All that you want in a blog
बातों बातों में बात निकल जाती है,
वह मिलते नहीं, मुलाकात निकल जाती है।
इंतज़ार करते करते आंख कुछ ऐसे लगे,
खुलते ही देखा हैयात निकल जाती है।
सदियों से पड़े हैं तन्हा और बेकसी में,
लोग क्यूं कहते हैं मजबूरी ए हालात निकल जाती है?
घर के सामने खड़े थे उनकी उम्मीद में हम,
वह नहीं निकले पर बारात निकल जाती है।
सामने होंगें तो ज़रूर पूछूंगा ऐ खुदा,
मुझे अकेला छोड़ के कहां कायनात निकल जाती है?
जब भी भीगने की ख्वाहिश उठी, रवि,
उसी वक़्त देखा बरसात निकल जाती है।
अब तो पाबंदी लग गई है छूने पे और मिलने पे,
पर तुम तो पहले भी रहती थी मुझसे ऐसे ही दूर।
करोना को क्यूं दें हम इल्ज़ाम ए मुहब्बत,
उस से पहले भी हम रहे हैं ऐसे ही मजबूर।
यही लॉकडाउन यही अकेलापन यही तन्हाई थी,
तुम वहां अपने आप में, मैं यहां अपने ही संग।
तुमने कहां कभी वह चिलमन गिराई थी?
कभी देखा ना था मुलाकात का कोई रंग।
हम तो मरने के लिए भी बैठे थे तैयार,
एक बार मिलने की हसरत गर हो जाती पूरी।
सांस फूल जाती, चड़ जाता तुम्हारा ही बुखार,
वेंटिलेटर पे हमें रख लेना हो जाता ज़रूरी।
चलो किस्मत वाले हैं वह जिनके हो तुम करीब,
हमसे तो रखती हो गजब का सोशल डिस्टेंस।
हम भी उन लोगों की तरह हैं गरीब,
खुशी का जिनकी ज़िन्दगी में नहीं कोई इंस्टेंस।
On the first day of Lockdown due to COVID 19, here is the tale of woes of a lover to his beloved. If this reminds of your situation with your wife or husband, it is purely coincidental. If this is the first day, imagine another 20. I will keep up your morale with such pieces!
लॉक डाउन में रह रह के याद आती है,
रुलाने में तुम करोना से कम नहीं।
कोई और तुमसा नहीं सताती है,
तुम जैसी हो, किसी में दम नहीं।
हो जाता है मुझे भारी बुखार,
सांस मेरी जाती है फूल।
वायरस नहीं, तुम्हारा है चमत्कार,
तुमसे इश्क़ ज़िन्दगी की है भूल।
कहीं से कोई मिलता नहीं इलाज,
करोना वायरस से तो फ़िर भी बच जाऊं।
औरों को तो कई होंगे काम काज,
मैं तो मुहब्बत में ही गंगा नहाऊं।
हाथ धो के पड़ी हो मेरे पीछे,
तुम तो हो सानिटाइजर से परे।
रहता हूं मैं तुम्हारे अंगूठे के नीचे,
जैसे कोई खरगोश शेरनी से डरे।
अगली बार ठीक करूंगा अपना हाइजीन,
कभी तुमसे नहीं करूंगा मैं प्यार।
सांप के आगे कौन बजाता रहे बीन?
करोना से भी ख़तरनाक है तुम्हारी मार।
रिलीज़ करो मुझे अपनी क्वारंटाइन से,
दिमाग पे मेरे हो गया है इफैक्ट।
जाहिल हो क्या मेरे मरने के साइन से,
किसी और को करलो अपना आशिक़ सिलेक्ट।
मरने को जी करता था मगर,
करोना आया है चीन से।
हम सारे ही इंडियन हैं अगर,
क्यूं मरेंगे जो उठा उनकी ज़मीन से?
कई बिमारियों में रहें हैं नंबर वन,
उनसे इसमें हम न मात खाएंगे।
जब भी मरने को करेगा मन,
अपनी देसी बिमारियों से मर जाएंगे।
हमारे यहां कई तरीके हैं मरने को,
गर बिमारी अपना जलवा ना दिखाए।
जैसे ड्राइविंग में हम हैं मर मिटने को,
सड़क पे गाड़ी लेके जो हम उतर आए।
गंदगी फैला के हम यहां तहां,
देश की तबाही को करते हैं पक्का।
कतार में खड़ते हैं हम जहां,
आम तौर पे दे मारते हैं धक्का।
सैकड़ों मर जाते हैं भगदड़ में,
ताकि वह निकल जाएं सबसे आगे।
बहारें बदल जाती हैं पतझड़ में,
पर खुद गर्जी से हमें शर्म ना लागे।
आयिए आज कर्फ्यू में सोचें ज़रा,
भारत है तो हम भी हैं,
हम नहीं मरे और दूजा जो मरा,
उसका हम सबको गम भी है।
मोदी अकेला क्या करेगा,
हम सबको उसका देना है साथ;
ना करोना से ना देसी बिमारी से कोई मरेगा,
ना खुद गर्जी में हमारा होगा हाथ।
A poem about wife’s simple demand to her husband on the occasion of Curfew on Sunday, 22 March 20.
करो ना कुछ कर फ्यू से पहले,
अंदाज़ से उसने मुझ से कहा।
ताली बजाऊंगी बाल्कनी में खड़के,
जो मैं चाहती हूं वह तुमने किया।
मैंने कहा:
पैंसठ साल की उम्र है मेरी,
पीठ तो मेरी सीधी नहीं होती।
आज तक मैंने बात मानी है तेरी,
मेरी वजह से ही तू चैन से सोती।
अब क्या करने को गया है रह?
जो मैं अभी तक कर ना पाया।
क्या कुछ करता रहा मैं सह,
कुछ है जो तेरी समझ में आया?
वह बोली:
वह बात नहीं मैं कहने वाली,
जो निकलती है तुम्हारे दिमाग से।
मैं मैं हूं नहीं हूं तुम्हारी साली,
क्यूं तोड़ोगे फूल मेरे बाग से?
मैं सिर्फ चाहती हूं फोन खरीदो ऐसा,
जिसमें वॉट्सएप और फेसबुक हो बंद,
करो तुम वही मैं कहूं जैसा,
ताकि तुम संग बिताऊं मैं घंटे चंद।
करोना में कर्फ्यू का मिलेगा अवसर,
तुम संग मैं कुछ कर पाऊं बात।
स्मार्ट फोन ना होगा जिस पे अक्सर,
चैट करते हो बाहर वालों के साथ।
उसके कहने से यह बात ज़रूरी,
अचानक मेरी समझ में आई।
अपनों से हम रखते रहे दूरी,
अब सोशल डिस्टेंस की देते हैं दुहाई।
उस वक़्त जब करोना था भी नहीं,
अपनों से हम दूर रहते थे बस।
ऐसे लगता था वॉट्सएप ने कहीं,
सांप बनके हमें लिया हो ड्स।
ज़िन्दगी की तरह करोना भी,
चीज़ है इक आनी और जानी।
पर अपनों का संग होना भी,
ज़िन्दगी की लिखता है अमर कहानी।
ताली ज़रूर बजाना बाल्कनी से,
अपनों को लिए जिनसे हम रहे हैं दूर।
अपने मां बाप, संगी और संगिनी से,
करोना से पहले भी होके मजबूर।
I hope you liked the first post in the series: ‘Rajinder Krishan Song Of The Week #2 – Phir Wohi Shaam Wohi Gham Wohi Tanhayi Hai‘. Lets begin with this song of his as the Song of the Week #3 as it appeared on my Facebook group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘.
Rajinder Krishan Song of the Week (RKSOW)
Week#3
Ye hawa ye raat ye chandni
Rajinder Krishan’s most memorable pairing with a composer has been with Madan Mohan. Let alone listening to scores of his songs from dozens of movies with Madan Mohan, just the songs of 1958 Kalidas movie Adalat would set him amongst the best lyricists that Hindi films came across. A song that really tugs at your emotions and with extraordinarily beautiful and poignant lyrics is Youn hasraton ke daag mohabbat mein dho liye, khud dil se dil ki baat kahi aur ro liye. Nobody is left unaffected by the personification of Khushi and Gham in the lines:
Ghar se chale the ham to khushi ki talaash mein,
Gham raah mein khade the wahin saath ho liye.
OP Nayyar had once stated that two of the ghazals of Madan Mohan (including Youn hasraton ke daag) were better than all the works of OP Nayyar.
With such high praise of the maestro which he richly deserved, can you imagine him copying a composition of a lesser composer? This was the composition by Sajjad, which Madan Mohan openly copied (and admitted) in his Tujhe kya sunayun main dilruba. It was for the 1958 movie Aakhri Dao and these lyrics (Tujhe kya sunayun) penned by Majrooh were composed by Madan Mohan in exactly the same way that Sajjad did for Ye hawa eye raat ye chandni.
