It was a breezy day and the sun was merely peeping from behind the clouds.... I ignore my hair expressing its freedom and pencil down thoughts triggered by the pigeons flying in the sky... And here they are:
Is the bird free?
Is the bird free?
Or does it crave the freedom to swim?
Or the freedom to walk the earth?
How bound are we by the concept of freedom?
How bound is this poem in its wish to be free?
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Saturday, October 01, 2005
An unkown journey into the known
This is hilarious... And I thought I was a Ghalib fan... Humbility hath struck!
Am not much of a fan of Hindi movie music but one did reach that spot inside. Beautifully crafted blend of the traditional mujra and quwwali... If you haven't guessed it already, I am talking of the song 'Kajrare' from Bunty aur Bubli. My cousin was amazed when she heard me sing along nearly the entire song. Jaw dropped she looked at me and said MB (that's what she calls me) - You? Humming a recent Hindi song? And know the lyrics?
The key to this post is the word -'nearly' the entire song... There was one line of the song that I couldn't quite catch, let alone know what it meant. I had put it down to Gulzar's bizzare use of Persianised Urdu like a drop of cinnamon in your cuppa cappuccino. But then one evening when the party bopping cousins left my home all silent and lonely I hit the video of the song and played it over and over to figure out what Gulzar miyan was trying to say....
Let me first give you the line of the song preceding the intriguing one:
Tujhse milna purani dilli mein, cchod aaye nishaani dilli mein
Balli mara....... [something something]
Teri meri kahani dilli mein
First impression was - Balli mara se dari betalak
First hunt - an online urdu dictionary. So word by word I tried to decipher. Balli - means lock; Dari means door, Betalak means without doors (?)
First attempt at translation - From locked doors to the doorless ones..... the story of you and me is around.
Jumping with joy I call said cousin up and say I have found it. this is what it means.... I could hear her puzzled face and eyebrows raised over the phone and I said to myself. Uhuh, maybe I haven't cracked it as yet. Wanted to give it yet another shot...
Second hunt - Googled the lyrics of the song. I said why trust my ears. Some website or the other must have got it from the horse's mouth....
Website's translation - pal nimaana darii betallak (translated - a tapestry woven of random moments)
Well that made such beautiful sense given the translated meaning. But what was niggling in my ears? Well the fact that my auditory nerves said it sounded like Balli mara!
Last hunt - Downloaded high bit rate mp3 of the song and played it on my Winamp with equalisers adjusted. Bingo now i had the words of the line -
Balli maran se daribe talak
I hooked on the word 'se' and 'talak' meaning "from --- to". That gave me the clue that this was from one area of delhi to another. And i had another thought niggling me that I had heard of "Balli Maran" before. But i ignored the intuition while i searched the maps of delhi, pincode searches, tourist info whatever to get an idea of the areas of Delhi. No luck.
Intuition strong, the thought of a Ghalib's ghazal sung by Jagjit romped the memory lanes. Next destination - www.urdupoetry.com And God bless them. There I found my "Balli Maran". It was the mohalla where Ghalib lived!!!!!! Me kicked myself a few hundred times and sat my sore ass down on the chair while I continued my hunt for Dariba. One google hit and I got it - Dariba Galan is an area of Delhi which is known for its jewellery market.
Oh Gulzar n Ghalib how I love you!!!!! What beautiful meaning came out of this -
Tujhse milna purani dilli mein, cchod aaye nishaani dilli mein
Balli maran se Daribe talak
Teri meri kahani dilli mein
Now translated means -
After I met you in Old Delhi,
I left a momento behind there in Delhi,
From Balli Maran to Dariba,
of our story
I love the paradox of the statement - Balli Maran: signifying the epitome of the finesse of Urdu literature, a mohalla where Ghalib lived - Dariba Galan: the glamour and glitter of a superficial world
And that was the unknown journey into the known...........
Till next time......
Am not much of a fan of Hindi movie music but one did reach that spot inside. Beautifully crafted blend of the traditional mujra and quwwali... If you haven't guessed it already, I am talking of the song 'Kajrare' from Bunty aur Bubli. My cousin was amazed when she heard me sing along nearly the entire song. Jaw dropped she looked at me and said MB (that's what she calls me) - You? Humming a recent Hindi song? And know the lyrics?
The key to this post is the word -'nearly' the entire song... There was one line of the song that I couldn't quite catch, let alone know what it meant. I had put it down to Gulzar's bizzare use of Persianised Urdu like a drop of cinnamon in your cuppa cappuccino. But then one evening when the party bopping cousins left my home all silent and lonely I hit the video of the song and played it over and over to figure out what Gulzar miyan was trying to say....
Let me first give you the line of the song preceding the intriguing one:
Tujhse milna purani dilli mein, cchod aaye nishaani dilli mein
Balli mara....... [something something]
Teri meri kahani dilli mein
First impression was - Balli mara se dari betalak
First hunt - an online urdu dictionary. So word by word I tried to decipher. Balli - means lock; Dari means door, Betalak means without doors (?)
First attempt at translation - From locked doors to the doorless ones..... the story of you and me is around.
Jumping with joy I call said cousin up and say I have found it. this is what it means.... I could hear her puzzled face and eyebrows raised over the phone and I said to myself. Uhuh, maybe I haven't cracked it as yet. Wanted to give it yet another shot...
Second hunt - Googled the lyrics of the song. I said why trust my ears. Some website or the other must have got it from the horse's mouth....
Website's translation - pal nimaana darii betallak (translated - a tapestry woven of random moments)
Well that made such beautiful sense given the translated meaning. But what was niggling in my ears? Well the fact that my auditory nerves said it sounded like Balli mara!
Last hunt - Downloaded high bit rate mp3 of the song and played it on my Winamp with equalisers adjusted. Bingo now i had the words of the line -
Balli maran se daribe talak
I hooked on the word 'se' and 'talak' meaning "from --- to". That gave me the clue that this was from one area of delhi to another. And i had another thought niggling me that I had heard of "Balli Maran" before. But i ignored the intuition while i searched the maps of delhi, pincode searches, tourist info whatever to get an idea of the areas of Delhi. No luck.
Intuition strong, the thought of a Ghalib's ghazal sung by Jagjit romped the memory lanes. Next destination - www.urdupoetry.com And God bless them. There I found my "Balli Maran". It was the mohalla where Ghalib lived!!!!!! Me kicked myself a few hundred times and sat my sore ass down on the chair while I continued my hunt for Dariba. One google hit and I got it - Dariba Galan is an area of Delhi which is known for its jewellery market.
Oh Gulzar n Ghalib how I love you!!!!! What beautiful meaning came out of this -
Tujhse milna purani dilli mein, cchod aaye nishaani dilli mein
Balli maran se Daribe talak
Teri meri kahani dilli mein
Now translated means -
After I met you in Old Delhi,
I left a momento behind there in Delhi,
From Balli Maran to Dariba,
of our story
I love the paradox of the statement - Balli Maran: signifying the epitome of the finesse of Urdu literature, a mohalla where Ghalib lived - Dariba Galan: the glamour and glitter of a superficial world
And that was the unknown journey into the known...........
Till next time......
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