Another 100 Lyrics

gulzar Translated by

SUNJOY SHEKHAR

PENGUIN BOOKS

ANOTHER 100 LYRICS Gulzar is one of India’s most respected scriptwriters, directors and leading poets, and has been one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema for over five decades. Gulzar has received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, and the Padma Bhushan in 2004, along with an Oscar and Grammy for the song ‘Jai ho’. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He lives and works in Mumbai. Sunjoy Shekhar was born in Sahebganj, now in Jharkhand, in 1969. He has written more than 10,000 hours of fiction for TV channels across India and Indonesia. Another 100 Lyrics is his fourth book with Gulzar. Sunjoy lives in Mumbai with his wife and dog.

ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Selected Poems, translated by Pavan K. Varma 100 Lyrics, translated by Sunjoy Shekhar Neglected Poems, translated by Pavan K. Varma Half a Rupee: Stories, translated by Sunjoy Shekhar Yudhishtar and Draupadi, translation of a work by Pavan K. Varma Green Poems, translated by Pavan K. Varma

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100 Lyrics

GULZAR Translated by

SUNJOY SHEKHAR

PENGUIN BOOKS USA Canada UK Ireland Australia New Zealand India South Africa China Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com Published by Penguin Random House India Pvt. Ltd 4th Floor, Capital Tower 1, MG Road, Gurugram 122 002, Haryana, India

First published by Penguin Books India 2016 Copyright © Gulzar 2016 Translation copyright © Sunjoy Shekhar 2016 All rights reserved 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ISBN 9780143422242 Typeset in Baskerville BT and Shusha by R. Ajith Kumar, New Delhi

Printed at Repro India Limited

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Foreword 100 xkus fQ+Yeksa ds fQj tek gks x;sA pquko dk eqf'dy dke eSa [+kqn ugha djrkA igys laTk; 'ks[kj djrs gSaA vkSj fQj mn;u fe=k] esjs ilanhnk ,MhVj! eSa flQZ bruk gh djrk gwa fd fQ+Yeh flPos'ku ds vykok] ftu xkuksa ds ihNs dksbZ dgkuh gks ;k dksbZ okd+;k gks] mu ij maxyh j[k nsrk gwa ;k ftu xkuksa esa flPos'ku ds vykok eSaus dksbZ vkSj lrg] ;k dimension Nqik nh gks] mls vUMjykbZu dj nsrk gwaA tSlk fd ^jkou* esa ^^Bksd ns fdYyh!** bl xkus dh flPos'ku ds vykok mlesa vkt ds nfyrksa dh vkokt+ Hkh 'kkfey gSA ,d lrg dqjsn ds nsf[k;s rks lquk;h nsxhA ysfdu pquko dk vkf[+kjh Q+Slyk fQj Hkh laTk; ;k mn;u gh djrs gSaA fiNys ,d n”kd ls ,d cM+h rcnhyh tks fQ+Yeksa ds xkuksa esa gks jgh gS] oks ;s gS fd fQ+Yeksa dh t+cku esa cM+k Q+d+Z vk x;k gS] blfy;s xkus dks fQ+Ye dh t+cku ls vyx j[kuk eqf'dy gSA dksbZ Hkh fdjnkj] oks ghjks gks] ;k ghjksbu] ;k lkbZM dSjsDVj] ,d t+cku esa ckr ugha djrkA vki vxj t+jk x+kSj djsa rks ekywe gksxk fd fQ+Yeksa ds VkbZVy Hkh feyhtqyh t+cku esa ;k [+kkfyl vaxzst+h esa vkus yxs gSaA bu gkykr esa [+kkfyl t+cku esa xkuk fy[kuk] blfy;s Hkh eqf'dy gks x;k gS fd xkuk fdjnkj ds lkFk esy ugha [kkrkA ;kuh esp ugha djrkA ,d vkSj cM+h rcnhyh ;s Hkh vkbZ gS fd xkus vc vDlj fdjnkj ds ycksa ij ugha gksrsA cfYd ilseat+j] ;kuh csdxzkmUM esa gksrs gSaA q fgLlk ,d txg - - - dN q nl w jh vkSj vDlj caVs-cVas luqk;h nrss gAaS dN txgA blfy;s xkuk Hkh caVk-caVk lk fy[kk tkrk gSA gj fgLls ds eqrkfcd+A urhtk ;s fd xkus dk rlylqy Hkh VwV tkrk gSA eqf'dy v

gksrk gS mldk rlylqy ;kuh (continuity of thought) d+k;e j[kukA cgjgky eqf'dysa rks vkSj Hkh cgqr gSaA tSls igys ls rS;kj /kqu ds ehVj esa fy[kuk - - - ikcan oD+r esa [+kRe djukA fjdkWfMZax ds oD+r cgsj dks NksVk-cM+k dj ysuk] vkSj vkt dy lc ls eqf'dy gS y¶t+ksa dk lgh ryQ+~Q+qt+ j[kukA vc xkuk dksbZ uT+e rks gS ugha fd viuh ejt+h ls] vius gh ygts esa fy[k yh vkSj lquk nhA

