{"id":7348,"date":"2023-05-26T06:31:56","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T01:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=7348"},"modified":"2025-11-19T10:07:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:37:17","slug":"apni-kahaani-chhod-ja-leave-a-story-that-will-be-retold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/apni-kahaani-chhod-ja-leave-a-story-that-will-be-retold\/","title":{"rendered":"Apni Kahaani Chhod Ja: Leave a Story That Will Be Retold"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"apni

He is headed for the city where employment and a better life beckon<\/p><\/div>\n

Every one of us vintage music lovers have some sights and scenes permanently etched on the canvas of our childhood. One of them is the train journey, which was undertaken for various reasons \u2014 visiting relatives, going on a pilgrimage or just a trip as tourists. It was a journey full of joy one way and the return trip used to be equally sad. Those train journeys brought us in touch with the rural landscape, sights and sounds.<\/p>\n

Today so much has changed \u2014 those farmers toiling in the mid-day<\/span> sun have given way to tractors tilling the land, the trains have become sleeker, faster and air-conditioned putting a wall of emotionless comfort between you and nature. Forget telling your children about the train journey of yore, even you find it difficult to recollect the landscape. But then our filmmakers have done a yeoman service by capturing and encapsulating those childhood memories in their films. Here is a song which takes you back all the way to 1953, every word <\/span>opening the vaults of aspirations and hopes of those times and every picture \u2014 every scene opening up the photo album of a time gone by!<\/p>\n

The song begins with the enunciation of a native philosophy, a simple truth \u2014 eternal in nature.<\/p>\n

\u092d\u093e\u0908 \u0930\u0947
\n\u0917\u0902\u0917\u093e \u0914\u0930 \u091c\u092e\u0941\u0928\u093e \u0915\u0940 \u0917\u0939\u0930\u0940 \u0939\u0948 \u0927\u093e\u0930
\n\u0906\u0917\u0947 \u092f\u093e \u092a\u0940\u091b\u0947 \u0938\u092c\u0915\u094b \u091c\u093e\u0928\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u092a\u093e\u0930<\/p>\n

Bhai re <\/em>(the call echoes)
\nGanga aur Jamuna ki gehri hai dhaar<\/em>
\nAage ya peechhe, sabko jaana hai paar<\/em><\/p>\n

Having established the ephemeral nature of life, the poet tells you how then to make the best of your sojourn here.<\/p>\n

\u0927\u0930\u0924\u0940 \u0915\u0939\u0947 \u092a\u0941\u0915\u093e\u0930 \u0915\u0947
\n\u092c\u0940\u091c \u092c\u093f\u091b\u093e \u0932\u0947 \u092a\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0930 \u0915\u0947
\n\u092e\u094c\u0938\u092e \u092c\u0940\u0924\u093e \u091c\u093e\u090f<\/p>\n

Dharati kahe pukaar ke<\/em>
\nBeej bichha le pyaar ke<\/em>
\nMausam beeta jaaye<\/em><\/p>\n

Mother Nature asks you <\/span>to sow the seeds of love \u2014 but remember to do it soon \u2014 because the times,\u00a0the seasons,\u00a0they have this habit of flying away!<\/p>\n

\"dharti

The picturisation is an abiding portrait of the India of those times<\/p><\/div>\n

\u0905\u092a\u0928\u0940 \u0915\u0939\u093e\u0928\u0940 \u091b\u094b\u095c \u091c\u093e
\n\u0915\u0941\u091b \u0924\u094b \u0928\u093f\u0936\u093e\u0928\u0940 \u091b\u094b\u095c \u091c\u093e
\n\u0915\u094c\u0928 \u0915\u0939\u0947 \u0907\u0938 \u0913\u0930
\n\u0924\u0942 \u092b\u093f\u0930 \u0906\u090f \u0928\u093e \u0906\u090f
\n\u092e\u094c\u0938\u092e \u092c\u0940\u0924\u093e \u091c\u093e\u090f<\/p>\n

Apni kahaani chhod ja <\/em>
\nKuchh to nishaani chhod ja<\/em>
\nKaun kahe is ore<\/em>
\nTu phir aaye na aaye<\/em>
\nMausam beeta jaaye<\/em><\/p>\n

Leave a story that will be retold. Leave something to be remembered by. This one life is all you have, who knows whether you will tread this path again. The seasons are departing!<\/p>\n

\u0924\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u0930\u093e\u0939 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u0932\u093f\u092f\u094b\u0902 \u0928\u0947 \u0928\u0948\u0928\u093e \u092c\u093f\u091b\u093e\u090f
\n\u0921\u093e\u0932\u0940-\u0921\u093e\u0932\u0940 \u0915\u094b\u092f\u0932 \u0915\u093e\u0932\u0940 \u0924\u0947\u0930\u0947 \u0917\u0940\u0924 \u0917\u093e\u090f<\/p>\n