No composer could have paid a better tribute to another composer.
Sajjad Husaain covered himself in controversy as much as he covered himself in glory because of his contentious personality that sought confrontation with almost everybody he worked with including DN Madhok in 1951 movie Saiyan (Wo raat din wo shaam ki guzri hui kahaniyan is one of their songs in the movie that comes to mind). He had problems with Dilip Kumar in the movie of this song: Sangdil. He didn’t like the standard of singing of Lata Mangeshkar.
Anyway, we still recall him for his excellent composition of this song and many others such as for the 1963 movie Rustom Sohrab: Ye kaisi ajab daastan ho gayi hai and Phir tumhari yaad aayi hai sanam.
Rajinder Krishan; what can you say about him and his lyrics? Most of his lyrics seem so natural and effortless. Here pay particular attention to: Mujhe kyun na ho teri aarzu, teri justaju mein bahaar hai?
Why shouldn’t he (Dilip Kumar) entertain aarzu (desire) for her (Madhubala) when there is bahaar (spring) in this quest of his? In other words, he can be forgiven for desiring her as much as any man can be forgiven for desiring spring.
Fourteen years after the Sangdil song, Neeraj used similar imagination in his 1966 Nai Umr Ki Nai Fasal song: Aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai aaj to tere bina neend nahin aayegi:
Saara aalam hai girftaar tere husn me jab
mujhse hi kaise ye barsaat sahi jaayegi?
Have a look at the remaining lyrics of the present song under discussion:
Ye hawa ye raat ye chandani, teri ek ada pe nisaar hai
Mujhe kyun na ho teri aarzu, teri justaju me bahaar hai
Ye hawa ye raat ye chandani…
Tujhe kya khabar hai o bekhabar
tujhe kya khabar hai o bekhabar, teri ek nazar me hai kya asar
Jo gazab me aaye to kahar hai, jo ho meharban vo qaraar hai
Mujhe kyun na ho teri aarzu, teri justaju me bahaar hai
Ye hawa ye raat ye chandani…
Teri baat-baat hai dilnashi
Teri baat-baat hai dilnashi, koi tujhse badhke nahi hasin
Hai kali-kali me jo mastiyan, teri aankh ka ye khumaar hai
Mujhe kyun na ho teri aarzu, teri justaju mai bahaar hai
Ye hawa ye raat ye chandani, teri ek ada pe nisaar hai
Sangdil means cold-hearted. It was an adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë classic Jane Eyre. It was directed by RC Talwar and starred Dilip Kumar, Madhubala and Leela Chitnis.
In the story of the movie Dilip Kumar and Madhubala are childhood lovers but are victims of unfortunate circumstances (he was very poor). When rumours about her are spread and reach him, Dilip Kumar, now wealthy, becomes Sangdil and encourages his reputation of being some sort of womaniser. Little do the women know that he is trying to seek the image of Madhubala in them.
There are many videos of the song going on depicting the eternal love between Dilip Kumar and Madhubala both in reel and real life until her father broke the relationship between them fearful that if she married him the father’s family would lose her money-amking capacity that supported the entire family. It is similar to Meena Kumari’s story; for many days after she was born her father kept her in an orphanage because he didn’t have means to look after the child.
I saw the movie and the video of the song is only between Dilip Kumar and the actress Shammi who is one of the women throwing herself at him when he becomes wealthy and foot-loose after his unrequited love with Madhubala. There is no flash-back during the song to his days with Madhubala.
I have gone on record saying that the best songs of Dilip Kumar were sung by Mohammad Rafi. However, there have been quite a few of Dilip Kumar’s memorable songs wthe Talat Mehmood. The first song that comes to my mind is from Dilip Kumar Madhubala 1951 movie Tarana (the first movie between them) that displayed the love and chemistry between them: Seene mein sulagte hain armaan. Anil Biswas composed it on Prem Dhawan’s lyrics.
The second one that comes to my mind is the 1950 movie Babul song penned by Shakeel Badayuni and composed by Naushad: Milte hi aankhen dil hua deewana kisi ka.
Please enjoy a really iconic song penned by Rajinder Krishan: Ye hawa ye raat ye chandni…
I hoped my choice of song for RKSOW #3.
Please await the next song in the series.
My second song in this series was Dil apna aur preet prayi. This too is:
Our Dedication to a Lyricist who
Always Dived Deep to find Pearls
The 1960 movie Kala Bazaar (Black Market) was produced by Dev Anand for Navketan Films and directed by his brother Vijay Anand. The film starred all three brothers: Dev Anand as the black-marketeer Raghuvir (mainly earning money through sale of movie tickets in black), Vijay Anand as Nandkumar Chattopadhayay – the original lover of Waheeda Rehman as Alka – who magnanimously gives up his love for Alka in favour of Raghuvir and Chetan Anand as advocate Desai who fights an interesting court battle for Raghuvir after he had given up his bad ways in order to woo Alka.
A reformed Raghuvir gets to keep all the money he made from Kala Bazaar including a house on Marine Drive where he started living with his hitherto impoverished mother Leela Chitnis and sister Nanda; a fact that won’t have been lost on public at large and Alka.
This was the second directorial venture of Vijay Anand after Nau Do Gyarah.
This movie was made at a time when Bombay was Bombay and not Mumbai and Hindi films were referred to as Hindi films and not as Bollywood Films as if these cannot exist without being a poorer copy of Hollywood films.
One of Dev Anand’s early successes as Kala Bazaar operator was on the premier of Mother India in Maratha Mandir. Several stars made their appearance at the premier: include Dilip Kumar, Geeta Dutt, Guru Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Sohrab Modi, Mohammed Rafi, Nargis, Nadira and Nimmi. Others seen include, Kumkum, Mukri, Yakub, Naseem Banu and Kumari Naaz. The film also showed Liberty and Metro cinemas, very nostalgic for all of us who grew up in Bombay.
The song that I have chosen is near the end of the movie and shows Bombay during rains including the Marine Drive.
Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra were in the team of Shankar Jaikishan who were the ‘house-musicians’ for RK Films of Raj Kapoor. However, they wrote songs for other music directors too. This one is for Sachin Dev Burman who often said that his second name was the name of his favourite hero: Dev Anand; more often than not Dev Anand movies had music by SD Burman.
Shailendra and SD Burman paired together starting with 1951 movie Buzdil. We fondly recall their pairing for two iconic 1963 movies Bandini and Meri Surat Teri Aankhen. In Bandini they fell apart and hence in addition to Shailendra, SD Burman tried Sampooran Singh Kalra (Gulzar). And then of course Guide was released in 1965 with excellent songs by Shailendra including his trademark delving deep song: Wahan kaun hai tera mussafir jayega kahan?
I chose this song as the Shailendra Song of the Week because of Shailendra’s delightful skill at expressing the emotions of lovers during the rains.
In his very first movie for Raj Kapoor: Barsaat (I have still not found out why this 1949 movie was titled Barsaat by Raj Kapoor as Barsaat had nothing to do with the progress of the story. I have a feeling that the title of the movie stole from Shailendra’s song composed by Shankar Jaikishan: Barsaat mein hamse mile tum sajan).
In 1960 Bimal Roy movie Parakh he came up with the best rain song ever in Hindi movies: O sajana barkha bahaar aayi.
In 1955 movie Shree 420, no one can ever forget the lovers under the umbrella in Bombay rains: Raj Kapoor and Nargis singing Pyar hua iqraar hua.
And of course in 1965 Guide, he tugged at our emotions with his Din dhal jaaye song; viz:
Aisee rim-jhim aisee phuharen, aisee hee thee barsaat
Khud se juda aur jug se paraye, ham dono the sath
Phir se woh sawan ab kyon naa aaye, din dhal jaaye…
(some of the words that he had already used in this song):
Rim-jhim ke taraane leke aayi barasaat
Yaad aaye kisi se vo pahali mulaaqaat
Bheege tan man pade ras ki phuhaar
Pyaar ka sandesa laayi barkha bahaar
Main na bolun, main na bolun aankhen kare akhiyon se baat
Rim jhim ke taraane leke aayi barasaat
Sunake matavaale kaale baadalo kaa shor
Rum jhum ghum ghum naache man kaa mor
Sapano kaa saathi chal raha mere saath
Rim jhim ke taraane leke aayi barasaat
Jab milate ho tum to chhute hain dil ke taar
Milane ko tum se main kyon tha beqaraar
Rah jaati hai
Rah jaati hai kyon hontho tak aake dil ki baat
Rim jhim ke taraane leke aayi barasaat
Yaad aaye kisi se vo pahali mulaqaat
Unlike Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat in which Barsaat lyrics don’t mean a thing, here, there is a chance meeting in the rain in Mumbai between Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman after she had already turned him down because of his Kala Bazaar ways. Later, when she regarded him as a reformed man, she was in love with Vijay Anand.
