Kabira

 

I am writing this without editing so that I don’t loose any thoughts 😊

Amitabh Bhattacharya, Irshad Kamil, Varun Grover - these are some of my favourite music composers from the “new” generation. This song is penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, set to tune by Pritam and sung by Tochi Raina and Rekha Bharadwaj.

So why Kabira? It so happened that last week or the week before, Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani (YJHD) was re-released in theatre’s. (These days new Hindi movies are not getting released because no one watches them in theatre’s. So they are releasing the old ones). And as part of the promotional advertisement for this movie, this song was played. What picked my interest was the opening line “Re Kabira Maan Ja रे कबीरा मान जा”.  It is not Kabir… but Kabira meaning Mine God. That changes the complete perspective. It had the same effect as द्येवा तुझ्या पायरीशी कोनी सान थोर न्हाई from Natrang. The meaning of this sentence is so deep, that suddenly I got interested in “listening” the song. Most people from my generation only “hear” songs that are from a newer generation, we rarely care to “listen” them 😊

The story of the film is pretty straightforward. It’s about unexpressed love & desires while trying to hide behind so called responsibilities and ego's. The main character Kabir (Ranbir Kapoor) is a person from a so called broken home and nurtures resentment towards his father and step-mother. He carries a lot of baggage from that and is non-committal to a relationship. Whichever way he wants to project himself, in his heart he knows that his life is hollow and empty. Naina on the other hand played by Deepika Padukone, falls in love with him but knowing that he is shying from commitment, does not express her love to him and that that holds throughout the movie. It's only in the end that we have a typical happy Hindi film ending.

When I watched the movie a decade or more ago, I had of course heard this song and as typical of a mid-forties person, I had ignored the song. This time when I “listened” I could relate the words with the mental state of the protagonist. So, these are the thoughts that that come to my mind when I listen to this song-

https://youtu.be/jHNNMj5bNQw?si=_97X15nxi5Jy9JNu

 

Literally translated, the song starts with the lines “How selfish you are that you don’t appreciate the sun or shade, that your feet don’t stay at one place”. He lost his mum early in life and refuses to accord that status to his step-mother. This resentment towards his parents, makes him believe that he is devoid of emotions. The emptiness in his heart that follows, makes him seek fulfillment outside home but without the commitment of a relationship. Here the word खुदगर्ज़ी  can also mean egoistic. This is the beauty of any poem or song. We are free to choose the meaning that appeals to us.

कैसी तेरी खुदगर्ज़ी ना धूप चुने ना छाँव

कैसी तेरी खुदगर्ज़ी किसी ठौर टिके ना पाँव

Then the magic starts with choice of the word पैगम्बर – It means the bearer of the message of God. “You believe you have become like a messenger of God, untouched by anything. The reference to thirsty despite crossing the seven seas means despite his belief of attaining the self declared status of being aloof as Messenger of God he remains lonely and sad.”

बन लिया अपना पैगम्बर

तर लिया तू सात समंदर

फिर भी सूखा मन के अंदर क्यों रहेगा

The song tells him that life is a combination of good and bad, daylight and darkness – that’s the reference in the opening lines – and that we cannot choose only good or bad. The bad also has some good in it, and the good can have its shortcomings as well. We have to embrace both (like the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang).

There he says “O Kabira listen to me, O saint listen to me”. Kabir is the name of the protagonist while “Kabira” means “My God or Mine God”. It is not just any God, but the God that I related to. He is pleading with his God to retrace his steps and go back to where he is welcome. The reference to परछाइयाँ (meaning shadows) is his past… to return to his past life. He has calls himself फकीरा (Fakir is a person who has found God. With that, he is detached from everything. The last line - ऐसा तू है निरमोही कैसा हरजाईय- means you say, you are unattached (निरमोही) but the fact is you are lying to yourself (हरजाई). Here again is the concept of Yin and Yang playing in… for someone who has become so detached from the world, he is still a liar for someone.

रे कबीरा मान जा, रे फकीरा मान जा

आजा तुझको पुकारे तेरी परछाइयाँ

रे कबीरा मान जा, रे फकीरा मान जा

ऐसा तू है निरमोही कैसा हरजाईया

The next lines bring out the nostalgia of the relationship that the four friends had shared. When the camera pans from Kabirs point view he sees Naina as the bride (though it is Aditi’s wedding). It brings out his love for her, but also his reluctance of committing. You wanted to become a cool breeze but became a storm that suppressed the flame of goodness from your heart. At that moment Naina looks at him making him realise how his actions are betraying his heart and soul.

टूटी चारपाई वही ठंडी पुरवाई रस्ता देखे

दूधों की मलाई वही मिट्टी की सुराही रस्ता देखे

कैसी तेरी खुदगर्ज़ी लब नमक रमे ना मिसरी

कैसी तेरी खुदगर्ज़ी तुझे प्रीत पुरानी बिसरी

मस्त मौला मस्त कलंदर तू हवा का एक बवंडर

बुझ के यूँ अंदर ही अंदर क्यों रहेगा

रे कबीरा मान जा रे फकीरा मान जा

आजा तुझको पुकारे तेरी परछाइयाँ

रे कबीरा मान जा रे फकीरा मान जा

कैसा तू है निरमोही कैसा हरजाईया