Wo jhoothha hai vote na usko dena
Posted on: March 4, 2013
This article is wtitten by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
This song happens to be the 7600th song on this blog – and I am happy and privileged to have been given the opportunity to present a song on the occasion. When Atul made me the offer earlier today, I gladly accepted. Congratulations, Atul, on this century milestone!
The song I have picked today is not a typical romantic song. It is zara “hatke”. 🙂
See, one of my interests, apart from old songs/movies and cricket/sports is politics.
Yes, I know this might raise their eyebrows but I’m proud to say that I am interested in politics. And I mean politics, in its purest sense.
There are many definitions of the word “politics” but I’d like to use one of the simple definitions of this term that I found on the net. Politics is defined in this particular case as “the activities associated with the governance of a country or area”.
This will do for me. Yes, THIS is what I am most interested in. I’m interested in understanding about governance, the structure of governance, the institutions involved, their modus operandi – and the terms of reference between a government and its people. (I do wish Civics would be taught more seriously in school).
I’m interested in this because I think finally THIS is essential to our existence as societies, interacting with each other, sharing resources and having our duties. Man is not an island – however much he’d like to live in isolation, the fact is he is part of society.
And society is governed by a set of rules.
And these set of rules are largely established by, or influenced by, (whether we like it or not), government.
Of course there are social mores and norms that the government doesn’t get involved in. But, to a considerable extent, the type of government one has, determines the type of society one lives in. Communism, socialism, capitalism are all mindsets of societies reflected in their governments (where elected) – and the government’s actions tend to determine the type of society that evolves.
When I say “government”, I use the term in its broadest sense. Not just the central government of a country, but also the state government of each state, the district administration for a district – and the panchayat for a village. Each of these have a role in shaping their jurisdiction.
For me, therefore it has always been an interesting exercise to understand societies and governments. When I was a young boy, thanks to my dad’s extensive reading habits (though he had nothing to do with politics), at home we had books about communist Russia, about the rise of US in the late 19th / early 20th century, about Adenauer’s Germany and so on. I used to read these with great interest even if I hardly understood anything. But the most important take-away for me from all this reading was that countries (or societies) are built (or destroyed) largely based on the policies of their governments. And where it is an elected government, you get the government you elect.
For many people, government is a “third-party”. “We” are the people – and “that’s” the government. The common refrain is ““We” are being taken for a ride by the government””.
I think we need to realize that the government is not some abstract cloud or monster – it is made up of people just like you and me. We all have our roles to play in society. Some are doctors, some are engineers, some are accountants, some are journalists – and some have entered politics. Those who have been elected to be our representative, have by virtue of such election, earned the right to take decisions on our behalf. Otherwise they are just human, like any of us.
True, there is tremendous scope for improving the manner in which we elect our representatives. Some of these representatives have entered Parliament with less than 20% of the vote of their constituency, thanks to the way our voting system works. Some of them have criminal records. Money power and muscle power dominate during election time. All of this needs to change. All of this is part of, what is broadly banded as “electoral reforms”.
We need to realize that we’ve entrusted power in the hands of a few people. And we haven’t demanded accountability from them. And we don’t have transparency in systems and processes. So unless somebody is a Gandhi (and I mean a Mahatma Gandhi), the likelihood of breeding corruption is very high. And this, assuming they are competent in their areas in the first place. (A big IF).
No wonder politics, and politicians, have earned themselves a bad name. The problem is not with politics – the problem is with abdication of responsibility by those entrusted with the political job.
Having said all this, unlike many, I am hopeful for the future. I see some winds of change. Just a few at this stage – but these give me hope. For example, there are people in public life whom I find extremely competent and passionate about bringing about good governance and who have holistic approach to issues – not a knee-jerk reaction to everything, jumping from crisis to crisis. It would be wonderful if such people could get elected – they will need all the help they can get though.
