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. :-|

Dhadak-Dhadak (Bunty Aur Babli)

I chose this as the first song for translation (instead of the more 'deep' ones), because I feel that the songs written by Gulzar for the more recent commercials movies has been mostly ignored by the cinema-goers as being trivial and not quite up to the Gulzar-mark. If at all they're less profound, it's because they reflect the mood of the public. (Maybe it's time for some self-reflection on why we have become less profound :P)

Background:

Rakesh a.k.a. Bunty (Abhishek Bachchan) and Vimmi a.k.a. Babli (Rani Mukherji) are two ambitious wannabes from small towns, where their dreams are written off as outrageous daydreaming. This is a song about their hopes and dreams.

Special mentions: 1. Babli is a Punjabi girl from a small town, and her language in the song is character-appropriate. She would use both swear words (e.g.: khasma nu khaye) and English words (e.g.: easy nahin) in the same breath. She's ambitious and is already looking forward to her life as a celebrity.
2. As this song is uplifting and about looking up and ahead, you'll find many references to words like sky, stars, moons and clouds.