Not that homesickness is confined to a particular season, but I end up missing home terribly at this time of the year. Among the countless things that bind me to where I will always belong, is music - old Hindi music and ghazals, in particular. Given that both my parents enjoy it immensely, and that music always had a place in the background when all of us were together when I was growing up, it is hardly surprising that I have an innate love of melody too. College and my time on my own added new genres and more variety to what I like...but there's nothing that can quite take the place of old Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd. Rafi songs...or of the soulful ghazals by Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh. I seem to have inherited my father's love of Gulzar's poetry, my mother's knack for remembering lyrics, and both my parents' flair for humming and singing softly as they go about their work. This evening, I suddenly found myself humming Katra Katra from Ijaazat, an old Hindi film. So I thought I'd share excerpts from some of my favourites :) Somehow, they end up saying a lot about life...happy songs! :)
Katra katra milti hai, katra katra jeene do
Zindagi hai, behne do,
Pyaasi hoon main pyaasi rehne do...
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Aane vaala pal jaane vaala hai
Ho sake to ismein zindagi bita do, pal jo yeh jaane vaala hai...
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Ae zindagi, galey laga le
Humne bhi tere har ek gham ko galey se lagaya hai, hai na?
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Diye jalte hain, phool khilte hain
Badi mushkil se magar duniya mein dost milte hain...
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Koi roko na deewaane ko
Mann machal raha kuch gaane ko...
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Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho
Kya gham hai jisko chhupa rahe ho...
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Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata koi
Yunhi nahi dil lubhaata koi
Jaane tu, ya jaane na...
Maane tu, ya maane na...
[Yes, I know this one came back into the limelight recently :)]
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This one is from Marasim, an album that Gulzar and Jagjit Singh collaborated on. It released when I was in senior school, and I have very vivid memories of listening to the songs with Papa as he drove me to and from my Math tuitions (I am seriously mathematically challenged!). I would chatter nonstop, breaking off every now and then to ask him what a particularly difficult Urdu word appearing in the current song meant. He would explain the meaning if he knew it himself; otherwise, we sat and deconstructed the word and tried going into its etymology to arrive at its meaning. Pronunciation in Urdu is extremely nuanced, and my father insisted I pronounce words right, often having to say a word as many as eight times himself for me to get it straight! Now and then, I’d deliberately mispronounce a word, just to hear him say it again, perfectly and with endless patience.
Haath chhoote bhi to rishtey nahi chhoda karte
Waqt ki shaakh se lamhe nahi toda karte...
Katra katra milti hai, katra katra jeene do
Zindagi hai, behne do,
Pyaasi hoon main pyaasi rehne do...
--------------
Aane vaala pal jaane vaala hai
Ho sake to ismein zindagi bita do, pal jo yeh jaane vaala hai...
-------------
Ae zindagi, galey laga le
Humne bhi tere har ek gham ko galey se lagaya hai, hai na?
------------
Diye jalte hain, phool khilte hain
Badi mushkil se magar duniya mein dost milte hain...
------------
Koi roko na deewaane ko
Mann machal raha kuch gaane ko...
------------
Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho
Kya gham hai jisko chhupa rahe ho...
------------
Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata koi
Yunhi nahi dil lubhaata koi
Jaane tu, ya jaane na...
Maane tu, ya maane na...
[Yes, I know this one came back into the limelight recently :)]
--------------
This one is from Marasim, an album that Gulzar and Jagjit Singh collaborated on. It released when I was in senior school, and I have very vivid memories of listening to the songs with Papa as he drove me to and from my Math tuitions (I am seriously mathematically challenged!). I would chatter nonstop, breaking off every now and then to ask him what a particularly difficult Urdu word appearing in the current song meant. He would explain the meaning if he knew it himself; otherwise, we sat and deconstructed the word and tried going into its etymology to arrive at its meaning. Pronunciation in Urdu is extremely nuanced, and my father insisted I pronounce words right, often having to say a word as many as eight times himself for me to get it straight! Now and then, I’d deliberately mispronounce a word, just to hear him say it again, perfectly and with endless patience.
Haath chhoote bhi to rishtey nahi chhoda karte
Waqt ki shaakh se lamhe nahi toda karte...
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I remember, in particular, these lines delivered by Gulzar himself at the end of the song. An exquisite metaphor wrapped in beautiful, simple, poignant poetry, addressed to a weaver and rendered in the voice of a much-admired poet:
Mujhko bhi tarqeeb sikha koi, yaar julaahe
Aksar dekha hai tujhko taana buuntey
Jab koi dhaaga toot gaya, ya khatam hua
Phir se baandh ke aur sira koi jod ke usmein
Aage buun-ney lagte ho.
Tumhare iss taane-baane mein lekin ek bhi gaanth-girah
Dhoondkar bhi dekh nahi sakta hai koi.
Maine toh ek baar buna tha ek hi rishta, lekin
Uski saari girrhein saaf nazar aati hain mere yaar julaahe…
Mujhko bhi tarqeeb sikha koi, yaar julaahe…
Translated, it reads:
Teach me your method, friend weaver.
Often have I seen you weave your threads together…
Every time a thread breaks, or runs out
You knot the loose end or tie it to another
And continue with your weaving.
