Main unhen chhedoon aur kuchh na kahen
Posted on: August 9, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir,a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Continuing the silsilaa of ghazals rendered by Saigal Saab, this ghazal is a non film offering. The verses are written by Ghalib, and the combination, as always, is a heady wine that takes one to worlds beyond.
This is a small ghazal, and entirely consists of four verses only, as opposed to many other ghazals, in which selected verses from a much longer ghazal are presented. This is another romantic ghazal. The focus and the prime subject of the ghazal is the beloved. However, the mood is of despair and regret, for the beloved is not reciprocating, and rather the beloved is indicated to be fancying another.
main unhen chhedoon aur kuchh na kahen
chal nikalte jo mai piye hotey
I try to tease my beloved, but I receive no response from her. But only if she were intoxicated, (as I am), the state of affairs could have been tumultuous.
Here, the intoxication is of being in love. The poet laments that he loves her, but she does not.
main = I, me
unhen = (pronoun usage directed towards the other)
chhedoon = tease, provoke
aur kuchh na kahen = does not say anything; does not respond
chal nikalte = start to go somewhere; in this context, it is expecting a rousing response that could be tumultuous
mai = wine
piye = drunk
jo mai piye hotey = if drunk on wine; if in love; being intoxicated with the wine of love
qahar ho ya balaa ho, jo kucch ho
kaash ke tum mere liye hotey
May you have been a calamity in my life, or even an evil omen; anything you may have been is acceptable, only if you could be mine.
In the poetic world of a romantic, there is no disaster that is bigger than the presence of a rival (raqeeb) in the tale of love. The poet is lamenting that the beloved fancies another, and is not for him (the poet). If only she were for him, no matter what adversity or catastrophe that may have been in life, it would still have been more tolerable than the presence of the raqeeb.
qahar = calamity
balaa = evil eye; evil omen
ho = to be
jo kuchh ho = whatever you be
kaash = be it so; to wish
tum = you (referring to the beloved)
mere liye = for me
hotey = to be
meri qismat mein gam agar itna thaa
dil bhi yaa-rabb kai diye hotey
If my destiny is to face so much sorrow and unhappiness, o God, may you have given me more than one heart.
The poet says that the amount of sorrow and distress he has faced in life is beyond the limit of tolerance of a normal human being; just for that he pleads to God that he may have been granted more than one heart, to bear this load of unhappiness.
meri = mine
qismat = destiny
mein = in
gam = sorrow, unhappiness
itna thaa = so much exists
dil = heart
yaa-Rabb = Ya Khudaa, O God; an entreaty to the Almighty
kai = many
diye hotey = may have been granted
aa hi jaata wo raah par ghalib
koi din aur bhi jiye hotey
May the beloved would have mend her ways and my yearning would have been fulfilled, had I lived for some more days.
The poet is lamenting the imminent end of his life, that his longings and aspirations lie unfulfilled, unrealized. But only if he had some more days of life, maybe the beloved would have mend her ways and would have bestowed her favors unto him.
Here one meaning can be construed that there is undying hope still. But another, more powerful meaning is the intense regret; if only I could have lived some more, maybe I could have found favor with my beloved.
aa = come
raah = path; in this context, it is the right path
wo = (third person pronoun); in this context refers to the beloved
aa hi jaata wo raah par = maybe would have mend her ways, came back to the right path
koi = any; in this context – some more
din = days; days of life
jiye = live
koi din aur bhi jiye hotey = had I lived for a few days more
Song-Main unhen chhedoon aur kuchh na kahen (Saigal NFS) Singer-K L Saigal,Lyrics-Ghalib
Lyrics
main unhen chhedoon aur kuchh na kahen
haan haa
main unhen chhedoon aur kuchh na kahen
chal nikalte jo mai piye hotey
haan haan
chal nikalte jo mai piye hotey
haan haan
chal nikalte jo mai piye
main unhen chhedoon aur kuchh na kahen
chal nikalte jo mai piye hotey
he haaa
chal nikalte jo mai piye
qahar ho ya balaa ho, jo kuchh ho
ho o o
qahar ho ya balaa ho, jo kucch ho
kaash ke tum mere liye hotey
haan haan
kaash ke tum mere liye hotey
haan haan
kaash ke tum mere liye hotey
haan
kaash ke tum mere liye
meri qismat mein
haan haan haan haaaye
meri qismat mein gam agar itna thaa
meri qismat mein gam agar itna thaa
dil bhi yaa-rabb kai diye hotey
haaye
dil bhi yaa-rabb kai diye
haan re
dil bhi yaa-rabb kai diye
aa hi jaata wo raah par ghalib
aa hi jaata wo raah par ghalib
koi din aur bhi jiye hotey
haan haan
koi din aur bhi jiye hotey
haan haan
koi din aur bhi jiye hotey
haan haan
koi din aur bhi jiye hotey
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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