Hence, this song was the home-coming for the lovers; the drenching of their souls. One is reminded of Shree 420’s Ramaiya Vastavaiya, a home-coming for Raj Kapoor as Shree 420.
But, rim-jhim is gentle rain and Vijay Anand did it very gently through the meeting in the rain.
All in all a heart-warming duet between Mohammad Rafi and Geeta Dutt put together by Shailendra and SD Burman.
Please enjoy: Rimjhim ke tarane leke aayi barsaat…
I hope you liked my choice for the Shailendra Song of the Week #3.
Please await the next song in the series.
I hope you liked the last post in this series: ‘Hasrat Jaipuri Song Of The Week #2 – Nain So Nain Nahin Milao‘.
Lets proceed with his Song of the Week #3:
Ye kya kar dala tune
Just to remind you that that this is the third post in
Our Dedication to a Lyricist to Whom
We Owe the Title of Our Songs Group*
(My Facebook group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ or YKDN for short.
Shankar Jaikishan fans (may God increase their tribe) will be shocked that I am remembering a composer other than S-J in the same breath as paying tribute to Hasrat Jaipuri. They are like Charminar cigarette smokers or Old Monk rum drinkers; for them there can never be another smoke or tipple.
I am as devoted a fan of S-J as anyone else. Much before anyone formed a group to honour them, on my page Lyrical, I paid a 45 days tribute to them.
However, I don’t feel sorry to appreciate MDs, Lyricists, Singers and Actors other than those associated with S-J.
OP Nayyar was born on 16 Jan 1926 in Lahore (now in Pakistan). At the age of 23, OP Nayyar composed the background score for the movie Kaneez. Three years later, in 1952, he was a full fledged music director for the movie Aasman. OP Nayyar perfected songs whose beats (often horse-trot beat such as in 1957 movie Naya Daur’s song Maang ke saath tumhaara) became so popular that people were often heard humming these everywhere. He also delved into raaga based songs although, in all humility, he claimed that he had no knowledge of classical music. Raag Peelu or Pilu, followed by Pahadi, were his favourite raagas in songs.
He didn’t like to have Lata Mangeshkar sing any of his songs as he didn’t find her voice sexy. Most of his female songs have been sung by Shamshad Begum, Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt. He depended heavily on Asha Bhosle and in a television interview he said, “She was almost like a wife to me.” OP Nayyar and Asha Bhosle parted in 1974. Soon after that, in 1974, she received Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Award for his song: Chain se hamako kabhi aap ne jeene na diya that was intended to be used for the 1973 movie Praan Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye but didn’t find a place in the final cut.
OP Nayyar paired with major lyricists Majrooh Sultanpuri and Sahir Ludhianvi. With the latter he received the Filmfare Award for 1957 movie Naya Daur.
Hasrat ji stayed mostly with Shankar Jaikishan. However, he was the Shehanshah-e-Rumaniyat and his romantic songs were composed by almost all important composers. Here in this series started by me in the New Year 2020, I have already given you two of them: SD Burman and Vasant Desai.
Hasrat ji paired with OP Nayyar in the 1957 Ved Mohan movie Johnny Walker with the comdeian Johny Walker in the title role. He wrote all six songs of the movie for OP Nayyar. Howrah Bridge and Kabhi Andhera Kabhi Ujala in 1958 also had Hasrat Jaipuri’s songs composed by OPN including this one.
The 1960 Rakhan movie starring Ashok Kumar, Padmini and her sister Ragini had most of the songs penned by Qamar Jalalabadi (two of these find mention in my Raaga based songs blogs: Beqasi hadd se jab guzr jaye and Tu hai mera prem devta that has both Travancore sisters dancing). However, Hasrat ji and Raja Mehdi Ali Khan had one song and four songs respectively in this movie too. Hasrat’s song was: O ji sawan mein tu beqraar sajanwa se.
The last part of the song takes you under the Howrah Bridge, a miracle of its times. Built over the Hoogly River, it was commissioned as a cantilever bridge in 1943 and happened to be the third longest such bridge in the world (presently the sixth longest).
The bridge has featured in many movies and fills all Indians with romantic nostalgia such as in Woh sham kuchh ajeeb thi ye sham bhi ajeeb hai in the picturisation of which Rajesh Khanna in a polo neck and Waheeda Rehman in saree and cardigan pass under the bridge in their boat within the first minute of the song.
The movie Howrah Bridge was directed by Shakti Samanta who was used to making a super hit movie once every two years or so.
The story in short is that Ashok Kumar and his brother are running a business of their father in Rangoon when his brother disappears one day with family heirloom to sell it in Calcutta. He is deceived by smugglers and Ashok Kumar comes looking for them.
Ashok Kumar pretends to have fallen for the hotel singer Madhubala (her name is Edna in the movie).But, actually he wants to use her contacts to locate the smugglers.
At this juncture, she is actually in love with him and she sings this to him in a tonga to express her feeelings of elation for having found the love of her life.
Hasrat ji does an impressive job of her expressing her feelings through song. Asha Bhosle sings it in great style.
The song has one of the longest whistling in the prelude.
One would expect remarkably good lyrics form Hasrat Jaipuri and he doesn’t fail us:
Ye kya kar dala tune dil tera ho gaya
Hasi hasi me jalim dil mera kho gaya
Wo khel dikhaya tune madhosh banaya tune
O jadugar matwale, bechain banaya tune
Tune re piya, kaisa diya, najro ka paymana
Ye kya kar dala tune dil tera ho gaya
Hasi hasi me jalim dil mera kho gaya
Jab aankh mile sharmaun main khoi khoi jaun
Aankho ki kaliyan kampen jab samne tujhko paun
Sun mere dil, sapno me mil, dard hua diwana
Ye kya kar dala tune dil tera ho gaya
Hasi hasi me jalim dil mera kho gaya
Pehle tha zamana feeka ab laage teekha teekha
Mausam ka dil bhi dhadke kuchh haal na puchho ji ka
Ye kya kar dala tune dil tera ho gaya
Hasi hasi me jalim dil mera kho gaya
One look at her face and histrionics tell the story of her being head over heels in love with him. He looks amused since his primary aim is different.
You see Calcutta by night in the year 1958 and it surprises you to see that it was as crowded in 1958 too!
Please Enjoy
Ye kya kar dala tune dil tera ho gaya…
I hoped you liked my choice of Hasrat Jaipuri Song of the Week #3.
Please await the next song in the series.
I hope you liked the first post in the series: ‘Rajinder Krishan Song Of The Week #1 – Kahan Le Chale Ho Bata Do Musafir‘. Lets begin with this song of his as the Song of the Week #2 as it appeared on my Facebook group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘.
Rajinder Krishan Song of the Week (RKSOW)
Week#2
Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhayi hai
I started off with Rajinder Krishan really late in comparison to Hasrat Jaipuri and then Shailendra. From the 29th of January 2020, the fifth week started and I had put up only Week #1 song for Rajinder Krishan. In the next few days, therefore, I want to catch up and be at par with the count for Hasrat Jaipuri.
Yes, indeed. After the month of February when I would have caught up, the others can also bid for their chosen month in which they would put up.
On my blog, there are two important ongoing series and these are the most popular articles on my blog:
Raaga Based Song of the Day.
Songs that Tug at Your Emotions.
Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhayi hai is included as Song #25 (not in any particular order or ranking) in the second series. Therefore, all the write-up about the song and the relationship between Rajinder Krishan and Madan Mohan is already there:
Please go through it. You would gain a lot.
These are some of my favourite themes. So one can imagine all three together in one song.
If you read the write up, you would come across: There is a beautiful reference to फिर तसव्वुर तेरे पहलू में बिठा जाएगा.
Ladies and gentlemen, words and lyrics are not just or mere words. These are windows to the world of the poet or lyricist’s तसव्वुर or imagination. He (very very rarely she) invites you to enter that world. And that’s why, in this group of serious lovers of music and songs (‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ or YKDN), I have discouraged people from just putting up urls. If the तसव्वुर of the poet or the lyricist doesn’t strike notes with your own तसव्वुर, you are missing out on the fun as much as the expression used frequently in Sri Guru Granth Sahib: गूंगे की मिठाई. Why do you want to be dumb when God has gifted you words of your own? This is social media and not something private of your own. If you want to keep your thoughts to yourself, you have chosen the wrong media! All of us want to hear why you liked the mithayi and what you liked best about it. You may even want to say something about the halwai!
Do you feel you don’t have imagination and or words? Ha! Unlike Lata Mangeshkar who opposed all competition, I have actively encouraged friends to write in all my groups. Some of them have mentioned me in the Preface of their books they published after trying out writing for the first time in my groups.
