Apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke ham hain
Posted on: July 14, 2016
- In: Century post by Guest poster | Century songs for the blog | Ghazal | Guest poster century song | Guest posts | Jagjit Singh NFS | Jagjit Singh solo | Jagjit Singh songs | NFS | Post by Sadanand Kamath | Songs of 1990s (1991 to 2000) | Songs of 1995 | Translation by Sudhir | Translations by readers | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 23 Comments
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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. This is his 400th writeup in the blog
apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai udhar ke hum hain
-Nida Fazli
[There is no choice for us as to where we embark on the journey.
Where the direction of the wind is the place to which we belong].
This is the first she’r of a non-filmy ghazal written by Nida Fazli and rendered by Jagjit Singh which is philosophical in nature. In a broader sense, the poet is talking about the journey of life. There is a realisation that we have no choice as to where from our journey would start, that is, the place of birth. In the rest of our life, we belong to places as decided by our destiny. I guess, the metaphor of wind direction has been used by the poet to emphasise on the fact that during our journey of life, we have no control over the destiny. This is the truth of our life on earth.
In keeping with the writing style of Nida Fazli, this ghazal is woven in simple words. But each couplet has deep meaning. Let us discuss the remaining three couplets of the ghazal as rendered by Jagjit Singh:
pehle har cheez thhi apni magar ab lagta hai
apne hi ghar mein kisi doosre ghar ke hum hai
[First I thought everything was mine. Now I have a feeling that
I am an outsider in a house which I had felt as my own].
I had read the interviews of Nida Fazli in which he shared his experiences during the partition and communal riots. During the communal riots in Gwalior in mid 60s, his entire family migrated to Pakistan. He, however, remained in India alone as he was against the concept of two nations. He again faced the communal riots in 1992 in Mumbai upon which he had to take shelter in his Hindu friend’s house. I guess, this couplet is his reflections of what he felt at that time. Here ‘ghar’ may have been used in a wider context of a town, city, or a country.
waqt ke saath hai mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
kisko maaloom kahaan ke hain kidhar ke hum hain
[Time and the soil (earth) have travelled together for centuries.
Who knows from where and which place we belong to].
The poet, I guess, is referring the migration of the human race from one place to different places over the centuries. The mix of population makes it difficult to identify ourselves as to which place we really belong to. I also think that the poet has indirectly hinted the futility of tagging individuals in terms of race, religion, cast, creed, class, etc as the reality is that nobody knows what their origin is.
chalte rehte hain ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
sochte rehte hain kis raahguzar ke hum hain
[We keep on moving forward in our life and this is the destiny of a traveller.
This is the thought I carry all the time as to which pathway I am from].
I guess that this couplet has some references to what Nida Fazli said about journey of life for a long time after which all pathways look alike. In the confusion of life’s journey, it is difficult to identify as to which is the right pathway.
The non-filmy ghazal ‘apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke hum hain’ was a title song of a popular TV serial ‘Sailaab’ (1995) which was shown on Zee TV during 1995-97 with Renuka Sahane and Sachin Khedekar in the lead roles. The ghazal was originally recorded in the voice of Talat Aziz who also composed the music. However, Ravi Rai, the director of the serial felt that Jagjit Singh’s voice was more suited for this type of the ghazal. When the director approached Jagjit Singh for singing the ghazal, he refused to sing as he felt that it would not be proper for him to sing the ghazal which has already been recorded in the voice of Talat Aziz. It was Talat Aziz who persuaded Jagjit Singh to sing this ghazal. This was revealed by none other than Nida Fazli in an interview which was published in ‘Filmfare’, February 8, 2016.
The ghazal became very popular thanks to the vast reach of TV. This ghazal was included in Jagjit Singh’s Album ‘Mirage’ (1996). It will be observed from the cover of the Album that credit for composition of this ghazal has been given to Talat Aziz.
I always like ghazals of any genre but this is one of those ghazals which is very close to my heart.
