Idhar phir bhi aanaa udhar jaane waale
Posted on: August 24, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
In his life, and in his death, Saigal Saab remains a mystery. Not much is known about his years of wandering, and then the immediate success as a singer-actor in Calcutta, somehow defies the normal course of understanding life’s events. He was just as he was.
When success came in the form of films at New Theatres, Calcutta, it just stayed on its zenith, there was nothing like his singing or his roles had any ups and downs. The second world war intervened, to the extent that the film production activity in Calcutta slowed down significantly, as the conflict on the eastern border grew more intense. Saigal Saab moved to Bombay, and the success followed him interminably. And with all this epitome of accomplishments, he somehow dragged himself down into the character of Devdas, the portrait of an unsuccessful romantic, torn between the enticements of heart and the realization of the ultimate futility of life. The character slowly conquered the actor, and the life went down into the mistaken notion that only wine could make him perform and sing better. Singing became his ultimate destiny, and the drink became an excuse. Before there could be an opportunity to rationalize and to try and rehabilitate himself (which was the probably the understanding with which he left Bombay in the winters of 1946, to go to Jalandhar, his home town, as the shooting of the film Parwaanaa was winding up) it was too late, and the habit overwhelmed the being and vanquished him.
This ghazal is written by Aarzoo Lucknawi. And as with many other such creations, the verses can be interpreted and understood at more than one levels. In a simple way, this ghazal is addressed to the beloved, and talks about the conduct of a loving relationship. At another level, these verses also talk about life and death, in its most passionate form. Although sounding simple in their own way, the words reflect the poet’s mind and its romanticism in its extreme profundity. This seemingly innocuous poetry, once again is an example of the deep contemplation that the poet applies to his words and thoughts. For the meanings of these seemingly simple words are so profound and so far reaching that it takes your breath away. This ghazal that starts with a simple request to a friend or beloved to please come here again, now that you are going away, concludes with such a profound implication to the entire process of living and being alive, that it is incredible. Each verse presents an emotion, a feeling, that we can easily relate to what happens in real life. Just think about seeing off a loved one at the station to go for a journey. The emotions described in these verses, takes that “seeing-off” feeling to the depths not easily evident, but when expressed, they seem appropriate and natural. And the voice of Saigal Saab is the exemplary addition to the words. When I had heard this ghazal for the first time, I was literally floored by the rendition of the very second line of this ghazal, ‘arre jee ke bechain kar jaane waale’. One simply has to hear it to believe the experience.
idhar phir bhi aanaa udhar jaane waale
arre jee ke bechain kar jaane waale
O the tormentor of my heart, the one who has made my mind restless, do come this way again, now that you are going elsewhere.
In a simple way, this is a request to a friend or a beloved, who is leaving to go elsewhere, maybe from the current meeting, maybe going for a period of time; to please return and comeback to meet again, or comeback to be together.
In a deeper sense, this verse is also talking about the final departure of a soul from this world. No matter who, but every person will leave behind some hearts that will be disturbed and restless on this departure, and the feeling from the heart is to be somehow able to call this person back and to be able to see them again. As I read the first line of this verse, I am reminded the song from the film Bandini (1962) by Mukesh, ‘O Jaane Waale Ho Sakey To Laut Ke Aanaa’. The first line of this song and the first antaraa ‘Bachpan Ke Tere Meet Tere Sang Ke Sahaare, Dhoondege Tujhe Gali Gali. . .’ seem to sound so similar to the meaning and purpose of this verse.
idhar = here, this side
phir = again
phir bhi = yet once again
aanaa = come, requesting to come
udhar = there, the other side
jaana = going, to go, depart
waala = a person
jaane waale = the one who is departing
arre = common usage as a form of addressing someone
jee = mind, heart
bechain = restless, disturbed
kar = to do
kar jaane waale = addressing the one who is doing
bechain kar jaane waale = addressing the one who has created this restlessness
chhuri pher denaa to achhaa thhaa us se
lagaawat se munh pher kar jaane waale
Know that you have caused this affection in my heart for you, but are now turning away from me and leaving, may it have been better that you would have put a knife into me and twisted it.