Writing is absolutely similar to love-making; initially it appears strange and even ridiculous. Later, you have family of your own that you love more than any other family. Try it. You would want to read and re-read your own write up over and over again and other people’s reactions to it. Songs and their videos are already available on the net. What do you say? Try फिर तसव्वुर तेरे पहलू में बिठा जाएगा. You can write a full-fledged article just on this line. Try it ; the entire universe is just your imagination and you feel you don’t have any!
Even though already given in the accompanying article, I am giving you separately too. I wrote this poem at the age of 16. It is a love poem: Tu (shortest title for a poem):
एक मुद्दत से तमन्ना थी जिसे कहने की,
बात वो अब भी मैं कह नहीं पायूँगा सनम,
ज़िंदा हैं अश्क़ अब भी जो बहाये मैंने,
मैं उन अश्कों मैं कभी बह नहीं पायूँगा सनम I
याद आएँगी मुझे खामोश ओ मजबूर रातें,
अपने ही आप से मैं करता रहा था बातें
सोचा था अब तेरे दीदार को ना तरसूँगा कभी
जो न मुझे मिल सका उस प्यार को ना तरसूँगा कभी
सोच कर फिर वही मायूस सा हो कर सोचा
बिन तुम्हारे मैं रह भी ना पायूँगा सनम
वो बात अब भी मैं कह नहीं पायूँगा सनम I
मेरे बारे में कभी तुमने भी ये सोचा होगा
ये भी एक और दीवाना है दीवानो की तरह
मैं जो रौशन हूँ सियाह रात में शमा की तरह
मेरा परवाना है यह भी परवानो की तरह
सोच कर तूने इतना तो सोचा होता:
इतने सितम मैं सह भी ना पायूँगा सनम
वो बात अब भी मैं कह नहीं पायूँगा सनम I
खुद को मुझसे इतना भी ना तू दूर समझ
अपने परवाने को इतना भी ना मजबूर समझ
मैं अगर चाहूँ तो इतनी भी है ताक़त मुझ में:
याद को तेरी मैं इक तू ही बना सकता हूँ
इक तो तू है जो मेरी हर बात को समझे वहशत
अपनी तू को मैं हर इक बात सुना सकता हूँ
तुझको सजाना चाहूँ तो ज़ुल्फ़ भी छूने नहीं दे
अपने अरमानो से तेरा हर अंग सजा सकता हूँ
गम नहीं अब जो तू लाख भी रूठे मुझसे
अपनी तू को मैं जब चाहे मना सकता हूँ I
Please enjoy Talat Mehmood sing a composition of Madan Mohan on the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan a song from the 1964 Vinod Kumar (his debut movie as a director) movie Jahan Ara: Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhayi hai….
फिर वोही शाम वही ग़म वही तनहाई है
दिल को समझाने तेरी याद चली आई है
फिर तसव्वुर तेरे पहलू में बिठा जाएगा
फिर गया वक़्त घड़ी भर को पलट आएगा
दिल बहल जाएगा आखिर ये तो सौदाई है
फिर वोही शाम …
जाने अब तुझ से मुलाक़ात कभी हो के न हो
जो अधूरी रहे वो बात कभी हो के न हो
मेरी मंज़िल तेरी मंज़िल से बिछड़ आई है
फिर वोही शाम …
फिर तेरे ज़ुल्फ़ के रुखसार की बातें होंगी
हिज्र की रात मगर प्यार की बातें होंगी
फिर मुहब्बत में तड़पने की क़सम खाई है
फिर वोही शाम …
I hope you liked my choice of song for the Week #2.
Please await song for Week #3.
मरने के बारे में सोच कर,
ज़िन्दगी का ख्याल आ गया।
और जियें या ना जिएं,
फ़िर वही सवाल आ गया।
ज़िन्दगी गुज़र रही थी,
तहरीक ए हयात से मज़ूल।
फकत यही सोच के,
यूं ही उबाल आ गया।
आपको शायद लगता है,
मैं अभी भी जिंदा हूं।
जैसे ही खून ए दिल से,
रुख पे मलाल आ गया।
छोड़िए, रहने दीजिए,
जाने भी दीजिए इसे अब।
आख़िर में वक़्त यूं ही,
थोड़ी तेज़ चाल आ गया।
This is a Guest Post by my sister Surekha Saini. This is how it appeared on my Facebook Group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ during the Dekh, Dekho Songs Fest on 15th and 16th Feb 20 (only some obvious corrections have been carried out by me). I have taken her permission to reproduce it here.
DEKH, DEKHO SONGS FEST
DAY #2 SONG #1
Nanak Aadh Jugaadh Jiyo.
———————————————-
Keyword in prelude of the song..
Ohi Jo Disse Ambar Taare
Kin Unn Cheete Cheetanhaare.
(Disse means Dikhe or seen)
Dosto, viewing something with a divine vision is the beauty of the lyrics of this song ‘Nanak Aadh Jugaadh Jiyo’ by Daljit Dosanjh. In our childhood, we all are told by elders that all good people become shining stars after death and almost all children kept looking for their loved ones, whom they had lost, in the sky, between stars. This song is about what the lyricist visualises the twinkling stars in the sky. There is a reason behind my posting this song and I shall mention that after the introduction of the song and the singer. ‘Nanak Aadh Jugaad Jiyo’ is very special and close to my sentiments as it was released at a very special day: on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Lyrics of ‘Nanak Aadh Jugaad Jiyo’ are so beautifully written that I request everyone to read the lyrics thoroughly to understand the song better. I have worked very hard to provide the lyrics both in Punjabi and Hindi with translation in English so that all can understand and enjoy the spirit of the song. The song starts with beautiful Doha of Sant Kabir ji, from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji: Raag Gauri ( ਗਾਉੜੀ ), Ang 329 of1430. (Rest of the lyrics of the devotional song are penned by Harmajeet).
ਓਇ ਜੁ ਦੀਸਹਿ ਅੰਬਰ ਤਾਰੇ।।
ਕਿੰਨ ਓਇ ਚੀਤੇ ਚੀਤਣਹਾਰੇ।।੧।।
(The stars which are seen in the sky, who is the painter who painted those?)
‘Nanak Aadh Jugaad Jiyo’ is a religious song with meaningful and praiseworthy verses all written by Harmanjeet. Diljit Dosanjh has performed as an actor in the music video as well as lent his promising Punjabi vocals. Manpreet Singh composes the ear-soothing anthem and Gurmoh is the songster who gave musical direction to it. Baljit Singh Deo has directed this devotional music album. Diljit Dosanjh is one of the most famous Punjabi actors and singers who has made it big in movies. He has impressed the entire country with his diverse movie roles and judging stint on a television reality show. The singer-actor made his Hindi films debut opposite Kareena Kapoor in ‘Udta Punjab’.
Talking about devotional music, Daljit Dosanjh told PTI in an interview, “Definitely being spiritual helps me create good music because music is ultimately the sound of the God. The universe itself was created by the sound waves which that almighty created. So music and spirituality go together. Everything is interconnected.”
Now coming to the reason behind my posting this song. I had decided on some other Sufi song as my first song of the second day because the theme of the Fest was declared in January but during the February Fest I shifted to this song. In the first week of this month (February) I read a shocking news in Hindustan Times which badly disturbed me. How can it happen in a city like Chandigarh and otherwise too how can people be so cruel to kill their own new born daughters? The News was:
“Police and municipal workers were left baffled after bodies of two newborn girls were recovered from two different places – a manhole in Sector 56 and a garbage dump in Sector 33 – within a span of half an hour in Chandigarh on Wednesday.” HT City Chandigarh, 6th February 2020. And injury marks around the buck and face of the new born girls were found in postmortem reports. So inhumane. (My note: Please read ‘Is There Reason To Celebrate Women’s Day In India?‘ You will read about, among other things, how female foetuses were found discarded in a well in Punjab).
Then this soul healing song came to my mind. The song is set in Punjab and Diljit Dosanjh is seen adopting a small baby girl from the street and raising her like his own daughter. It is a soulful song and gives the message that everyone is Guru Nanak Ji’s (God’s) child. Why can’t we be like the characters in the song? We prefer going to holy places, offering flowers, dakshina or reciting chants rather than following the preaching of Gurus or of our religions that teach us no discrimination in gender, colour or caste. First one should learn to be a good human being. Sorry, may be I got too emotional.
Dosto, I really really love this song and very soulful voice of Daljit Dosanjh and hope you all will enjoy it. Please relish the divinity. Thanks..🙏🙏💐💐❤️❤️
Lyrics with meaning.
———————————-
ਓਇ ਜੁ ਦੀਸਹਿ ਅੰਬਰ ਤਾਰੇ।।
ਕਿੰਨ ਓਇ ਚੀਤੇ ਚੀਤਣਹਾਰੇ।।੧।।
ओ इह दिसे अंबर तारे
किन ओह चीते चीतेहारे
(The stars which are seen in the sky, who is the painter who painted those?)
ਰੋਸ਼ਨੀਆਂ ਦੀ ਪਾਲਕੀ ਦਾ ਬੂਹਾ ਖੋਲ ਰਹੇ,
ਚਮਕ ਚਮਕ ਕੇ ਤਾਰੇ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ ਬੋਲ ਰਹੇ।
रोशनियां दी पालकी दा बूहा खोल रहे
चमक चमक के तारे नानक नानक बोल रहे।
(They are opening the doors of palanquin of lights. The twinkling stars are chanting the name of Nanak Ji.)
ਇਹ ਚਾਨਣ ਦੇ ਵਣਜਾਰੇ, ਜੋ ਵੇਖਣ ਦੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਇੱਕ ਲੱਗਦੇ
ਮੈਂਨੂੰ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਤਾਰੇ, ਗੁਰੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਸਿੱਖ ਲੱਗਦੇ।
इह चानण दे वंजारे, जो वेखन दे विच इक लगदे
मेनू चिटे चिटे तारे, गुरु नानक जी दे सिख लगदे।
(The harbingers of Divine which appear to be alike, those twinkling stars are all for me Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Sikhs. Sikhs here means good people who follow the seekh or preaching of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.)
ਚਾਨਣ ਦੀ ਟਕਸਾਲ ਹੈ ਜਿੱਥੇ, ਵੱਜਦਾ ਅਨਹਦ ਨਾਦ ਜੀਓ,
ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜੀਓ, ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜੀਓ।।
चानण दी टकसाल है जित्थे,वजदा अन्हद नाध जियो
नानक आदि जुगादि जियो, नानक आदि जुगादि जियो
(There where is the abode of Divine Light, there vibrates the primordial sound. Nanak Sahib is the prime beginning, beyond the time and Nanak Sahib is present throughout all the Yuggas.)
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ, ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ,
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਮਰਿਏ, ਦਮ ਦਮ ਬਰਸੇ ਨੂਰ,
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਮਰਿਏ, ਪਰਗਟ ਹੋਣ ਹਜ਼ੂਰ।
दम दम नानक नानक नानक नानक दम दम नानक नानक
दम दम नानक नानक सिमरिये, दम दम बरसे नूर
दम दम नानक नानक सिमरिये, परगट होये हजूर।
(I recite the name of Nanak with each breath I take. The bliss falls upon me when I chant Nanak’s name. I witness His presence by reciting His Name.)
ਜਦੋਂ ਹਨੇਰਾ ਫੈਲਣ ਲੱਗਦਾ, ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਪਰਕਾਸ਼ ਨਈ,
ਔਖੇ ਵੇਲੇ ਜੁੜ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਨੇ, ਸਰਬ ਸਾਂਝੀ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਲਈ,
ਇਹ ਜਾਤ ਪਾਤ ਤੋਂ ਉੱਤੇ ਤੇ ਆਪਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਇੱਕ ਮਿੱਕ ਲੱਗਦੇ,
ਮੈਨੂੰ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਤਾਰੇ ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਸਿੱਖ ਲੱਗਦੇ।
जदों हनेरा फैलन लगदा, हो जांदे प्रकाश नयी
औखे वेळे जुड़ जांदे ने, सरब सांझी अरदास लायी
इह जात पात तो उत्ते, ते आसपास विच इक मिल्क लगदे
मैनूं चिटे चिटे तारे गुरु नानक जी दे सिख लगदे
(When the darkness sprawls over, they turn bright and illuminate. Similarly, during the hard times, Sikhs of Guru Nanak come together for “Universal Prayer”. They have raised themselves above the idea of casteism as preached by their Guru Nanak Sahib and they all live in great harmony. Those twinkling stars are all for me Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Sikhs.)
ਅਸੀਂ ਹਾਂ ਭੁੱਲੇ ਭੱਟਕੇ ਪਰ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਸਬ ਕੁਛ ਯਾਦ ਜਿਉ,
ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜਿਉ, ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜਿਉ।
असीं हां भुले भटके, उसनु है सब याद जियो
नानक आदि जुगादि जियो, नानक आदि जुगादि जियो।
(We all are the forgetful ones, it’s You who remembers everything. Nanak Sahib is the prime beginning, beyond the time and Nanak Sahib is present throughout all the Yuggas.)
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ, ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ,
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਮਰਿਏ, ਦਮ ਦਮ ਬਰਸੇ ਨੂਰ,
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਮਰਿਏ, ਪਰਗਟ ਹੋਣ ਹਜ਼ੂਰ।
दम दम नानक नानक नानक नानक दम दम नानक नानक
दम दम नानक नानक सिमरिये, दम दम बरसे नूर
दम दम नानक नानक सिमरिये, परगट होये हजूर।
(I recite the name of Nanak with each breath I take. The bliss falls upon me when I chant Nanak’s name. I witness His presence by reciting His Name.)
ਚਾਰੋ ਪਹਿਰ ਵੈਰਾਗ ਜਿਹਾ ਅੰਦਰੋ ਅੰਦਰ ਰਿਸਦਾ ਏ,
ਮੈਨੂੰ ਹਰ ਇਕ ਚੀਜ ਦੇ ਉੱਤੇ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਦਿੱਸਦਾ ਏ,
ਤੇਰੀ ਮੇਹਰ ਨੇ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਕਰ ਦੇਣੇ, ਜੋ ਆਵਾ ਗੌਣ ਚ ਵਿੱਖ ਲੱਗਦੇ,
ਮੈਨੂੰ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਤਾਰੇ ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਸਿਖ ਲੱਗਦੇ।
चारो पेहर वैराग जेहा कोई अंदरो अंदर रिसदा ए
मैनू हर इक चीज दे उत्ते नानक लिखेया दिसदा ए
तेरी मेहर ने अमृत कर देणे जो आवा गोन च विख लगदे
मैनूं चिटे चिटे तारे गुरु नानक जी दे सिख लगदे
(When a depression exudes on the inside of my soul continuously, but I spot Nanak inscribed on everything, every object. Your blessings and love will turn the viscous cycle entering and exiting the world into sweet Nectar of Liberation.Those twinkling stars are all for me Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Sikhs.)
ਹਰ ਜੀਵ ਦੀ ਮੰਜਿਲ ਇੱਕੋ ਹੀ ਹੈ, ਰਸਤਾ ਗੁਰੂ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦ ਜਿਉ,
ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜਿਉ, ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜਿਉ।
हर जीव दी मंजिल इक्को ही है रस्ता गुर प्रसाद जियो
नानक आदि जुगादि जियो, नानक आदि जुगादि जियो।
(Every living being has a common journey of meeting The Divine but the path can be achieved by Guru’s Grace. Nanak Sahib is the prime beginning, beyond the time and Nanak Sahib is present throughout all the Yuggas.)
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ, ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਨਕ,
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਮਰਿਏ, ਦਮ ਦਮ ਬਰਸੇ ਨੂਰ,
ਦਮ ਦਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਿਮਰਿਏ, ਪਰਗਟ ਹੋਣ ਹਜ਼ੂਰ।
दम दम नानक नानक नानक नानक दम दम नानक नानक
दम दम नानक नानक सिमरिये, दम दम बरसे नूर
दम दम नानक नानक सिमरिये, परगट होये हजूर।
(I recite the name of Nanak with each breath I take. The bliss falls upon me when I chant Nanak’s name. I witness His presence by reciting His Name.)
ਸੰਗਤ ਦੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਬੈਠ ਕੇ ਜਪੀਏ, ਨਾਮ ਤੇਰੇ ਸਮਰੱਥ ਬਾਬਾ,
ਤੂੰ ਹੀ ਸਰਜਨ ਮੇਟਣ ਵਾਲਾ, ਸਬ ਤੇਰੇ ਹੱਥ ਬਾਬਾ,
ਤੂੰ ਹੀ ਸਬਦਾ ਬਾਬਲ ਹੈਂ, ਸਬ ਤੇਰੀ ਔਲਾਦ ਜਿਉ,
ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜਿਉ, ਨਾਨਕ ਆਦਿ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਜਿਉ।
संगत दे विच बै के जपिये नाम तेरे समर्थ बाबा
तू ही सृजन मिटान वाला सब कुछ तेरे हत्थ बाबा
तू ही सच्चा बाबल है सब तेरी हि औलाद जियो
नानक आदि जुगादि जियो, नानक आदि जुगादि जियो।
(We gather and recite your Noble Name in the company of loved ones. You are the creator and destroyer. Everything is under Your charge. You are the True Father and every living being in the world is your offspring. Nanak Sahib is the prime beginning, beyond the time and Nanak Sahib is present throughout all the Yuggas. )
Thank you, Surekha Saini, for the above post. It is rare for me to have a Guest Post. However, considering the present state of Punjab (the state of my birth) and how we conveniently forgot the message of Guru Nanak even when we recently celebrated his 550th Birth Anniversary, it is a very apt post.
