Yeh Jeevan.......

       Of late, whenever I listen to the old Hindi film songs of the 50's, 60's and 70's,I re-discover the magic,beauty and the depth hidden in them. In my younger days, these songs had given me immense listening pleasure but the words did not carry much meaning then. But when I happen to listen to them now, many of them seem to convey profound perspectives on life in very simple terms.  It is not surprising, since they were penned by the great lyricists like Pradeep, Shailendra, Sahir Ludhiyanvi ,Shakil Badayuni, Hasrat Jaipuri, Neeraj, Jan Nissar Akhtar ,Rajinder Krishan,Kaifi Azmi etc.who were eminent poets of Hindi and Urdu. They commanded immense respect in Kavi Sammelans and Mushairas of their times. Think of any theme like life, love,separation, friendship,festivals,war and so on, and you can finds gems composed by them revealing different shades of emotions.

  I would like to share some songs with a theme-What is life? How should one live? How should one go about dealing with the ups and downs in life? I have reproduced the original lyrics with their English translation to the best of my ability. This is to help my friends from south who are not that well versed in Hindi.

Here is an all time great Mukesh song from the movie “ Anari”, written by Shailendra .

“ Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nissar, kisi ka dard ho sakey to de utar ;

         Kisi ke vastey ho dil mein tere pyar , Jeena isi ka naam hai.”

        (Get enchanted by the smiles of someone; try to take away pain of someone;

         Carry in your bosom love for someone; this is what life is all about.)

Next is a song penned by the poet Sahir and beautifully sung by Rafi for the movie “Hum Dono”.

Having been blessed with a life, what do we do with it? The poet suggests we make it our companion and just go along with it blissfully.

  “ Main Zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya,

     Har zikr ko dhuyen mein udata chala gaya”

    (I just keep giving company to life unmindful of all events and happenings).

Here he elaborates it further….

“ Jo mil gaya usi ko mukaddar samajh liya,

Jo kho gaya main usko bhulata chala gaya”

(Whatever came my way, I accepted it with grace and

  just ignored whatever I lost)

And here comes the punch line….

“ Barbaadiyon ko sog manaana fizool tha,

 Barabadiyon ka jashn manaata chala gaya’.

(There was no point of crying or lamenting over mishaps/setbacks,

So I went on with the life celebrating them).

I have picked up the next song from the movie “Piya ka Ghar”.The lyricist is Anand Bakshi and this song is softly sung by Kishore Kumar.

The poet gives his outlook about life thus…

 “ Yeh Jeevan hai, Is jeevan ka,yehi hai,yehi hai,yehi hai  rang roop,

  Thode gam hai, thodi khushian,yehi  hai,yehi hai yehi hai chhaon dhoop”

(This is what the life is all about - a little of grief, a little of joy, like mix of Sunshine and shade”).

“ Yeh na socho ,isme apni, haar hai ke jeet hai.Usey apna lo jo bhi jeevan ki reet hai.

Yeh zid chhodo,yun na todo ,har pal ek darpan hai”

 (Do not keep on thinking whether you have won or lost; embrace what life nudges you to follow. Do not be stubborn and don't break these mirror-like beautiful moments brooding over these things).

  I have some more to add, but did not want to bore you with so many. If you have liked this string, you are welcome to add your own selections to it and the process can continue.Depending on your interest and inclination I may come back later with some more of my selections.