Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Raja, 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.

ASAD 10th Anniversary Celebrations – 15
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It has been a while since my last post here – and I have no excuses for this. I will not cite “been busy” as an excuse, because, if I’m honest, I could certainly have found time for a post. If anything, the only reason for not posting is my sheer laziness. And laziness is never, and should never be, an acceptable excuse. So, no excuses. Mea culpa.

One thing though. While I might not be posting frequently, this blog is never far from my heart. It might not be apparent from my recent (non-existent) interactions but this is fact. Whether I post here or not, this blog is very special to me. After all, I have been involved with it from day one. So I request everyone to please excuse my prolonged absence. (Some might consider it not such a bad thing. 🙂 )

Anyway, let me get to the point now. I am not the story here – something else is. Something much bigger than me and my mundane blabbering. Yes, this post is part of a series that marks a very special occasion for this blog. An occasion that speaks to an achievement so momentous, so mind-boggling that it calls for a “lifetime achievement award” for the creator of the blog.

This blog, our beloved blog, completes TEN years today – the first post here appeared on 19^th July 2008.

I know I will never be able to do justice to the emotions I am experiencing right now. Words just cannot fully express these feelings. But I’ll try to share some of my thoughts on this occasion. They will be rambling, as usual – but I hope that’s ok.

TEN years. In the history of civilizations, TEN years is nothing. Even in inter-stellar references, depending on context, TEN years is nothing.

But in the world of blogging, TEN years of continuous blogging is HUGE. Mind-blowingly awe-inspiringly HUGE. Or, to use a very common American term, AWESOME. The operative word here is “continuous”. Most blogs out here (and there are countless numbers) are started with great enthusiasm. It doesn’t matter what the blog is about – but, much like exercise, the enthusiasm sees a dramatic drop over time. This could be days, weeks, or, for the more dogged, months. The blog marathoners might just push it into a few years, but there is usually a visible decline in tempo – much like a vehicle that has run its mileage, but is being started everyday just so it doesn’t come to a complete halt. Thus you see a post surface on the blog after months – as if to signal the blog (and the writer) is still alive.

I am not exaggerating. Yours truly also has a potpourri-like blog  – started many years ago with considerable enthusiasm. The live update on the situation is that I can’t even remember when I last posted anything on the blog. Must be a few months at least, if not more. And I am in pretty good company. Thousands of blogs suffer this fate.

That is where this Atul-song-a-day blog, so beloved to us, stands out. Separate from all the other blogs out there. It is one thing to clock ten years. There must be plenty of blogs created before 19^th July 2008 and still active. But I wonder how many of those have posts almost EVERY SINGLE DAY day since then. And if they do, I am almost sure they must be commercial blogs, run for profit. By probably an army of people dedicated to the job. In comparison, here it is very different.

We have Atul – who started this blog purely as a labour of love. To this day, even ten years later, it remains that. Yes, he’s helped by Sudhir ji now (and that’s a huge help!) but it’s still one hell of an ask to keep posting every single day. But they do it – Atul and Sudhir ji. The rest of us, Atulites, enjoy the blog, discuss songs, write posts at times (cough, cough!) – but it is basically run by Atul and Sudhir ji.

The most amazing thing about this is that they are both very busy people otherwise – so they have plenty to do, even apart from taking care of this blog. And like I’ve said many times before, every post involves a certain degree of effort. There’s no compromise on quality, so it’s not just a hurried hashed job for the sake of posting something. No compromise on accuracy, whether in the lyrics or in the post itself. If it means needing to listen to a song umpteen times (and Atul has done that), so be it! And apart from the post, there are the other features – the analysis, statistics. All of this demands time too. And besides what we see, they are always working on something in the background.

And oh, I forgot to mention, there’s always the risk of infrastructure failing – whether a power failure, or internet connectivity issue. Over these ten years Atul has been posted in multiple towns – each with its infrastructure challenges. When I consider all this, I can only say that it takes a very special level of love and dedication to HFM to be able to achieve so much, with all constraints and demands on their time.

I would also like to compliment and congratulate not just Atul and Sudhir ji, but everyone who has been part of this wonderful journey, in any capacity. There have been many – some stalwarts too (I shall not take names, we all know who they are 🙂 ) – who have contributed to this blog immensely.

Thanks to this blog, we have all come together, from all over the world, from diverse backgrounds – but with music as our common love and bonding factor. Without this blog, that would not have happened.