Here is a small effort by me, many years ago, on my Facebook Page: ‘Make Your Own Quotes‘:
My first song in this series was Raat Ke Hamsafar Thak Ke Ghar Ko Chale. This too is:
Our Dedication to a Lyricist who
Always Dived Deep to find Pearls
Now that I have (accidentally) started with a tribute to this great lyricist, I want to quickly catch up with Hasrat Jaipuri or the week count this year.
Shailendra had fewer (much fewer) title songs as compared to co-lyricist in Shankar Jaikishan movies: Hasrat Jaipuri. This was an important title song.
The trend of movies during those days was that movies with excellent songs had stories that dragged especially in the second half. DD Kashyap movie Maya starring Dev Anand and mala Sinha had two excellent songs by Salil Chowdhury: Tasveer teri dil se and Jaa re jaa reudh jaa re panchhi. Despite these, most of the movie I saw in fast-forward. It was released in the same year as the movie of this song.
Anpadh had excellent songs by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Madan Mohan (including Aap ki nazaron ne samajha) and yet the second half dragged.
But, Dil Apna Aur Preet Prayi was handled by someone who played Marco in Dev Anand’s Guide: Kishore Sahu. The movie, I would say, was directed well and held our interest.
This song occurs somewhere near the end of the movie and yet it had at least kept my interest alive. Hats off first of all to Kishore Sahu. There is no point having an excellent song but whilst seeing the movie in the cinema you take a popcorn break or seeing it on your com you fast forward it.
As far as I am concerned, a movie song must carry the story forward and aptly express the emotions of the protagonist (s). You see the movie Patita, for example; the song on which I named my group and the song we always sing together when we have a Meet of the group: Yaad Kiya Dil Ne expressed the emotions of both Dev Anand and Usha Kiran but didn’t carry the story forward.
It was a done thing during those days to slow down the beat of sad songs to have soulful effect. Madan Mohan was a master at it, eg, Main ye soch kar us ke dar se utha tha and Mujhe le chalo phir aaj us gali mein.
Shailendra and Shankar Jaikishan mastered the exact opposite with superb effect. Their Anari song is a representative example: Tera jaana, dil ke armaano ka lut jaana. Incidentally, once gain a song that carries forward the plot and expresses the feelings of Nutan very well both in lyrics and notes.
I sometimes feel that Madan Mohan’s song in Anpadh may have been inspired by Shankar Jaikishan: Vo dekho jala ghar kisi ka; fast beat- sad song.
You may be surprised that I selected this song over the popular other song of the movie: Ajeeb dastan hai ye. The reason is that I cannot think of many title songs that can describe the meaning of the title so well. Take Raj Kapoor’s 1949 movie Barsaat, for example; until the end of the movie I kept wondering as to why was it titled Barsaat. Not so with Dil Apna Aur Preet Prayi, especially after this song.
Shailendra, as always, has given us many expressions to think about and I have highlighted these in the lyrics:
Dil apna aur preet prayi, kisne hai ye reet banayi
Aandhi me ek deep jalaya, aur pani mein aag lagayi
Dil apna aur preet parayi, kisne hai ye rit banayi
Dil apna…
Hai dard aisa ke sehna hai mushkil
Duniya waalon se kehna hai mushkil
Ghir ke aaya hain toofan aisa
Bach ke sahil pe rehna hai mushkil
Ghir ke aaya hain toofan aisa
Bach ke sahil pe rehna hai mushkil
Dil apna aur preet praayi, kisne hai ye reet banayi
Aandhi me ek deep jalaya, aur pani mein aag lagayi
Dil apna…
Dil ko sambhala na daman bachaya
Failee jab aag tab hosh aaya
Gam ke maare pukaren kise hum
Hum se bichhda hamara hi saaya
Gam ke maare pukaren kise hum
Hum se bichhda hamara hi saaya
Dil apna aur preet praayi, kisne hai ye reet banayi
Aandhi me ek deep jalaya, aur pani mein aag lagayi
dil apna…
Aandhi mein ek deep jalaya aur paani mein aag lagayi is a superb expression to express the turmoil that is going through in Meena Kumari‘s mind when on the Deewali night it becomes clear to her that an already married man Raaj Kumar is as much in love with her as she had been with him all along.
Bach ke sahil pe rehna hai mushkil: there are many S-J songs with a boat but none has used the boat so beautifully as in this song. It is as if the lyrics have come alive. When the song ends the coda is so superb that it looks like it is gently rocking the boat and not the sea or the breeze!
Gam ke maare pukaaren kise ham
Ham se bichhada hamara hi saaya
I want you to recall these lines of Dil Ki Nazar Se song put up by Shailendra and S-J:
Kyon bekhabar, yun khichi si chali ja rahi main
Ye kaun se bandhano me badhi ja rahi main
It is because Love is never a reasoned emotion. If it was, you won’t fall in love but you would deliberately tip-toe into love!
However, despite that you and your inner self are in sync; both don’t pull in different directions. But, here, Meena Kumari’s emotions are pulling her in opposite directions: Yes, she loves him but he is already married!
Shailendra has, as always, done an outstanding job of selecting his words.
It is in Bhairavi, Tal Dadra almost all throughout.
Please enjoy: Dil apna aur preet prayi…
Of course, the selection of Meena Kumari as the heroine of this movie was the master-stroke; she emoted well on these complex feelings.
I hope you liked my choice.
Please await the next song in the series.
Our Dedication to a Lyricist to Whom
We Owe the Title of Our Songs Group*
(The Facebook group is ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ or YKDN in short
This is My Dedication to Evani Leela in addition to Kishwar Jaipuri
Losing one’s mother is by far the biggest sadness in the life of a man or a woman. Our sister Evani Leela lost hers on the 9th January this year. We have been off YKDN since then as a mark of respect for her and we called off our weekend Fest too.
Now, it is my attempt to get Evani Leela back on her feet. With personal experience I can say that the void and the sadness never go away. However, I would want you to consider that life is a gift and we must get back to honouring that gift of God.
It is never my intention to take away the initiative from those who would follow me in putting up HJSOWs by merely putting up the most popular songs. It is, however, my intention to put up songs with extraordinary lyrics.
I also have to imagine songs that Evani Leela would be fond of and it occurred to me that this would be very high in her list of favourites, if not the most favourite.
It is from the 1955 V Shantaram film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. Hasrat ji wrote the lyrics of all songs in the movie and this was composed by Vasant Desai. It was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar.
The movie starred the dancer and choreographer Gopi Krishna and V Shantaram’s third wife Sandhya.
The film won the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film, the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and the Filmfare Best Movie Award.
First of all, off the movie, Sandhya wasn’t much of a dancer. Gopi, on the other hand, was born into a family of Kathak dancers and soon emerged as a renowned and fine dancer. For the movie, Gopi taught her good dancing that you see in this song and other songs of the movie.
In the movie, Gopi as Giridhar has to win a Tandava (the most difficult of dances) dance competition in the temple. However, Sandhya as Neela has fallen at the feet of Gopi’s guru Mangal Maharaj that she too wants to learn dancing like Gopi. Mangal guru agrees to take her as a disciple on one condition that she would help him win the competition.
She however, falls in love with not only his dancing but him too. So she is chucked out by the guru. She also keeps distance from him so as to help him concentrate on winning the competition. It is another thing that he too falls in love with her and wants her back.
Finally, it is a happy ending. She dances with him in the competition and he wins. Mangal guru agrees to marry them.
This song is therefore a turning point in their story of love.
The Lyrics
I am basically a Lyrical man as far as songs are concerned. Lyrics are more than 50 percent of the song for me.
These are extraordinary lyrics indeed.
Hasrat ji, as was the trend during those times, was an Urdu poet and lyricist (Urdu is an indigenous language of India as you already know). Language influences your culture and other way round. Hence, in most of his songs, you would get the flair of this culture. In Sangam, for example, Raj Kapoor (a Punjabi) is portraying Flight Lieutenant Sunder Khanna (another Punjabi) but look at his mastery of Urdu when he sings to Vyjayanthimala as Radha:
ओ महबूबा
तेरे दिल के पास ही है मेरी मंज़िल-ए-मक़्सूद
वो कौन सी महफ़िल है जहाँ तू नहीं मौजूद?
Rarely, you would have come across a Khanna expressing his love in Ooty lake in Urdu!