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Translator’s Note Working on 100 Lyrics was easy. I could tell our editor, Udayan: ‘No, not this one, there are no right words in English to translate this one into.’ How does one transfer the lines of ‘Beedi jalai le’ from Hindustani to English? Or for that matter, ‘Goli maar bheje mein’? There are no perfect word-equivalents for ‘Chappa chappa charkha chalein’, no equivalent onomatopoeia of the churr . . . churrs of ‘Ibn-e-Batuta, bagal mein joota’. The sounds are so different in the two languages. Unrecognizably so, almost. So, I knotted all of these aside in a bundle, and tagged them as ‘untranslatable’. Little did I know that, six years down the line, Gulzar saab and Udayan would surreptitiously push the bundle right back to me. And all those songs would stare me right in the face, demanding to be given an English form. ‘Golmaal hai bhai sab golmaal hai’ had to become ‘it’s a scam, man! all a scam!’ Well, that’s how work on Another 100 Lyrics started. Amongst those seemingly ‘untranslatable’ songs was a favourite of mine. Everybody has a favourite Gulzar song. Mine is ‘Dakiya dak laya’. It is the first Gulzar song I remember hearing. I was about eight years old. And I can vividly recall it was raining. There is something about that song—the length of its sounds, its timber, or perhaps the way the words wrapped themselves around my tongue—the song stayed with me all through the years. It wasn’t just the postman that the song was celebrating, it was our way of life, the way more than half of the country lived; it was as if I knew everybody vii

in that song—Inder, Somnath, the woman pining for her husband, the old man waiting for the money order—in fact, I knew everybody, except the lyricist. In those days before the internet, friends would dig up the lyrics and sing the song to me as a birthday present. I have lived with that song for close to thirty-eight years now. And yet, thirty-eight years down the line, when I sat at my desk, entrusted with the responsibility of translating the magic of those words, I felt like an orphan, rudderless in the wilderness that exists between tongues, in that space between home and a foreign city where everything is alien—the sounds, the smells. Perfection in translating Gulzar is something that is inconceivable. I have lived with his words. His songs are my friends. I wouldn’t say that I have committed the sin of translating Gulzar. I would rather prefer to say that I have tried to introduce you to my friends clothed in a different language. And I owe much for the way they turned out to our editor, Udayan Mitra—salut! There’s another set of friends that I owe this book to: First and foremost, my wife, Geeta, who took on the job of earning our living entirely upon herself, giving me all the time that I needed to work on this book; Gauraa, my daughter and my best friend, who painstakingly went over every single word; Ranjan Mishra, who introduced me to the world of books; Pavan Jha, who painstakingly went through the lyrics in the Hindi original to make sure that every nuqta and every matra was in place and that the text was error-free. And my little sister, Gargi, who stood by me through thick and thin—this book is for you! Mumbai, 2016

Sunjoy Shekhar

viii

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kabaulaIvaalaa (ûùöû) gaMgaa Aae khaM sao gaMgaa jaae khaM ro lahrae panaI maoM jaOsao QaUp¹CaMva ro rat karI idna ]ijayaara imala gae daonaaoM saae saaMJa nao doKao rMga¹$p ko kOsao Baod imaTae kaMca kao[-¸ maaTI kao[rMga¹ibarMgao Pyaalao Pyaasa lagao tao ek barabar ijasa maoM panaI Dalao naama kao[-¸ baaolaI kao[laaKaoM $p AaOr caohro Kaola ko doKao Pyaar kI AaMKoM saba toro¸ saba maoro ro

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1 Kabuliwala (1961) Ganga, where does it come from Ganga, where does it go rising and falling like waves of light and shade in the waters the dark night, the bright day meet up in their shadows look, how the dusk erases all differences of shapes and size rising and falling like waves of light and shade in the waters be they glass, be they clay cups of a thousand hues to the thirsty they are all the same in whichever one the water is poured a thousand names, a thousand tongues a thousand faces, a thousand forms open the eyes of love and see they are all yours, they are all mine rising and falling like waves of light and shade in the waters Ganga, where does it come from Ganga, where does it go

3

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plakaoM kI CaMva maoM (ûù÷÷) Daikyaa Dak laayaa, Daikyaa Dak laayaa Dak laayaa K,uSaI ka pyaama khIM¸ khIM dd-naak laayaa dovar ko BatIjao kI saalaI kI sagaa[- hO AatI pUrnamaasaI kao krar pa[- hO maamaa Aapkao laonao Aato magar majabaUrI hO baccaaoM samaot Aanaa Aapka ja$rI hO dada tao gauj,ar gae¸ dadI baImaar hO naanaa ka BaI torhvaaM Aato saaomavaar hO CaoTaoM kao Pyaar donaa¸ baD,aoM kao namaskar dorI majabaUrI¸ samaJaao karD kao tar SaadI ka saMdosaa tora — ho saaomanaaqa — laayaa Daikyaa Dak laayaa¸ Daikyaa Dak laayaa Dak laayaa

e Daikyaa baabaU² @yaa rIÆ C: mahInaa hu[- gavaa¸ KtaO nahIM ilaKna KtaO naaih ilaKna baaola @yaa ilaKUM basa jaldI sao AavaO ka ilaK doAao naa² ibarh maoM kOsao¸ kOsao kaTUM rityaaM saavana saunaae baOrI¸ BaIgaI¹BaIgaI baityaaM Aigna kI baUMdaoM maoM jalao jalao baavairyaa þ

2 Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein (1977) here comes the postman with his mail and with each mail comes a different tale to some he brings in good cheer to some a shock of tears, their worst fears husband’s brother’s nephew’s wife’s sister’s getting engaged soon the ceremony’s on the night of the next full moon would have sent your uncle to fetch you but he has so much to attend to understand our helplessness but you have to come nonetheless grandpa has left us for his heavenly abode grandma too is sick, bowed and slowed and then there’s the matter of the other grandpa’s last rites they have to be concluded anyhow next Monday in daylight give my love to the young ones, best regards to the elders forgive the delay, my tardiness discard think of this as a telegram, not a postcard hey Somnath, see—for you what I have got it seems the time’s come for you to tie the knot

5

naaOkiryaa CaoD,ko tU Aajaa ro saaMvairyaa Aa jaa ro saaMvairyaa Aa jaa¸ Aa jaa¸ baOsaaK Aayaa Daikyaa Dak laayaa¸ Daikyaa Dak laayaa haolaI ko haolaI¸ manaIAaD-r sao maala Baojao Dala ko ilaf,afo maoM saOMyaa gaulaala Baojao iksaI kI idvaalaI Aa[-¸ iksaI ka dIvaalaa inammaao kI gaaod BarI¸ K,O$ ka Pyaalaa saat $pOe laayaa º º º laayaa @yaa K,ak laayaa Daikyaa Dak laayaa¸ Daikyaa Dak laayaa Dak laayaa

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here comes the postman with his mail and with each mail comes a different tale hello . . . mr postman, sir . . . yes, what may I do for you . . . it’s been over six months, no letter from him ah! hasn’t he written to you well, tell me . . . what should I write . . . just ask him to hurry back home, all right? these long nights of separation are full of despair and this accursed monsoon, these rains conspire to fill my eyes with tears ah, I burn in a pyre of fire, unloved quit your work and run to me, beloved run to me . . . come see, the new year’s about to ring in it’s nearly summer now here comes the postman with his mail and with each mail comes a different tale holi after holi the husband sends in dough and a pinch of colours in an envelope for their love to glow somebody drops the ball, somebody makes a windfall Khairu’s bowl gets filled, and Nimmo—a mother soon, after all I’ve brought a money order of full seven rupees seven, that’s not even, even . . . darn here comes the postman with his mail and with each mail comes a different tale 7

A delightful new collection from the master lyricist After the great success of 100 Lyrics, this new volume contains a hundred more of Gulzar’s marvellous compositions. Gulzar has brought a rare poetic sensibility to popular Hindi film music over a five-decade-long career, and this collection showcases some of his best work, from early lyrics like Ganga aaye kahan se (Kabuliwala) and Koi hota jisko apna (Mere Apne) to classics such as Tere bina jiya jaye na (Ghar), Do naina aur ek kahani (Masoom) and Roz, roz ankhon taley ( Jeeva), as well as later blockbusters like Goli maar bheje mein (Satya), Beedi jalai le (Omkara), Dhan te nan (Kaminey), Dil toh bachcha hai ji (Ishqiya), Challa ( Jab Tak Hai Jaan) and Bismil (Haider). In addition, this compilation carries some brilliant poems from non-film albums like Dil Padosi Hai, Marasim and Koi Baat Chale. Complete with anecdotes about the compositions of some of these lyrics by Gulzar himself, Another 100 Lyrics is a true collector’s item.

Poetry

Cover photograph by Vivek Ranade

MRP `299 (incl. of all taxes)

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