Of course, on such an occasion, it is normal to also reflect on the journey. My mind goes back to that first song , posted on 19^th July 2008. “Miley Na Phool To Kaanton Se Dosti Kar Li” – Rafi Saab’s divine voice, meaningful lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, composition by Roshan. This song started the journey.

My comment appears on 21^st July – so two days later. That is because I got to know about the blog only then. Atul and I were part of this cricket forum – both of us share this interest too, apart from music. Although the forum was primarily meant for cricket discussion, we would discuss a lot of other stuff too – mostly fun stuff. Given our interest, we naturally discussed songs too.

Atul and I (and a few others) would post songs on the forum every now and then. Atul had a thread ‘train songs’, I had a thread ‘songs that inspire me’ and so on.

Around this time Atul started a blog to discuss some of his experiences – I remember him blogging about Binaca Geet Mala, and the famous Jaimala programme of Vividh Bharati. Then one fine day, Atul announced on the cricket forum that he had started a new blog for songs. This announcement was on 21^st July 2008 – I promptly visited the blog. Read the post, listened to the song – and left a comment. Shalini, another friend on the forum, also was one of the earliest visitors and commenters on the blog.

At that time, the intention was only one song a day. Which explains the blog name.

But of course, with one song a day, you would not get very far even in ten years. And our thirst wouldn’t get quenched. 🙂

In those early days, I used to give Atul a lot of farmaishes. He was obviously posting songs of his liking – I liked them too, but I had so many other songs that I wanted to see on the blog. So I used to send him requests – lists of 10 songs at a time. Not necessarily very famous songs – I remember even giving a farmaish for “Paape Na Sharma” (film ‘Sagaai’, 1966) – a song I distinctly remember from my childhood.

Around that time, Lalitha also joined in. She was a regular commenter – and would give her farmaishes too. For a while, I felt less guilty – I wasn’t the only one making demands on Atul. Poor Atul! He had started with the intention of posting one song of his choice every day. And here he was, trying to cater to long lists of farmaishes – many probably not even songs of his choice. Yet, he didn’t complain (“Aah Bhi Nikle To Ye Pyaar Ki Rusvaai Hai” ?). He tried gamely to post them all – and possibly realized that at one song a day, it wasn’t going to be feasible.

After a while (I don’t know when – Atul would know the exact dates), he switched to multiple songs a day. That was a big boost for thirsty people like me. 🙂  He kept making improvements to the blog. One feature after another. Statistics. Anniversary page. At that time it was totally a one-man show. He somehow managed to keep posting everyday. The write-up was entirely his at the time.

Then, one day, he asked me if I would do a write-up. I was a bit nervous – but said ok. That was the start for me – this is my 201^st post. In these 200 posts, I’ve had the opportunity to pay tribute to several artistes on their birth/death anniversaries or blog landmark occasions – all thanks to Atul.

The blog itself now covers 14500+ songs – I would say it is the richest, most composite, repository of HFM on the internet, especially if you consider that it includes many obscure songs, and is a package of lyrics, video/audio AND a write-up for every single song posted. In any case, we are not in competition with anyone – like I’ve said before, this is a labour of love. We keep building the repository – and the process itself is an enjoyable one. For me personally, this blog has enriched my knowledge of HFM SO much I cannot begin to explain in words. I have discovered SO many gems only through this blog.

And oh, the knowledge of Atulites here! I feel SO humbled. I know nothing, and am happy to learn more from our inhouse encyclopaedia, Arunji. Or Sadanandji, whose knowledge is also immense. And others too. The important thing I realize is that I will not get this information anywhere else on the internet – it is in their heads, often coming from a book or an interview or article ages ago. The internet is not as complete (or even as accurate) a source as many think. We need to keep adding new (accurate) content to it.

And this blog is doing a great job in this respect. Even the comments section are a treasure house of trivia and rare information. For example, when Arunji discusses a song from a film, he doesn’t talk only about the film. He talks about the circumstances in which the film was made, the times, the background of the artistes, director, producer and so on. That gives a very different, and much-enriched, perspective of the film. And this, I feel, is something very special on this blog. It is not merely a song video/audio/lyrics effort. There’s a story behind it that brings the song and film seemingly to life.

And I just love those stories. 🙂

Apart from the blog itself, there is the ecosystem that has got created around it. All the people who came together because of the blog but are now good friends, part of whatsapp group and so on. Some of us have met each other too. Music bonds anyway – and this blog has taken the bonding to a different level. And being part of this journey from day one has been an absolute privilege for me. I have enjoyed it thoroughly and cherish every moment.