Anyway, what does sadden me immensely is when people don’t “give a damn” about politics and politicians. Many of this thought process are actually educated people. Some even pride themselves on their apathy. I can understand their skepticism – but staying away isn’t the solution. It is, in fact, part of the problem. It allows unscrupulous elements to take charge.
Ok, I can go on and on. But I realize that this is a song blog, first and foremost. So before people switch off, I better move on to the song.
If it’s ANY consolation, things weren’t much better decades ago either. I remember Bimal Roy’s Parakh (1960) which was about elections, and corruption to garner votes. (I love this movie). But today’s song isn’t from this movie.
Just yesterday, somebody on Twitter (from Mysore) tweeted that she was fed up of candidates sucking up, just before election time. And she posted this song “wo jhootha hai vote na usko dena” as her reaction to all this.
This song took me back to the early 70s. It is from Namak Haram – a movie that I last saw only in the 70s. I’d completely forgotten about this song, though I did remember it the moment I saw her tweet. It was lovely listening to it yesterday – after decades!
The song is picturised on Asrani. He is on a stage, trying to persuade people not to cast their vote for charlatans and cheats. The song has its usual criticism of politicians – lines like “Note bhi de to, vote na isko dena”. And “hum karte hain seva, wo khaata hai mewa”. This was 1973, so exactly 40 years ago. But I’m sure most people will agree that this song could just as well apply even today. In that (unfortunate) sense, it is a timeless song.
The simple lyrics are by Anand Bakshi (known for his simple lyrics). The music is by RD Burman. It is a simple song – and a fairly catchy one.
Like I said, I enjoyed listening to it after all these years. And I hope you enjoy listening to it too. In a little over a year, there will be general elections all over the country – this song could come in quite handy then. 😉 Already my Twitter friend has found its first application for the Karnataka elections. 🙂
Thanks for your patience in going through this write-up. I hope you enjoy the song too.
The lyrics of this song were provided by Avinash Scrapwala.
Song-Wo jhoothha hai vote na usko dena (Namak Haram)(1973) Singer-Kishore Kumar, Lyrics-Anand Bakshi, MD-R D Burman
Rekha
Chorus
Lyrics(Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
Ladies and gentlemen
brothers and sisters
Hindi mein
mahilaaon aur sajjanon
bhaaiyon aur behnon
suno-suno
meri baat dhyaan se suno o o
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
note bhi de to vote naa usko denaa
ham karte hain sewaa
wo khaataa hai mewaa
ham karte hain sewaa
wo khaataa hai mewaa
taubaa
naam naa uskaa lenaa
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
bolo
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
ye jo apnaa leader hai
Sher nahi wo geedad hai
chhup ke rishwat khaata hai
roz cinemaa jaata hai
roz cinemaa jaata hai
ye jo apanaa leader hai
Sher nahi wo geedad hai
chhup ke rishwat khaata hai
roz cinema jaata hai
achhaa
haaan
choron kaa baaraati
wo nahi apnaa saathi
uskaa saath naa denaa
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
denaa
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
maajhya desh bandhwaano
mi kaay mhaanto
kaan deun aikaa ha ha
aamchaa hai na tumchaa hai
ye maalik ka chamchaa hai
ji haan ji haan kartaa hai
ye paise pe martaa hai
ye paise pe martaa hai
aamchaa hai na tumchaa hai
ye maalik ka chamchaa hai
ji haan ji haan kartaa hai
ye paise pe martaa hai
arre baap re badaa chor hai
haan
ye miltey hi maukaa
de jaayegaa dhokhaa
phir hamsey naa kehnaa
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
haan
note bhi de to vote naa usko denaa
ham karte hain sewaa
wo khaata hai mewaa
naam na uskaa lenaa
haan
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
arre bilkul jhootha hai
kabhi naa denaa
wo jhootha hai vote naa usko denaa
pakkaa jhootha hai
bilkul nahin denaa
meri baat suniye
haa haa
12 Responses to "Wo jhoothha hai vote na usko dena"
March 4, 2013 at 3:46 pm
Couldn’t be a better song to suit today’s times!! Atulji, I enjoyed reading every word you wrote. Thanks.
