Ashwatthama's Anthem of Regret - A song of Love

Talat has a very beautiful voice... a voice that can not only touch your heart but also ring within you feelings that you never knew existed. A calm voice, a voice that has got depth but is at the same time soft, velvety, has the occasional tremble (kapish) as we call it and a sonorous quality that resonates directly with the pain in your heart.

Mohammed Rafi was the 'voice of God', a voice that could move everything on Earth, Manna De was the 'sur' personified - a mainstream singer who could sing classical with depth and ease, Kishore Kumar was the 'voice of Innocence', the voice that resonated with the hearts of men and reminded him of the inner person that he really was, not what he showed himself to be, Mukesh was sorrow in human form - no one could crunch within three minutes, the pain of a lifetime as well as Mukesh.... Hemant Kumar was romance, even the most stone-hearted of girls would fall in love with that voice .... so where among this galaxy of great singers was Talat?

Talat was the voice of conscience - he spoke directly to the heart - in the tone that the conscience understood and loved....

It's said you can run away from the world and everyone in this world, but can you run away from yourself? No! That was Talat, you could never run away from his songs .... they struck you deep within you and made your conscience question your self.... a quality used to brilliant effect by brilliant composers like Ravi in the song that I wish to discuss today....

This beautiful composition, scored by Ravi and written by Prem Dhawan was a part of a beautiful movie, Ek Saal, starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala. Look at the beautiful words, listen to the soul-rending tune and absorb the depths of the soulful rendition by Talat. This movie was released in 1957, a year that had such strong musical albums as Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi and  Pyaasa by SD Burman(arguably the second-greatest album of all time after Guide), Mother India by Naushad, Naya Daur by OP Nayyar, Do Aankhen Barah Haath by SN Tripathi, Parvarish and Sharda by Shankar-Jaikishen and many other brilliant movies but still this song is still remembered for it's beauty.

Karte Rahe Khiza Se Hum Sauda Bahaar Ka
Badla Diya To Kya Ye Diya Unn Ke Pyaar Ka

With cruel Autumn did we bargain using the beauty of Spring
Oh! What a fitting response did we give for her love, her Caring!

Every person on Earth has to plead guilty to this charge at least once in his / her life for every person has at one time or another broken a heart - a precious heart for reasons best known to themselves.... The above couplet states that when we found love, we did not bother about it but played with it's feelings and the matter is conveyed in such a beautiful manner ....

It's here at this moment itself that Talat touches deep within our heart, asking us for answers that we cannot give, for regrets that we cannot speak, for Truth that we are desperately trying to hide.

Sab Kucch Luta Ke Hosh Me Aaye, To Kya Kiya!
Din Mein Agar Chiraag Jalaaye, To Kya Kiya!

If after losing everything we ever had, we awaken, what's the use?
If in broad daylight, to light candles, we hasten, what's the use?

What an apt metaphor for a loss of a lifetime! Talat cuts straight to the bone by chiding the feeling of regret that burns within .... the poet asks bluntly and heartlessly (and why not!) a question that one would not dare to answer...... what's the use of regretting, an event that has come to pass following your own actions.... what's the use of crying over spilt milk? .... what's the use of action that's late and useless? .... What is of paramount importance is not to regret but to be able to exorcise your demons, when you had the time and opportunity to do so....

Hum Bud-Naseeb Pyaar Ki Ruswaayee Ban Gaye
Khud Hi Laga Ke Aag Tamaashaai Ban Gaye
Daaman Se Ab Ye Shole Bujhaaye To Kya Kiya.....!

We are the unfortunate who have today became a shame to Love's lofty name 
We, the audience to the roaring flames, are the ones who put our house aflame
If now, to douse the inferno, we run... what's the use?

Can you feel the pain of someone who has strangled his love with his own bare hands, someone who loved with truth and purity and still killed his own love with his own hands.... can you feel the tears of that action or the demons that haunt him, as he keeps pondering, moving ahead, running to escape the past, but unable to do so! Like a modern Ashwathhama, cursed to forever pain and regret by Lord Krishna, this behemoth survives but is that survival worth even being called a survival.... Listen to Talat as he puts forth the pain in his soft and subtle manner across and you will find, why this 'king of ghazals' ruled the early days of Independent India - a time when pain and hurt lined the psyche of our collective conscience....

Le Le Ke Haar Phool Ki, Aayee To Thi Bahaar
Nazren Uttha Ke Humne, Dekha Na Ek Baar
Aankhon Se Ab Ye Parde Hattaye, To Kya Kiya?

With flowers and blossoms for me, had come the Innocent Spring
In my Arrogance and Pride, I did not bother to look at it's Longing
If these blinds from my eyes, I now shun .....what's the use?

In every love story, there are two characters, the one who loves (the lover) and the one who's loved (the beloved) .... the lover goes beyond every extent for the sake of the lover and the beloved keeps demanding yet more from the lover... till the final day when, the bond itself cannot handle more and breaks down.. and then there's nothing left to salvage...

Nero can play fiddle while the city of Rome burns but mind you, once the city is burnt, there is nothing that remains to play fiddle to Nero's dreams of sovereignty and kingship. This is what every beloved has to face, if it doesn't understand the depth of the Lover's emotions. .... Now look at a person's conscience who did care but was forced to forever act unconcerned, whose heart burned with the city but was forced to play fiddle as the city burnt.... where will this son of Satan find peace? There is no place on Earth or beyond for him... no redemption.... only a pain that can be understood by this song and nothing more....

This is the song, that I think speaks more lovingly about the pain of a loser more than any other song. The song was recorded in two versions, Lata Mangeshkar and Talat Mehmood. Lata as expected is brilliant in her rendition of the song, but though it touches the heart, Lata's pain does not stir your conscience.... maybe because it's not the lover's lament, but the beloved's pangs that matter in this song.... Plus, Lata was never comfortable in the higher notes and that is quite evident in her rendition - still, it's a very beautiful rendition .. that proves the versatility and greatness of the 'Nightangle of India'

One other parameter that has often escaped the gaze of the regular listener is the brilliance of Ashok Kumar... his sense of frustration, his regret, his pain, his sorrow, his hurt that oozes forth like the pus that keeps oozing forth from Ashwatthama's forehead, reminding one and all of his crime..... Ashok in his silence takes the role to another realm altogether... added to it is the second Ashok in the song ... the conscience, that with a smirk and smile conveys the shattering pain and frustration in a neutral and intense way..... this use of conscience was something very well used in the 50s and 60s to show duality of emotions (remember Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 and Dilip Kumar in Aadmi .. it was used by Dilip Kumar as a merciless voice in Bairaag in 1976... the last time, this prop was used?) .... Ashok is an added asset to the song.... one that not only adds allure but makes it possible to connect with the singer and the song and the lyricist, who could write such a beautiful piece of moving poetry.

To end, I would say, sometimes it's good to be silent and let life take it's course but sometimes, it's important not to be so.... Love is something very precious, one gets it only once in life.... it would be foolish to strangle it with one's own hands....

As for the song, for the first time ever, I am adding the song, for those who wish to listen to it..... And as for Love... it will survive, in some hearts as deep despicable hatred, in some as an innocent folly, in some as an inevitable pain and in some as the pure Love it always was, is, and shall always remain!