There is a wonderful play of the word ‘pher’. In the first line, used with the word ‘chhuri’ (knife), the word means to twist and to cut up. In the second line, used with the word ‘munh’ (face), the meaning is to turn away. The poet is identifying the twisting of the knife in the heart with the turning away and going away of a loved one.
The pain and the pangs of separation are very intense, and especially so as one is witnessing the departure. The feeling of a loved one leaving to go, even for a short period of time, like seeing someone off at the station, for a journey, there is a sinking feeling in the heart, as if a part of the self is being separated. And again, when read in light of the final departure, it so aptly represents the feeling in the hearts of those who are left behind; for some this separation is worse than the pain of the twisting knife of death.
(Once again, another song comes to mind. “Suno Jaana” from Hum Sab Ustad Hain (1965). Although the tone of that song is totally different, but the meaning is very similar, ‘Agar Jaana To Yun Jaana, Judaa Gardan Se Kar Jaana’.)
The feeling in the heart when a loved one leaves is, desiring an end to one’s own life, since the pain of mortal wound will not be any more than the pain of separation.
chhuri = knife
pher denaa = (in context of the knife) the act of cutting up something
achhaa = better
to achhaa thhaa us se = may that it was better than
lagaawat = affection, fondness
se = with
munh = face
pher kar = turning away
jaane waale = the one who is departing
gala kaatnaa pehle phir haath malnaa
bade dheetth nikley mukar jaane waale
This verse is an entreaty, a complaint. The loved one (or the loved one who has departed) turned out to be so stubborn, in refusing to acknowledge a promise made, it was like cutting my throat, and then pretending to show regret.
Once again, the interpretation is working on both levels. The lover’s complaint to the beloved is that the heart has been mortally wounded, and yet, the beloved is obstinate and dismissive, simply expressing regret for causing a mortal injury, or this pain of longing in the heart. As if the regret may undo the grievous action. At the second level, once again, referring to the final departure of a loved one, the complaint that naturally comes to mind of those left behind is about broken promises, and the obstinacy and finality with which this act of departure has been carried out. It is as if a great deception has been effected by the person who has departed.
gala = throat, neck
kaatnaa = to cut
pehle = first, initially
phir = and then, after that
haath = hands
malnaa = to rub
haath malnaa = to rub the hands together; in this context, symbolic of washing one’s hands off something
bade = too much, extreme
dheethh = obstinate, obdurate, stubborn
nikley = turned out to be
mukar = deny or disown a promise
mukar jaane waale = one who disowns a promise
ye hai preet ki reet, badlo na is ko
galey pehle miltey hain ghar jaane waale
It is a convention between the lovers that they will embrace before leaving to go, please do not try to change this tradition.
The lover is beseeching the beloved for one last embrace before departing to go to their individual destinations, saying that it is the custom between lovers, and pleading with the beloved not to change this custom.
And then again, the verse so fittingly illustrates the emotions in the case of a person leaving for the final journey; the desire in the heart is to somehow be able to say yet another good bye, to be able to speak and talk for one last time, to be able to hold and embrace for one final moment, the person who is gone. The word used for the departed is drawing a beautiful comparison with a deep philosophical intent. To address the person who is leaving as “ghar jaane waale” is an acknowledgement that we meet others in a place which is not our home, and that we eventually will have to leave to go back to our home. The reference here is to the hereafter, and returning to the Almighty, which is the true home of every soul.