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March 4, 2013 at 3:48 pm
Apologies, apologies!! Raja Sir, I am sorry I credited the authorship to Atulji.
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March 4, 2013 at 5:14 pm
I just came to Mumbai and came to know about the good news. Congrats Atulji. Another milestones achieved. Still many more milestones to be achieved. Carry on the good work. We are with you. Thanks
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March 4, 2013 at 5:45 pm
wow what a song! i simply used to love this song, & i wait for it through the movie every time i see it. and i never understood the necessity of Rekha dancing over here????!!!!:-)
i rate this song on Par with “Salaam Kijiye Aali Janaab Aye Hain” from “Aandhi”:
Thank You Raja for the post, Avinashji for the Lyrics & Atul for giving us all a place to meet.
And lastl but not the least CONGRATS for the 7600th song
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March 4, 2013 at 7:29 pm
Raja ji,
Thanks for a thought provoking post and a song to match the mood of the post.As usual,your post was highly readable.Thanks.
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March 4, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Wonderful post, Raja, and very apt too. Surely politics is the most important thing in our lives, it affects everything that is important to us. We need to be more interested in it, an also more active in it. We need to examine our candidates and vote for the larger good and not any narrow selfish immediate gains.
I am glad you revived the memories of this song that (as you say) is still as relevant as it was all those years ago. In fact, if you read ancient literature, for eg, The Canterbury Tales, you will find that people in power were quite the same centuries ago. 😦
Thank you for the post, Raja. Many congratulations to all of Atul’s team and to us lucky readers as well 🙂
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March 4, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Wonderful post….Raja ji! An apt song too! Congrats Atul ji, contributors and all the blog loves!
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March 5, 2013 at 12:05 am
“In that (unfortunate) sense, it is a timeless song.”
Corruption, it seems, is timeless too!
Good write-up, Raja!
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March 5, 2013 at 8:32 am
Congrautulations Atul ji, Raja ji and all ‘team-Atul’ members, contributers,readers and well wishers on this 7600th post!!!
In one of the comments i mentioned about how like minded peoples come to gether and continue forever. Now i hv to study about the telepathy between them. why ?
Only Sunday evening i requested Atul ji that can we have a write up from Raja ji on a Rajesh Khanna song?, and next day here i got a excellent article from Rajaji on the subject very close to my heart – Politics on a song contributed by me. What more could i have asked for?
Thanks a lot Raja ji and thanks a lot Atul ji. and i also got to learn that other than Sahir, Rajesh Khanna this the third (politics) thing ‘common’ between us (me and Raja ji). (Cricket is now only limited for ‘news’ to me, i hv left it long back). Now i would reqeust Raja ji another aritcle on ‘Corruption/Scams’. Though i have been taking it all on my blog in hindi. And i feel that i may not keep it that much ‘impersonal’ and still taking on the issues. I am sending the song to Atul ji in a day or two. Raja ji kindly accept our reqeust please.
About this song – much before the IAC and ‘Pappu’ campaigns Anand Bakshi sahab has make aware us about the importance of our votes!
And last but not the least is that we cannot stay away from Politics, as it is the only thing related to us. most of the things happen due to our apathy and lack of ownership for our country. We always use ‘ what goes of our father ‘. And to cover up we have misused the three wise monkeys for ‘ maine dekha nahin’, ‘maine soona nahin’ and most important ‘maine bola nahin’ ! we do not assert , we do not express our outrage jointly!!
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March 5, 2013 at 9:15 am
Congratulations Atulji.
Raja Saab, kahaan kho gaye the? Wonderful write up! Hope to see moee posts in near future.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
March 4, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Atul ji
Congratulations for 7600th song
prakash
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