Aye Ajnabi (Dil Se)

Rahul, this one's for you -
Because it's like I'm only half-alive when you're not here.
Because I miss you so much everything else seems unimportant and uninteresting.
Because even this festive season seems like a drag without you.
Because without you, even breathing seems like an effort.
Because I miss you so much, it's as if my whole being is aching to be with you.
Because, if it weren't for you, I'd never have realized that all these clichés I was so quick to diss were actually true.

Honestly, I had no intentions (as yet) of posting this song on this blog. I have always loved this song, but today it's been playing on a loop in my head, and it's today that I fell in love with it all over again. How fitting are the words of this song! It's a song of separation, of yearning, but above all of love. And how haunting is the melody! I'll go on to say, at the risk of sounding redundant because I've said this already, that Dil Se is one of A.R. Rahman's finest albums.

Do read the translation too, there are some 'Words of wisdom' inserted here and there :P. Yes, they break the flow of the song. Yes, I'm sorry about that. :-|

Lyrics, and translation

Paakhi paakhi pardesi... ^n

[[Oh you, of the distant land!]]

(Pakhi means bird, so the line could refer to a (migratory?) bird, that only comes to some land for a season and then leaves for its own land. ~Words of wisdom-I)

Aye ajnabi, tu bhi kabhie, aawaz de kahin se

[[Oh stranger! you should also call out for me at times.]]

(The line could be interpreted as 'You, who's acting unaware of / indifferent to my condition, some time you should also show that you care'. Which is more fitting, IMO. ~Words of wisdom-II)

Main yahan tukdon mein jee raha hoon, -2
Tu kahin, tukdon mein, jee rahi hai
[[Because I'm living in pieces here; and somewhere, you too, are living in pieces.]]
(We're neither of us complete, without one another.)

Roz-roz resham si hawa, aate-jaate kahti hai, bata
Resham si hawa kahti hai, bata
[[Every day, the silken wind; while blowing, it asks me - ]]

Wo jo doodh dhuli masoom kali,
Wo hai kahan, kahan hai?
Wo roshni kahan hai?
Wo jaan-si kahan hai?
[[She, of the pure innocence of a bud
Where is she?
Where is she, of the light?
Where is she, who was like life itself?]]

Main adhura, tu adhuri jee rahi hai
[[I'm incomplete (without you), and you're also only half-alive.]]

Aye ajnabi ...

Tu to, nahin hai lekin, teri muskurahat hai
Chehra, kahin nahin hai, par teri aahatein hain
[[You are not here, but I can feel your smile.
Though I can't see your face, but I can feel your presence around me.]]

Tu hai kahan, kahan hai?
Tera nishaan kahan hai?
Mera jahaan kahan hai?
[[Where, oh where, are you?
Where's your sign? 
Where's my world?]]

Main adhura, tu adhuri jee rahi hai
[[I'm incomplete (without you), and you're also only half-alive.]]

My two cents

1. Mahalaxmi Iyer's vocals are used to add a different texture + layer to the song with the line 'Paakhi-paakhi pardesi'; quite like Kavitha Krishnamurthy's 'Ishq par zor nahin' in Satrangi Re, also from Dil Se. 
2. It's one of those rare songs in which Udit Narayan's voice was used in all its glory. He's the most underrated and under-utilized singer of our time, in my opinion.

Go ahead, turn your speakers/headphones on, and enjoy the song. :)