Decoding Ae Ajnabee Tu Bhi Kahi my way

I discovered Gulzar in my 11th std. The song was Woh Shaam Kuchh Ajeeb Thi” and the words that blew me were –

झुकी हुई निगाह में कहीं मेरा ख़याल था

दबी दबी हँसी में इक हसीन सा गुलाल था

मैं सोचता था मेरा नाम गुनगुना रही है वो

न जाने क्यों लगा मुझे के मुस्कुरा रही है वो

Then came the combo of RD Burman and Gulzar. This talent of this combo makes an atheist believe in the Almighty’s existence!

Each one us interprets songs the way we understand them. Gulzar’s songs are actually poems unless the filmy situation demands. Yeah, he has also written stuff Chal Baithe Church Ke Peeche in Devata!☺

 Now read this paragraph very slowly and romantically and start imagining the situation – it’s a cold and wet rainy evening. You are alone at home longing for that one person. You have made yourself a hot cup of tea and are just chilling, curled up in your favourite chair. You are sitting in the dark or in candle light. You put on the radio (or FM channel on cellphone) and the song comes up – Ae Ajnabi tu Bhi Kahi…

Sit back read on. After reading, play the song by clicking the link that follows towards the end of this blog.

 This song Ae Ajnabee Tu Bhi Kahi is from Dil Se, sung by Udit Narayan and Mahalaxmi Iyer. Music by A R Rahman. The core of “Ae Ajnabi Tu Bhi Kahi” is the pain of existential incompleteness—two souls living in fragments, yearning for a sign of each other’s presence. The lyrics portray life as splintered —“living in pieces - टुकड़ों में” without the other—and seeks wholeness through a silent call to an unseen stranger whose mere smile or breath would make life complete.

In the film the song unfolds after Amar (played by Shah Rukh Khan) is left emotionally shattered by the mysterious Meghna (Manisha Koirala), who disappears without explanation. It’s a one way love, she hasn’t said anything. So, having fallen deeply in love with her, Amar is haunted by her absence and the unanswered questions she leaves behind.

The song captures his pain of solitude and longing, as he tries to reach out to her through memory and imagination. It’s a lyrical cry for connection, echoing the pain of separation and the hope that she might respond from wherever she is.

Gulzar’s lyrics or call it poetry has several figures of speech. Let me list down some here-

"Aawaaz de kahin se" : Longing for any sign—no matter how distant—that the beloved exists. Voice is the metaphor for proof of presence (or existence) when sight fails. Remember Gulzar's मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है?

“Tukdon mein jee raha hoon” : Life described as (living in fragments) evokes shattered selves (Metaphor) waiting to be reunited.

“Resham si hawa” : The “resham si hawa” (silken air) that comes and goes asking for the beloved suggests a whispering messenger of longing. The breeze is personified as a gentle messenger—delicate like silk, yet persistent—carrying the lover’s plea.

“Doodh dhuli masoom kali” : White is the color of purity. Calling the loved one “doodh dhuli masoom kali” (innocent, milk-washed bud) he portrays the beloved as pristine and untouched, like a flower just cleansed by pure milk

“Chehra kahi nahi hai” : The Paradox of seeing a smile without a face, hearing footsteps without a form underscores the spiritual presence of love beyond physical bounds.

“Vo roshni kahan hai, vo jaan si kahan hai” : Merges light and vitality into one metaphor: the beloved’s very essence illuminates the singer’s world. Roshni is a metaphor and it’s radiance is personified by his beloved.

“Tu to nahin hai lekin teri muskurahatein hain” - The beloved’s physical being is personified by her smile that he carries in his heart. It’s a residual impression so vivid it shapes reality.

“Chehra nahin hai par teri aahatein hain” - Presence reduced to sound: footsteps become the only proof of someone walking toward you, even in their absence. The sound of her footsteps is personified as her existence

“Tera nishaan kahan hai?” - The beloved’s journey leaves no trace. “Nishaan” evokes footprints or markers that would map their path—and fill the void.

“Mera jahan kahan hai?” - Equates the protagonists entire universe with the beloved. Without her, the world itself feels missing, fractured.

