Kaun meri preet ke pehle
Posted on: April 14, 2013
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Heh, heh, 7900.
It is amazing. You just turn your back, seems for maybe a couple of days, and Atul ji sneaks in a rapid fire century. And before you know it, hey, another milestone, another 100 songs up on the charts. And this one, seems to be very, very fast indeed. Like hitting a hundred before lunch on the first day in a test match. Wow. It was just 1st April that we did the previous milestone, and just on 14th today, we have the next. At this rate, it is definite that we shall hit the 8000 mark by the end of this month. 🙂
Kyun hai, kyaa hai, all that discussion has happened many times. Now, it simply is – aisa hi hai bhai. All systems are go. Lyrics and write ups are pouring in on a daily basis, and Atul ji has too much time to relax these days. 😀 😀 And the counter on the home page keeps on clicking with a precise regularity. Just like an assembly line. The century milestones are there for the asking. Let about 2 weeks pass, and plonk! we have a hundred songs package ready. 😀 😀
And alongside the normal routine, we are hitting another very major milestone – the 1300th song of Asha Bhosle. Understandably, only two artists are ahead in counts. Lata ji, now nearing the 2300th song, and Rafi Sb, whose number of songs touched 1900 just yesterday. And my mind goes into an amazing calculation. Between the three of them, these artists have nearly 5500 songs logged in. Which is stupendously more than double of the total songs posted for all other singers put together. Ah well, we need to adjust for the common duet songs, which might bring more rationality to this analysis, but still, it is what it is. And getting to be a close reflection of real life, in terms of the sway these three artists held over the listening public and the producers and music directors. One may argue that since this blog is heavy on the period from 1940s to 1960s, the true picture of Kishore Kumar’s contributions is not reflected in these numbers. Yes, that is true. But with these qualifications, the distribution of these numbers clearly shows who the leading artists were, during the decades when melody ruled the music.
The song that I present on this occasion – I myself was taken aback that this song is not yet posted on the blog. One listen, one reminder, and this song is something to fall in love with, first time, or all over again. The words are lovely, and they will steal your heart away. The melody is soft and orchestration minimal, with just the light sounds of tabla beats in accompaniment, and brief interludes of violin. And the rendering, is superb. The year is 1953, and Asha ji had been on the scene for about six years by now. But the voice sounds so much more of the Asha Bhosle we are familiar with.
In our email exchange, when Atul ji shared that this century post will be a milestone for Asha ji also, I went back into the Geet Kosh, trying to search for a real early song by her that had not yet been posted. And I did find many from those early years that still have to be showcased here. And I was not even looking at 1953. Rather I was concentrating on 1949 and 1950, when I chanced upon the link to this song on the YouTube side bar. The picture’s name caught my interest, I clicked and listened, and wow, what a gem. I have heard this long back, so much so that it was out of mind. But when the song played, it was such a revelation – you know, the kind of which makes you feel light enough to fly. I forgot all the other short listed songs, and quickly went into the blog list of songs by film, and was both very surprised and also relieved. The song was still awaiting attention to be posted.
The film is ‘Parineeta’ the iconic Ashok Kumar – Meena Kumari starrer that had brought greater attention to the histrionic capacities of Meena ji. Based on the novel of the same name, authored by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the film is produced by Ashok Kumar himself, under the banner of Ashok Kumar Productions. The film is directed by Bimal Roy. Besides the lead pair, the star cast includes Asit Baran, Nazeer Hussain, Baby Sheela, Badri Prasad, Protima Devi, Rekha, Manju, Manorama, S Bannerjee, Om Prakash, Samar Chatterjee, Colin Pal, Gunjan, Radheshyam, Bhupen Kapoor, Vikram Kapoor, Baby Rehana etc.
There are six songs in this film, all coming from the pen of Bharat Vyas. And the music is composed by Arun Kumar Mukherjee. This song is such a beautiful poetical expression of the emotions of first love – a love that happened without becoming known, at the time it happens. It seems like child’s play. But when the poet looks back on that time, the realization comes home that it is the first love that happened then, the memories of which now simply cannot go away. It tickles the heart, it troubles and torments, but yet it cannot be forgotten. Oh the joys and pain of first love – so beautifully captured in this poetical song. Simply sublime.
