Piyaa milan ko jaanaa
Posted on: June 24, 2010
When I was a kid, I liked new songs and scoffed at old songs, especially the songs that were played in Radio Ceylon’s “Puraani Filmon Ke Geet” between 7-30 AM to 8 AM. I wondered why the old singers could not sing like the new singers. I had no sense of history to realise that there would be no new singers but for the older singers.
One of the songs that was constantly played in the “Puraani Filmon Ke Geet” program was this song from ‘Kapaal Kundalaa’ (1939). This song is a one man show. The song is sung by Pankaj Mullick, who is the music director, as well as the actor, and I suspect that he is the lyricist too ! The lyrics are written by Aarzoo Lakhnavi.
Now, when I am presumably older and wiser (?), I find myself bowing down to the genius of Pankaj Mullick. This song came in the earlier days of Bollywood movie music. Followers had yet to come in and there were only pioneers those days as far as creating music was concerned. And Pankaj Mullick was one of the major pioneers in this field.
And just listen to the voice. What a powerful and well trained voice he had. As was the tradition those days, the music was miniscule, and it was the singer’s voice that was required to do most of the work, and here Pankaj Mullick’s voice does all the hard work.
This song made Pankaj Mullick a household name, and quite deservingly so. Now, over 70 years later, this song still retains the same magic that it must have weaved over the generation of our great grandparents.
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17 April, 2023
[Ed Note: After spending time to listen to this song many times, and going through an analysis and discussion, I present below a detailed note on the lyrics of this song and their intended meaning.]
Note on Lyrics
The lyrics of this song are from the pen of Aarzoo Lakhnavi Sb.
The film is from 1939, which makes it 74 years ago. Aarzoo Sb’s choice of words dates back from then, and actually from even before. The language 80 to 100 years ago was somewhat different. There were a large number of words in use at that time, which are not even familiar to the current generations. Deciphering the words from that period, especially from the pen of a heavy weight litterateur and a poet of eminence, is at times not a simple endeavor. Aarzoo Sb gets cryptic at times, presents a word that is wonderfully in consonance with the flow of thought behind the song, but is a difficult word to trace. I will give an example below.
As I started to write the Hindi lyrics for this song, I played and replayed this track a number of times. I got stuck at three four places, where I was not sure that the sound that we hear in the song, is correctly represented in the words. And so the afternoon of today has been devoted to searching through dictionaries – both online and hard copy. I have a very old edition of the ‘Brihat Hindi Shabd Kosh’, which has never (~99%) times failed me to provide the correct word with the correct flavor and phonetics. Today, this volume became very helpful in my task.
In addition, and more importantly, I was in touch with Anoop ji, who has also himself gone through this exercise earlier. We have come to a definitive deciphering of some key words, confirmed with the help of the Hindi Shabd Kosh. I present here the correct words, translations, and our interpretation of what the poet had in mind when he wrote these lines.
The essence of the song is presented in the mukhda itself.
piya milan ko jaana पिया मिलन को जाना
jag ki laaj जग की लाज
mann ki mauj मन की मौज
donon ko nibhaana दोनों को निभाना
The damsel is keen and eager to go and meet her beau. It is night time. She is unsure. She wants to go, but she also wants nobody to know. That she dearly wants to go and meet him is expressed as “मन की मौज”. That she is unsure and does not want others to know is expressed as “जग की लाज”. And the important endeavor in her mind is “दोनों को निभाना”. Her desire to meet him has the counter weight of the prying eyes of the society.
कांटे बिथरा के चलूँ
पानी ढलका के चलूँ
सुख के लिए सीख रखूँ
पहले दुख उठाना
She is walking barefoot. There may be thorns on the path. The word used by Aarzoo Sb is “बिथरा के”. Shabd Kosh gives the meaning same as “बिखरा के”, but the context is to carefully move them out of way and avoid stepping on them. She is probably carrying a container of water. The word used here is “ढलका के”. The meaning is close to “छलका के”. She is not ‘pouring’ the water, but she is carefully spraying some water on the dusty path, maybe to avoid dust rising by her walking feet. And then she goes on to say that she must learn to bear pain and sorrow, to be able to savor the happiness later.
पायल को बांध के
उट्ठी चुभ नांघ के
धीरे धीरे दबे दबे
पाँव को बढ़ाना
These lines are so beautiful. “पायल को बांध के” – it is not that she puts on the anklets. Actually she is securing the anklets she is already wearing, so that they will not make a sound. So why then she wears them? Well “पिया मिलन को जाना”, and so the shringaar must not be incomplete, the anklets have to be worn also. As said before, one has to follow and honor “मन की मौज”.
