Rafi. The other day I mentioned that Lata ji (my favourite female singer) was the delight of the composers, especially Shankar Jaikishan. She delivered exactly what was expected of her. Mohammad Rafi was several steps ahead of her in that he showed the composers how much more they could expect from him, every time. When he died, in Bombay, at the age of just 55 years, all composers admitted that they had still not exploited Rafi’s complete capabilities. Achha hai kuchh le jaane se dekar hi kuchh jaana.
Take this song from Chetan Anand’s 1964 movie Haqeeqat explaining the debacle of 1962 Sino Indian War. Madan Mohan, the best composer ever for songs with pathos and agony, was trying in this song a new concept in that the song was like a free flowing poem, without traditional and recurrent mukhada and antaras. He actually asked Kishore Kumar and Manna De to sing it and then, disappointed, he turned, once again, to Mohammad Rafi.
Why am I in love with this song?
Yes, it is not just because of its outstanding rendition by Rafi. This song is the finest example of Lyrics, Composition, Music and even the scenario (of the war with its frustration and hopelessness) and scenery (of Ladakh), all blending seamlessly into giving us an unforgettable song. You have no idea of what tugs at your emotions more; nor do you care because you are, with the first few notes, transported into another world wherein the silence of your soul converses with you.
Look at this scene at the beginning of the song: the others have got their letters and Ram Singh hasn’t. And, in the deadly silence of the place, he seeks still more silent and isolated place whereat he can converse with himself (this still comes to you courtesy Sunbyanyname).
Kaifi Azmi
Of all the lyricists that I know of, Kaifi Azmi mastered the art of giving vent to the most intense and most powerful emotions through simplest words. One author who did that is my favourite: Ernest Hemingway. Likewise, taste this from Kaifi in Hanste Zakhm:
Dil ki naazuk ragen toot ti hain,
Yaad itna bhi koi na aaye,
Aaj socha to aansu bhar aaye….
These are, as I am fond of saying, raw emotions hanging from hooks of poignancy.
It is the same with this song. You know the background of the song and yet I am repeating it. Mail is received in that war sector and once again this jawan Ram Singh (played by debutant Sudhir who was later reduced to doing small villainous roles) hasn’t received a letter from his beloved. It is not just that he lost a bet with another jawan, he has come a cropper in his wager with life itself. Kaifi Azmi, Madan Mohan, Mohammad Rafi, and Chetan Anand had to now have a song that would rise from an individual situation to the general helplessness of a war that takes one as far as possible from normal human desires and longings. And, they did it so well.
The hopelessness of war as depicted in Haqeeqat
Please enjoy: Main yeh soch kar usake dar se utha tha ke woh roke legi mana legi mujhako…..
मैं ये सोचकर उसके दर से उठा था
के वो रोक लेगी मना लेगी मुझको
हवाओं में लहराता आता था दामन
के दामन पकड़कर बिठा लेगी मुझको
कदम ऐसे अंदाज़ से उठ रहे थे
के आवाज़ देकर बुला लेगी मुझको
मगर उसने रोका
न उसने मनाया
न दामन ही पकड़ा
न मुझको बिठाया
न आवाज़ ही दी
न वापस बुलाया
मैं आहिस्ता आहिस्ता बढ़ता ही आया
यहाँ तक के उससे जुदा हो गया मैं …
By this time, you would be convinced that in this song, we witnessed something extraordinary that the team of Chetan Anand’s 1964 movie Haqeeqat essayed to give to us. As with some of the other songs in the movie, notably Hoke majbuur mujhe usane bhualaya hoga, and Kar chale ham fida jaan-o-tan saathiyo, ab tumhaare hawaale watan saathiyo, this song leaves a lasting impact on one’s mind and heart. I have goosebumps every time I listen to it.
I hope you liked Song #7 in this series.
Please await Song #8: Jaane kahan gaye woh din.
