Wo jo roothhen to manaana chaahiye
Posted on: April 25, 2013
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Most of us are aware that a ghazal is a series of couplets (she’rs), each one being independent of others. In fact each she’r is a poem by itself. So theoretically, she’rs written by different poets (shaayars) can be woven to make it a ghazal. This is easier said than done as there are other parameters to make it a traditional ghazal. Normally, there are five essential aspects of a traditional ghazal. They are
1. Matla – the first she’r of a ghazal in which the mood of the ghazal can be gauged. In fact a ghazal is known by its ‘matla’. In some rare cases, a ghazal may have two ‘matlas’.
2. Beher – the length and meter of the she’rs. Both the lines of a she’r and all the she’rs of the ghazal must be of the same ‘beher’. There are said to be 19 types of ‘beher’ used in a she’r. But the sake of simplicity, they are broadly categorised as ‘small’, ‘medium’ and ‘large’ depending upon the first line (misra) of the ‘matla’ (the first she’r of a ghazal).
3. Radif – The second line of all the she’rs forming the part of a ghazal must end with the same word. The repeating word is called ‘radif’. There is also one more proviso that both the lines of ‘matla’ she’r must end with the same radif.
4. Kaafiya (or Qaafiya) is the rhythmic pattern of a word preceding ‘radif’. It is a common sounding word for example like ‘gaana, khaana, jaana etc.
5. Maqta – The last she’r of a ghazal in which the shaayar usually uses his pen name like Ghalib, Jigar, Firaq etc. But using pen name is an option.
Some of these parameters may not be present in the modern ghazal. In fact, I have gone thorugh some ghazals written by Firaq Ghorakhpuri which did not have ‘kaafiya’ at all. In a few cases I have observed that he had not used ‘radif’ in a strict sense.
These parameters of a traditional ghazal have been discussed on a couple of websites of Urdu poetry/shaayari. I made it readily available in this article with some short explanations in the context of a non-filmy ghazal I have chosen for discussion. It is a ‘2-in-1’ ghazal in a sense that ghazal of two great shaayars have been clubbed to make it one ghazal. The two ghazals are ‘wo jo roothen to manaana chaahiye’ and ‘chaahiye achchon ko jitnaa chaahiye’ written by Jigar Moradabadi and Mirza Ghalib and sung by Mukesh and Talat Mehmood respectively. In this composite ghazal, ‘matlas’ and ‘maqtas’ of both these ghazals and two she’rs each of the ghazals have been retained. Both Mukesh and Talat Mehmood sing their respective part of the ghazal alternatively. Going by the parameters of a traditional ghazal, the ‘matla’ of this composite ghazal becomes the name of the ghazal. So it is ‘wo jo roothen to manaanaa chaahiye’ (1969) which becomes the title of the ghazal. The composite ghazal ends with ‘maqta’ of Ghalib’s ghazal but the shaayar has not used his pen name. The composite ghazal is composed by Murli Manohar Swaroop.
The highlights of this composite ghazal are that they are more or less in the same ‘behers’ (meters), in the same ‘radif’ ( repeating last word, e.g., ‘chaahiye’ in the ghazal), have same ‘radif’ in both the lines of ‘matlas’ and ‘kaafiyas’ are more or less similar sounding (i.e., ‘aa’). Whosoever thought of the idea of clubbing two ghazals into one without much disturbing the parameters of a traditional ghazal must have done a lot of home work. I wish the idea could have been extended into 3-in-1 ghazal by including one more ghazal for Mohammed Rafi 🙂
I understand that this ghazal was a part of another set of duets sung by Mukesh and Talat Mehmood in an Extended Play (EP) brought out by HMV in 1969.
Enjoy the ghazal of two great shaayars by two great singers.