In this song (Nain so nain nahin milao), however, the lyrics truly reflect the kind of language that the two dancers would be exchanging! Here, pay attention:
नैन सो नैन नाही मिलाओ – २
देखत सूरत आवत लाज, सैय्यां
प्यार से प्यार आके सजाओ – २
मधुर मिलन गावत आज, गुइयां*
नैन सो नैन …
आ …
खींचो कमान मारो जी बाण
रुत है जवान ओ मेरे प्राण
– रुक क्यों गये?
तुमने चोरी कर ली कमान
कैसे मारूं प्रीत का बाण, गुइयां
नैन सो नैन …
रिम झिम झिम गाये झरनों की धारदिल को लुभाये कोयल पुकार
– नहीं!
– तो फिर?
झरनों की धारों में तेरा संगीत
गाये कोयल तेरा ही गीत, गुइयाँ
नैन सो नैन …
नीले गगन पे झूमेंगे आज
बादल का प्यार देखेंगे आज
बादल नैय्या है बिजली पतवार
हम-तुम चल दें दुनिया के पार, सैय्यां …
नैन सो नैन …
It mustn’t have been easy for Hasrat ji to do it. But, then, he must have strived and came up with this winner. That’s the reason I thought Evani Leela would like it; a Telugu by birth she learnt Hindi only to appreciate songs!
This is one song that cannot be composed in isolation. The composition must fall in line with the synchronised dance that Gopi and Sandhya would do. In particular, it has to be discussed with Gopi as the choreographer! If you look at the dance, you would know that Vasant Desai excelled.
The dance is the essential part of story-line; they have to dance in concert as a teacher and disciple. And, most importantly, also be an instrument of their love for each other. I have my hair standing on ends to see the level of perfection.
Please don’t take it for granted that you know about the song. See it once at least:
Almost everybody would like us to listen to Hasrat Jaipuri’s most popular songs with Shankar Jaikishan especially in Raj Kapoor movies. I am different. Through the selection of my songs I also want you to become aware of the range of the Lyricist.
I hope you liked my choice.
Please await the next song in the series.
In my Songs group on Facebook: Yaad Kiya Dil Ne we pay tribute to four people associated with the making of songs: the Lyricists, the Composers, the Singers and the Actors.
However, from amongst these four, the people closest to my heart are the Lyricists, the guys who carry forward the story of the movie, give voice to the emotions of the protagonists and comment upon the situation as per the story-line. All others build up on the foundation of the structure laid by the Lyricists.
And that’s why I have a page on Facebook called Lyrical. My blog has more posts on Lyricists than on any of the other three. And this is not to say I am neglecting others. Take Composers for example; my series on Raaga Based Song of the Day is exclusively on how these really talented artistes compose songs.
Starting from the beginning of this year, I started with a series Hasrat Jaipuri Song of the Week. I soon added Shailendra Song of the Week. And now, Rajinder Krishan is the third and the last one this year. I already have a number of posts on him:
As I said, I started off the year 2020 by starting a weekly tribute to Hasrat Jaipuri because of the excellence of his romantic songs and because of my behna Kishwar Jaipuri.
Come the fourth week, I put up a song: Raat ke hamsafar only to be told that it was penned by Shailendra. So I started another series Shailendra Song of the Day (SSOW).
And now RKSOW because I am very fond of his lyrics and Rajesh Duggal is a member of this group and Rajinder Krishan’s (he used both spellings of his name; the other being Rajendra Krishan) son . In addition to his proud heritage, he is a great singer in his own right and I have often liked his choices of songs.
Today (27 Jan, when I put it up on Yaad Kiya Dil Ne) happens to be the birth anniversary of the actor Pradeep Kumar and I wanted to put up a tribute to him too.
I had to choose between some of their greatest songs and the final choice was this and Wo bhooli dastan. I am keeping Wo bhooli dastan for another day.
Let me repeat what Indira Gandhi told a BBC interviewer once when the interviewer was amazed at what she, Indira Gandhi, could pack in a day, whilst being the PM of India: “Busy people have time for everything.”
Many other so called “Pillars of YKDN” have almost given up whilst they have as much time as they used to have two or three years ago. I, on the other hand, have one tenth of the time I used to have. At one time I used to feel that I have written more than all others put together. A random survey has now revealed that I have written many times more than all others put together.
I am busy. I have time for everything.
This post is almost entirely the same that I wrote on 23rd Sep 2019, the death anniversary of this great lyricist.
They were together in a number of movies. Their most popular movie was Nagin starring Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar. Then they were together in Miss Mary. I can remember the unforgettable songs: O raat ke mussafir Chanda zara bata de and Brindavan ka Krishan Kanhaiya. Their Champakali song: Chhup gaya koi re door se pukaar ke is a favourite of mine in Raag Jhinjhoti.
But the song that I have thought of giving you tonight is from Durgesh Nandini and I shall tell you why.
Khamoshi
Khamoshi is a favourite theme with Hemant Kumar and the name of the only movie that he produced. Chup, Khamoshi, Sannata are some of the favourite words in his songs.
With that background, look at the way Rajinder Krishan handles Khamoshi in this song:
ये खामोशियां भी हैं इक दास्तां
कोई कहता है मुझसे मोहब्बत जवां है
You have to agree with me that this is extraordinary imagination! Can you imagine who speaks to her in the Silences? Rajinder Krishan gave a hint about it in his most famous ghazal:
खुद दिल से दिल की बात कही, और रो लिये
That’s what Khamoshi is meant for! To try to find yourself.
When you let your imagination fly, you can hear such Khamoshi:
शोर ओ गुल में रूह की आवाज़ को भी सुन,
नूर ओ रंग में इस दबे राज़ को भी सुन।
बहुत दिलकश हैं ज़िन्दगी के हसीन नग़मे,
पर दूर कहीं बज रही है यह हल्की सी धुन।
फरेब-ऐ-नज़र है, सराब है, महज़ ग़ुबार है दुनिया,
जागते सोते चंद रोज़ के खवाइश-ऐ-ख्वाब न बुन।
रिश्ते, मुहबतें, याराने सब दिल ओ दिमाग की हैं बातें,
शहनाई की मुबारक धुन, घुंघरू की यह रूण झुन।
हमसफर रहे हैं अभी तक लालच, अना और खुद गर्ज़ी,
दौरान-ए-हयात में अब रहमत ओ रूहानियत भी चुन।
हंगामा-ए-जंगल में आवाज़ें बहुत रही हैं बुलंद,
गौर से, रवि, अब इस नन्हे परिंदे की भी सुन।
Durgesh Nandini is a 1956 movie directed by B Mitra and starring Pradeep Kumar, Bina Rai, Ajit and Nalini Jaywant and Nigar Sultana.
The story, a historical romance story, and is the name of the first novel written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865. It also happens to be the first major Bengali novel.
Mughal – Pathan conflics in the region of West Bengal makes for the backdrop of the story. Raja Man Singh’s son Jagat Singh (played by Pradeep Kumar) is a General in the Mughal army. He meets Tilottama (played by Bina Rai) who is the daughter of Birendra Singha (Bipin Gupta), Mandaran’s (in South West Bengal) and they fall in love. Wedding preparations are on but they are attacked by Katlu Khan (Ajit). Birendra Sangha is killed. Jagat Singh, Tilottama and Bimala (Birendra’s widow) are imprisoned. Ayesha (Katlu Khan’s daughter played by Nalini Jaywant) protects Tilottama from her father’s lust. But, complications start as Ayesha too starts loving Jagat Singh.
Man Singh, loyal to Akbar, signs a pact with Pathans and Jagat Singh is set free. He marries Tilottama with the help of Ayesha; a surprising Hindu-Hindu marriage unlike the recurring theme in Hindi movies of Hindu-Muslim marriages.
The song here is between Jagat Singh (Pradeep Kumar) and Tilottama (Bina Rai) and sung by Lata Mangeshkar on the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan composed by Hemant Kumar. I haven’t seen the movie but it is not difficult to guess that it is the beginning of their relationship.
Before you attempt listening to Khamoshiyan, please listen to Rajinder Krishan’s superb song: Kahan le chale ho musafir bata do….
Kahan le chale ho bata do musafir Sitaron se aage ye kaisa jahan hai Kahan le chale ho bata do musafir Sitaron se aage ye kaisa jahan hai Khyalon ki manzil ye khvabon ki mahfil Samajh me na aye ye duniya kahan hai Kahan rah gaye kafile badlon ke Kahan rah gaye kafile badlon ke Zamin chhup gayi hai tale badlon ke Hai mujhako yaqin ke ye jannat vahi hai Ajab si fiza hai ajab ye sama hai Kahan le chale ho bata do musafir Sitaron se aage ye kaisa jahan hai Nazar ki dua ka javab aa raha hai Nazar ki dua ka javab aa raha hai Meri aarzu ka shabab aa raha hai Ye khamoshiyan bhi hai ek dasta koi Kahata hai mujhase mohabbat javan hai Kaha le chale ho bata do musafir Sitaron se aage ye kaisa jahan hai Mohabbat bhari is jahan ki hai raahen Mohabbat bhari is jahan ki hai raahen Jinhe dekhakar kho gayin hai nigaahen Ye halki hawa layi kaisa nasha sa Raha hosh itna mera dil kahan hai Kahan le chale ho bata do musafir Sitaro se aage ye kaisa jahan hai
I feel close to the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan.
