Raat lagaa ke aayee chanda ki bindiya
Posted on: June 12, 2014
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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The Many Colors of Love #17 – The Sleepless Nights of Love
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And so wrote the scribe
neend nigaahon ki
kho jaati hai
kyunki jawaani mein
ho jaati hai
muhabbat muhabbat muhabbat muhabbat
Ah, to be young and to be in love. It is a feeling of bliss that is unmatched by any other emotion or achievement in life. The young heart, stepping into the phase when the budding personality is leaving behind the protection and the security of childhood, is tasting another emotion that is completely new thus far in life. All attachments and relations thus far are pre set and defined by where one is born and is growing up. When adolescence arrives, with it comes an undefined lacuna within the self, and the self wants to seek and explore for a complement outside of the preset and predefined environment.
When this emotion is ignited, then a restless longing takes over. There may or may not be another source of reciprocation, but this restlessness is there. Newer thoughts and newer perspectives of life, emerge and consume a fair share of thoughts and the mind’s waking hours, sometimes all of it.
But then what about the waking hours themselves. Yes, something happens to them. They seem to get extended. The hours of sleep are reduced, and the time spent in this restless longing increases. Sleep goes away from the eyes, and many of sleep hours, sometimes all of them are consumed by the reveries and thoughts that consume the heart and the mind. The dark hours of night are spent sleepless, lost in the thoughts of someone special, writing special things for someone special, pining for and longing for that someone special, desiring for the proximity of that someone special.
As with all aspects of this phenomena of love, the mind of the poet has of course spent its energies on this aspect too – the sleeplessness. And the imagination of the poet, as always runs far and deep. Sleep is a thing of the night. It brings on a lack of awareness of anything else that happens in the night. And so, when the sleeplessness is the subject, then of course, everything else that belongs to the night or happens in the night, now becomes a part of this experience. All the creatures of darkness, all the travelers of the shadows, all those whose activities belong to this sun-less part of day, are now companions in these happenings of sleeplessness.
There is the moon, that quietly shines in the dark skies, causing a host of emotions to rise and fall, like the tides in the ocean. There are the stars that the companions of the moon, mute witnesses to the wily wiles of the transformations of their more brilliant and luminescent partner. These transformations themselves add to the variety of the experience. There are the bright nights, and then there are the completely dark moonless nights, when the starlight is the only recourse. Then there are creatures of the night. Especially the birds that stay awake. Especially the ‘chakor’, who stays sleepless, pining for the unreachable moon, and crying on the nights the moon is not there. And then the clouds intervene sometimes adding more spice and anxiety to the game. There is the watchman – his voice and the voice of his stick is heard even from afar. In the silence, other sounds are amplified that the mind does not even register during the time of day. The creaking wooden doors and panels, sounding as if someone is walking up the steps on the staircase. The whistle and chugging of a train that is suddenly audible for miles around. The mind of a sleepless heart in love now notices and takes in all these things. And the mind of the poet follows.
I remember a she’r. This is part of my childhood radio listening days, and has stuck to my memory since I heard it in some radio program.
ik hook si dil mein uth’ti hai
ik dard jigar mein hota hai
main chupke chupke rota hoon
jab saara aalam sota hai
A throbbing ache rises in the heart
A woeful pain consumes my being
When the world sleeps peacefully
I spent my nights
Awake and silently weeping
One thing is that this verse is very much a part of the experience this write up is about. But I am sharing another very interesting thing here. As I am preparing this article, I remembered this verse, and just to see how well known it is today, I typed it in google. Sure enough, there are thousands of web pages that still carry this memory that is decades old. But the interesting discovery I made is that the web pages that were brought up by google carry such a rich collection of other verses and poems that seem to be the creation of amateur poetical minds in love. And yes, so many of them are about the sleepless nights, the alien shadows, the moon and the stars, and so many other facets of sleepless nights. It is really an amazing travelogue, what so many thousands of hearts in love have penned and then shared online. There is enough online to get lost in.
Ah, but let me pull myself back to the blog and the film song. Expectedly, the topic of sleepless nights is expressed in so many songs across the decades – so many that it can be a very long series all by itself. The most lovely sample in my mind, I have written at the start of this article. And now, to bring on the most lovely song, in my mind, that belongs to this topic. A melody that you have to listen to believe. The tune is very familiar, possibly has been used in other song or songs also. But this tune is from an unreleased film, that was to be produced sometimes in the early 1960s by a banner called Ismail Films. The film name is ‘Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke’. Six songs are recorded for this film. As per Geet Kosh, the recording took place in 1960-61. After that, it seems that the rest of the production plan could not be executed, since no other information about this film is available. Except of course the songs.
The six songs are from the pens of Tanveer Naqvi, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Jaan Nissar Akhtar. This song is by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. And the music – you may guess it when you listen to it. Yes, it is Khaiyyaam Sb. What a pleasing melody he has created, it is just out of this world. The singing voice is that of Lata ji, rendered oh so beautifully well.
Three songs of this unreleased film are already showcased here. Here is the fourth one for you listening pleasure. And just the for this song itself, your heart will surely want to fall in love, all over again. It is so lovely.
Enjoy.
