Henna Motia Aur Khas Bechti Hoon
Posted on: March 8, 2015
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a 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.
Entertaining Sales Pitch Songs – 6
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Aha, a very fragrant addition to this series. We now have a song that is sung by the seller of ‘itra’, or ‘attar’ or Indian fragrant oils.
The word ‘attar’ ‘itr’ brings to mind the sensations of exotic perfumes, that is a world and a vocabulary all by itself. It also brings with itself, the long list of glamorous and mysterious names such as Zaafraan, Shamaama, Majmuha, Motia, Raajgir, Chameli, Chandan (or Sandal), Firdaus, Nargis, Mushq-Amber, Gulab, Kesar (Saffron), Khas, Kasturi and many more. These fragrant oils from India, are prepared from natural plant sources viz. flower petals, leaves, wood and plant resins. (Except for ‘Kasturi’ (Musk), which is derived from animal origin viz. the musk deers. Pure and authentic ‘Kasturi’ is a very rare thing to locate these days. A sure test of its authenticity is that if you bring just a few grains of pure Kasturi near your nostrils, you will have a nosebleed, such is the power of this aroma.)
The process for preparing these oils is an art that is as ancient as our history itself. The flower petals and other items are crushed lightly on stone and then are heated in a container at low temperature and low pressure. The steam arising from this heating is piped into another container that contains a base oil such as sandalwood oil. The fragrant steam is allowed to stand this with the oil and mix with it, over a period of many days. There is literally an alchemy at work here as the molecules of fragrant steam eventually mix with and settle in the oil, making the specific flavor of the ‘attar’ ‘itr’.
The special thing about these natural ‘attar’ ‘itr’s is that unlike the perfumes created by other processes, these fragrant oils are completely free of any alcoholic content. For that reason, they do not easily evaporate and are much longer lasting. Also, the power of fragrance, rather than fading away, actually becomes more pronounced, longer they are preserved. In their purest form, these oils are quite expensive but are a keepsake for life.
This beautifully worded songs is from the film ‘Baap’ from 1946. The film is produced under the banner of Shriraj Pictures, Calcutta, and is directed by S Shamsuddin. Cast of actors includes Urmila, Paresh Bannerji, Tandon, Sundar, Radharani, Nigam, Shobha, Faiz, Pandit Gokul, D K Chatterji, Nanda, Dev Kumari, Parbati, Bela Rani, Heena, Gauri, Asha, and Baby Chhaya etc.
The nine songs of this film are written by two poets, Pandit Deepak Chakravarty and Jameel Mazhari. The lyrics of this song are from the pen of Jameel Mazhari. The music is by KP Sen. Geet Kosh does not identify the name behind the voice of this singer, but based on information from the record itself (as shared by my friend who gave me the recording of this song) the singer is Anima Ghosh.
The name Jameel Mazhari is not new to our blog, and there are four songs penned by him already showcased here. As I tried to find more information about this poet, I came across a brief about him on the internet. Jameel Mazhari was a man of literature. He was born in 1904 in Patna. Son of Syed Khurshid Husain, young Jameel had his schooling at Motihari (Bihar) and later studied at the Calcutta University from where he did his Masters in Persian. He began his career as a journalist in a Calcutta daily. He was actively involved in the anti-British movement. His friendship with Josh Malihabadi brought him briefly to the film industry where he had short stints as lyricist and story writer in films at all the three main centers, i.e. Bombay, Lahore and Calcutta. In 1946, he became lecturer in Urdu at Patna College from where he moved to the Patna University where he served in different capacities till 1974. Jameel Sb composed ghazals, nazms, rubai, qata, marsia and host of other forms of poetic expressions. Jameel Sb was a disciple of Vahshat Kalkattvi and also considered Iqbal to be his mentor and guide. His major works include Naqsh-e-Jameel (1953), Fikr-e-Jameel (1958), Wijdan-e-Jameel (1979), Irfan-e-Jameel (1979). Jameel Sb passed away in 1979.
The words of the couplets in this song are delicate and endearing. The lady says that she is selling not just fragrant oils, and uses exotic and poetic epithets to describe her merchandise. It is ‘bulbul ke zakhm e jigar’ and ‘mohabbat ke sachche mohar’ that she has brought to sell. And it is ‘pathar mein ki shaayari’ – poetry that is created out of stone, referring to the mild crushing that the petals etc. are subjected to for starting the process of making the oils.
A very simply rendered song, but with a lot of profound references for romance, for love and for life.
Listen and enjoy.
