Be thy own palace or the world's thy jail. - John Donne


Being in a prison / jail / custody / captivity is no doubt torturous and negative.. but there are some moments in our life with captivate us and we feel safe being in someone's custody!

पंछी से छुडाकर उसका घर, तुम अपने घर पर ले आये,
ये प्यार का पिंजरा मन भाया, हम जी भर भर कर मुस्काये,
जब प्यार हुआ इस पिंजरे से, तुम कहने लगे आज़ाद रहो..
हम कैसे भुलाएँ प्यार तेरा, तुम अपनी जुबां से ये न कहो
अब तुमसा जहाँ में कोई नहीं है, हम तो तुम्हारे हो बैठे,
तुम कहते हो के ऐसे प्यार को भूल जाओ,
हम तेरे प्यार में सारा आलम खो बैठे...

Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.
Feel free.. feel loved..


by - apoorv

Personally for me, this song is something that brings in a barrage of emotions with amazement at the deep impact it has on me.. Not many songs can make you feel at peace.. this one certainly does! The first frame with the sun rays peeping through the trees and showering their immense love on mother earth is in itself soothing.. Mannada's crisp, clear sur adds to the charm.. and the words that flow alongwith are something that can revive any dead emotion. Honestly, there can be nothing beautiful than the sun that rises and the sur than relivens!! The Tabla and Sitar creats an ambiance that can elevate any depresses soul on the face of this earth. Laxmi Shankar and Nirmala Devi join in with some 'sureel' sargam and some 'bol parang'.. (A note for the beautiful camera work by Jaywant Pathare on 'Dharti Bhi Jhoome..', the way the camera zooms in and out, makes you feel the words.) Harindranath Chattopadhyay joins in and preaches some very simple yet precisely important facts of life and there are these words which just reach through the channels of the human heart to reach and reside in its deepest crevice.

देखो कहता है तुमसे सवेरा, छोड़ो छोड़ो भी ये तेरा मेरा
फूटी गगरी लिए फिर रहे है,
मिलके नहीं पीते थे जो पानी जो भी करना है आज करलो,
याद रखो जोगी की ये बानी, के पलटती नहीं है समय की ये धरा..

And then to add to the zing to the mood, Kishoreda steps in with some zazzy, zangy, zippy swirls.. the Guitar strums, the frolic, the mirth.. just makes you feel like living. And what happens after that is BLISS!! If there is any instrument that brings a broad broad broad smile to my face and immense satisfaction to my mind, its Sitar.. and if there is any Sitar piece that testimonies to this emotion of mine, it comes now.. the 'tarana' at the end has tears rolling down incessantly from my eyes with a smile on my face.. what better a mood elevator than this can it be.. what else is happiness in life than this? How do I even express what that feeling is when there are tears of pure, rich joy and true, blue bliss? If there is a song that exudes all those feelings in me, it is this Madan Mohan composed-Kaifi Azmi, Gulzar, Harindranath Chattopadhyay penned-Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Laxmi Shankar, Nirmala Devi, Harindranath Chattopadhyay sung-Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bhaduri, Manisha, Durga Khote, Asrani, Usha Kiran, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, A.K.Hangal, Master Raju enacted song from Bawarchi (1972). Music is something that makes you feel alive and such songs make you experience that emotion of being alive again and again.. Life is beautiful as is said, it has its tipsy-topsy, topsy-turvy turns, but at the end what is important is..

दर्द के हर मंज़र को ख़ुशी में बदलो तो बात है,
ग़म की आहों में भी ख़ुशनुमाई भरो तो बात है,
इम्तेहाँ ख़ुदा हर वक़्त हालात-ए-वक़्त से ले रहा,
नाकामी से ना डरो, मुसीबतों से भी हँसके मिलो तो बात है|

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IR-kb7mr1s