Songs to Remember - Dil Ke Armaan from Nikaah

Sometimes, all that can be gained from a relationship is a feeling of pain, a feeling of pain, a feeling of loss and nothing else...... What remains when not even hope remains, a heart bleeding, a mind burning and a soul blaspheming .... nothing else.... the only thing that one can do in such circumstances, is to wring one's hands in despair, bow one's head in shame and to break one's soul in regret ..... Despair for the loss, Shame for the choice and regret for one's own true love.....

Hindi Cinema has surprisingly given many a beautiful gem that have often been very successful in putting across the pain of the loss very eloquently ... Often in an auditorium, one can see many eyes damp with tears when one such song suddenly rides the air waves..... But then ... as Sahir succinctly pointed out:

Kaun Rota Hai, Kissi Aur Ki Khaatir? Ae, Dost!
Sab Ko Apni Hi Kisi Baat Pe Rona Aaya .....

(Who cries on the plight of the unknown, my friend
  Every Tear is a Story of the Pains we ourselves go through)

The other day, I was having a debate with some close friends on music in the Eighties ... the overwhelming idea is that the Eighties have been wooden compared to the golden fifties, the silver sixties and the swinging seventies .... I cannot definitely compare the eras; for the Eighties in numbers can never match even the Naughty Nineties ..... forget the three decades that predated them .... still, what they lack in both numbers and quality, they still can put a claim to some astonishingly beautiful compositions ..... yes, that may be an exception that proves the rule but it also establishes the fact that talent can never be hidden ....

As proof, today I present one of the best sad melodies of the 80's ..... (a very rare occurance on my blog) .... a song sung by the Pakistani singer, Salma Agha for an Indian movie, Nikaah, made by B R Films, released in 1982 - one of the last Hindi - Urdu movies that boasts of a score by the great Ravi

Dil Ke Armaan Aansuoon Mein Bahe Gaye
Hum Wafaa Karke Bhi Tanha Rahe Gaye

The Poet states: All Hopes of my heart have left my heart alongwith the Tears that flow from my heart. Despite all my fidelity, I have still been left all alone to fend for myself..... What pain, what frustration.....

I can feel the pain that must be the psyche of a person drawn to make a statement as sad as the above. Man lives on Hope and when Hope goes, what remains .. and what can be worse than Hope that has left with tears .... I cannot even imagine! I have been brought up to believe that Loyalty and Fidelity are always awarded but imagine a position wherein your Fidelity has failed .... despite being loyal, your love has left you for better prospects ..... then all you can say, is....

Hum Ba-Wafaa Thhey Iss Liye Nazron Se Gir Gaye,
Shaayad Unhein Talaash Kisi Be-Wafaa Ki Thi

Good Thought, but will it resolve your pain? No.... the fact remains that your loyalty has failed you and you are alone. The Poet continues:

Zindagi Ek Pyaas Bankar Rahe Gayee....
Pyaar Ke Qissey Adhurey Rahe Gaye

What a couplet..... Life has become nothing more than an unquenched Thirst of Love. Those stories of love, that were being heard so earnestly, have been left incomplete..... This is unrequited love at it's worst ... Imagine being the gardener of a garden that has beautiful blossom but was raided by locust.... Imagine looking around at the garden that was, the dreams that were and the flowers that could have been ..... Tears will flow....  And soon, you would wish you were blind!

As a Child, the thing I used to hate the most was incomplete stories, especially the ones where I would fall asleep midway ..... so, I can understand the pain of being a listener to a story that ends when it should not have.... At such times, the only thing you feel like telling the recounter is ....

Bahot Gaur Se Sun Raha Tha Zamaana,
Tum Hi So Gaye, Daastaan Kehte-Kehte ....

God forbid but it's true, unrequited love like unquenched thirst and unanswered prayers is something that one carries in his heart for ever and ever and ever. The poet continues:

Shaayad Unka Aakhri Ho Ye Sitam,
Har Sitam Ye Sochkar Hum Sahe Gaye.....

Nothing hurts more than to know that your emotions have been used, taken for a ride ...  This is the most painful feeling ever; you keep on forgiving, you keep on accepting, only to understand that the other party is too selfish and self-centred to ever understand your point. And there comes a point, where you regret, accepting the person back, the first time she walked out on you and still came back; the second time she walked out on you and still came back .... and everytime, on her terms and conditions .. while you were so enamoured of her, that you never could see the ways in which your love was being used and abused..... As the great poet, Mirza Ghalib pointed out:

Hum Ko Unn Se Wafaa Ki Hai Umeed,
Jo Nahin Jaantey Wafaa Kya Hai......

Still, a heart in love can never ever go against it's own feelings for Hope dies eternal...... The poet then finally summarizes with a beautiful couplet:

Khud Ko Bhi Hum Ne Mita Dala Magar
Faasle Jo Darmiyaan Thhey Rahe Gaye .....

I destroyed myself for the sake of my Love... Still, the Separation that was between us could not be reduced..... This is the fate of every unequal love and this will be the fate forever of every unequal love.....

Such a song in the 80's is a matter of pride for the 80's. A brilliant composition, this song proves, why you cannot take the 80s lightly..... And of course, this is also one of the few examples of Indo-Pak collaboration, which proves why Partition was indeed one of the worst things to have ever happened.

What about Love then? Well, About Love, the fact remains:

Zara Si Aahat Hoti Hai To Dil Poonchta Hai
Kahin Ye Woh To Nahin....

LOVE WILL WAIT FOREVER ......