This phrase also brings up another thought in the mind; an emotion that may be appreciated by a romantically inclined heart. Meeting with the beloved somehow is always fanciful away from home. And that is why even in that context, the phrase is used to indicate that one returns to home after the tryst with the beloved. 🙂
ye hai = this is
preet = love, devotion, affection, fondness
ki = of
reet = custom, tradition
badlo = change, alter
na is ko = not this one
badlo na is ko = do not attempt to change this
pehle = at first, before
galey = neck
miltey = meet
hain = to be, to do
galey miltey hain = to embrace (literally meeting at the neck)
ghar = home
ghar jaane waale = the person who is leaving to go home
kahin ‘aarzoo’ kyun dikhaa dena ik din
ke yoon dekho marte hain mar jaane waale
That one day by my own demise, I will show this world, what is the real manner and meaning of going away.
The use of the word ‘aarzoo’ is interesting in this verse. It is the signature (takhallus) of the poet, and it also means desire, wish. The poet is expressing his desire that the day he would depart, it would be the real and exemplary departure. The poet here is alluding to the fact that many/most people depart from this world, leaving behind the very emotions that are described in the verses that came before, the emotions of loss, of sorrow, of pain, of regret, of desire to re-live the interaction just once more. The poet’s aspiration and vision is that when he departs, none of these emotions will or should remain in the minds of himself and of the others whom he leaves behind. That would be the real departure, where there is no sorrow and regret left behind. Examining this statement, derives a most profound implication to the living. That the life should be led in a manner that does not leave behind any residual regrets or emotions or connections, that may be painful for either self or others. This needs to be seriously contemplated by each individual. The objective being alluded is to have a smooth, a painless, a regret-less departure from this world. The understanding required for that is one should conducts one’s own life in such a manner that makes this objective possible.
(Once again, another song comes to mind. “. . .Hanstaa Huaa Jo Jaayege. . . . . Muqaddar Ka Sikander Kehlaayegaa” from Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978).)
kahin = somewhere
‘aarzoo’ = desire, wish, aspiration; also poet’s signature (takhallus)
kyun = why
dikhaa dena = to show, to demonstrate, to prove
ik din = one day
ke = that
yoon = this way, in this manner
marte hain = to die; the root word here is ‘mar’, which is related to death, to the mortal destiny of each person
mar jaane waale = the person who dies
Song-Idhar phir bhi aana udhar jaane waale (Saigal NFS) (1940) Singer-K L Saigal,Lyrics-Aarzoo Lucknowi
Lyrics
aaa aaa
haa
idhar phir bhi aanaa
udhar jaane waale
arre jee ke bechain kar jaane waale
arre jee ke bechain kar jaane waale
arre jee ke bechain
chhuri pher denaa to achha thhaa us se
chhuri pher denaa to achha thhaa us se
lagaawat se munh pher kar jaane waale
lagaawat se munh pher kar jaane waale
lagaawat se munh pher
gala kaatnaa,
haan re
gala kaatnaa pehle
phir haath malnaa
gala kaatnaa pehle
phir haath malnaa
bade dheethh nikley
mukar jaane waale
bade dheethh nikley
mukar jaane waale
bade dheethh nikley
ye hai preet ki reet,
haan
ye hai preet ki reet,
badlo na is ko
ye hai preet ki reet,
badlo na is ko
galey pehle miltey hain
ghar jaane waale
galey pehle miltey hain
kahin ‘aarzoo’ kyun,
hoon
kahin’ aarzoo’ kyun dikhaa dena ik din
kahin ‘aarzoo’ kyun dikhaa dena ik din
hoon
ke yoon dekho marte hain
mar jaane waale
ki yoon dekho marte hain
2 Responses to "Idhar phir bhi aanaa udhar jaane waale"
February 26, 2013 at 1:29 pm
In the song ‘suno jaanan’ juda gardan se kar jana should be ‘juda sar tan se kar jana.’
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
January 26, 2013 at 6:53 am
this song is very emotional and i desired to listen it so i searched this song k l saigal cite and fulfilled my aarzoo thanks for loadind detailed meaning of song
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