Nazar nawaaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagta
Posted on: February 23, 2013
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
My browsing through non-filmy songs on the internet for the last few months have been like a nostalgic journey in the down memory lane. Some of the NFSs I have listened to in the recent period took me back to 60s and 70s when I had heard those on the radio. I had completely forgotten some of them until I rediscovered them on the internet. My latest rediscovery of a non-fllmy ghazal is less than 24 hours old but I have already listened to it umpteen times and still listening. This Shakeel Badayuni’s ghazal is ‘nazar nawaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa’ sung by Shanti Hiranand, a well known classical vocalist and a disciple of Mallika-e-Ghazal Begum Akhtar. I has heard this ghazal many times in the 60s on the radio but had completely forgotten it until I came across the audio clip of this ghazal again.
Shanti Hiranand Mansukhani was born in Lucknow in a business family in C.1940. From the childhood, she was drawn towards singing. So her mother admitted her to a music college in Lucknow. However, her father had to shift to Lahore for business purposes. Being the youngest in the family, Shanti Hiranand went with her parents to Lahore in early 40s. Here, she came into contact with a blind woman who was a music teacher. She learnt the nuances of classical singing from her for about 5 years. In 1947, she gave her first singing performance on All India Radio, Lahore. After partition, the family returned to Lucknow where she began learning music from Ustad Aijaz Hussain Khan. She continued to participate in singing and musical dramas on AIR, Lucknow. It was one of AIR Lucknow’s senior staff who introduced her to Begum Akhtar. In 1957, she became the disciple of Begum Akhatar who trained her in thumri, dadra and ghazal singing. After the death of Begum Akhtar in October 1974, Shanti Hiranand propagated her style of singing by giving public concerts both in India and abroad. She was instrumental in bringing out a book ‘The Story of My Ammi Begum Akhtar’. She also acted in Conard Rooks’s ‘Siddhartha’ (1972) donning the role of Shashi Kapoor’s mother.
(Source: Shanti Hiranand’s interview on Rajya Sabha TV, Doordarshan).
‘Nazar nawaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa’ (C.1960) was her first recorded ghazal on AIR, Lucknow. The name of the music composer is not known as AIR musicians were associated with composing this ghazal. This ghazal became so popular in the 60s that Shanti Hiranand got recognition as a ghazal singer.
Song-Nazar nawaaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagta (Shanti Hiranand NFS)(1960) Singer-Shanti Hiranand, Lyrics-Shakeel Badayuni
Lyrics
nazar nawaaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
wo kyaa kahen ke bahaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
na poochh mujh se tere gham mein kyaa gujarti hai ae
na poochh mujh se tere gham main kyaa gujarti hai ae
yahi kahoongaa hazaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
nazar nawaaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
kuchh iss qadar hai gham-e-zindagi se dil-e-manoos
aa aaa
aa aa aaa
aa aa aaa aaa
kuchh iss qadar hai gham-e-zindagi se dil-e-manoos
fizaan gayi to bahaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
nazar nawaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
fasaana e shab-e-gham khatm hone waala hai ae
fasaana e shab-e-gham khatm hone walaa hai ae
Shakeel chaand sitaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
wo kyaa kahen ke bahaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
aa aa aaa
12 Responses to "Nazar nawaaz nazaaron mein jee nahin lagta"
February 23, 2013 at 1:05 pm
Heard this lovely ghazal on radio very often. It is an old favorite. Thank you for the additional information on Shanti Hiranand.
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November 12, 2013 at 10:09 pm
it is not dil-e-manoos. It is dil manoos. The couplet means heart is so much attached to sorrow that once autumn is gone spring holds no charm for it.
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November 12, 2013 at 10:14 pm
I am sorry, nahm had already explained it. Sorry for the oversight.
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December 28, 2014 at 1:20 pm
Atul ji/ Sudhir ji,
78 RPM record of this ghazal mentions Taj Ahmad as the music composer. Please add this information in the write up and tag it.
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April 16, 2015 at 7:08 pm
It sounds like ‘wo kya gaye to baharon mein ji nahin lagta’ and ‘kuch is qadar hai gham-e-zindagi se dil mayoos’
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April 17, 2015 at 11:03 pm
I was also searching for this ghazal and it seems that different versions are available on different sites. I would go for site ‘Rekhta’ which gives these lines as,
‘Nazar-navaaz nazaaron mein jii nahiin lagtaa
vo kyaa ga.e ki bahaaron mein jii nahiin lagtaa’
‘kuchh is qadar hai gham-e-zindagii se dil maayuus
khizaan gay.ii to bahaaron mein jii nahiin lagtaa’
देवनागरी में पूरी ग़ज़ल,
नज़र-नवाज़ नजारों में जी नहीं लगता
वो क्या गए कि बहारों में जी नहीं लगता
शब्-ए-फ़िराक़ को ए चाँद आ के चमका दे
नज़र उदास है तारों में जी नहीं लगता
ग़म-ए-हयात के मारे तो हम भी हैं लेकिन
ग़म-ए-हयात के मारों में जी नहीं लगता
न पूछ मुझसे तिरे ग़म में क्या गुज़रती है
यही कहूंगा हज़ारों में जी नहीं लगता
कुछ इस क़दर है ग़म-ए-ज़िंदगी से दिल मायूस
खिजाँ गयी तो बहारों में जी नहीं लगता
फ़साना-ए-शब्-ए-ग़म ख़त्म होने वाला है
‘शकील’ चाँद सितारों में जी नहीं लगता
Beautifully sung, isn’t it!
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January 12, 2016 at 5:40 am
Correctly noted by C. Chamaraj. It is “Mayoos”. I searched this beautiful poetry in a ghazal / Nazm book wrirren in Devnagari. Thanks to Mr. Pratap for writing the whole ghazal. Also thanks to Mr. Sadanand Kamath for telling the name of the composer. Can somebody please tell the Raag of this melodious composition.
Beautifully sung!
Ramesh Shishu
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July 2, 2017 at 12:46 am
I think a version of this has been sung by Asha Bhosle too. I remember it being part of a LP that contained non-film ghazals by several film singers including Rafi and Talat.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
February 23, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Refreshing ghazal by Shakeel Badayuni.
kuchh iss qadar hai gham-e-zindagi se ‘dil maanoos’
‘khizaan’ gayi to bahaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
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February 23, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Thanks for the corrections.
In the first line of the second ‘sher’, the singer appears to sing as ‘dil-e-maanoos’ whereas in the repeat, she sings as ‘dil maanoos’. which seems to be more appropriate – ‘dil’ is not accustomed to ‘gham-e-zindagi’. I hope I am right in the interpretation.
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February 23, 2013 at 4:17 pm
kuchh iss qadar hai gham-e-zindagi se ‘dil maanoos’
meaning : Heart is familiar with the trivial’s of life to such an extent that….
‘khizaan’ gayi to bahaaron mein jee nahin lagtaa aa
meaning : With autumn gone, spring is no longer enjoyable for me
The poet is saying that the heart has become so accustomed to sadness, that it is misses that bitter sweet feel of sadness even in the times of happiness.
dil maanoos are not joined by -e- , and the affirmative ‘ hai’ is already there is the line, which applies to dil ‘s familiarity/closeness.
Hope, my explanation is clear and not more confusing 🙂 .
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February 23, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Thanks for the explanation.
No confusion at all now.
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