====================
Additional Translations and Notes (by Sudhir)
apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai udhar ke hum hain
It is not of my own volition
That I traverse these journeys of my own life
I am nudged towards the paths
Whichever way the winds may blow
pehle har cheez thhi apni magar ab lagta hai
apne hi ghar mein kisi doosre ghar ke hum hai
It was a time once
That all seemed familiar
All seemed to be mine
But now
I feel a stranger in my own home
As if I belong to another place
waqt ke saath hai mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
kisko maaloom kahaan ke hain kidhar ke hum hain
The dust that this being is
And time that this subsistence is
Have shared these endless treks for ages
Who knows wherefrom I come
Or where I belong
[Note: ‘mitti’ here is reference to the human body, the human existence; a la “Mitti Se Khelte Ho Baar Baar Kis Liye”]
chalte rehte hain ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
sochte rehte hain kis raahguzar ke hum hain
Time keeps ticking
And the traveler strides on
Such is the meandering fate of this wanderer
And always keep wondering
To which roads I belong
Audio
Song-Apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke ham hain (Jagjit Singh NFS)(1995) Singer-Jagjit Singh, Lyrics-Nida Fazli, MD-Talat Aziz
Lyrics
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
pehle har cheez thhi apni
magar ab lagta hai ae
pehle har cheez thhi apni
magar ab lagta hai ae
apne hi ghar mein
kisi doosre ghar ke hum hain
apne hi ghar mein
kisi doosre ghar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
waqt ke saath hai
mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
waqt ke saath hai
mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
waqt ke saath hai
mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
kis ko maaloom kahaan ke hain
kidhar ke hum hain
kis ko maaloom kahaan ke hain
kidhar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
chalte rehte hain
ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
chalte rehte hain
ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
sochte rehte hain
kis raahguzar ke hum hain
sochte rehte hain
kis raahguzar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
23 Responses to "Apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke ham hain"
July 14, 2016 at 7:44 am
Congratulations Kamath Sir on 400th post, thanks for the rare gems, NFS and the ghazals you discussed in yours posts and the valuable information shared therein.
I am sure there are many more to come and looking forward for them …
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July 14, 2016 at 8:37 am
I love this ruminative ghazal by Nida Fazli. Jagjit Singh’s voice lends gravitas to the beautiful words.
Rukh hawaon ka jidhar ka hai, udhar ke ham hain. So True.
If we could all be where we wanted to be, life would be too perfect.
Congratulations on completing a milestone, but I do hope you will continue many many more.
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July 14, 2016 at 10:34 am
Ava ji,
Thanks.
Nida Fazli’s ghazal and Jagjit Singh’s voice are heavenly combination.
July 14, 2016 at 10:41 am
Sadanand ji,
Heartiest Congratulations on reaching the milestone of 400 posts.
These are not just ‘posts’, they are the outcome of a hard studied, detailed effort of collecting right information from even obscure sources, about the song, singer, the film and the Lyricist. If available you also give related information about these personalities.
Being a writer myself, I know this is a hard work and very few people take this much trouble of making the posts as complete as possible.
I am personally not into this form of poetry-Gazal- and so your articles have been a great help to me in understanding and knowing more about these things.
I am sure same must be the case with many other readers. Many times I am awestruck with your knowledge and the kind of troubles you take to provide rare informations.
Thanks once again and here is wishing you all the best in your journey into future achievements.
-AD
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July 14, 2016 at 12:03 pm
Arun ji,
Thanks for your good words.
For me, your appreciation of my work is as good as a certificate.
I hope to maintain the standard as per the expectations, in my musical journey with the Blog for the days to come.
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July 14, 2016 at 4:29 pm
Hullo Sadanandji
I read through the post only now though I had noted your milestone in the morning itself. Thank you sir for giving details about where the ghazal was first used and how Jagjit Singh got to sing it. Also I liked the way you analyzed the stanzas
Congratulations to you on your 4th century
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July 14, 2016 at 5:32 pm
Aha, quietly moving along, and already four centuries of posts. A ton of congratulations.
