Saturday, May 21, 2022

तुम बिन कौन लेत खबर मोरी

An enjoyable rendering, and a powerful appeal to God, of a Shivranjani composition of only four lines of lyrics. Rough translation:

"Who else is concerned about me,
You are the lord — Swami — of everyone, in everyone.
My boat is stuck in a vortex
Please get me out to a shore, God."



Tuesday, February 08, 2022

नाम गुम जाएगा ... मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है — Lata Mangeshkar (1929-2022)

Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar is no more. It is unfortunate that she succumbed to COVID-19. Of the several thousands of songs she sung in her career, this particular song stands out in my mind as a unique memory of Lata Mangeshkar. 

नाम गुम जाएगा ... मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है

Approximately translated: "Name will be forgotten ... my voice is the only identity". (This video is pictured on Jeetendra, Hema Malini and Dharmendra, but the meaning is applicable to Lata Mangeshkar's life as well, it seems to me).

She has provided the world with evergreen songs and singing ... May her soul rest in peace.


Tuesday, January 11, 2022

याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम

Very easy to understand lyrics:

याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
...
प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम

Sentiment ordinary people can relate to.


Thursday, November 01, 2018

तेरे बिना ज़िन्दगी से कोई शिकवा

A particular phrase in this song caught my attention as I listened to it recently (I first listened to it when the movie got released, in 1975, when my knowledge of Hindi was a lot more rudimentary than what it is today):

तुम गर साथ हो, मंज़िलों की, कमी तो नहीं

The lyrics describe how a human being can feel empowered in another's presence, a powerful sentiment: "If you are with me, there is no limit to where we can go".

Considerable background to this song is provided in a blog post on the Internet: TERE BINA ZINDAGI SE KOI SHIKWA LYRICS AND TRANSLATION: LET’S LEARN URDU-HINDI


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

फिर भी तुमको चाहूँगा

Bollywood lyricists are good at making use of metaphors and similes. Observe what male sings:

  1. You are as important to me as air is to breath (life)
  2. I look for you as the feet look for the ground (for stability)

If you take the meaning in a literal way, you can run into trouble!


Saturday, December 24, 2016

आज जाने की ज़िद न करो

A powerful, and deep, sentiment is expressed in this song. It appears that the female lover is pleading that the lover must not leave ... but, the pleading can be between any two human beings, particularly if the intensity of the sentiment is very strong and deep: ... हाय मर जाएंगे, हम तो लुट जाएंगे ... (I'll die if you leave, I'll be devastated ...)

Lyrics are rendered with almost every word getting its full import by the manner in which it is sung.


Friday, February 26, 2016

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

जलते दिये

Nice love song that has in it some irony: The girl wishes that she is with her lover; but, the boy seems to disagree. (As of this blog post, I have not seen the movie).

The lyricist has used the lamp's light metaphor to describe the female's love; the male uses the same metaphor to point out that the flames of a lamp can also burn, create stains, ...

Beautifully woven lyrics.


Monday, December 07, 2015

गेरुआ

This song portrays love with several metaphors, some of which are highlighted below:
  1. "... wherever we met, time stood still." Time stood still is a sensation many poets have written about; the particular manner Deepak Chopra describes this feeling regarding love comes to mind.
  2. "Forgetting the [rest of the] world, I have met you. This wish has come forth of my heart ... that you give me — i.e., my life — the gerua color ...". Color is how many people describe liveliness, equating colorlessness with lack of life.
  3. "... I am the caravan, you are the destination to which every path leads." Bollywood lyricists equate the state of love to a desirable destination including, of course, the ultimate destination of reaching God.
Nice music, invites repeated listening.