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

पन्ना की तमन्ना है के हीरा मुझे मिल जाए

This song is a memorable one for its lilting tunes that an R D Burman and Kishore Kumar combination used to bring out in the 1970s.

Of course, if you know the story, you can detect the double entedre too.

चिंगारी कोई भड़के, तो सावन उसे बुझाए

When you discover some good characteristic about a matter than you knew previously, there is a certain immense pleasure.

I first heard this song nearly four decades ago. Even though I liked the song, and even hummed it on occasion, I didn't know that it is in Raag Bhairavi; neither did I know it projected a certain sadness by invoking the ideas in proverbs such as the Fox Guarding the Hen house.

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There is a Kannada proverb with a similar import: ಬೇಲಿಯೇ ಎದ್ದು ಹೊಲ ಮೇಯ್ದರೆ

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हम बेवफा हरगिज़ न थे

Recently, I heard this song again, and noted that the first couple of lines were intriguing:

"I was never unfaithful,
Yet, I could not be faithful ...".

And, of course, the fact that this is in Kishore Kumar's voice is a perennial attraction.

बड़े अच्छे लगते हैं

Simple lyrics, describing what seems to be a certain separation. (I haven't seen the movie).

The lyrics are so simple that it looks like they can be adapted,  to several different situations — husband-wife, brother-sister, father-daughter, grandfather-granddaughter, etc. — in real life.

Any takers?

सुहानी चांदनी रातें, हमें सोने नहीं देती

A male lover reminisces, with sadness.

देखो, ओ दीवानों, तुम ये काम न करो, राम का नाम बदनाम न करो

Simple philosophy built into lilting music. The exhortation to 'know God' and 'conquer the mind by studying the [Bhagavad] Gita' is deceptively simple, lyrics-wise.

कांची रे, कांची रे, प्रीत मेरी साँची

Lovers argue why each should not leave the other ... The true meaning cannot be conveyed by a drab translation ... you have to experience the song in all its melody and semantics. I didn't discover until recently that the raag ♫भूपाली is behind this melody.

दो लफ़्ज़ों की है, दिल की कहानी

"The tale of [two] hearts, is made of [only] two words ... love or youth."

If you interpret love or youth to mean true love or infatuation, you can see some justification in this simplified interpretation. It is said that Asha Bhonsle herself regards this song as one of her best renditions.

सागर किनारे, दिल यह पुकारे

The poet crafts a love number with the sea shore as a starting point ...

प्यार हुआ चुपके से

Nice elaboration of how a woman feels when she recognizes she is in love.

कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे

A rather helpful Rajesh Khanna consoling a sad Sharmila Tagore.

हमें तुमसे प्यार कितना, यह हम नहीं जानते

"You don't know how much I love you ..."

यह क्या हुआ? कैसे हुआ?

A memorable, easy to sing, sad song sung by the versatile Kishore Kumar. The lyrics are such that they can be easily made applicable to many more real life situations than just the one pictured in the video.

तुझसे नाराज़ नहीं ज़िन्दगी, हैरान हूँ मैं

On the innocence of a young boy, and the trying questions he poses to the adult. Background song, mixed with dialog, makes the presentation very moving.

आजा पिया, तोहे प्यार दूँ

Although I used to hear this song as a teenager, I did not pay attention to its meaning until very recently. I don't know the story in the movie, but the woman's offer to her lover seems quite selfless, and therefore comes across as genuine.

भीगी भीगी रातों में ...

Playfulness induced by song and dance in the rain, in a manner that only Bollywood can come up with.

तुम आ गए हो, नूर आ गया हैं ...

In this song, the man sings about the importance of the new find, his lover, for his life. Without someone like her, life was proceeding aimlessly, etc. Although perhaps this is not always the case in real life, there is some truth to it: A marriage seems to provide proper structure to fulfil many - all? - aspects of life.

Translation is inspired by http://www.hindilyrics.net/translation-Aandhi/Tum-Aa-Gaye-Ho.html. I have changed some translations with the belief that the changes are for the better. You can also enjoy a YouTube video below.



नूर = light

एक लड़की को देखा तो ऐसा लगा ...

You can find Meanings and English transliteration on the web. The song is from the movie 1942: A Love Story. Most of the material in this blog post comes from that URL.

The poet — lyricist Javed Akhtar — describes how a boy feels when he sees a girl [for the first time]: many different ways in which the feelings are expressed, 21 ways to be exact, in 3 stanzas of 7 characterizations each. The song can be translated as

When I saw this girl, she seemed to me like ...
... a blooming rose,
... a poet's dream,
...

Now, enjoy the video as your read the lyrics presented below.

अगर तुम न होते