Your series of songs from 1940s is engrossing. As Arun ji has mentioned above, your articles are well researched, and you do check out the old film magazines, like ‘FilmIndia’, for information relating to the films.
Kudos, for this milestone; awaiting many more from you. 🙂
Rgds
Sudhir0
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July 14, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Sadanandji,
WOW 400 and counting on to 500 and more.
Great job of ferreting out gems from the ocean>sagar me se moti.
Apart from the perseverance you pursued you felt and also gave us immense joy and satisfaction.
Please continue the detection work with renewed vigour. Thanks
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July 15, 2016 at 12:43 am
Sadanand ji,
Heartiest congratulations on reaching this milestone.
As others have already said, (and in much better ways than I can hardly emulate), your posts are a labour of love and carry a lot of depth, which reflects, a lot of knowledge, thought, research and patience.
Anybody can see that as far as Ghazals are concerned, you are a cognoscenti but what is really touching is your effort to explain the theme, tenor and meaning of the ghazal for easy comprehension by even those lay-persons who may not be very well conversant with the nuisances of Urdu language and the grammar of ghazal writing.
Looking eagerly forward to your future outpourings.
Best regards,
Gratefully yours,
Avadh Lal
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July 15, 2016 at 12:31 pm
Avadh Lal ji,
I am overwhelmed by your showers of praise.
I will do my best to meet the expectations of the readers of the Blog in my future endeavour too.
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July 15, 2016 at 12:52 am
Oops! What a blooper!
अर्थ का अनर्थ – वो कहते हैं न कि एक नुक़ते के ग़लत जगह पर लगने से ‘ख़ुदा’ से ‘जुदा’ – वैसा ही हुआ.
Please read nuances instead of nuisances.
Avadh Lal
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July 15, 2016 at 1:29 am
Hearty congratulations, Sadanandji for your 400th.
It might not get reflected in my comments (I don’t comment often) but I must say I admire your posts immensely. You write with a lot of depth, totally immersed in the particular post, whether you are describing the song (as in this case) or writing about the artistes involved. Your posts are therefore very thorough, with all necessary research done. Truly enjoyable to read. And lot of learning too.
This ghazal is just wonderful. Though I have watched a few episodes of the TV series Sailaab, this ghazal didn’t quite register at that time for me. Now, listening to the whole ghazal, it is a different experience altogether. So philosophical. Indeed this could well be reflecting Nida Fazli’s own sentiments and experiences. And how wonderfully rendered (as always) by Jagjit Singh.
Thank you for posting this.
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July 15, 2016 at 12:42 pm
Raja ji,
Thanks for your appreciation which is really encouraging for me.
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July 16, 2016 at 12:16 am
Sadanand ji,
As discussed earlier, I am updating the above post with my translation of the couplets in the song.
Rgds
Sudhir
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January 16, 2023 at 6:44 pm
The audio clip has been removed on youtube. Alternate audio clip:
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January 16, 2023 at 7:01 pm
Talat Aziz who had originally composed and recorded this ghazal as a title song for TV serial ‘Sailaab’ (1995). The ghazal was later recorded in the voice of Jagjit Singh, keeping the musical composition of Talat Aziz intact and used in the TV serial.
Here is the Talat Aziz version of the ghazal which I find equally melodious.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
July 14, 2016 at 7:15 am
Congratulations Sadanandji on reaching this milestone. You have served us with very rare gems with lots of unknown history which were mysteries for us. I may have missed many of your,posts but few that I have read gave me in-depth knowledge about the artists. Thanks for your devoted time and looking forward for more jewels!!
Love and regards
Khyati
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July 14, 2016 at 7:21 am
Song is skipping every few seconds. Is it because I am driving and passing through the mountain range?
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July 14, 2016 at 10:26 am
Khyatiben,
Thanks for your appreciation.
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