Enjoy.
kaun meri preet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
kaun mere geet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
Walking through my thoughts
My memories
Who would it be
The first intent of my heart’s love
Who would it be
The first song of my heart’s desire
kaun ho tum jo mere mann ke gagan par chhaa rahe
door se karte ishaare paas kyun na aa rahe
kaun ho tum jo puraani baat phir dohraa rahe
Who would it be
Spreading out and embracing
The firmaments of my mind
Calling me from afar
And keeping away
Who would it be
Retelling me stories of old times
bhool jaana chaahti hoon bhool na paati tujhe
tum nahin aate tumhaari yaad kyun aati mujhe
kaun ho tum jo khayaalon ko mere behlaa rahe
Try as I may
To forget
But am not able to
Why do your thoughts torment me
While you stay away
Always at a distance
Who would it be
Playing with my thoughts
Indulging me
main ne samjhaa thhaa wo bachpan ka zaraa ik khel thhaa
kis ne jaana khel mein do zindagi ka mel thhaa
mel ki maala ke wo do phool ab murjhaa rahe
Was it just a play of childhood fancy
I had thought so
No one knew, but
It was the meeting of two hearts
Two lives
Ah, but now
The two flowers
In that garland of confluence
Are slowly drying away
Song-Kaun meri preet ke pehle (Parineeta)(1953) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Bharat Vyas, MD-Arun Kumar Mukherji
Lyrics
tum yaad aa rahe ae ae ae ae
tum yaad aa rahe
kaun meri
preet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
kaun mere geet ke
kaun mere geet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
kaun ho tum
jo mere mann ke gagan par chhaa rahe
door se karte ishaare
paas kyun na aa rahe ae ae
door se karte ishaare
paas kyun na aa rahe
kaun ho tum
jo puraani baat phir dohraa rahe
kaun ho tum
jo puraani baat phir dohraa rahe
kaun meri
preet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
bhool jaana chaahti hoon
bhool na paati tujhe
tum nahin aate
tumhaari yaad kyun aati mujhe
kaun ho tum
jo khayaalon ko mere behlaa rahe
kaun meri
preet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
maine samjhaa thhaa
wo bachpan ka zaraa ik khel thhaa
kis ne jaana
khel mein do zindagi ka mel thhaa aa
kis ne jaana
khel mein do zindagi ka mel thhaa
mel ke maala ke wo do
phool ab murjhaa rahe ae
mel ki maala ke wo do
phool ab murjhaa rahe
kaun meri
preet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
kaun mere geet ke
kaun mere geet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
kaun meri
preet ke pehle jo tum yaad aa rahe
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
————————————————
तुम याद आ रहे . . .
तुम याद आ रहे
कौन मेरी
प्रीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
कौन मेरे गीत के
कौन मेरे गीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
कौन हो तुम
जो मेरे मन के गगन पर छा रहे
दूर से करते इशारे
पास क्यूँ ना आ रहे . . .
दूर से करते इशारे
पास क्यूँ ना आ रहे
कौन हो तुम
जो पुरानी बात फिर दोहरा रहे
कौन हो तुम
जो पुरानी बात फिर दोहरा रहे
कौन मेरी
प्रीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
भूल जाना चाहती हूँ
भूल ना पाती तुझे
तुम नहीं आते
तुम्हारी याद क्यूँ आती मुझे
कौन हो तुम
जो ख़यालों को मेरे बहला रहे
कौन मेरी
प्रीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
मैं ने समझा था
वो बचपन का ज़रा इक खेल था
किस ने जाना
खेल में दो ज़िंदगी का मेल था
किस ने जाना
खेल में दो ज़िंदगी का मेल था
मेल की माला के वो दो
फूल अब मुरझा रहे . . .
मेल की माला के वो दो
फूल अब मुरझा रहे
कौन मेरी
प्रीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
कौन मेरे गीत के
कौन मेरे गीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
कौन मेरी
प्रीत के पहले जो तुम याद आ रहे
5 Responses to "Kaun meri preet ke pehle"
April 14, 2013 at 10:33 pm
Congratulations Atul ji on 7900th song and
Sudhir ji thank you for the post and the song
Prakash
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April 14, 2013 at 10:58 pm
WOW Another century to celebrate and exult and crow about.
Strange Asha is lagging behind though she has sung max songs
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April 15, 2013 at 2:58 am
Atulji,
Congratulations on double celebrations. This month may have created a record of “Century Celebrations”. Thank you for sharing your passion with all Hindi Music Fans. 🙂
Sudhir ji,
ab aap se to kya kahen? aap na hote to…….. pata nahin kya hota? Dhanyawwad shabd bhi kam lagta hai.
You have selected a perfect song to celebrate Ashaji’s 1300th song. A song which proves her versatility.
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April 15, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Hullo Atulites
Congrats on 7900 for Atuldom & 1300 of Asha Bhonsle numbers.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 14, 2013 at 9:19 pm
Congratulations Atul ji, all our readers, contributors, and ‘team-Atulya’ members ! thanks a lot Sudhir ji for this beautiful write up !!!
Beautiful song to grace the occassion !
would like to mention here that though there may not be many song of Kishore Kumar during the period as mentioned by Sudhir ji, his most melodious and memorable work (what i have noticed during the past one year and also find some beaufitul songs which have been shared and others are in process) are in the eighties or late seventies and many songs are still to be posted.
i had anticipated for 7900 today going by the flow of posts for the last few days and as rightly put up by Sudhir ji , yes, 8000 will surely there by end April 2013.
Thanks and congratulations to all once again !!!
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