“उट्ठी चुभ नांघ के” – This line is the most cryptic. It took the most discussion and search through the Shabd Kosh to decipher. The word “चुभ” sounds as such when sung in the song, but the word actually is “चूभ”. Here we find Aarzoo Sb at his cryptic best. This word is the second half part of a very old Hindi phrase “ऊभ-चूभ”. Aarzoo Sb truncated it and used only half the phrase, probably in the interest of the meter of the song, but also in the interest of the idea being conveyed.
“ऊभ-चूभ” means – if one sees an object or a person floating in water, it disappears and appears alternatively in the waves. The word or phrase for this in Hindi is “ऊभ-चूभ”. Maybe this phrase is an abbreviated form of “उभरना-छुपना”. So there is this dilemma in the damsel’s mind – to go or not to go. The mind is like a floating object in the waves of water, sometimes above the surface, and sometimes submerged – go or don’t go.
Then the word “नांघ”. Once again, a very old usage, which means the same as “लांघ”. So she is in dilemma at first, but then she decides to go. So “उट्ठी चुभ नांघ के” – she gets up overcoming her dilemma, or rather overcoming her “चूभ”, that part of the thought that says don’t go. And decides she has to go.
बुझे दिये अंधेरी रात
आँखों पर दोनों हाथ
कैसे कटे कठिन बात
चल कर आज़माना
The night is dark. The lamps have been doused. It is as if walking with hands over both eyes. It is a difficult endeavor to go through, how will this come to pass – “कैसे कटे कठिन बात”. But then she must attempt it – by going – “चल कर आज़माना” .
I have to thank Anoop ji Gadodia, for patiently going through this analysis with me, and helping me out with his knowledge of Aarzoo Sb’s writings and choice of words and phrases.
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Song-Piyaa milan ko jaanaa (Kapal Kundala) (1939) Singer-Pankaj Mullick, Lyrics-Aarzoo Lakhnavi, MD-Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
piyaa milan ko jaana
haan piyaa milan ko jaana
jag ki laaj
mann ki mauj
donon ko nibhaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
haan piyaa milan ko jaana
kaante bithraa ke chaloon
paani dhalkaa ke chaloon
kaante bithraa ke chaloon
paani dhalkaa ke chaloon
sukh ke liye seekh rakhoon
sukh ke liye seekh rakhoon
pehle dukh uthaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
paayal ko baandh ke
paayal ko baandh ke
utthi chubh naang ke
paayal ko baandh ke
dheere-dheere dabe-dabe
paaon ko badhaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
haan
piyaa milan ko jaana
bujhe diye andheri raat
aankhon par donon haath
bujhe diye andheri raat
aankhon par donon haath
kaise kate kathin baat
kaise kate kathin baat
chal ke aazmaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
haan piyaa milan ko jaana
jaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
jaanaa
piyaa milan ko jaana
piyaa milan ko jaana
haan
piyaa milan ko jaana
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir Kapur)
————————————————
पिया मिलन को जाना
हाँ पिया मिलन को जाना
जग की लाज
मन की मौज
दोनों को निभाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
हाँ पिया मिलन को जाना
कांटे बिथरा के चलूँ
पानी ढलका के चलूँ
कांटे बिथरा के चलूँ
पानी ढलका के चलूँ
सुख के लिए सीख रखूँ
सुख के लिए सीख रखूँ
पहले दुख उठाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
पायल को बांध के
पायल को बांध के
उट्ठी चुभ नांग के
पायल को बांध के
धीरे धीरे दबे दबे
पाँव को बढ़ाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
हाँ पिया मिलन को जाना
बुझे दिये अंधेरी रात
आँखों पर दोनों हाथ
बुझे दिये अंधेरी रात
आँखों पर दोनों हाथ
कैसे कटे कठिन बात
कैसे कटे कठिन बात
चल कर आज़माना
पिया मिलन को जाना
हाँ पिया मिलन को जाना
जाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
जाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
पिया मिलन को जाना
हाँ
पिया मिलन को जाना
24 Responses to "Piyaa milan ko jaanaa"
June 24, 2010 at 8:20 am
Indeed now I have nothing but admiration for the old masters of 1930s and 1940s.
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June 24, 2010 at 1:03 pm
I first heard this song when I was in school. At that time there were only two “really old” singers I had heard of – KL Saigal and Pankaj Mullick.
