Challa (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)

I didn't like this album. I was angry that the combination of Rahman and Gulzar coming together for a Yash Chopra movie could produce such mediocre music. I mean, you don't expect this from a team that gave you Dil Se, Saathiya, Guru and Raavan. Even Fiza and Yuvvraj had better songs!

So I ignored the album. I never listened to it. And the number of times 9XM played Jiya Jiya Re made things even worse. I couldn't stand another minute of Anushka prancing about in her shorts sprouting words that seemed they were written almost half-heartedly.

And in ignoring this album, I also ignored Challa. Well, also because having heard Bullah Ki Jaana etc.; this song was a little underwhelming coming from Rabbi (plus it had Rahman's music so it should have been better, right?). And Rabbi's voice just didn't suit Shah Rukh Khan. All in all, the song had a lot working against it.

In any case; at a later date I happened to listen to this song without all these factors pulling it down, and realized that it's *just* the sort of song to bring together Rahman, Rabbi and Gulzar; all of whom seem deeply rooted in the Sufi way of love and devotion. It's a song about searching for that supreme power that guides, loves and protects us all - without manifesting itself in a physical form. It's a song about wondering if such a power really exists; and how we go about like mad men looking after it; as if it's a physical thing that could be seen, smelled, heard or touched.

It's this wandering of this mad man (jhalla, pronounced challa in Punjabi) that this song talks about. 

Lyrics and Translation:

Challa ki labda phire
Challa ki labda phire
Yaar oda ghar keda
Lokaan to ponchda phire

[[What do I search for, like a man gone crazy?
I go about asking people, if they know which house is His]]

[[Khuda ka ghar - mandir, masjid - Gulzar has written about this is many poems. How these houses of Gods have been unable to protect men when they needed it most - at the times of riots and such. So, to look for God's house is specially foolish of our challa.]]

Challa hansda phire
Challa ronda phire
Challa gali-gali rulda phire

[[At times laughing, crying at times
I go about, from street to street]]

Challe tu sabda
Challe tera koi nai
Challa gali-gali rulda phire

[[I belong to everyone, yet I own no one
And I go about, from street to street]]

Challa ki labda phire

[[What do I search for, like a man gone crazy?]]

Rang satrangi de
Bulbulan di boli
Dhop de paireen chale
Chhavan di le doli

[[I expect that He will have the colors of the rainbow
And the voice of a canary
And even when He walks in the sun
It's as if a shadow is following Him around]]

Oye kaale-kaale badlan ch chaand labda
Goongiyaan hawavan di aawazan sunda
Yaaron aas-paas vasda ae yaar mera
Vikhda ni odi khushbuvaan sunghda

[[And I look for the moon in the black clouds
I listen to the silent voices of the winds
I'm sure that He lives nearby
And though I haven't seen him, His fragrance always lingers nearby]]

[[You can see a lot of "Chhaiya-chhaiya" in this quartet and the one right above it. The essence is the same - looking for God, seeing him manifest himself in colors, smells and sights.

The thought behind"goongiyaan hawavan di aawazan sunda" can be traced back to many a Gulzar poem, specially this one

Wo jo shayar tha, chup sa rehta tha
Behki behki si baatein karta tha
Aankhein kaanon pe rakh k sunta tha
Goongi khamoshiyon ki aawazein!
Jama karta tha chaand k saaye]]

Challa ki labda phire...

[[What do I search for, like a man gone crazy?]]

Na visaal hoya kadi
Na judaai hoyi
Ishq de qaidi di
Na rehaai hoyi

[[I have never met Him, nor have we ever been separated
Afterall, what freedom does a prisoner of love seek?]]

Lokon sufne ch milne da vaada usda
Saari-saari raat na akh lagdi
Mere saa vi thode-thode ghatt aunde
Meri nabz vi thodi ghatt vajdi

[[It is his promise of meeting me in my dreams
That keeps me awake at night
My breath is becoming slower with time
And so does my heartbeat]]

[[The top two lines in quartet seem like a tribute to Ghalib:
taa fir  na  intezaar meiN neeNd aaye 'umr bhar
aane  ka 'ahad  kar  gaye  aaye  jo KHwaab meiN]]

Challa ki labda phire...

[[Yet, what do I search for, like a man gone crazy?]]

Mera Yaar Mila De (Saathiya)

As Gulzar often says, if a lyricist is devious and smart enough, he would build multiple layers into his songs. As you scratch the surface, another layer will reveal itself. And this way he would sneakily say the thing he wanted to say, along with the thing the director wanted him to say.

The song begins with an anguished cry - a cry of someone lost, someone in despair.

On the screen we see Adi (Vivek Oberoi) frantically looking for Suhani (Rani Mukherjee) - in the background the track begins - "Banjar hai sab banjar hai, hum dhoondhne jab firdaus chale / Teri khoj talaash mein dekh piya, hum kitne kaale kos chale". On the face of it, this song is a lover's search for his beloved.  And the deft picturisation by Shaad Ali makes us believe it is, indeed, about a lover's quest.

But if we strip the song off its picturisation, the words are all about the quest for God. Gulzar's desposition for the Sufi way often manifests itself in his songs and poetry. This one is no different. To him, God resides not in idols or stones ("kankad, patthar, but") - but in a loving and devoted heart. It's not by looking for firdaus (Eden/heaven) or looking at the stars ("maine tote-tote taare chune") that you can find Him. When your love for God becomes an obsession, and transcends even that; when you destroy your identity in that quest; is when you can truly find Him / be one with Him.

