Punjabi folk songs 7.- the 'Sahir'!
guri
Getting away from Weddings for a bit... let's talk about the poet who
has been called the 'Sahir' of Punjabi folk poetry... he was a good
friend of Sahir Ludhianvi, was almost a cult figure in the mushaira
circles in the early 60s (mushairas patronized all 3 north-Indian
languages quite commonly), went through more than his share of betrayals
and pain as a young man, wrote 9 books of poetry in a span of 10 years
and died young (in his 30s) on May 8, '73.
Jagjit-Chitra made a tribute-album in '78 (recently re-released on CD)
titled 'birahaa daa sultaan' after Batalvi's book _birhaa tU sultaan_
published in '64. The album features 10 poems from the book.
Today, I'll talk about one of my favorites from the album... the rhythm
is Punjabi-keheravaa again, the feel of this rhythm here is somewhat
like in another Jagjit-Chitra thing: 'bohot pehlay se un qadamoN kee
aahaT jaan lete haiN, tujhay ae zindagHee ham door se pehechaan lete
haiN'.
Batalvi is sharing with his Mom that his song has (lately) been behaving
in such fashion as to make him lose his sleep a lot. The lines are long,
so I'm putting them in three rows each, kinda where the rhythm breaks
each line (so what looks like two stanzas of three lines each is
actually just one couplet):
maaye nee maaye mere
geetaaN de nainaaN vich
birahauN dee raDak pavay
addhee-addhee rhaatee uTTh
rhon moye mitraaN nooN
maaye sahnooN neeNd na pavay
maaye nee maaye...
[maaye=a poetical way to address Mom]
[geetaaN=geetoN]
[de=ke]
[nainaaN=nayanoN, aaNkhoN]
[vich=meiN]
[birahaun=plural of birahaa, if you can imagine such a thing... in other
words, many instances of seperation]
[dee=kee]
[raDak=chubhan]
[pavay=paDe]
[addhee-addhee=aadhee-aadhee]
[rhatee=raat ko]
[uTTh=uTh kar]
[rhon=rote haiN, (they) cry (for)]
[moye=mare huye]
[mitraaN nooN=dostoN ko, mitroN ko]
[saahnooN=hameN]
dear Ma, my song is hurting because of the sharp pokes in its eyes, of
(each one of) the several seperations (from friends)... it (frequently)
wakes up howling in the middle of the night... crying for those lost
friends... its howling keeps me up (all night, often), mom.
bheN-bheN sugandiyaaN 'ch
bannaaN pheh chaananee de
taaN vee sahDee peeR na sahvay
kose-kose sahvaaN dee maiN
karaaN je Takor maaye
sagoN sahnooN khaan nooN pavay
maaye nee maaye...
[bheN-bheN=bhigo-bhigo kar]
[sugandiyaan=plural of sugandh which, in traditional Punjabi has various
meanings along with 'fragrance' viz. tulsee, kamal, chandan and sauNf
all of which can be used in different natural-remedies for irritated
eyes]
['ch=vich, in]
[bannaaN=baandhataa hooN]
[pheh=(warm-)soaks, the piece of cloth/cotton soaked with warm
water/solution to apply to the irritated eyes]
[chaananee=moonlight, (also used in poetry for)'logic']
[taaN vee= tab bhee]
[saahDee=hamaaree]
[peeD=intense pain (also a Hindi word)]
[sahvay=sehetaa hai]
[kose-kose=lukewarm]
[saahwaaN dee=saaNsoN kee]
[Takor=the word used for the action of doing warm-soaks, dry or wet, on
a painful part of the body (or mind as in this case!)]
[sagoN=instead]
[khaan nooN pavay=khaane ko paDtaa hai]
I've tried, mom, to treat the song. I've soaked logic in all available
remedial herbs and good (feeling) fragrances, and applied that (as a
bandage) to the song's eyes (so it wouldn't hurt or wouldn't see!) but
it refuses to tolerate my pain, it's so intense (the pain i.e.,)... I
try to A. blow lukewarm breaths on to its eyes (through my closed
muTThee), or B. console it with sighs, and instead of feeling (looking,
sounding) better (happier), this song (turns around and) comes after me
to eat me alive (consume me). This song is really hurting, mom.
aape nee maiN baalaRee
maiN haale aap mattaaN jogee
mat kehRaa aes nooN davay
aakh soo nee maaye ehnooN
rovay bul chitth ke nee
jag kitay sun na lavay
maaye nee maaye...
[aape=khud to]
[baalaRee=na-baalig laRkee, immature girl]
[haale=abhi to, yet]
[mattaaN jogee=mat(i) dene layak, to be educated]
[mat=mat(i), buddhee]
[kehRaa=kaun]
[aes nooN=isko]
[davay=de]
[aakh soo nee= kaho ree]
[ehnooN=isay]
[rovay=roye]
[bul=hoTh, lips]
[chitth ke=chabaa kar]
[kitay=kahiN]
maiN to khud abhee naasamajh hooN, mujhe khud abhee bahut kuchh seekhnaa
hai, is geet ko kaun ab samajhaaye, maaN... tum hi kaho isay ki apne
hoTh dabaa kar roye... kahiN duniyaa na sun le.
aakh ehnooN addhee-addhee
raatee moye mitraaN de
uchchee-uchchee naaoN na lavay
matay saahDe moyeyaaN pichchhoN
jag eh sareekaDaa nee
geetaaN nooN vee chandaraa kahvay
[uchchee-uchchee=ooNchee-ooNchee]
[naaoN=naam]
[matay=lest]
[saahDe moyeyaaN pichchhoN=hamaare marne ke baad]
[sareekaDaa=shareeq, (from shiraq=hissaa) hissedaar]
[chandaraa=chandraari (the planet raahu, considered the moon's enemy in
astrology), here: raahu jaisaa dukhdaayi, bad omen]
[kahvay=kahe]
Tell the song, Ma, not to howl out the names of the lost friends so loud
in the middle of the night... lest the world declares it a bad omen (to
listen to this song) after I'm gone.
maaye nee maaye mere
geetaaN de nainaaN vich
birahauN dee raDak pavay
addhee-addhee raatee uTTh
rhon moye mitraaN nooN
maaye sahnooN neeNd na pavay
.....next, another Batalvi song made famous by Jagjit... another
conversation with Ma!
guri
mad...@hotmail.com
In article <3324E3...@ix.netcom.com>,
guri <bu...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> Jagjit-Chitra made a tribute-album in '78 (recently re-released on CD)
> titled 'birahaa daa sultaan' after Batalvi's book _birhaa tU sultaan_
> published in '64. The album features 10 poems from the book.
>
> Today, I'll talk about one of my favorites from the album... the rhythm
> is Punjabi-keheravaa again, the feel of this rhythm here is somewhat
> like in another Jagjit-Chitra thing: 'bohot pehlay se un qadamoN kee
> aahaT jaan lete haiN, tujhay ae zindagHee ham door se pehechaan lete
> haiN'.
>
One of my early memories as a kid has been that of my dad listening to a
recording of a concert of Batalvi's songs.
In the beginning, the MoC starts by quoting Batalvi, and I have forgotten
the first line. Here it is:
[something here] na dekh bharava
Dekh na sundar mukhDe
Har mukhDe de pichche dil hai
Har dil de andar dukhDe.
Perhaps guri will be able to fill that blank?
And how can I forget the song: "Ik kuDi jida naaM mohabbat, gum hai, gum
hai..."
Thanks to guri for that post on Batalvi.
Anjaan
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet