Tuesday, December 25, 2012

DO DIWAANE SHEHER MEIN-TRANSLATED

The touch-and-go weekend ingested and digested, we’re set for another long week. Sundays spent house-hunting can hardly be called laid back or refreshing. A house, a home, an abode, a retreat, a haven to fit your needs, requirements, co-ordinates and budget is elusive to say the least. This song sums up just that! The pursuit to acquire a safe roof on your head, something most young couples start life with, is indeed a daunting task. The endearing voices of Bhupinder Singh and Runa Laila provide just the right touch of freshness, vulnerability and spirit of enterprise backed by Gulzar’s unconventional lyrics and vibrant music by Jaidev. These challenges to find a suitable house may give lot of stress, cause for deliberation and differences of opinion. But often it is these worldly pursuits that keep many glued together. The desire to create a space, an asset together is not exactly the deficiency of material wealth, but the ability to see dreams together. Sometimes the pursuit of few things that we feel are lacking in our life keep the interest in life alive. If this wasn’t true, one would not see incidences of depression and such psychological ailments much higher in affluent nations or communities whose material needs are fulfilled. Wanting and working towards something means looking ahead and holding on tight till you reach that goal. Embrace your inadequacies and challenges. For complete fulfillment often means the inability to see dreams anymore…..

A translation of this delightful song by Gulzar. Pardon a few poetic liberties:

Two silly souls about town,
Come bright night or afternoon,
Look for a place to call their own-
An abode, some dreams and a bit of moon.


Oh! When will we have a house in this maze?
Will the window open to the skies?
To bring on days of sunshine or haze,
Singing rich serenades or sweet lullabies
Or the sky wide open stare in from the window?

The clouds sauntering in like spies,
And be witness to our world on the go.

Though all I want is a ruse,
A delicious excuse,
To forever live in the sky blue eyes
Of my mesmerising muse.

At times when stars tread on Earth,
The sky becomes earthy and ephemeral.
The moon adopts this home and hearth,
That night it sleeps here, vivid yet visceral.
For that one ethereal moment
I seek a lifetime in those eyes,
The cause of my bliss and torment,
Those limpid oceans in disguise.

It is for these reasons, known and unknown,
That come bright night or afternoon,
These two silly souls about town,
Look for a home to call their own-
A haven, some dreams and a bit of moon.