Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon (Sahir Ludhianvi - Mujhe Jeene Do)

When Sahir Ludhianvi, Jaidev and Lata Mangeshkar got together, and created one of the most haunting love song and lament, of a despondent mother for her dear child. Filmed on Waheeda Rehman and Sunil Dutt, the poignant tale of an innocent little kid caught between the facts of his birth and the prejudices of a society which will neither forgive nor forget, is one of the high emotional points of 'Mujhe Jeene Do' (1963).

Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon

Aur Dua Deke Pareshan Si Ho Jati Hoon

Mere Munne Mere Gulzar Ke Nanhe Paudhe

Tujhko Halat Ki Andhi Se Bachane Ke Liye

Aaj Main Pyar Ke Anchal Mein Chupa Leti Hoon

Kal Ye Kamzor Sahara Bhi Na Hansil Hoga

Kal Ye Kamzor Sahara Bhi Na Hansil Hoga

Kal Tujhe Kanton Bhari Rah Pe Chalna Hoga

Zindagani Ki Kadi Dhoop Mein Jalna Hoga

Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon

Aur Dua Deke Pareshan Si Ho Jati Hoon

Tere Mathe Pe Sharafat Ki Koi Mohar Nahin

Chand Bose Hain Muhabbat Ke So Wo Bhi Kya Hain

Mujhsi Maaon Ki Muhabbat Ka Koi Mol Nahin

Mujhsi Maaon Ki Muhabbat Ka Koi Mol Nahin

Mere Masoom Farishte Tu Abhi Kya Jaane

Tujh Ko Kis Kis Ke Gunahon Ki Saza Milni Hai

Din Aur Dharm Ke Maare Hue Insanon Ki

Jo Nazar Milni Hai Tujh Ko Wo Khafa Milni Hai

Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon

Aur Dua Deke Pareshan Si Ho Jati Hoon

Bediyan Leke Lapakta Hua Qanoon Ka Haath

Tere Maan Baap Se Jab Tujh Ko Mili Ye Saughat

Kaun Laega Tere Vaaste Khushiyon Ki Baraat

Kaun Laega Tere Vaaste Khushiyon Ki Baraat

Mere Bachhe Tere Anjaam Se Ji Darta Hai

Teri Dushman Hi Na Sabit Ho Jawani Teri

Khaak Jati Hai Jise Soch Ke Mamta Meri

Usi Anjaam Ko Pahoonche Na Kahani Teri

Tere Bachpan Ko Jawani Ki Dua Deti Hoon

Aur Dua Deke Pareshan Si Ho Jati Hoon

Sahir Ludhianvi (1921-1980) initially studied at the Khalsa High School in Ludhiana. On finishing matriculation he joined the Satish Chander Dhawan Government College for Boys, in the same city. He was quite popular for his ghazals and nazms in the college. He was famously expelled from the college within the year 'for sitting in the Principal's lawn with a female class-mate'. In 1943 he settled in Lahore. Here he completed the writing of his first Urdu work, Talkhiyaan (Bitterness). Soon he began editing few Urdu magazines, including Savera. He also became a member of the Progressive Writers' Association. However, left-leaning writings in Savera resulted in the issuing of a warrant for his arrest by the Pakistan government. In 1949 Sahir fled Lahore for Delhi. After a couple of months in Delhi, he moved to and eventually settled in Bombay. He had a famous love affair with the writer and poet Amrita Pritam. Several other women too came in his life, but he remained a bachelor all his life. Sahir Ludhianvi made his debut in films writing lyrics for the film Aazadi Ki Raah Par (1949). However, with Naujawaan (1951) he gained recognition. S.D. Burman had composed the music for this film. Even today the film's lilting song "thandi hawain, lehrake ayen" remains popular. His first major success came the same year with Guru Dutt's directorial debut Baazi (1951), again pairing him with Burman da. He became part of the Guru Dutt team, and after the success of Naujawaan and Baazi, the combination of Sahir Ludhianvi and S.D. Burman came out with many more everlasting songs. However Pyaasa marked the end of this successful partnership, over what was rumoured  to be S.D. Burman's displeasure at Sahir receiving more admiration from the audiences for his lyrics (information source: wikipedia)

Unicornio (Cecilia Nöel) from the 2001 short film 'The Follow' by Wong Kar-Wai

Mi Unicornio azul ayer se me perdió
Pastando lo dejé y desapareció
Cualquier información la voy bien a pagar
Las flores que dejó, no me han querido hablar

Mi Unicornio azul ayer se me perdió
No sé si se me fue, no sé si se extravió
Y yo no tengo más que un Unicornio azul
Si alguien sabe de él, le ruego información
Cien mil o un millón yo pagaré
Mi Unicornio azul se me ha perdido ayer
Se fue...

