Zindagi or Jeevan Songs Series
I started this series on my Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne on 18 Oct 20. Since then, many other members have put up these songs. Here, I shall be giving you one of my own, per day.
I hope you liked my choice for Song #11 – Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye in Zindagi or Jeevan Songs series. Let’s start with Song #11.
Song #12
Beqasi hadd se jab guzr jaaye
Theme-word: Zindagi se kaho dulhan ban ke aaj to do ghadi sanvar jaaye
Difficult Being a Woman
I gave you the Raat or Din Song today as tribute to Bhupen Hazarika on his Death Anniversay. The song was picturised on Raveena Tandon who won the National Film Award as Best Actress for her role in 2001 Kalpana Lajmi movie Daman in which Raveena was subjected relentlessly to marital violence, both physical and mental.
This song is from the 1960 RK Rakhan movie Kalpana starring Padmini in the title role. Her sister’s name is the title of the movie and her other sister Ragini (Travancore Sisters) also acts in the movie.
The story is a copy of Nargis’s Adaalat and Suchitra Sen’s Mamta; a poor woman has to take up the role of a courtesan to make both ends meet.
None of the producers and directors would venture into areas wherein women could take up, in their poverty, professions other than prostitution. Mehboob Khan showed the way with Mother India. But that was an exception.
Why This Song Then?
For several reasons. One of the foremost is that a ‘A gentleman is half a lady’ and I am not ashamed of my being a gentleman who would be sensitive towards ladies. This song (not the movie) brings out those pathos (karuna) that I have long associated with Indian women: exploited, made to feel small, and having to choose between wretched life and still more wretched death (Koi ai dil jiye ke mar jaaye).
At one time, I used to regularly borrow Marilyn Ravi’s magazines Femina to read and was shocked to read that Femina touted itself as the magazine: ‘For women of substance’. I have actually seen my mother and her sisters and many other women in our family and I would say these are the ones with substance. These are the ones who won’t give up. We had nothing when my dad died (since he had taken loans to start a project after retirement that never came) and you should have seen my mother, a living copy of Mother India, battling against all odds to make the best of life.
I myself am Sunbyanyname, being my mother’s son. I look at positives. I too don’t look at choice between wretched life and wretched death.
The Song
It was written by Jawed Akhtar’s father Jan Nisar Akhtar. It was composed by OP Nayyar in Raag Desh and Khammaj and Tal Dadra and sung by Asha Bhosle for Padmini who enacted this with her histrionics so well that I have tears in my eyes to see her despondency.
Ladies and gentlemen, please feel for women whilst listening to and seeing the song: Beqasi hadd se jab guzr jaaye…
बेकसी हद से जब गुजर जाए
कोई ऐ दिल जिए के मर जाए
जिंदगी से कहो दुल्हन बन के
आज तो दो घड़ी संवर जाए
उनको जी भर के देख लेने दे
दिल की धड़कन जरा ठहर जाये
हम हैं खुद अपनी जान के दुश्मन
क्यों ये इल्ज़ाम उनके सर जाए
मेरे नग्मों से उनका दिल न दुखे
ग़म नहीं मुझ पे जो गुजर जाए
I hope you enjoyed my choice for Song #12 in the series.
Please await Song #13 – Kise yaad rakhun kise bhool jaayun?