I must also plead guilty that I did not really appreciate their singing that much because I was more caught up with the “then-modern” songs of the 70s.
Now I realise that every generation has its music, its followers – and when there is hard work that goes into something, that work needs to be appreciated regardless of generation and taste.
This is a great song by Pankaj Mullick, btw. Just listened to it after decades. Thanks for posting this, Atul.
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March 11, 2011 at 9:11 pm
I can!t stop listening these old songs again n again,it is an execllent poetry too.and is sung from the heart.Thanks Atulbhai.
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March 13, 2011 at 7:24 pm
You are right,Atulji.
The song is written by Pankaj Mullick himself.
I remember,the Trio of 30s,namely K.L.Sahagal,Punkaj Mullick and Jagmohan was doing magic on the people of India.One will be surprised to know that there are few songs sung by all three,some(more) are sung by PM and KLS and it was a heated debate to identify the singers !
Jagmohan,however, was more famous for his non filmi songs.
You have already posted 3 songs from DOCTOR(1941),but the song that put P.Mullick on the pinnacle of popularity was ‘Chale pawan ki chaal,jagmen chale pawan ki chaal’,which I am sure,will be posted by you eventually.
These songs really take us on a Nostalgia Trip !
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March 13, 2011 at 7:29 pm
I thought I had already posted “Chale pawan ki chaal”. If not then I will need to do it promptly.
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July 14, 2011 at 5:26 pm
There is also a short female version of this song used five years later in My Sister (Meri Bahan, 1944) :
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April 17, 2023 at 2:23 pm
Sadanand ji
I missed this comment from earlier years.
Thanks for making the connection.
Rgds
Sudhir
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September 30, 2011 at 4:16 am
This is wonderful… My dream come through… The each and every one of this collection of songs are a gem ! Thank you… thank you.. thank you.
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September 30, 2011 at 5:25 am
Thanks for your kind words. Indeed this blog is a labour of love that is now 4700 plus songs strong. And with encouragements like yours, we will hopefully continue to add many more thousands of songs in future.
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December 7, 2011 at 3:56 pm
happy 2 hav found tis song here :)..coz it was 1 of my favourite songs of my nanaji 😉
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March 5, 2012 at 7:29 pm
What a fantastic labour of love .Came across the site purely by accident. I am 78 years old and thoroughly enjoyed the musical trip down memory lane.
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March 28, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Just Heard this song today for the first time. Absolutely amazing simplicity. Pure genius.
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July 22, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Atulji, thanx a lot for posting this musical blog. One of my friend Bhaskar Iyer have also posted musical blogs on all legendary music directors, singers, great yesteryear actors and actresses. Hats of to you for taking so much pain in posting these blogs and your efforts are not gone waste. Everyday we listen to songs sung by K.L.Saigal, Punkaj Mullick, C.H.Atma, Noorjehan, Suraiya, Khurshid, Lataji, Rafiji and so on posted by you. We get to listen to songs of 1950 till date. But prior to that, aapke badaulat yeh purane gaane hum thak pahunchti hai. Bhagwan aapko lambiiiiiiiiii umar de.
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February 23, 2019 at 6:32 pm
Song’s tune used in Tamil film ‘Ashok Kumar’ (1941)
Song’s mukhda tune used in Malayalam film ‘Thenmavin Kombath’ (1994)
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June 14, 2020 at 10:57 pm
The lyrics are by Arzoo Lakhnavi sahab actually. See this interview clip of Pankajda on my youtube channel where he talks about it:-
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April 17, 2023 at 2:21 pm
Thanks Gajendra ji
For this confirmation. Anoop ji has also confirmed the same.
I have made the correction to the post above, also to the post on the reuse of this song in ‘My Sister’.
Rgds
Sudhir
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April 17, 2023 at 8:11 pm
Dear Atul ji and Readers,
I have updated the lyrics of this song, and added the lyrics in Hindi. I have also added a section to the write up, in which the lyrics are analyzed and explained.
Please see above
Thanks and regards
Sudhir
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
June 24, 2010 at 7:39 am
I agree with you, Atul, I also wondered why the old singers could not sing like Lata and Rafi and kishore kumar! Now I find myself yearning to listen to old songs, and wishing those days would come again, and wondering why people want to listen to the cacophony that passes for music these days. My husband agrees with me, so our children grew up on a diet of old songs, and have never understood the new songs, either! This song by Pankaj Mullick is certainly a gem.
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