Translation:

My blue unicorn, I lost it yesterday

I left it grazing and it disappeared

Any information, I will pay for it well

The flowers that it left behind don't want to talk to me

My blue unicorn, I lost it yesterday

I don't know if it left me, or if it got lost

And I don't have but one blue unicorn

If anyone's got any news, I beg to hear them

A hundred thousand or a million, I will pay

My blue unicorn, I lost it yesterday

It went away.

Souvik Misra about songs, songwriting, and beyond...

Excellent FM radio conversation with Souvik Misra about life, songs, and everything in between (in the context of contemporary Bengali lyrics and music, since the 1990s).

Dylan in Bengali - Proshno Gulo Sahoj, Ar Uttoro To Jana (Kabir Suman)

Katota poth perole tabe pothik bola jai
Katota poth perole pakhi jirobe tar dana
Katota opochoyer por manush chena jai
Proshno gulo sahoj, ar uttoro to jana

Kato bachor pahar bache venge jabar age
Kato bachor manush bache paye shekol pore
Kabar tumi ondho seje thaka anurage
Bolbe tumi dekhchilena temon bhalo kore

Kato hajar parer por akash dekha jabe
Katota kan patle tabe kanna sona jabe
Kato hajar morle tobe manbe tumi seshe
Baddo beshi manush geche baner jole bhese

Katota poth perole tabe pothik bola jai
Katota poth perole pakhi jirobe tar dana
Katota opochoyer por manush chena jai
Proshno gulo sahoj, ar uttoro to jana

কতটা পথ পেরলে তবে পথিক বলা যায় 
কতটা পথ পেরলে পাখি জিরবে তার ডানা 
কতটা অপচযের পর মানুষ চেনা যায় 
প্রশ্ন গুলো সহজ, আর উত্তরও তো জানা 

কতটা বছর পাহাড় বাঁচে ভেঙ্গে যাবার আগে 
কতটা বছর মানুষ বাঁচে পায়ে সেকল পরে 
কবার তুমি অন্ধ সেজে থাকো অনুরাগে 
বলবে তুমি দেখছিলেনা তেমন ভালো করে 

কত হাজার পারের পর আকাশ দেখা যাবে 
কতটা কান পাতলে তবে কান্না সোনা যাবে 
কত হাজার মরলে তবে মানবে তুমি শেষে 
বড্ড বেশি মানুষ গেছে বানের জলে ভেসে 

কতটা পথ পেরলে তবে পথিক বলা যায় 
কতটা পথ পেরলে পাখি জিরবে তার ডানা 
কতটা অপচযের পর মানুষ চেনা যায় 
প্রশ্ন গুলো সহজ, আর উত্তরও তো জানা 

Kabir Suman, née Suman Chatyapadhyay (born 1949) is a Kolkata-based modern Bengali singer-songwriter, musician, poet, journalist, political activist, TV presenter, and occasional actor. He shot to fame in the early 1990s with albums such as 'Tomake Chai' and 'Ichchhe Holo'. He graduated in English Literature from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, and then left for Europe in the mid seventies, working as radio journalist with the Voice of Germany. It is during this period that he heard the music of Bob Dylan, which became one of his most defining musical experiences. He then went on to stay in the USA,  where he came into contact with a number of musical and literary personalities including Pete Seeger. He also became highly interested in the Sandinista revolution of Nicaragua. Pete Seeger introduced him to Ernesto Cardenal, the priest, poet, freedom fighter and Nicaragua's Minister of Culture. At Cardenal's invitation, Suman visited Nicaragua in 1985. It is here, that he also came into contact with the New Song Movement in Latin America (information source: Wikipedia).

The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind...

'Blowin in the Wind' is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962, and released on his album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" in 1963. It has been described as an anthem of the 1960s civil rights movement in the USA. In Martin Scorsese's documentary on Dylan, "No Direction Home" Mavis Staples expressed her astonishment on first hearing the song, and said she could not understand how a young white man could write something which captured the frustration and aspirations of black people so powerfully (information source: Wikipedia).

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they are forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind
The answer is blowin in the wind.

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they are allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind
The answer is blowin in the wind.

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind
The answer is blowin in the wind.