Baad Muddat...Ghazal

Baad muddat unhe dekh kar yun laga..jaise betaab dil ko qaraar aa gaya.
(Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA0ett8WVBc)

This lovely ghazal sung by Jagjit and Chitra Singh is very special, because two of my classmates at Bangalore sang it in an All India Radio program that our team presented. They sang it flawlessly (Gopal Bhat and Deepika Nath), and I remember that ghazal mainly because of them.

I compered the show, my first (and last) attempt at doing a show on air! I was interviewed once by a Nagpur channel about Management Education much later, but that was nothing compared to that earlier experience.

Mehdi Hasan

Mubham baat paheli jaisi,bus wohi boojhay jis ko bujhaye

Bhed na paye to ghabraye, bhed jo paye to ghabraye,

Jis ko akele main aa aa kar dhyaan tera reh reh ke sataye,

Chupke chupke baitha roye, aansoo ponchay aur reh jaye

Sari kahani bechaini ki maathay par likh deti hai,

Aisi baat ke ghut te ghut te munh tak aaye aur reh jaye,

Arzoo apni dhoondhta hai patta, thaan chuka hai marne ki

Jaana boojha rog hai yeh to, Samjhe hue ko kya samjhaye

Heard this lovely ghazal written by Arzoo Lucknawi, sung by Mehdi Hasan brilliantly, after quite some time. You can listen in too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pixNDH4O1oI

An interesting thing about the first word. It sounds like Mugham when you listen to the ghazal, but it actually is Mubham which means 'ambiguous'. The meaning becomes clear (or, the ambiguity clears) when you realise the meaning.

Chupke Se

Some nice songs using using the word Chupke.

Koi chupke se aake, sapne dikhake, mujhko jagake bole, main aa raha hoon...kaun aaye yeh main kaise jaanoo...a wonderful song by Geeta Dutt, from Anubhav.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-2xq6q5KA


Chupke chupke raat din ..the classic Ghulam Ali rendition of this ghazal is so good, you can listen to it every day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNA9qb8IHZA

Chupke se dil dede nahi te shor mach jayega...a duet sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar, from Maryada, an old Hindi film starring Rajesh Khanna.
http://www.dhingana.com/chupke-se-dil-dede-song-maryada-hindi-oldies-31b80b1

A Lovely Ghazal by Ahmed Faraz

Ranjish hi sahi dil hi dukhane ke liye aa
Aa phir se mujhe chhod ke jaane ke liye aa

Kuch to mere pindar-e-mohabbat (pride in my love) ka bharam rakh
Tu bhi to kabhi mujhko manaane ke liye aa

Pehle se marasim na sahi phir bhi kabhi to
Rasm-o-reh-e-duniya hi nibhaane ke liye aa

Kis kis ko bataayenge judaai ka sabab hum
Tu mujhse khafaa hai, toh zamaane ke liye aa

Ek umr se hun lazzat-e-giriyan (luxury of crying) se bhi mehroom (deprived)
Ai raahat-e-jaan mujhko rulaane ke liye aa

Ab tak dil-e-khushfaham ko tujhse hai ummeeden
Yeh aakhri shammein bhi bujhaane ke liye aa


This a classic by Faraz sung by many ghazal singers- Jagjit's version is well-known. Found it in a collection of Urdu poets.

Jagjit Singh

Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh has passed away. I, for one have been a fan for about 30 years now, give or take a few. He appealed with his super-smooth voice and touching lyrics (not his, but acquiring a new voice). He had a way with words, playing with them as if they were music.

Whether it was nostalgia for a lost, carefree, golden childhood, or the pining for a beloved, he had amazing grace and a dard in his rendering of the situation, with feeling. At one level, his voice reminded one of Talat Mehmood, another silky voice in filmdom. Though he also sang for films, his best work is non-filmy, and rightly too, because film songs are typically hemmed in by a lot of boundaries- story, and the need to cater to a certain audience- which is limiting. The non-filmy world is much larger and the choices are plenty, from which to pick the ghazals.

I particularly remember a ghazal that was sung by both Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali. Both were fantastic. The words are "Kal Chaudhvin ki raat thi, shab bhar raha charcha tera..kuch ne kaha yeh chand hai, kuch ne kaha chehra tera.."

Hamara pyaarbhara salaam to the departed soul.