Nobody can spot any of those knots in your weaving, though -
even if they tried.
The only thing I have ever woven is a relationship
But all its knots and loose ends are so clearly visible, my friend.
Teach me your method, friend weaver.
Mujhko bhi tarqeeb sikha koi, yaar julaahe
Aksar dekha hai tujhko taana buuntey
Jab koi dhaaga toot gaya, ya khatam hua
Phir se baandh ke aur sira koi jod ke usmein
Aage buun-ney lagte ho.
Tumhare iss taane-baane mein lekin ek bhi gaanth-girah
Dhoondkar bhi dekh nahi sakta hai koi.
Maine toh ek baar buna tha ek hi rishta, lekin
Uski saari girrhein saaf nazar aati hain mere yaar julaahe…
Mujhko bhi tarqeeb sikha koi, yaar julaahe…
Translated, it reads:
Teach me your method, friend weaver.
Often have I seen you weave your threads together…
Every time a thread breaks, or runs out
You knot the loose end or tie it to another
And continue with your weaving.
Nobody can spot any of those knots in your weaving, though -
even if they tried.
The only thing I have ever woven is a relationship
But all its knots and loose ends are so clearly visible, my friend.
Teach me your method, friend weaver.
I could go on and on...but there is hardly any point in listing about a hundred and fifty songs :) Old music is something I frequently turn to when I miss home, but it has the dual, rather paradoxical effect of making me feel better and more homesick at the same time! Which are your favourite songs? :)
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P.S. This post is dedicated to Ma and Papa. Aren't parents the most wonderful people in the world? :)
8 comments:
I know Exactly what you mean ! In newyork, its not ghazals, its the rains, they remind me sooo much of home - the rain was a sign that my mom would make hot chai and garma garam pakoda for evening snacks. I would sit by the verandah (btw that word is non-existent here, its the porch! sucks doesnt it !)with my daadi and enjoy the breeze, occasionally the breeze would spray a few rain drops on me, as if teasing me to step out :) And I would breath in, that waft of the first shower, emanating from the soil, and listen to my daadi share stories of her childhood (oh and as I grew older those very stories turned into wedding stories of how ppl my age group are getting married and I am running off to wash some glassware in some lab :D haha to her thats chemistry in a nutshell :D)
I love this post and at the same time it makes me sad, it reminds me of home, of how I feel when it rains here, it IS raining here now, but that breeze is not there, and home is so so far away. But I am glad that some one miles away, feels the way I do ! :)
Thanks! I'm glad that someone three continents away knows what I'm talking about, too :) Rain DOES tend to bring homesickness in its wake...I still love the smell of wet earth, and I remember running my palm over the railing in the balcony, brushing off the hundreds of raindrops clinging to it, which promptly turned into a little lake in the hollow of my hand :) Also agree with you that grandmums' stories tend to, er, change, as one grows older :P Don't let the rains make you sad...you're going to be home in a couple of months, and all of this is just waiting to be experienced again! :) :)
thanks :) I have never been into ghazals much, but your poem has spiked my interest, may be i will try them sometime. You have any suggestions for starters ?
Btw I just finished reading one of Picoults books - Keeping Faith. I would recommend it, as an interesting read.
Hey, thanks! I'm definitely going to look that one up...the name of that book about the humpback whale had piqued my interest already, but a recommendation always sends me to the bookstore at double the speed to check the book out! :) As for the ghazals, there's 'Hoshwalon ko khabar kya' from Sarfarosh and 'Tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya' from Saath Saath, I think. You've probably heard these before. And there's 'Shaam se aankh mein nami si hai' from Marasim, but I'm not sure where that can be downloaded from. My love affair with ghazals began with Tumko dekha toh and Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho...I hope you'll like them too! Happy listening!
i havent heard any from marasim, the rest i have. my absolute fav is tum itna jo. theres something about Jagjit Singh's voice that has a soothing trance.
Ya I couldnt get hold of the songs of the humpback whale, I found Keeping Faith online. (I do hate ebooks but I am broke now, so I can only dream of buying books frm Barnes And Nobles for a while ;)
I started reading tolstoy's Anna Karenina, I havent been able to get my head around it for quite some time now. You know there are those kind of books that you keep reading to a certain point and stop every single time you pick it up na!, well for me tolstoy is one of them :)Hopefully this time, I shall pass that point and get stuck else where ! :P
Haha I know exactly what you are talking about. I had to read A God of Small Things three times (I must have been thirteen or so) before I could even begin to understand it! More recently, I have found myself stuck at page 142 of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I am no-one to judge people on e-books...I have had to resort to them more than once just so I could read a book I couldn't find or afford!;) [If you're a student, the spirit may be willing, but the wallet is often weak!] For some reason, I have been wanting to read Hardy again for some time now. But guilt from incomplete projects and assignments holds me back :(
I havent read any of Rohinton Mistry, I really need to get into indian authors now, should I start with mistry ? I have read desai etc but the more recent ones arent in my book list.
I wouldn't recommend Mistry! He left me thoroughly depressed! But that's personal opinion...I know people who like his books too :) I liked Nirad C. Chaudhari. Jhumpa Lahiri too...and of course there's R.K. Narayan!
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