Samay o dheere chalo

Posted by: Atul on: November 7, 2011

In: Background song | Guest posts | Lata solo | Lata song | movie opening song | Multiple version song | Post by Sudhir | Songs of 1990s (1991 to 2000) | Songs of 1993 | Translation by Sudhir | Translations by readers | Yearwise breakup of songs
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.

Bhupen Hazaarika, the sound and the soul of culture of the east, is now silent, forever. A stalwart of many talents who would be honored by audiences and critics in many countries, a multi faceted personality who was single handedly responsible for breathing life into the endeavors of Assamese cinema, bringing international recognition to the age old music and culture of far eastern India.

Born in Sadiya, Assam in 1926, his musical and singing talents were evident even as a child, and at the tender age of 12, in 1939, he recorded his first song for the Assamese talkie film ‘Indramalati’. Although his education took him to faraway Benaras (BA and MA degrees in Political Science, 1944 and 1946), and then to the US for his PhD to New York (Columbia University, 1952), the association that was established in childhood, would be sustained and strengthened over the years. He became recognized as a renowned film maker in the east. As a renowned musician, and a multi lingual lyricist and vocalist, he continued to be the face of and represent the music and culture of that region. And more than that, he was the cultural ambassador of India to the rest of the world.

Many awards and accolades came to him throughout his illustrious career, most notable being the Sangeet Natak Academy award in 1987, Dadasaheb Phalke lifetime achievement award in 1993, and the Padma Bhushan in 2001. He was the president of the Sangeet Natak Academy from 1999 to 2004. As a creator of films and film music, he has been conferred many honors by film associations and critics associations in the US, Japan, Bangladesh, besides India.

Bhupen Hazarika breathed his last on 5th November, 2011.

Rudaali, a 1993 production by the feminist film maker and director, Kalpana Lajmi, is a story about the life and tribulations of Shanichari (Dimple Kapadia), a poor woman, abandoned by her own family as a child, and later in life, abandoned by the man whom she loves. A caustic and a weather beaten personality, her life is dogged by one misfortune after another. But the character within is stronger than steel, and she faces the world without a tear in her eye. The strength of her resolve is at conflict with her profession of a mourning woman, Rudaali, in the villages of interior Rajasthan. The film is a powerful commentary on the traditional status of women in rural India. The film itself, and the portrayal if the central character by Dimple Kapadia, has won many awards and recognitions, both national and international.

The lyrics of this film are penned by Gulzar, and the haunting music is created by Bhupen Hazarika. This particular song is rendered thrice in the film, and has been sung by Bhupen Hazarika himself, and also by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Asha ji’s version is played as the background song while the credits of the picture are displayed. The song is very enchanting, both for the simple yet powerful lyrics that bind the listener’s mind in trying to fathom the depths of hidden meanings behind the verses, and for the haunting music based on the folk and tribal melodies of Assam. The deep baritone voice of Bhupen Hazarika so strongly brings to life the powerful verses. A deeply moving experience about life itself.

samay o, dheere chalo
bujh gayee raah se chhaaon
door hai, door hai, pee ka gaon

O time, the incessant traveler
Pray slow down for me
Even the shadows have faded from the paths I tread
And I am still far, far away from the abode of my beloved

jee ko behlaa liyaa
tu ne aas niraas ke khel kiyaa
chaar dinon mein koi jeeyaa na jeeyaa
zehar ye saans ka piyaa na piyaa

We pretend to be happy and falsely regale this heart
In the eternal game of hope and despair that you arrange and play
Who, after all, has really lived this short stay called life
Forever partaking this poison called life breath,
(On way to the ultimate demise)

(NOTES:
1. Reference is to the poetical ‘chaar din’ (four days) of life, a metaphor that has been used by poets of all ages, to represent the ephemeral nature and duration of life.
2. The poet is comparing the breathing process will drinking a poison – every breath we take is getting us yet one more step closer to death.)

ye hawaa sab le gayee
karwaan ke nishaan bhi udaa le gayee
udti hawaaon waale milengey kahaan
koi bataa do mere piyaa ka nishaan

The wind (in the desert) is merciless, it eradicates the signs of everything
It has brushed away the tracks of the caravans that passed this way
(Leaving no trace in the sands of time)
The traces that blew away with the wind,
O wherefore can one find them, meet them
I search for the footprints of my beloved
O pray someone tell me where to find

Bhupen Hazarika version (audio)

Lata Version (audio)

Asha Bhonsle Version (audio)

Asha Bhonsle version (movie track video)

Song-Samay o dheere chalo (Rudaali)(1993) Singers-Bhupen Hazarika/Lata/Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Bhupen Hazarika

Lyrics

samay o
dheere chalo
bujh gayee
raah se chhaaon
door hai
door hai
pee ka gaon
dheere chalo
dheere chalo

jee ko behlaa liyaa
tu ne aas niraas ke khel kiyaa
tu ne aas niraas ke khel kiyaa
chaar dinon mein koi
jeeyaa na jeeyaa
chaar dinon mein koi
jeeyaa na jeeyaa
zehar ye saans ka
piyaa na piyaa
zehar ye saans ka
piyaa na piyaa

ye hawaa
sab le gayee
kaarwaan ke nishaan bhi udaa le gayee
kaarwaan ke nishaan bhi udaa le gayee
udti hawaaon waale
milengey kahaan
udti hawaaon waale
milengey kahaan
koi bataa do mere piyaa ka nishaan
koi bataa do mere piyaa ka nishaan

samay o
dheere chalo
bujh gayee
raah se chhaaon
door hai
door hai
pee ka gaaon
dheere chalo
dheere chalo