He was born on the same day as me: 6th of June. He spent his earlier life in Simla (before the spellings were changed to Shimla) before joining the Hindi movies.
I hope you liked my choice.
Please await the next song in the series.
On my Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne, from the First of January 2020, I started with a weekly dedication to Hasrat Jaipuri, the lyricist to whom we owe the title of the group. Interestingly, the first group that I formed was also named after a song and the title of the group was from the mukhada of a song penned by Shailendra: Dil Ki Nazar Se.
Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra were lyricists in the camp of the music duo Shankar Jaikishan who themselves were known as the “house-musicians of Raj Kapoor”. Whilst Hasrat Jaipuri emerged as the Shahenshah-e-Rumaniyat (Emperor of Romance), Shailendra emerged as the lyricist who delved deep; people are still trying to find out the full-meaning of some of his lyrics.
So, this is our dedication to a Lyricist who
Always dived deep to find pearls
Incidentally, in this blog, I already have two posts on Shailendra:
When I was young and had just joined the Navy, we used to have this British humour magazine Punch (a weekly magazine at that time) available in our wardrooms. Some of its cartoons were memorable. One of the cartoons showed Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with three stone tablets and pronounced to the gathering, “I hereby give you fifteen (oops, one of the tablets fell down and broke)…er….ten commandments.”
Likewise, I have these friends of SJMF. What they and my sister Kishwar Jaipuri do not know about music in general and Shankar Jaikishan songs in particular, can be written on the back of what used to be the lowest denomination of postage stamps in India: the five paisa stamps!
With the new year I decided to start a series titled Hasrat Jaipuri Song of the Week. I was in the fourth such week when I put up this song erroneously ascribing it to Hasrat Jaipuri. The stridency of their protests would have put the inspired protests against CAA, NRC and NPR to shame. “Damn good post”, they sang in unison, “Except that the song belongs to Shailendra and not Hasrat. Whenever you get time, have your head checked for sanity by somebody qualified.”
I made a quick retreat and decided that I must become the modern Moses and give the gathering: ‘Shailendra Song of the Week.’ That is SSOW in addition to HJSOW.
So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen.
As they say in the aftermath of such sticky situations: ‘Der aaye darust aaye.’
For the third week song of HJSOW (you are yet to get it on this blog), I gave you one from the 1958 Shakti Samanta movie Howrah Bridge. Why didn’t his favourite heroine Sharmila Tagore act in Howrah Bridge? Well, La Tagore would have been only 14 years old if she had acted in Howrah Bridge. So, Shakti Samanta waited for her (in the lyrics of a popular song: Ye kali jab talaq fool ban ke khile intezzar intezzar intezzar karo). He waited for her to make her debut in Kashmir Ki Kali whose songs put together by SH Bihari and OP Nayyar made me write a blog about those: Ever Fresh Songs Of Kashmir Ki Kali.
Incidentally, Kashmir Ki Kali and An Evening In Paris (from where this songs has been taken) were Shakti Samanta’s 14th and 16th movies respectively with just one movie Sawan Ki Ghata in between that had La Tagore acting opposite Bozo, something that she must have regretted later since Bozo murdered one of the best songs of the movie (put together by SH Bihari and OP Nayyar): Zulfon ko hata lo chehre se by terrible acting.
I am not going to fill up this part of the description with flowery adjectives. Suffice it to say that: Doodh ke jale chhachh ko bhi phoonk phoonk kar peete hain.
Let me tell you something about the unchallenged mastery of Shailendra and SJ pertaining to this song only:
Shailendra First
Shailendra died on 14 Dec 1966, five years before Jaikishan died on 12 Sep 1971. What led to his demise was primarily the setback he received from the box-office failure of his only production: Teesri Kasam.
Next year, we would complete 50 years after his demise. And yet, even till now some of us are discovering some new meaning or the other in his songs.
We were told by the singer Sharda that when S-J asked him to write a simple children’s song he came up with one there too with deep meaning: Titli udhi uddh jo gayi phool ne kaha aaja mere paas (It came out that even in this seemingly children’s song only, he gave a relationship between Body and Soul).
What about the first song of this series? He uses the expression Raat Ke Hamsafar to portray the negative feelings that are as dark as the night and hence are co-passengers with night!
What negative feelings is he referring to? Hatred, belittling, ignoring, trifling with that Sharmila Tagore indulged in with Shammi Kapoor! And now what is happening in the movie? Suddenly, the Subah Pyar Ki is showing its glimpses! This is the first time the sprout of love has broken out between the two contenders. If you have got this right, you can follow the rest of the lyrics easily:
Eg, Sone waalon ko hanskar jagaana bhi hai,
Raat ki chaahton ko sulaana bhi hai
Superb lines. The new sprout of Love between them demands this! By this Shailendra means that Love was dormant all this while and now time has come to awaken it! Raat ki chaahton are negative feelings; these have to be put to sleep! Tell me many other lyricists who have gone this deep!
Seen in this light, one of the best lines of the song with amazing imagination used by Shailendra is: Loriyan gaa rahi hai subah pyar ki! Incredible indeed. Love is always kind and always gentle. It is singing lullabies for the negative feelings to go to sleep!
And a complete denouement takes place in the last stanza:
Kya kya vaade huye, kisne khaai kasam?
Kis nayi raah par hamne rakhe kadam? (as I said, this is the first time mutual love has broken out like a new morning)
Chhup saka pyaar kab ham chhupaaye to kya
Chhup saka pyaar kab ham chhupaaye to kya
Sab samajh paa rahi hain subah pyaar ki
And Now Shankar Jaikishan
Once again no hero-worshiping, no meaningless adjectives.
When the new Subah of Pyar is about to break out between the lovers, they are at night in the Love city of the world: Paris!
S-J have to give a composition and background music that would contrast the delights of this Love City at night with what is happening to the lovers! Take it from me that lesser music directors won’t even come close to this challenge. How do you think they scored? Here is what you can do:
Put the video on mute and watch it first and then watch it with their music! You will know what I mean!!
SJ were the first duo who went international in their music and compositions. With what they had to offer in this song, you can’t have the song anywhere else, say, in Tokyo!
Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle
Makes you feel why not Mohammad Rafi and Lata?
It can’t just be that the first two movies of Shakti Samanta with La Tagore had OP Nayyar’s compositions and hence Asha Bhosle sang for Sharmila Tagore.
Please notice that in this song when she expresses her realisation of Love for him, she also displays a somewhat shy sensuousness (as opposed to the bold sensuousness in her bikini song Aasman se aaya farishta penned by HJ; the first ever bikini song in Hindi movies with an Indian actress). Lata ji is good in many genres of singing but Asha was very well suited to accentuate this sensuousness!
Please enjoy: Raat ke hamsafar…
Raat ke hamsafar thak ke ghar ko chale Jhumati aa rahi hai subah pyar ki Dekh kar samne rup ki roshani Phir luti ja rahi hai subah pyar ki Sone walon ko hanskar jagana bhi hai Raat ke chaahton ko sulaana bhi hai Deti hai jaagne ki sada saath hi Deti hai jaagne ki sada saath hi Loriya ga rahi hai subah pyaar ki Raat ke hamsafar thak ke ghar ko chale Jhumati aa rahi hai subah pyar ki Dekh kar samne rup ki roshani Phir luti ja rahi hai subah pyar ki
Raat ne pyar ke jaam bhar kar diye Ankhon ankhon se jo maine tumne piye Hosh to ab talaq ja ke laute nahin Hosh to ab talaq ja ke laute nahin Janey kya la rahi hai subah pyar ki Raat ke hamsafar thak ke ghar ko chale Jhumati aa rahi hai subah pyar ki Dekh kar samne rup ki roshani Phir luti ja rahi hai subah pyar ki
Kya kya vaade huye, kisne khaai kasam Kis nayi raah par hamne rakhe kadam Chhup saka pyaar kab ham chhupaayen to kya Chhup saka pyaar kab ham chhupaayen to kya Sab samajh paa rahi hai subah pyaar ki Raat ke hamsafar thak ke ghar ko chale Jhumati aa rahi hai subah pyar ki Pyar ki, pyar ki
All in all a beautiful song with lyrics that are both enchanting and deep-meaning.
I hope you liked my choice.
Wait for the next song in the series.
