Mar 9, 2018

Shartiyun Aain Ta



Allah, you’ve made lovers
Of many different kinds
One waits on the path
Another wakes all night…
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, the deeply loved Sindhi Sufi poet of 18th century, spoke through the famous tragic love legends of the Punjab and Sindh region. In this song Latif speaks in the voice of Sassi, whose beloved Punnu has been wrested away from her on the morning following her wedding night by Punnu’s kinsmen angered by the cross-community marriage. This is a well-known song sung by many different singers in the oral traditions of Shah Latif, which straddle both sides of the border between Pakistan and India.
Sassi is a Brahmin girl abandoned at birth by her parents and raised in Bhambhor by a childless Muslim washerman and washerwoman couple. Her crime is to fall in love with a stranger called Punnu, who is King Aari Jaam’s son. For this crime, her punishment is to have her husband abducted on the morning following her wedding night! He’s plied through the night with alcohol by his brothers and then put on to their camels and taken across the desert, back to where he came from. Sassi, determined as steel, sets off alone across the hot desert, without any supplies, in the pursuit of her retreating beloved…
In this moment, Sassi is stepping into the harsh Thar desert when her friends try to stop her from embarking on this impossible journey. She brushes them off with the words of this song. She knows that the path to finding her Beloved, her truth, her own true self, cannot be without the necessary striving and suffering.
Allahu aasikan ji beli khalke kedi jaat
Hikda vithai hin vaat te, bya jaage saari raat
Pan vo dost ain bevafa jaat ja
Jo ko deey landhe nindhrun karin

Shartiyun aain ta vinyodi vinyo la
Muinjhodi pech Punhal saan
Muinjhodi lekh lakhanta

Allah miyaan, hede sheher Bhambhor mein la
Med miskeen ji manyodi manyo la
Shartiyun aain ta…
Allah miyaan, uth Aari Jaam ja la
Daaghan daan diyodi diyo la
Shartiyun aain ta…
Allah miyaan, shartiyun Shah Latif chain la
Laalun laal Latif chain la
Aahe andhar aavaan unyodi unyo la
Shartiyun aain ta…

Friends, Be On Your Way 
Allah, you’ve made lovers
Of many different kinds
One waits on the path
Another wakes all night
But those lovers are false
Who drift into sleep
At the fall of day

Friends, be on your way
My destiny is in the desert
Friends, go your way
I’m bound to Punnu

Oh Allah
In the city of Bhambhor
Hear the plea of this poor wretch
My destiny is written
Oh Allah
Put shackles on the feet
Of the camels of Aari Jaam
My fate is sealed
Oh Allah
Shah Latif says, listen friends
The thirst within me is intense
I belong to desert ways

Translation: Vipul Rikhi and Shabnam Virmani

Mar 6, 2018

Ber Chalya Mera Bhai



O wise one, I was the first to be born
Then my elder brother
With great fanfare my father was born
In the end my mother
All things seem possible in the upside-down world of Kabir! I am born first and the mother is born last; an ant carries an elephant for her dowry; the baby in the womb speaks but not the child that is born. What does it all mean? We, who are ever seeking for meanings (and perhaps ever failing), are hopelessly baffled by the ‘ulatbaansi’ (upside-down verse) of Kabir. Perhaps it is we, not Kabir, who are looking at the world upside-down, the wrong way round. I heard this song from Mahesha Ram ji of Chhatangarh village in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Listen to his wonderful rendition on Ajab Shahar here.
Ber chalya mera bhai
Magan hui, ber chalya mera bhai
Raam re naam ro gelo re pakdo
Chhodo ni moorkhaai
Raam re naam ro gelo re pakdo
Chhodo ni ghamandaai
Pehle toh guruji main janmya
Peechhe bada bhai
Dhoom dhaam sa pita re janmya
Sabse peechhe maai
Ber chalya mera bhai…
Pehle toh guruji doodh jamaayo
Peechhe gaay ne doi
Bachhda unra rame pet mein
Ghrit bechva gayi
Ber chalya mera bhai…
Keedi chali saasre
Nau man surmo saath
Haathi unra haath mein
Oont lapetya jaai
Ber chalya mera bhai…
Eenda hata bolta
Bachhiya bolya naai
Kahat Kabira suno bhai saadho
Moorakh samjhe naai
Ber chalya mera bhai…
Time is Slipping Away
Time is slipping away, my friend
Meditate – time is flying away
Take the path of Raam’s name
Let go of foolishness
Quit this silly pride
O wise one, I was the first to be born
Then my elder brother
With great fanfare my father was born
In the end my mother
Time is slipping away…
O wise one, first the yogurt was set
Then the cow got milked
While the cow was yet to deliver
The butter fetched a good price
Time is slipping away…
The ant goes to her husband’s home
Nine bags of kohl, her dowry
In one hand, she carries an elephant
Under the other arm, a camel
Time is slipping away…
The unborn child could speak
The newborn child says nothing
Says Kabir, listen seekers
Fools can go on guessing
Time is slipping away…
Translation: Vipul Rikhi

Mar 3, 2018

Chala Chali Ka Khela



It’s all a game of come-and-go! Nothing stays; everything slips away. Fleeting, transient, impermanent. And, therefore, beautiful! In this poignant yet delightful song, the saint-poet Brahmanand speaks directly of this truth. I learnt this song through Mooralala Marwada. You can listen to his version on Ajab Shahar here.
Sab chala chali ka khela
Do din ka hai jug maan mela
Sab chala chali ka khela
Koi chala gaya, koi jaave
Koi gathhdi baandh sidhaave
Koi khada taiyaar akela
Sab chala chali ka khela
Kar paap kapat jaal maaya
Dhan laakh karod kamaaya
Sang chale nahin ek dhela
Sab chala chali ka khela
Ghar maat pita sab bhaai
Tere ant suha ek naai
Ud jaayega hans akela
Sab chala chali ka khela
Yeh nashvar sab sansaara
Kar bhajan prabhu ka pyaara
Brahmanand kahe sun chela
Sab chala chali ka khela
It’s all a game of come-and-go
It’s all a game of come-and-go
Our meetings in the world are fleeting
It’s all a game of come-and-go
Someone’s going, someone’s gone
Someone’s packing their bags to go
Another stands alone, ready for the road
It’s all a game of come-and-go
Plotting, scheming in the web of life
You amassed a billion in wealth
Couldn’t take a penny when you went
It’s all a game of come-and-go
Mother, father, siblings and friends
No one comes along at the end
The swan flies away alone
It’s all a game of come-and-go
The world’s in the throes of death
Meditate on the master, my friend
Brahmanand says, listen seeker
It’s all a game of come-and-go

Translation: Vipul Rikhi and Shabnam Virmani