I’ll now delve into the metaphor that I liked most- “Resham Si Hawa”

रोज़ रोज़ रेशम सी हवा आते जाते कहती है
बता रेशम सी हवा कहती है बता
वो जो दूध धुली मासूम कली
वो है कहाँ कहाँ है वो रोशनी कहाँ है
वो जान सी कहाँ है
मैं अधूरा तू अधूरी जी रही है
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से

At its heart, the “resham si hawa” isn’t just wind or breeze—it’s personified as a confidant, a courier, even a stand-in for the beloved. Delicate like silk, it bridges the void between the two lonely hearts, carrying unspoken pleas and whispered names. Gulzar has actually given life to an inanimate thing like breeze. Gulzar had used this personification earlier in his song हवाओं पे लिख दो हवाओं के नाम from Do Dooni Char.

This stanza has several layers of personification-

“It speaks” : by “kehti hai bata,” the breeze becomes a voice that asks, “Tell me where they are.”

“It listens” : each sigh or rustle seems to hold the lover’s secret.

“It wanders” : coming and going without warning, it mirrors the unpredictable nature of hope and despair.

He say’s the wind has a sensory texture and resonates emotionally with the protagonist. Sample this-

रोज़ रोज़ – Repetition suggests persistence of longing, like a heartbeat you can never silence or control.

रेशम सी हवा रेशम सी हवा - Silken softness evokes touch

आते जाते कहती है—it speaks to him

रोज़ रोज़ रेशम सी हवा आते जाते कहती है बता – The breeze soft and smooth like silk tells him about the intangible traces of his beloved’s presence—felt but unseen. Its movement marks time: each visit of the breeze is a reminder that day after day, the longing remains unchanged. By giving voice to the wind, the song dissolves the boundary between the protagonist’s mind and the outer world, making nature itself complicit in his search.

There are several instances in Indian folk tales where the breeze is cast as a messenger between separated souls, cementing its role in collective imagination. In poetry, the wind often bears lovers’ messages across desert distances, symbolizing faith that love transcends physical barriers.

The song leans into a Sufi-like philosophy of separation and union: the idea that the self remains half-born until it finds its counter-self. It proposes that existence is inherently relational, and only through the mirror of another soul can one be whole. Going by the visuals, it also hints at the Buddhist notion of emptiness—life is void of meaning until we project our longing and find resonance in another being.

The song starts with-

ओ पाखी पाखी परदेसी

Pakhi means bird. This could be his sweetheart calling him a bird that had visited her and left at the end of the season for another land.

पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
मैं यहाँ टुकड़ों में जी रहा हूँ
मैं यहाँ टुकड़ों में जी रहा हूँ
तू कहीं टुकड़ों में जी रही है

O stranger (at least) call me from somewhere. Without you I am incomplete, living life in pieces. You too must be living in broken pieces. Let’s be together to be complete (unseparated).

It can also mean, “Don’t pretend to be indifferent to my condition. Just call me”

Enough said, now get that hot cup of tea, sit in your favourite chair, put on your headphones and listen-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gga4bIVcA-A

 

ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से

रोज़ रोज़ रेशम सी हवा आते जाते कहती है
बता रेशम सी हवा कहती है बता
वो जो दूध धुली मासूम कली
वो है कहाँ कहाँ है वो रोशनी कहाँ है
वो जान सी कहाँ है
मैं अधूरा तू अधूरी जी रही है
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
मैं यहाँ टुकड़ों में जी रहा हूँ
मैं यहाँ टुकड़ों में जी रहा हूँ
तू कहीं टुकड़ों में जी रही है
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
पाखी पाखी परदेसी
तू तो नहीं है लेकिन तेरी मुस्कुराहट है
चेहरा कहीं नहीं है पर तेरी आहट है
तू है कहाँ कहाँ है तेरा निशाँ कहाँ है
मेरा जहाँ कहाँ है
मैं अधूरा तू अधूरी जी रही है
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
मैं यहाँ टुकड़ों में जी रहा हूँ
मैं यहाँ टुकड़ों में जी रहा हूँ
तू कहीं टुकड़ों में जी रही है
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से
ऐ अजनबी तू भी कभी आवाज़ दे कहीं से