Song 35:
Back from my after-dinner stroll and must say I am pepped up as ever. People in my house have actually started suspecting why I come back so happy from my walk? Haha! I am sure they think I am upto no good. Little do they know how energising it is to connect or simply observe people from different walks of life. There is even this subtle romancing going on at this time amongst the younger lot, age old hints and signals, fun messages sent through intermediaters and clandestine rendezvous. I am talking about the maid's carnival. People across all sections of society do fall in love after all and do whatever there is to win over love.
Now this is one of the best Rafi-Asha duets ever, from Naya Daur too. It has a typical foot tapping quality of most Punjabi songs. In Indian folk traditions, there are many formats where the male and female singer compete in a war of wits, as if it were. Each verse is meant to provoke the other and the retort is given by the other party, often in jest. Such Punjabi tappas or tappe were common during weddings and other festivities. There was also the tradition of reciting chhand (sort of Hindi limerick). I have faint memories of weddings where often the ladkiwalas (the bride's side) would urge the groom to recite some chhand as he waited anxiously at the girl's door to get a sight of his lady love. Only when he managed to exhibit some poetic prowess, was he allowed into the wedding reception and got to meet the bride. Then there was a very elaborate 'Sehra' poetry that was written on a board and also sung or recited by one of the bride's relatives in praise of the groom (of course once he was allowed in). This was a good pretext to hide the groom's shoes while he was engrossed in basking in the glory of praises showered at him. The shoes would then be returned by the bride's younger giggly sisters only when he gave them some hefty cash and little rings called kalichdis. How sweet were all these traditions. Many of them are getting drowned in loud DJ nites. And as you see poetry was pretty much a part of our lives.
If nothing else when there were power cuts earlier, people would gather under a tree outside in the courtyard and play Antakshari. Now we have 24 hour power back up or generators/invertors that have inverted these casual fun activities into nothingness. So this song as I said, has that community feel again, with some fun wit thrown in every verse. Sahir Ludhianvi betrays his Punjabi or Ludhianvi roots in this one, shifting from Urdu to a more Punjabi style Hindi, music also by that doyen of Punjabi peppy O P Nayyar. Then Rafi and Asha in perfect sync and two brilliant actors- Dilip Kumar aka Yusuf Khan, arguably one of the best actors ever of Indian screen and Vyjayanthimala Bali, one of the most graceful dancers ever. I certainly can't help dancing to this one everytime I hear it. Evergreen classics are made of these!
Back from my after-dinner stroll and must say I am pepped up as ever. People in my house have actually started suspecting why I come back so happy from my walk? Haha! I am sure they think I am upto no good. Little do they know how energising it is to connect or simply observe people from different walks of life. There is even this subtle romancing going on at this time amongst the younger lot, age old hints and signals, fun messages sent through intermediaters and clandestine rendezvous. I am talking about the maid's carnival. People across all sections of society do fall in love after all and do whatever there is to win over love.
Now this is one of the best Rafi-Asha duets ever, from Naya Daur too. It has a typical foot tapping quality of most Punjabi songs. In Indian folk traditions, there are many formats where the male and female singer compete in a war of wits, as if it were. Each verse is meant to provoke the other and the retort is given by the other party, often in jest. Such Punjabi tappas or tappe were common during weddings and other festivities. There was also the tradition of reciting chhand (sort of Hindi limerick). I have faint memories of weddings where often the ladkiwalas (the bride's side) would urge the groom to recite some chhand as he waited anxiously at the girl's door to get a sight of his lady love. Only when he managed to exhibit some poetic prowess, was he allowed into the wedding reception and got to meet the bride. Then there was a very elaborate 'Sehra' poetry that was written on a board and also sung or recited by one of the bride's relatives in praise of the groom (of course once he was allowed in). This was a good pretext to hide the groom's shoes while he was engrossed in basking in the glory of praises showered at him. The shoes would then be returned by the bride's younger giggly sisters only when he gave them some hefty cash and little rings called kalichdis. How sweet were all these traditions. Many of them are getting drowned in loud DJ nites. And as you see poetry was pretty much a part of our lives.
If nothing else when there were power cuts earlier, people would gather under a tree outside in the courtyard and play Antakshari. Now we have 24 hour power back up or generators/invertors that have inverted these casual fun activities into nothingness. So this song as I said, has that community feel again, with some fun wit thrown in every verse. Sahir Ludhianvi betrays his Punjabi or Ludhianvi roots in this one, shifting from Urdu to a more Punjabi style Hindi, music also by that doyen of Punjabi peppy O P Nayyar. Then Rafi and Asha in perfect sync and two brilliant actors- Dilip Kumar aka Yusuf Khan, arguably one of the best actors ever of Indian screen and Vyjayanthimala Bali, one of the most graceful dancers ever. I certainly can't help dancing to this one everytime I hear it. Evergreen classics are made of these!
No comments:
Post a Comment