{"id":7827,"date":"2023-07-12T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T18:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=7827"},"modified":"2025-11-19T10:08:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:38:07","slug":"aye-mere-pyaare-watan-the-yearn-for-the-motherland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/aye-mere-pyaare-watan-the-yearn-for-the-motherland\/","title":{"rendered":"Aye Mere Pyaare Watan: The Yearn for the Motherland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"aye

The song begins with the melancholic notes of the rabab<\/p><\/div>\n

Most patriotic songs are songs of arousal. A strident appeal to somnolent patriots to rise to the cause. To awaken the feelings that have been submerged. With words that are warnings of impending danger, of the perils ahead and the need to protect our Motherland from enemies. Most of them are like loud clarion calls \u2013 and justifiably so. They need to rekindle existing fires and light new ones in the minds of the young.<\/p>\n

But there are some songs which stand apart. And this is one such and hence my favourite. It is the reflection of the deep sense of emptiness which is experienced by man who is away from his Motherland. Material gifts abound but the soul is impoverished. And from this emptiness springs this wail \u2014 what else can you call a child\u2019s cry to draw the attention of his mother?<\/p>\n

\"Balraj

Rahmat pines for his Motherland<\/p><\/div>\n

\u0910 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0947 \u092a\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0930\u0947 \u0935\u0924\u0928,
\n\u0910 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0947 \u092c\u093f\u091b\u0921\u093c\u0947 \u091a\u092e\u0928,
\n\u0924\u0941\u091d \u092a\u0947 \u0926\u093f\u0932 \u0915\u0941\u0930\u094d\u092c\u093e\u0928<\/p>\n

\u0924\u0942 \u0939\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u0906\u0930\u091c\u0942,
\n\u0924\u0942 \u0939\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u0906\u092c\u0930\u0942,
\n\u0924\u0942 \u0939\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u091c\u093e\u0928
\nAye mere pyaare watan,
\naye mere bichhade chaman,
\ntujh pe dil qurbaan<\/em><\/p>\n

Tu hi meri aarzoo,<\/em>
\ntu hi meri aabaru,<\/em>
\ntu hi meri jaan<\/em><\/p>\n

It is fairly well known that this song was penned by Prem Dhawan on his first trip abroad \u2014 an occasion which typically sends people into raptures \u2013 singing the praises of the host, showering compliments all around and publicly endorsing the prosperity and progress \u2014 compared to their own country that they see all around them. But here is a simple soul \u2014 surrounded by the various flavours and fragrances, he reminisces<\/p>\n

\u0924\u0947\u0930\u0947 \u0926\u093e\u092e\u0928 \u0938\u0947 \u091c\u094b \u0906\u092f\u0947 \u0909\u0928 \u0939\u0935\u093e\u0913\u0902 \u0915\u094b \u0938\u0932\u093e\u092e
\n\u091a\u0942\u092e \u0932\u0942\u0901 \u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0909\u0938 \u091c\u093c\u0941\u092c\u093e\u0902 \u0915\u094b \u091c\u093f\u0938\u092a\u0947 \u0906\u092f\u0947 \u0924\u0947\u0930\u093e \u0928\u093e\u092e
\nTere daaman se jo aye un hawaaon ko salaam
\nChoom loon main us zubaan ko jis pe aaye tera naam<\/em><\/p>\n

He goes to the most scenic spots, is enchanted by the wonders of nature\u00a0and comes back to say<\/p>\n

\u0938\u092c \u0938\u0947 \u092a\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0930\u0940 \u0938\u0941\u092c\u0939 \u0924\u0947\u0930\u0940,
\n\u0938\u092c \u0938\u0947 \u0930\u0902\u0917\u0940\u0902 \u0924\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u0936\u093e\u092e
\nSab se pyaari subah teri,
\nsab se rangeen teri shaam<\/em><\/p>\n

\"aye

Rahmat remembers his little daughter Ameena he left behind in Afghanistan<\/p><\/div>\n

And he attributes his love to the umbilical cords that still exists in his mind<\/p>\n

\u092e\u093e\u0901 \u0915\u093e \u0926\u093f\u0932 \u092c\u0928\u0915\u0947 \u0915\u092d\u0940 \u0938\u0940\u0928\u0947 \u0938\u0947 \u0932\u0917 \u091c\u093e\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0924\u0942
\n\u0914\u0930 \u0915\u092d\u0940 \u0928\u0928\u094d\u0939\u0940 \u0938\u0940 \u092c\u0947\u091f\u0940 \u092c\u0928\u0915\u0947 \u092f\u093e\u0926 \u0906\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0924\u0942<\/p>\n

Maa ka dil banke kabhi seene se lag jaata hai tu
\nAur kabhi nanhi si beti banke yaad aata hai tu<\/em><\/p>\n

He seeks the protective refuge of his mother\u2019s love which he wants to return and he wants to protect the helpless girl-child, which his new-born nation feels like. But whatever the relation, the more they are remembered, the more the pain they cause \u2013<\/p>\n