Lyrics and translation:

Banjar hai sab banjar hai hum dhoondhne jab firdaus chale

Teri khoj-talaash mein dekh piya, hum kitne kaale kos chale

Banjar hai sab banjar hai

[[Seeking heaven, all I see is this wasteland

How many joyless miles must I travel looking for you?

It's just wilderness all around ...]]

Mainda yaar mila de saaiyaan, ik vaar mila de saaiyaan

[[God, please unite me with my beloved. All I want is to see him but once.]]

Maine pota-pota falak chhaana, maine tote-tote taare chune

[[I have shattered the stars to pieces and searched through every inch of sky with my own fingertips]]
(Thanks Anurag Bhardwaj for correcting the Punjabi bits for me :) )

Taaron ki chamak ye subaho talak, lagti hi nahin pal bhar ko palak

[[The incessant starlight till the morning, doesn't let me sleep even for a second.
(even the gentle starlight is agonizing for someone in love)]]

Maine pota-pota falak chhaana, maine tote-tote taare chune

Sirf ek teri aahat ke liye kankad, patthar, but saare sune

Hun mende te ruswaaiyaan

[[I have shattered the stars to pieces and searched through every inch of sky with my own fingertip

Seeking the sound of your footsteps, I've borne the silence of pebbles, stones and idols alike.

And yet I find only disgrace and ridicule]]

[Mainda yaar mila de saaiyaan, ik vaar mila de saaiyaan]

Aa dekh meri peshaani ko taqdeer ke harfe likkhe hain

[[Come, and see the words of fate written on my forehead ]]

Pairon ke nishaan jab dekhe jahaan sau baar jhukaaya sar ko wahaan

[[Wherever I see even the hint of your footsteps, I bow my head a hundred times]]

Aa dekh meri peshaani ko taqdeer ke harfe likkhe hain

Main kitni baar pukaarun tujhe, tere naam ke safhe likkhe hain

[[Do you not see the words of fate written on my forehead?

How many times must I call out to you? Pages have been written only of your name.]]

Tera saaya kahin to bolega, main sunta raha parchhaiyaan 

[[In the hope of hearing your voice, I've spent my life listening to shadows]]

My two  three cents:

1. To Shaad Ali's credit, he absolutely nails the picturisation. "How many joyless miles must I travel looking for you?" - the way Adi travels through cities/village by whatever means - buses, trucks, tractors. And the way religious symbols keep popping up in the visuals - a saadhu showing him the way, a photo of Mother Mary in the hospital, an abandoned church in the back - it all ties up really well.
2. The line 'Tera saaya kahin to bolega main sunta raha parchhaiyaan' reminds me of 'Main hawa pe dhoondhoon uske nishaan' from Chhaiya-Chhaiya - Listening to something intangible, in the hope of finding some sign of his loved one/God.
3. Of course, both Chhaiya-chhaiya and this song are Sufi in nature - so the underlying theme is very similar - though the songs themselves are as happy and as despairing as can be. But one thing that I found very interesting is the line "Jinke sar ho ishq ki chhaon, paaon ke neeche jannat hogi" (for those in love, heaven is easily achievable) in Chhaiya-chhaiya. In turn, in this song, "Banjar hai sab banjar hai hum dhoondhne jab firdaus chale" (seeking heaven, all he finds are wastelands). So, it's not by looking for heaven that you find it, it's by being one with your loved one. And then the heaven is at your feet.

Assorted (Pukhraj)

As promised in the last post Chhaiyya-chhaiyya, here are a few lines from various poems from Pukhraj, with slight or pronounced devotional undertones. In these poems, the beloved is made out to be sacred enough to be worshiped.

1. From the poem Raat-din (रात-दिन)
तेरी आँखें हैं या सजदे में हैं मासूम नमाज़ी

पलकें खुलती हैं तो यूं गूँज के उठती है नज़र
जैसे मंदिर से जरस की चले नमनाक सदा
और झुकती हैं तो बस जैसे अज़ान ख़त्म हुई हो

[Teri aakhein hain ya sajde mein hain masoom namaazi

Palkein khulti hain to yoon goonj ke uthti hai nazar
Jaise mandir se jaras kee chale namnaak sada
Aur jhukti hain to bas jaise azaan khatm hui ho]

2. From the poem Takhleek (तख़लीक़)

मैं अपने होठों से चुन रहा हूँ तुम्हारी साँसों की आयतों को
कि जिस्म के इस हसीन काबे पे रूह सजदे बिछा रही है

[Main apne hothon se chun raha hon tumhari saason ki aayaton ko
Ki jism ke is haseen kaabe pe rooh sajde bichhaa rahi hai]

3. From the poem Sparsh (स्पर्श)
तुम्हारे हाथों को चूमकर, छूके अपनी आँखों से आज मैंने
जो आयतें पढ़ नहीं सका, उनके लम्स महसूस कर लिए हैं

[Tumhare haathon ko choomkar, chhooke apni aakhon se aaj maine
Jo aayatein padh nahin saka, unke lams mahsoos kar liye hain]

4. Guzaarish (गुज़ारिश)

मैंने रखी हुई हैं आँखों पर
तेरी ग़मगीन-सी उदास आखें
जैसे गिरजे में रक्खी ख़ामोशी
जैसे रहलों पे रक्खी अन्जीलें

एक आंसू गिरा दो आँखों से
कोई आयत मिले नमाज़ी को
कोई हर्फ़-ए-कलाम-ए-पाक मिले

[Maine rakhi hui hain aankhon par
Teri gamgeen-si udaas aankhein
Jaise girje mein rakkhi khamoshi
Jaise rahlon pe rakkhi anjeelein

Ek aansoon gira do aankhon se
Koi aayat mile namaazi ko
Koi harf-e-kalaam-e-pak mile]