Song-Wo jo roothen to manaanaa chaahiye (Mukesh Talat Mehmood NFS)(1969) Singers-Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Lyrics-Jigar Muradabadi/ Mirza Ghalib, MD-Murli Manohar Swaroop
Lyrics
wo jo roothen to manaanaa chaahiye ae ae
wo jo roothen to manaanaa chaahiye ae ae
zindagi se rooth jaanaa chaahiye ae ae
zindagi se rooth jaanaa chaahiye
chaahiye achchhon ko jitnaa chaahiye
chaahiye achchhon ko jitnaa chaahiye
ye agar chaahen to phir kyaa chaahiye
ye agar chaahen to phir kyaa chaahiye ae
hain inhi dhokhon se dil ki zindagi
hain inhi dhokhon se dil ki zindagi
jo haseen dhokha to khaanaa chaahiye ae
jo haseen dhokha to khaanaa chaahiye
dosti kaa pardah hai begaangi
aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa
dosti kaa pardah hai begaangi
munh chhupaanaa ham se chhodaa chaahiye
munh chhupaanaa ham se chhodaa chaahiye ae
lazzatein hain dushman-e-auj-e-kamaal
aa aa aaa
lazzatein hain dushman-e-auj-e-kamaal
kulfaton se jee lagaanaa chaahiye ae
kulfaton se jee lagaanaa chaahiye ae ae
aaa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa
munhasir marne pe ho jis ki umeed
munhasir marne pe ho jis ki umeed
naa umeedee uss ki dekhaa chaahiye
naa umeedee uss ki dekhaa chaahiye
un se milne ko to kyaa kahiye Jigar
un se milne ko to kyaa kahiye Jigar
khud se milne ko zamaanaa chaahiye ae
wo jo roothen to manaanaa chaahiye
gaafil in mahtalaton(?) ke waaste
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa
gaafil in mahtalaton(?) ke waaste
chaahne waalaa bhi achchhaa chaahiye
chaahiye
achhon ki jitnaa chaahiye ae ae
12 Responses to "Wo jo roothhen to manaana chaahiye"
April 26, 2013 at 12:52 pm
A very informative and nice article on ghazals. In films generally the shers are all linked as they have to express one emotion. Moreover the shers are of three lines, the radif appearing in the third line.
Please also give the second ghazal. It contains ghazals by Ghalib and Daag. Pareshan ho gayeen is the radif, if I remember correctly.
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Bharat Upadhyay
April 28, 2013 at 2:50 pm
I had downloaded this ‘Hum-Radeef Gazal’, which can be seen and heard at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=D5h0bjPt500.
There is one more such gazal by Talat and Atma too
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April 26, 2013 at 2:06 pm
How come the greats could maintain their voices after the fizzy drinks!!!
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April 27, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Kamathji,
Thanks for the interesting writeup. Extended Play (EP) brought out by HMV in 1969……..well singermukesh website lists three non-film songs sung by Talat and Mukesh. Are there more than 3 duets since you say “another set of duets” etc ..Please revert at your convenience.
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April 27, 2013 at 2:08 pm
Dear Mahesh,
I actually meant another set of ‘two’ duets sung by Talat and Mukesh. The missing word ‘two’ gave a different meaning. I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you in this regard.
Those two duets as you know are :
1. josh-e-girinya se ye aankhen
2. kisi ko deke dil koi
By the way, I did not find any of these three ghazals ( including one posted) in the listing of NFSs on http://www.talatmahmood.net .
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April 27, 2013 at 2:29 pm
Singermukesh website, though quite comprehensive still does not include all the songs of Mukesh under various categories. For instance, I have found that at least three Mukesh Lata duets are not included in the list of Mukesh Lata duets in that site.
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April 27, 2013 at 3:48 pm
Kamathji,
1. Well, the said NFS duets are indeed not listed. However, Down melody lane website has all three in both singers NFS lists.
2. Talat saab is yet to make an entry as a Music Director in this bog. Hope someone takes up the case as there seem to be some NFS which he composed.
3. Also, in the blog, the NFS “mera pyar mujhe lauta do” of Talat has no mention of Music Director. Hope Atulji updates it. Its V. Balsra as per Down memory lane.
Atulji,
Please let me know of the three Lata-Mukesh duets. I would like to do some RnD.
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April 28, 2013 at 6:45 pm
This was an interesting experiment by HMV bringing together two great artists for a few hamradeef ghazals. Talat Geet Kosh lists these hamdareef ghazals.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 25, 2013 at 11:25 pm
Youtube link is showing error.
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April 26, 2013 at 7:00 am
It is working fine for me.
Yes, I have been sometime experiencing errors on YT links but on retry a couple of times, I get the link alright.
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