An interpretation

An interpretation 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXEYb7bCaQo

(Click on this link of YouTube to listen the song i am talking about.) 

Above song in YouTube, It was not just next song.

That night, I was going through kind of hard time in life. Life of none is easy, neither is mine. Music happens to be my best friend of difficult times. That night too, I was listening to songs in YouTube. This came just as a next song and touched me somewhere inside.

I felt as if lyrics were talking to me. For me it was talk between mother and son (though you may not agree me on this). I am writing my translation (with little edits) in English, and also my own interpretation of the song/poem.

Paragraph 1                                                                                                   My Translation

Ek bagal mein chand hoga, ek bagal mein rotiyan                       Moon on a side and food on other,
Ek bagal mein neend hogi, ek bagal mein loriyan                        Sleep on a side and lullaby on other,
Hum chand pe, Roti ki chadar daal kar so jayenge                      I will sleep on moon with mattress of food,
Aur neend se, Keh denge lori kal sunane aayenge                      And tell the sleep, lullaby tomorrow.

First paragraph is son’s word. He is showing options. Firstly moon Vs food, means ambition (moon) Vs current need (food). Secondly Sleep Vs lullaby, means comfort of future (sleep) Vs Hard work i.e. Means to attain it (Lullaby). 

The son selects his options too, but negatively. He wants to sleep on moon with mattress of food. Meaning that forgetting the ambition, he wants to enjoy current need. He want to tell the sleep that lullaby tomorrow, means tell the comfort of future that hard-work tomorrow.
He sounds frustrated.

Paragraph 2                                                                                                   My Translation

Ek bagal mein khan-khanati seepiyan ho jayengi,                      Ruby on a side,
Ek bagal mein kuchh rulati sisikiyan ho jayengi,                          tears on other side,
Hum seepiyon mein, bhar ke saare taare chun ke aayenge,      A lot of rubies we will gather,
Aur siskiyon ko, Gudgudi kar kar ke yun behlayenge,                 and tickle the pain, to laugh out the tear

Second paragraph is mothers reply. She is teaching her child, giving him hope. 

She too is showing options. Ruby Vs Tears, means prosperity (Ruby) Vs Current pain during hard work (Tears). She too is selecting options, but positively. She wants to attain prosperity. Obviously hard-work comes between current tears and future prosperity. She is teaching to enjoy during the times of tears.

“Aur siskiyo ko gudgudi kar-karke yun behlaayege”, She is outstandingly telling to tickle the tear to make it laugh, meaning try to enjoy even at the time of tears. Don’t worry for current problem, suppress the tear and think about the bright future.

Paragraph 3                                                                                                   My Translation

Amma teri siskiyon pe koi rone aayega                                      Mom, someone will come to cry with our tear
Gam na kar jo aayega woh phir kabhi na jayega                        Don’t worry, who comes won’t leave us ever
Yaad rakh par koi anhoni nahi tu layegi                                      Make sure, you avoid any decision of disaster,
Layegi to phir kahani aur kuchh ho jayegi                                   Otherwise, that can again be the  game changer

The first word of this verse “mom” made me think most that this all poem is talk between mother and son.

Here, the son is gaining strength. He too is showing bright future. He hopes, good days will come and never goes away. But he is afraid too: something bad may happen, good days may come never. He wishes his mom to avoid any bad decisions and makes sure it won’t happen, good times do comes. Otherwise, things may stay as it is, he warns.

Paragraph 4 (Last)                                                                                            My Translation

Honi aur anhoni ki parwah kise hai meri jaan                              Either good happens or bad, who is worried?
Hadd se jyaada yeh hi hoga ki yahin mar jayenge                      Even the worst happening, that we are killed,
Hum maut ko, Sapna bata kar uth khade honge yahin               We will move on even if  worst outcome is paved
Aur honi ko, Thenga dikha kar khil-khilte jayenge                       Will laugh out louder and tease the mis-happenings made

Mom summarizes with further strength. She suggests not to worry what happens, even if it’s worst possible outcome. Even if the worst thing happens, we can ignore it and move on. We will be laughing out and tease the worst outcome as well. We will make sure that we are not worried at all even with worst thing that made to happen with us.

The last line, “Honi ko thenga dikhakar khilkhilate jayenge”: “we will move on laughing, teasing the mis-happenings to us” is the sentence with most strong meaning. I don’t think any better closing was possible.

I feel, this poem by Piyush Chawla is an outstanding piece of creation.

They say, poetry is like water, you can make it take the shape of your container or flow as per your wish. It’s ok to tell that I interpreted like this because I wanted to. Actually this is what poetry is.

The ‘Precedent medal of freedom’ winner, Pablo Casals, wrote that, “The art of interpretation is not to play what is written.” So this is my interpretation. You are free to disagree or focus differently.

Thank you