The Other Sides Of The Moon

Moonstruck is a fairly accurate description of being swept by the feeling of love, and the slightly over the top behavior which it ensues is forgiven with a knowing smile. But how do one forgive when a surging bout of tenderness has ended forever, or what do we do when the emotion visits us at an age when Cupid could be a grandchild.

Sahir Ludhianvi, the ‘magician’ of lyrics, and poems was supposed to have met his ex-sweetheart right after a break-up, in a party –among a roomful of people. What he must have felt is not difficult to guess, but he poured out his feelings on to paper, and it became Chalo ek bar phir se (Come, let us be strangers once again) in the film Gumrah,1963.

Gulzar, the poet filmmaker explored the other side of the moon, with his intrinsic honesty –tracing the craters and jagged edges deftly as love takes over the psyche of sextagerian for a woman half his age in Aise uljhi nazar (Bewitched eyes won’t look away), Ishqiya,2010

Kabir Suman, the singer-songwriter who ushered in a band culture successfully in West Bengal in the early nineties has his own take on love in his Jatishwar (Reincarnation). According to him, the history of true love repeats itself.

Chalo, ek bar phir se, Film-Gumrah, 1963, Lyricist-Sahir Ludhianvi

 

Chalo ek bar phir se, ajnabee ban jaye ham dono

Come, let us unwind our friendship, and be strangers once again

Naa mai tumse koyee ummid rakhu dilnavajee kee

Let me not have any expectations great or small

Naa tum meree taraf dekho, galat andaz najaro se

Nor should you allow your gaze on me to fall

Naa mere dil kee dhadkan ladkhadaye meree baton me

My heart should not show up in my words smoldering slow

Naa jahir ho tumharee kashmkash kaa raj najaro se

Nor should your eyes tell the secret of your rows

Chalo ek bar phir se, ajnabee ban jaye ham dono

Come, let us unwind our friendship, and be strangers once again

Tumhe bhee koyee uljhan rokatee hai peshkadmee se

You too have your demon that stalks and haunts

Mujhe bhee log kehte hain, kee yeh jalve paraye hain

People are always reminding (me) bygones are bygones

Mere hamrah bhee rusvaiya hain mere majhee kee

My shadow still wanders in the alleys from the past

Tumhare sath bhee gujaree huyee rato ke saye hain

You too have those nights with you, smithereens that will hurt

Come, let us unwind our friendship, and be strangers once again

Tarruf rog ho jaye toh usako bhulna behtar

When all that is left behind is decorum; it is best to let go

Talluk bojh ban jaye toh usako todna achchha

When all that remains is a load; it is best to forego

Woh afsana jise anjam tak lana naa ho mumkin

That reverie which cannot be brought to shore

Use ek khubsurat mod dekar chhodna achchha

Is best to be spun beautifully, and set afloat

 

Come, let us unwind our friendship, and be strangers once again

 

Aisi ujli nazar, Film-Isqiya,2010, Lyricist-Gulzar

 

aisi ulji nazar unse hatt thi nahi

As if in trance, the eyes won’t look away

 

daant se reshmi dor katt thi nahi

A silken bond is the hardest to get away (from)

umar kab ki baras ke safaid ho gayi

Years have turned white like a shroud

kaari badari jawani ki chatt ti nahi

Spring still drifts in like a cloud

walla ye dhadkan bhadne lagi hai

(The) heart is beating faster

chehre ki rangat udne lagi hai
                                         Face is losing its luster

darr lagta hai tanha sone mein ji
                                      Sleep has become a nightmare (now)

dil to bachcha hai ji

heart thinks like a child

dil to bachcha hai ji

heart acts like a child

thoda kaccha hai ji
                                                      raw –at times

haan dil to baccha hai ji
                                                     heart is a child!

aisi ulji nazar unse hatt thi nahi

As if in trance, the eyes won’t look away

daant se reshmi dor katt thi nahi

A silken bond is the hardest to get away (from)

umar kab ki baras ke safaid ho gayi

Years have turned white like a shroud

kaari badari jawani ki chatt ti nahi

Spring still drifts in like a cloud

kisko patha tha pehlu mein rakha, dil aisa paaji bhi hoga                                       Who knew that the cloistered heart would play such a prank

hum to hamesha samajhte the koi, hum jaisa haaji hi hoga

Always thought, it was a good Samaritan

hai zor karein, kitna shor karein

Throws a tantrum, creates a storm

bewaja baatein pe ainwe gaur karein

Willfully bends the norm

dil sa koi kameena nahi

Winks –as it plays the tramp

koi toh rokey, koi toh tokey
                                           Catch it (someone), hold it (someone)

iss umar mein ab khaogey dhokhe                                                I don’t want to be in the dumps

darr lagta hai ishq karne mein ji

The thought (of love) gives me goose bumps

dil to bachcha hai ji

heart thinks like a child

dil to bachcha hai ji

                                      heart acts like a child

thoda kaccha hai ji

                                      raw-at times

haan dil to baccha hai ji

                                     Heart is a child!

aisi udhaasi baithi hai dil pe, hassne se ghabra rahe hain                                    Sadness has spread like the dusk, it hurts to laugh

saari jawani kathra ke kaati, piri mein takra gaye hain
                   Whiled away time seeking, it took so long for the heart to start beating

dil dhadakta hai to aise lagta hai woh, aa raha hai yahin dekhta hi na woh

(Already) everything is fleeting

prem ki maarein kataar re                                               Love is a killer (I say)

tauba ye lamhe katate nahi kyun                                                 Why is this moment forever?

aankhein se meri hatt the nahi kyun                                                 Why can’t the eyes look elsewhere?

darr lagta hai mujhse kehne mein ji                                                  I feel afraid even to tell her…

dil to bachcha hai ji

heart thinks like a child

dil to bachcha hai ji

heart acts like a child

thoda kaccha hai ji

raw-at times

haan dil to baccha hai ji

Heart is a child!

 

 

Kabir Suman, Jatishwar (Reincarnation)

 (I) Won’t live forever,(I) don’t even want to

Life finds a meaning when it seeks you (only you)

Moment grows up fast like a newborn, blinding a reincarnation

Memories of last life, lost incantations

Torn pages of an ancient tome with wind breathes anew

Life finds a meaning when it seeks you (only you)

Cobra’s hood sways with the nostalgia of Lakhinder’s plight

Behula can never be a widow, says Bengal’s sprite

The raft floats twice a day, carrying the same body

Died once, will die afresh –for love I am ready

Born several times; passed away always at your side

Denied salvation so that I did not lose you ever from my sight

We two have come back always for the love of our earth

At times Gangur, at times in Kopai Kapotakksha’s art

Gangur has become Kaberi sometimes (2) Mississippi

Even Rhine or Congo’s idyllic euphony

Lyrics I never wrote, or shall ever write

In people’s songs through the ages, I want you by my side

I sought you out many times, many births ago

When Tathagato blessed our sunset, long time ago

His piety touched you to become a wanderer at heart

As it did me, who picked up a beggar’s shirt

I did cry out for your love then, as I do now

Bless my dream with your love, with bent knees I bow

Barricade the poem of love; with our lips entwined anew

Let a revolutionary kiss witness, as I find you (only you)

A muse to my dreams, you have come several times

I was your desire each time, I was your rhyme

Whenever you broke your heart, you had found me

I had been your man always, forever your land of glee

Whenever you gave birth, I became a father

So many times, our sons, darling had set our pyres on fire

Both of us came back again, as fresh as dawn new

Once again shall come back to say I seek you (only you).