POETRY IN GOLDEN OLDIES–PART I

Lataji

Like me, there must be several readers of Muse who love Golden Oldies of Bollywood.Those songs of yester years are still loved by fans for their sheer simplicity of thoughts,clear words,short and sweet situations and above all melodious music, without any cacophony and noise as heard in songs of present era.It is a real pleasure to hear such songs playing somewhere nearby on a loudspeaker while you are lying on your bed on the terrace of your house late at night.The words and the music come to you wafting through the gentle breeze of the winds.You start humming the song and tapping your hands or feet to the lovely beat of the lilting music.It relaxes you.It gives you a sense of inner calm and peace.You get transported to that old era of sweet music of the fifties and sixties and re-live those moments when you had watched a particular movie in the theatre of your town or city and its music still haunts you.I have quite a few  favourite songs of that era on my list of ever green songs.One such song is “GORE GORE,O BAANKE CHHORE ….”.Its on the top of my favourite list.Why ? Because of its sublime poetry,simple words, happy mood and its chirpy quality which compels you to sing along . 

I have often discussed the subject matter of good poetry with some of my gifted friends and based on what I have gleaned from such discussions let us try to understand what is “best” or “good” in  poetry. Yes of course, the basic attributes are : rhyme, simile, meter etc.However,what really matters in poetry is the final outcome. The experience of reading a good poem should more importantly make a significant  difference in your mood, reward the time spent, and create an impact.Good poetry need not be necessarily complex.

It would be worthwhile to characterize some important attributes of good poetry.The words of a good poem, its central idea, or theme, or image,” should hit home,vibrate and resonate,linger and startle” you.Nobody likes to read a poem which has words which are boring,un-enlightening,trite or plain cliched.Words should be short, clear,succint enough to create an experience in the mind of the reader.

Oscar Wilde once said : “All bad  poetry springs from genuine feeling.” What he means  that the writer  must go way beyond and build up the poem with an imagery born out a simply genuine feeling.A well written poem should aesthetically and tastefully convey that genuine feeling and it should have the capacity to resonate a similar genuine feeling in the reader.A good poem should have” an element of surprise,a newness of expression, a re-visitation of the poet’s experience as one the reader has had, in short, a discovery.A good poem should be unique and inspire trust in the reader to give his intellect and emotion to the poet. I remember having read somewhere, while doing a course in appreciation of French poetry (long long ago in my college days ) that good poetry is like a good movie,a good dinner,a good TV show,a good editorial in a journal….it lingers….the time investment pays off and even if one is seemingly not interested,one can pick it up and get into it !!  

 Having said that, I leave the  readers to judge for themselves as to  whether the lyrics of the aforementioned song qualify it to be categorised in to what is called a really good poetry. I have compiled the details of lyrics and other information about this song and the movie, from a few sources, for the interest of the like minded readers.So sit back and E..N..J..O..Y…!!

GOLDEN OLDIES:
Song :”Gore Gore, O Baanke Chhore….” 

Movie : Samaadhi (1950)

Music Director : Chitalkar Ramchandra

Lyricist:Rajendra Krishan

Cast :Ashok Kumar,Nalini Jaywant,Shyam,Kuldip Kaur

Singers :Lata Mangeshkar,Amirbai Karnataki 

LYRICS:
Lata: Gore gore o baanke chhore,kabhi meri gali aaya karo
Amirbai: Gori gori, o baanki chhori,  chaahe roz bulaaya karo

Lata: Roz roz mulaaqaat achchhi nahin , pyaar men aisi baat achchhi nahin,

        thoda thoda milna, thodi si judaai, sada chaandani raat achchi nahin

Amirbai:Chhodo chhodo, jiyaa na todo, kisi aur ko jalaaya karo

Both: Gori gori, o baanki chhori,   chaahe roz bulaaya karo

         Gore gore o baanke chhore, kabhi meri gali aaya karo

         Gori gori, o baanki chhori,  chaahe roz bulaaya karo

Lata:Chhoti-si baat par ye ladaai?  pyaar ki duhaai hai, pyaar ki duhaai

        akhiyon men akhiyaan, daal ke to dekho, chehare pe gussa haay dil men safaai

Amirbai: Ghadi ghadi, o badi badi, aisi baaten na banaaya karo
Both: Gori gori, o baanki chhori,  chaahe roz bulaaya karo

         Gore gore o baanke chhore, kabhi meri gali aaya karo

         Gori gori, o baanki chhori,   chaahe roz bulaaya karo

Amirbai karnataki

I have a suggestion to make.Search this song on Google and go to Youtube and have a “dekho”.Switch off the lights of your room and see the wonderful imagery,enjoy the music and relax to the tune of this golden oldie.Happy viewing.

– J S BROCA  New Delhi

  jsbroca@yahoo.com