Talking of the journey brings me to the song for this post. This is from Jawaab (1970). The lyrics have been provided to me by Avinash ji. When I told him I was planning to do a write-up on this song, he immediately offered to provide me with the lyrics – in English and Devanagari. He is so passionate about this blog, and so helpful – thank you SO much, Avinash ji.

I have picked this song for two main reasons. First, I wanted a fun song to reflect a fun occasion. Secondly, and probably more importantly, some of the lyrics completely resonate with me.

zindagi wo kya
na pyaar jis mein ho
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai

How absolutely true! What is life without love in it? And indeed, the journey of life is made enjoyable, thanks to the presence of friends on this journey. Otherwise it would be a lonely journey.

The same is totally true of this blog. The journey, now of ten years, has been made thoroughly enjoyable, certainly for me, thanks to the presence of friends on this journey.

And

baant na lein kyon aapas mein
jo dard jigar mein hai

Also true. We share good and bad times, as we go through this journey. So I felt this song suits this occasion very well.

As for the picturisation, I quite like the zany dancing of, then Jumping Jack, Jeetendra. Even by his crazy standards, some of the moves here are of a different level. Leena Chandavarkar too, probably trying not to be outdone, comes up with some moves of her own. All in all, a totally fun song which I am sure most people will enjoy.

Thanks for reading this post – and once again, congratulations to everyone who has been a part of this journey.

mazaa safar mein hai

Yes, indeed. 🙂

Song – Zindagi Wo Kya Na Pyaar Jis Mein Ho (Jawaab) (1970) Singer – Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Lyrics – Rajendra Krishan, MD – Laxmikant Pyaarelal
Mohammed Rafi + Lata Mangeshkar

Lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)

zindagi wo kyaa
na pyaar jismen ho
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai

zindagi wo kyaa
na pyaar jismen ho
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai
akele tum ho
akele ham hai
akele tum ho
akele ham hai
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai

zindagi wo kyaa
na pyaar jismen ho
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai
akele tum ho
akele ham hai
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai

ho jaa ho jaa aye dil
kisika ho jaa aa
kisika ho jaa aa
jahaan bhi dekhen aankh ki masti
kho jaa aa
naadaan kho jaa aa
hai pyaar ki fursat kitni
bas raat jawaan hai jitni
o ho ho ho o o o
akele tum ho
akele tum ho
akele ham hai
akele ham hai
baant na le kyun aapas mein
jo dard jigar mein hai
zindagi wo kyaa
na pyaar jismen ho
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai

sehmi sehmi kyun hai dhadkan dil ki
main naa jaanoon
pad na gayi ho aankh kisi qaatil ki
main naa jaanoon
jab chal jaata hai jadoo
phir dil par kaisaa kaaboo
o ho ho ho o o o
akele tum ho
akele tum ho
akele ham hai
akele ham hai
hothon par bhi le aao
jo baat nazar mein hai

zindagi wo kyaa
na pyaar jismen ho
saath agar ho saathi dil ka
mazaa safar mein hai
akele tum ho
akele tum ho
akele ham hai
akele ham hai
akele ham hai
akele tum ho
akele ham hai

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Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
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ज़िंदगी वो क्या
न प्यार जिसमें हो
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं

ज़िंदगी वो क्या
न प्यार जिसमें हो
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले हम है
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले हम है
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं

ज़िंदगी वो क्या
न प्यार जिसमें हो
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं
अकेले तुम हो 
अकेले हम है
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं

हो जा हो जा अय दिल
किसी का हो जा आ
किसी का हो जा आ
जहां भी देखें आँख कि मस्ती
खो जा आ
नादान खो जा आ
है प्यार कि फुर्सत कितनी
बस रात जवान है जितनी
हो हो हो हो ओ ओ ओ
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले हम है
अकेले हम है
बाँट न ले क्यूँ आपस में
जो दर्द जिगर में है
ज़िंदगी वो क्या
न प्यार जिसमें हो
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं

सहमी सहमी क्यूँ है धड़कन दिल कि
मैं ना जानूं
पड़ न गयी हो आँख किसी कातिल कि
मैं ना जानूं
जब चल जाता है जादू
फिर दिल पर कैसा काबू
हो हो हो हो ओ ओ ओ
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले हम है
अकेले हम है
होठों पर भी ले आओ
जो बात नज़र में है

ज़िंदगी वो क्या
न प्यार जिसमें हो
साथ अगर हो साथी दिल का
मज़ा सफ़र में हैं
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले हम है
अकेले हम है
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले तुम हो
अकेले हम है
अकेले हम है