This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws. This is his 400th writeup in the blog
apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai udhar ke hum hain
-Nida Fazli
[There is no choice for us as to where we embark on the journey.
Where the direction of the wind is the place to which we belong].
This is the first she’r of a non-filmy ghazal written by Nida Fazli and rendered by Jagjit Singh which is philosophical in nature. In a broader sense, the poet is talking about the journey of life. There is a realisation that we have no choice as to where from our journey would start, that is, the place of birth. In the rest of our life, we belong to places as decided by our destiny. I guess, the metaphor of wind direction has been used by the poet to emphasise on the fact that during our journey of life, we have no control over the destiny. This is the truth of our life on earth.
In keeping with the writing style of Nida Fazli, this ghazal is woven in simple words. But each couplet has deep meaning. Let us discuss the remaining three couplets of the ghazal as rendered by Jagjit Singh:
pehle har cheez thhi apni magar ab lagta hai
apne hi ghar mein kisi doosre ghar ke hum hai
[First I thought everything was mine. Now I have a feeling that
I am an outsider in a house which I had felt as my own].
I had read the interviews of Nida Fazli in which he shared his experiences during the partition and communal riots. During the communal riots in Gwalior in mid 60s, his entire family migrated to Pakistan. He, however, remained in India alone as he was against the concept of two nations. He again faced the communal riots in 1992 in Mumbai upon which he had to take shelter in his Hindu friend’s house. I guess, this couplet is his reflections of what he felt at that time. Here ‘ghar’ may have been used in a wider context of a town, city, or a country.
waqt ke saath hai mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
kisko maaloom kahaan ke hain kidhar ke hum hain
[Time and the soil (earth) have travelled together for centuries.
Who knows from where and which place we belong to].
The poet, I guess, is referring the migration of the human race from one place to different places over the centuries. The mix of population makes it difficult to identify ourselves as to which place we really belong to. I also think that the poet has indirectly hinted the futility of tagging individuals in terms of race, religion, cast, creed, class, etc as the reality is that nobody knows what their origin is.
chalte rehte hain ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
sochte rehte hain kis raahguzar ke hum hain
[We keep on moving forward in our life and this is the destiny of a traveller.
This is the thought I carry all the time as to which pathway I am from].
I guess that this couplet has some references to what Nida Fazli said about journey of life for a long time after which all pathways look alike. In the confusion of life’s journey, it is difficult to identify as to which is the right pathway.
The non-filmy ghazal ‘apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke hum hain’ was a title song of a popular TV serial ‘Sailaab’ (1995) which was shown on Zee TV during 1995-97 with Renuka Sahane and Sachin Khedekar in the lead roles. The ghazal was originally recorded in the voice of Talat Aziz who also composed the music. However, Ravi Rai, the director of the serial felt that Jagjit Singh’s voice was more suited for this type of the ghazal. When the director approached Jagjit Singh for singing the ghazal, he refused to sing as he felt that it would not be proper for him to sing the ghazal which has already been recorded in the voice of Talat Aziz. It was Talat Aziz who persuaded Jagjit Singh to sing this ghazal. This was revealed by none other than Nida Fazli in an interview which was published in ‘Filmfare’, February 8, 2016.
The ghazal became very popular thanks to the vast reach of TV. This ghazal was included in Jagjit Singh’s Album ‘Mirage’ (1996). It will be observed from the cover of the Album that credit for composition of this ghazal has been given to Talat Aziz.
I always like ghazals of any genre but this is one of those ghazals which is very close to my heart.
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Additional Translations and Notes (by Sudhir)
apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai udhar ke hum hain
It is not of my own volition
That I traverse these journeys of my own life
I am nudged towards the paths
Whichever way the winds may blow
pehle har cheez thhi apni magar ab lagta hai
apne hi ghar mein kisi doosre ghar ke hum hai
It was a time once
That all seemed familiar
All seemed to be mine
But now
I feel a stranger in my own home
As if I belong to another place
waqt ke saath hai mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
kisko maaloom kahaan ke hain kidhar ke hum hain
The dust that this being is
And time that this subsistence is
Have shared these endless treks for ages
Who knows wherefrom I come
Or where I belong
[Note: ‘mitti’ here is reference to the human body, the human existence; a la “Mitti Se Khelte Ho Baar Baar Kis Liye”]
chalte rehte hain ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
sochte rehte hain kis raahguzar ke hum hain
Time keeps ticking
And the traveler strides on
Such is the meandering fate of this wanderer
And always keep wondering
To which roads I belong
Song-Apni marzi se kahaan apne safar ke ham hain (Jagjit Singh NFS)(1995) Singer-Jagjit Singh, Lyrics-Nida Fazli, MD-Talat Aziz
Lyrics
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
pehle har cheez thhi apni
magar ab lagta hai ae
pehle har cheez thhi apni
magar ab lagta hai ae
apne hi ghar mein
kisi doosre ghar ke hum hain
apne hi ghar mein
kisi doosre ghar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
waqt ke saath hai
mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
waqt ke saath hai
mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
waqt ke saath hai
mitti kaa safar sadiyon se
kis ko maaloom kahaan ke hain
kidhar ke hum hain
kis ko maaloom kahaan ke hain
kidhar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
chalte rehte hain
ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
chalte rehte hain
ke chalnaa hai musaafir kaa naseeb
sochte rehte hain
kis raahguzar ke hum hain
sochte rehte hain
kis raahguzar ke hum hain
rukh hawaaon kaa jidhar kaa hai
udhar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
apni marzi se kahaan
apne safar ke hum hain