Song – Henna Motia Aur Khas Bechti Hoon (Baap) (1946) Singer – Anima Ghosh, Lyrics – Allama Jameel Mazhari, MD – KP Sen
Lyrics
henna
motiaa
aur khas bechti hoon. . oon. . oon. . oon
main sheeshi mein phoolon ka ras bechti hoon
main sheeshi mein phoolon ka ras bechti hoon
aaa aaaa aaaaye
naa samjho ke
gul haaye-tar bechti hoon
main bulbul ke zakhme jigar bechti hoon
main bulbul ke zakhme jigar bechti hoon
main bazaar ki jhoothi raunaq mein. . ein. . ein
ae dil. . .
mohabbat ke sachche mohar bechti hoon
mohabbat ke sachche mohar bechti hoon
aaaa aaa aaa
musaqbir ke saanche mein
dhaala hai
jisko. . o. . o. . o
main wo jannat e zindagi bechti hoon
main wo jannat e zindagi bechti hoon
tassavur ke. . e. . e. . e
khwaabon ki. . .
shakalen banaa kar
aaa aaa aaaa aaaa aaaa
main patthar mein ki shaayari bechti hoon
main patthar mein ki shaayari bechti hoon
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Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
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हिना
मोतिया
और खस बेचती हूँ॰ ॰ऊं॰ ॰ऊं॰ ॰ऊं
मैं शीशी में फूलों का रस बेचती हूँ
मैं शीशी में फूलों का रस बेचती हूँ
आ आ आय
ना समझो के
गुल हाय-तर बेचती हूँ
मैं बुलबुल के जख्मे जिगर बेचती हूँ
मैं बुलबुल के जख्मे जिगर बेचती हूँ
मैं बाज़ार की झूठी रौनक में॰ ॰एं॰ ॰एं
ए दिल॰ ॰ ॰
मोहब्बत के सच्चे मोहर बेचती हूँ
मोहब्बत के सच्चे मोहर बेचती हूँ
आ आ आ
मुसक़बिर के साँचे में
ढाला है
जिसको॰ ॰ओ॰ ॰ओ॰ ॰ओ
मैं वो जन्नत ए ज़िंदगी बेचती हूँ
मैं वो जन्नत ए ज़िंदगी बेचती हूँ
तस्सवुर के॰ ॰ए॰ ॰ए॰ ॰ए
ख्वाबों की॰ ॰ ॰
शक्लें बना कर
आ आ आ आ आ
मैं पत्थर में की शायरी बेचती हूँ
मैं पत्थर में की शायरी बेचती हूँ
3 Responses to "Henna Motia Aur Khas Bechti Hoon"
March 8, 2015 at 4:33 pm
” Itr ” is the fragrence and ‘Attar’ is the manufacturer of ‘itr’. In the arabic script, both itr and attar begin with the letter ‘ayin’ not ‘Alif’ .
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March 8, 2015 at 7:38 pm
Nahm ji,
Thanks for this clarification.
As is customary in Punjabi to somewhat modify the original words when pronouncing, we generally end up saying ‘attar’ for ‘itr’. Probably that was the confusion in my mind.
Rgds
Sudhir
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
March 8, 2015 at 10:49 am
Jameel Mazhari>>Kurukshetra (1945)>.KL Saigal>Pandit Ganpat Rao
Aayi Hai Tu To
Kidhar Hai Tu Aye Meri Tamanna
Mohabbat Ke Gul
Tu Aa Gayi
with Singer Radharani>>
Bin Kaaj Aaj Maharaj Laaj Gayi Meri
Ae Dukhi Man
Dil Bekarar So Ja
with Satya Chaudhary
Kya Karna Hai Puchh Rahe
with Kalyan Das
Mere Sapno Ke Basi
unknown
Aaj Kirno Ka Kar Ke
Ae Bawle Mann Kya Karu
Gaj Vadan Gun Sadan
Karmphal Ki Soch Mat Kar
Baap-46>>
Koi Kisi Ko Yaad Aye To
KP Sen>>
Koi Kisi Ko Yaad Aaye To
Baap (1946)
Mai Mareez e Ishq Hu
Singer:Sundar Singh Ly:Rangesh, Shadi Ke Baad (1949)
Gaate Thhe Khushi Ke Geet Kabhi
Singer: Asit Baran, Ly>M Razi Banarsi>Azadi Ke Baad (1951)
Lutaata Hai Watan Jalta Hai Chaman
Ly:M Razi Banarsi>Azadi Ke Baad (1951)
Aa Sapno Ko Geet Banaaye
Ly>Pandit Deepak Chakravarti>Baap (1946)
Aaj Aayenge Sajan Hamare
Ly>M Razi Banarsi>Azadi Ke Baad (1951)
Aaj Balam Ki Teekhi
Singer>Suprabha Sarkar, Ly>Rangesh>Shadi Ke Baad (1949)
Aao Charkhe Se Preet Lagaaye
Ly>Pandit Deepak Chakravarti>Baap (1946)
Abhi Jao Bajariya Se Laao Saiya
Singer>Anima Ghosh, Dwijen Chowdhury, Ly>Pandit Deepak Chakravarti>Baap (1946)
Barbaad Kar Diya Hai
Singer>Gauri Mitra, Ly>Rangesh,Shadi Ke Baad (1949)
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