Teri raah mein kaliyon ne naina bichhaaye <\/em>
\nDaali-daali koyal kaali tere geet gaaye<\/em><\/p>\n

Mother Earth\u2019s messengers are all around you \u2014 to buoy your spirits, to enthuse you. The flower buds have strewn your path and await your arrival. The cuckoo pours out its melodies for your ears alone:<\/p>\n

The male voice takes up the refrain:<\/p>\n

\u092d\u093e\u0908 \u0930\u0947
\n\u0928\u0940\u0932\u093e \u0905\u0902\u092c\u0930 \u092e\u0941\u0938\u094d\u0915\u093e\u090f
\n\u0939\u0930 \u0938\u093e\u0901\u0938 \u0924\u0930\u093e\u0928\u0947 \u0917\u093e\u090f
\n\u0939\u093e\u090f \u0924\u0947\u0930\u093e \u0926\u093f\u0932 \u0915\u094d\u092f\u094b\u0902 \u092e\u0941\u0930\u091d\u093e\u090f
\n\u092e\u0928 \u0915\u0940 \u092c\u0902\u0938\u0940 \u092a\u0947 \u0924\u0942 \u092d\u0940 \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u0927\u0941\u0928 \u092c\u091c\u093e \u0932\u0947 \u092d\u093e\u0908 \u0924\u0942 \u092d\u0940 \u092e\u0941\u0938\u094d\u0915\u0941\u0930\u093e \u0932\u0947<\/p>\n

Bhaai re<\/em>
\nNeela ambar muskaaye <\/em>
\nHar saans taraane gaaye<\/em>
\nHaaye tera dil kyun murjhaaye <\/em>
\nMan ki bansi pe tu bhi koi dhun baja le <\/em>
\nbhaai tu bhi muskura le<\/em><\/p>\n

Hah! Why do you worry? The blue skies smile at you,\u00a0 every breath hums the song of life \u2014 \u00a0why does your head droop with worry?<\/p>\n

The song is a spontaneous outpouring of the sons of the soil.\u00a0 Their hopes, their moments of despair, the fleeting shadows of doubt and uncertainty \u2014 and the joy of emerging triumphant against all odds \u2014 with the benediction of the mother \u2014 Mother Earth!<\/p>\n

\"dharti

The song is a spontaneous outpouring of the sons of the soil<\/p><\/div>\n

And the picturisation is an abiding portrait of the rural India of those times. Sun-baked bodies toiling \u2014 their sweat glistening, doing what their forefathers did before them \u2014 tilling the land and living on the bounty it bestows in return. It also reminds me of what Rachel Carson wrote \u2014 \u201cThose who contemplate the beauty of the earth, find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts\u201d. How well this explains the generations who put their shoulder to the plough\u00a0<\/span>and gave their lives to the soil. And they learn so much from nature.<\/p>\n

In a chorus song like this, set in an agrarian setting, someone from the toiling masses takes the lead in singing and the rest join the song in chorus. The protagonist who is just a passerby does not join in. But the passerby is no ordinary man, he is Balraj Sahni<\/a> who needs no script, no dialogue to show the torment of a man who is leaving his village for the city.<\/p>\n

\"dharti

Balraj Sahni as Shambhu Maheto takes one parting look at the land<\/p><\/div>\n

His initial gait is speedy, a man hell-bent on reaching his destination. As he listens to the singing of the chorus, his walk slows but his face does not betray any emotions. He cannot afford to waver or have second thoughts. He is headed for the city where employment and a better life beckon! He steels his nerves and turns around but pauses. He takes one parting look at the land, and in that moment, the veil slips and we see a m\u00e9lange of emotions crisscross his face. A melancholy display of his helplessness and the compulsions that have driven him away from his village. The angst, for a few seconds, is palpable, then the veil drops, and he turns away and stands on the path to the city. All alone, only with his bravado for company!<\/p>\n

The tune reportedly has been inspired by a Hungarian Army song \u2013 marching columns of men found it inspiring and soothing. But Bimal Roy<\/a>, Salil Chowdhury<\/a> and Shailendra<\/a> have so seamlessly transported the tune, the rhythm and most importantly, the words, into the Indian milieu that it sounds, feels and looks homegrown on Indian soil. And Manna Dey is magnificent. Right from the Bhai Re<\/em> call which sounds a gentle alarm bell to the last frantic beckoning of Balraj Sahni who is walking away from his farmlands \u2014 he is in commanding form. Lata chips in with her customary sweetness. Incidentally, the actor enacting Lata\u2019s voice on screen is Chitra Nawathe, a Marathi film-star, who starred in many Marathi movies as a leading lady!<\/p>\n

But the song haunts you with the words, the picturisation and the soaring skyward voice of the great Manna Dey<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Dharti kahe pukaar ke<\/strong><\/em> (Do Bigha Zamin<\/em>, 1953) Salil Chowdhury \/ Shailendra \/ Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar<\/span><\/p>\n