\u091c\u093f\u0924\u0928\u093e \u092f\u093e\u0926 \u0906\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u092e\u0941\u091d\u0915\u094b \u0909\u0924\u0928\u093e \u0924\u0921\u093c\u092a\u093e\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0924\u0942
\nJitna yaad aata hai mujhko utna tadpaata hai tu<\/em><\/p>\n

A grown-up man but today he is like a lamb who has deserted his flock. His enthusiasm and excitement has waned. He is repenting the burst of adventurism that made him leave the warmth of his motherland \u2013<\/p>\n

\u091b\u094b\u0921\u093c\u0915\u0930 \u0924\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u091c\u093c\u092e\u0940\u0928 \u0915\u094b \u0926\u0942\u0930 \u0906 \u092a\u0939\u0941\u091a\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u0939\u092e
\n\u092b\u093f\u0930 \u092d\u0940 \u0939\u0948 \u092f\u0939\u0940 \u0924\u092e\u0928\u094d\u0928\u093e \u0924\u0947\u0930\u0947 \u091c\u0930\u094d\u0930\u094b\u0902 \u0915\u0940 \u0915\u0938\u092e
\n\u0939\u092e \u091c\u0939\u093e\u0901 \u092a\u0948\u0926\u093e \u0939\u0941\u092f\u0947 \u0909\u0938 \u091c\u0917\u0939 \u0939\u0940 \u0928\u093f\u0915\u0932\u0947 \u0926\u092e<\/p>\n

Chhodkar teri zameen ko door aa pahunche hain ham
\nPhir bhi hai yahi tamanna tere zarron ki kasam
\nHum jahaan paida huye us jagah hi nikale dam<\/em><\/p>\n

Like a distraught child he wants to go back \u2014 back to the land of his birth\u00a0\u2014 with one wish. He wishes to die in the land which gave him birth.\u00a0Blessed is the land which breeds such patriots who are proud to carry the debt of their Motherland \u2014 every living moment, in every breath they take!<\/p>\n

Oliver Goldsmith sums it up best in The Traveller<\/em> \u2013
\n\u201cSuch is the Patriot\u2019s boast,
\nWhere\u2019er we roam,
\nHis best, first, best, country ever, is at Home\u201d<\/p>\n

Prem Dhawan, who wrote the rousing songs of Shaheed<\/em> like Aye Watan, aye watan, humko teri kasam<\/em> shows his childlike bond with his motherland in this beautiful poem.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Known for their machismo, shedding tears is anathema for them \u2013 so they bleed.<\/p><\/div>\n

The music by Salil Chowdhury<\/a> is minimalistic. It\u2019s the magic of words moving on the wings of Manna Da<\/a>\u2019s voice and the cavernous sounds of the rabab!\u00a0The few wandering Pathans, seek solace in each other\u2019s company and listen to the song which brings them further from their land, but closer to each other!\u00a0Known for their machismo, shedding tears is anathema for them \u2013 so they bleed.<\/p>\n

They bleed\u00a0within, suffering in silence the pangs of separation. In the still, starless night, they see the caravan of camels traversing the desert, the sandy dunes and the snowy peaks of the Hindukush and the towering Pamirs range. And they hope of returning to their birthplace, their Motherland.<\/p>\n

\"Kabuliwala

Balraj Sahni as Kabuliwala and Sonu as Mini<\/p><\/div>\n

And who better to convey this emotional turmoil than Balraj Sahani, playing Rahmat! His roughly hewn face, for a fleeting moment, displays the pair, the \u2018child\u2019 within and then the \u2018man\u2019 comes to life and takes over!<\/p>\n

\"Balraj

Balraj Sahni and Bimal Roy on the sets of Kabuliwala<\/em> (Pic: Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

On the back of his successful directorial venture, Anand Math<\/em> (1952), Hemen Gupta was hand-picked by Bimal Roy<\/a> to direct this endearing tale of a 4-year-old girl Mini and a displaced Pathan peddler in Calcutta, based on the celebrated story Kabuliwala<\/em> by Rabindranath Tagore, under the banner of Bimal Roy Productions. It was a tall order since Tapan Sinha\u2019s Bengali screen adaptation, Kabuliwala<\/em> (1957) had already won wide acclaim. But Hemen Gupta rose to the challenge, brilliantly recreating the world of the Kabuliwala and his relationship with the chatterbox Mini who reminds him of his daughter Ameena he left behind in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Every filmmaker makes movies about his culture, his people, his surroundings. To make a movie about an outsider, an immigrant who is torn apart from his land, needs a visionary. And that’s what Bimal Roy was \u2014 versatility personified.\u00a0 Kabuliwala<\/em> was Roy’s homage to the Bard in his centenary year, 1961.<\/p>\n

Manna Dey, Salil Chowdhury and Prem Dhawan poured their artistry in this immortal melody. It remains, till today, one of the most evocative odes to the Motherland, ever.<\/p>\n

Aye mere pyaare watan<\/strong><\/em> (Kabuliwala<\/em>, 1961) Salil Chowdhury \/ Prem Dhawan \/ Manna Dey<\/span><\/p>\n