Migratory Birds Part-II

The songs like चल उड़ जा रे पंछी, के अब ये देस हुआ बेगाना - हम तो चले परदेस … seem to be alien emotion for the current generation. With the faster mode of transportation, globalization this world looks small .The migration within country does not seem a big deal. But some people far away living in different countries might find it relevant even today, when they remember their India. The feeling is similar when a villager in past remembered his village in a city. That time the distance was not easy to travel. And except letters there was no method of communication. Another thing, the sense of belongingness was deeper. In villages of those times, people lived as a concerned community, it was more common and less individual. Beside home and land , there was common village well, pond, trees, playground, temple, gurudwara , church, maszid  etc. In this age , we live more individually; even in villages. We are lost in TV, mobile, and many more individualistic gadgets.

Sometimes I feel,  up to last century a person`s life was like a deep rooted tree in a jungle, it was painful for tree to get uprooted and get placed in a new environment.   It was like tree might be missing the  fellow trees, birds, nests, insects’ animals, surrounding vines, neighboring brook etc.

 Now in twenty first century ,the humans are not deep rooted trees in ajungle but beautiful bonsai in a vase living with fellow plants in individual  vases  and there is no regret and remorse just pick the vase and place anywhere you like. So these songs sometimes seem irrelevant but not always , there are some people  …

चल उड़ जा रे पंछी, के अब ये देस हुआ बेगाना/

तू ने तिनका तिनका चुनकर नगरी एक बसायी

बारीश में तेरी भीगी पाख़े, धूप में गर्मी खायी

ग़म ना कर जो तेरी मेहनत तेरे काम ना आई ,

अच्छा हैं कुछ ले जाने से दे कर ही कुछ जाना

भूल जा अब वो मस्त हवा, वो उड़ना डाली डाली

जग की आँख का कांटा बन गयी चाल तेरी मतवाली

कौन भला उस बाग को पूछे, हो ना जिसका माली,

तेरी किस्मत में लिखा हैं, जीते जी मर जाना

रोते हैं वो पंख पखेरू, साथ तेरे जो खेले

जिनके साथ लगाये तू ने अरमानों के मेले

भीगी आखियों से ही उन की आज दूवायें ले ले,

किस को पता अब इस नगरी में कब हो तेरा आना/

Migratory Birds
Part-I

This song takes me to my childhood and reminds me my first home
teacher with whom I share twenty five percent of maternal genes. He taught me
basics of life. I do not why he had special bond with me; he never took any
interest in my siblings. He loved me, he thrashed me and again loved, the cycle
went on. He disciplined me as military officer disciplines his recruits. People
criticized him for that kind of behavior; sometimes I felt too bad on getting
punishment.  But when I grown, realized that
he was actually a bitter potion.

 He was the person, who
introduced me to:  A B C, अ, आ, ई 1, 2, 3, tables up to 25, roman digits
I II III IV. , reading Hindi & English, well all this stuff even before I
entered premises of any school. He introduced me to good cinema, good music,
yoga, few Sanskrit shlokas, many folk stories, public mannerism etc…  Being around me for almost three years, he
left the place for some medical reasons and moreover he was a free spirit, I
suppose he never stayed anywhere more than this.  When he was leaving, he gave me one of his favorite
wooden fountain pen and one book on English Grammar.  I felt relaxed on his leaving but later I
always miss him. After six months I came to know he had left this world in his
thirties.  Many times I think what would
have been my life if he had stayed more, it is difficult to answer. But it is
sure that if he had not come in my life, my life would have been less evolved.  Sometimes, I think the creative bug in my
mind has been inherited from him.

After all this emotional stuff let we come to the point – I
mean the song which I have chosen today…

Actually he loved the Rafi song – चल उड़ जा रे पंछी, के अब ये देस हुआ बेगाना But it was a song of not my era.  it is a good song but does not go well in my heart
as the song of similar emotion- हम तो चले परदेस …goes deeper. Somehow that song got tagged in my mind to the
great personality of my life.  I still
miss u….

Now about song

The words by Anand Bakshi are simple but effective, music by Laxmi-Pyare touching especially use of bansuri and santoor and lastly Rafi’s voice is the soul
of the song.  Listen it closing your eyes
and feel the punch …

Not to forget listen carefully the final रामा हो …

हो, रामा हो.....

हम तो चले परदेस, हम परदेसी हो गये/

छूटा अपना देस हम परदेसी हो गये//

ये गलियाँ, पथ, पनघट, ये मंदीर बरसों पुराना

कल तक ये सब अपना था, अब लगता हैं बेगाना,

बदला जग ने भेंस हम परदेसी हो गये/

ए पंछी हम किस्मत के मारों को भूल ना जाना

जाते खैर खबर, सब लोगों की दे जाना,

ले जाना संदेस हम परदेसी हो गये/

हो, रामा हो.....