Song-Raat lagaa ke aayi chanda ki bindiya(Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke)(UR)(1960) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, MD-Khayyam
Lyrics
raat lagaa ke aayee
chanda ki bindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
raat lagaa ke aayee
chanda ki bindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
pyaar mein doobi huyin
thandi hawaayen
aag lagaayen mere jee ko jalaayen
pyaar mein doobi huyin
thandi hawaayen
aag lagaayen mere jee ko jalaayen
jee ko jalaayen
neha lagaa ke main to
ho gayi baawariyaa
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
seene mein le ke aayee armaan hazaaron
dil mein chhupa ke laayi toofaan hazaaron
seene mein le ke aayee armaan hazaaron
dil mein chhupa ke laayi toofaan hazaaron
toofaan hazaaron
yoon hi tadpaaoge kya
saari umariyaa
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
ho ke hamaare piya
hum se judaa ho
bade sangdil ho ji
bade bewafaa ho
ho ke hamaare piya
hum se judaa ho
bade sangdil ho ji
bade bewafaa ho
bade bewafaa ho
tumse na boloongi main
jaao saanwariyaa
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
raat lagaa ke aayee
chanda ki bindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
le gaye tum meri ankhiyon ki nindiya
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Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
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रात लगा के आई
चंदा की बिंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
रात लगा के आई
चंदा की बिंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
प्यार में डूबी हुईं
ठंडी हवाएँ
आग लगाएँ मेरे जी को जलाएं
प्यार में डूबी हुईं
ठंडी हवाएँ
आग लगाएँ मेरे जी को जलाएं
जी को जलाएं
नेहा लगा के मैं तो
हो गयी बावरिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
सीने में ले के आई अरमान हजारों
दिल में छुपा के लायी तूफान हजारों
सीने में ले के आई अरमान हजारों
दिल में छुपा के लायी तूफान हजारों
तूफान हजारों
यूं ही तड़पाओगे क्या
सारी उमरिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
हो के हमारे पिया
हमसे जुदा हो
बड़े संगदिल हो जी बड़े बेवफा हो
हो के हमारे पिया
हमसे जुदा हो
बड़े संगदिल हो जी बड़े बेवफा हो
बड़े बेवफा हो
तुमसे ना बोलूँगी मैं
जाओ साँवरिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
रात लगा के आई
चंदा की बिंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
ले गए तुम मेरी अखियों की निंदिया
10 Responses to "Raat lagaa ke aayee chanda ki bindiya"
June 12, 2014 at 8:10 pm
Sudhirji,
Thanks for spending a sleepless night for the article. It also reminds me of
bhul sakta hai bhala kaun ye pyari aankhe
neend me dubi huyi neend se bhari aankhe
What a lovely song. I remember faintly hearing the song on the radio. Thanks ji
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June 13, 2014 at 1:02 pm
gem of a song and flawlessly written article, nothing new I guess.
BTW, is there any reason why the 3rd stanza is written differently (I mean the length)?
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June 13, 2014 at 10:17 pm
It’s not different in length. Each line has been split into two, while in earlier stanzas it is written as one. At the end the refrain has been added – it should have been separated as separate para. When this is done, you’ll see the stanza 3 length is the same as the earlier ones. Lovely song and charming article too…….
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June 13, 2014 at 10:09 pm
The sher you have cited seems to have been taken from a song from the Pakistani film Dopatta (1952) in which Noor Jehan sang a famous song, Chandani Raatein. Before I heard the original, I saw a remixed version, with a music video, sung by Shama (Kshama?) Kawatra, and loved it too. The opening lines, recited, go like this: Ek tees jigar mein uth’ti hai, ek dard sa dil mein hota hai. Hum raat ko uthkar rote hain, jab sara alam sota hai……ho-o-o, (song begins) Chandani raatein, chandani raatein; sab jag soye, hum jaagen, taron se kare batein ho-o-o, chandani raatein. It’s available on YT and I can give you full lyric if you want. It’s written simple and ‘prasadic’ language with no heavy Urdu words.
I believe every person loves the music he/she grows up with. I’m 71, so I love music of the 50’s, some of 40’s which my parents used to like (I liked some songs too), some of the 60’s and rather fewer of the later ones. My daughter used tease me about this, so one day I cited the remixed version of the song, saying ‘look, I like new songs as well’. She promptly got on the net and said to me, ‘Dad, no wonder you like the song so much – it’s from 1952!’, and showed me the original which was on YT!
Hope you like the original. Do comment on it. Thanks…………
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June 15, 2014 at 9:28 pm
I had bought one record [78 rpm ] of film HUM HAIN RAAHI PYAR KE in 1979,the song was Raaz Seene mein Muhabat ka Chhupaye Rakhna-Sung by Talat Mehmood and Lata ji,-Written by Jaan nisaar akhtar-
I used to listen only THIS song,One evening one of my music lover friend came ,he told me about one song …he listened on Vividh bharati,the words he described …I replied I will have to see in the GEETKOSH,I could not find it there,I said it must be after 1960 -One day when I was listening Raaz seene mein ..song by mistake the wrong side of the record was played in gramophone it was THIS song Raat laga ke aayee ….I liked the song ..and was sorry to find out my self …silly …I was stick to only particular songs though good songs were available on the OTHER SIDE of the record,from that day I listened every sides of the song, and found many worth listening songs.
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June 18, 2014 at 9:18 pm
Sudhirji,
An excellent write-up. Enjoyed the post and the song
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July 8, 2014 at 2:10 am
Any idea as to when this song was actually recorded? For 1960, Lata’s voice sounds younger, and the instrumentals are in an archaic style. Beautiful song, keeps running through my mind……….
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
June 12, 2014 at 6:47 pm
Sudhir ji
Enjoyed every line written in this post and THANK you for the rare gem & thank YOU for the beautiful/soulful article.
prakash
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