Lyrics - Gulzar
[A]
Send a message to this end
And summon me back.
Someone is awake Tonight, every night. The palanquin sits in the yard, Empty like a freshly dug grave.
At dusk, as the street was Slowly shrouded by the fog, I came to the door But none yet, no messenger yet.
When kite strings flit into the sky How does one still the heart? And cold dew doesn’t burn, Doesn’t illuminate this dark.
[B] I have left those alleys behind
Where your petaled feet used to walk And where your dimples flitted Like butterflies whenever you smiled. At which the river took a bend Along the line of your waist And grain grew to harvest To the sound of your laughter.
In those busy rooms from which Your steady warmth radiated. There I heard Evening now resides. And that drizzle of talk In which night used to slip In unnoticed; sometimes I Find that night here, Lying on this bed.
Heart now Is simply a piece of this ache Is a stony alley Is a blind well Is a walled dead end Is like that quick gasp of breath That never seems to end.
And I keep burning it Even if it refuses to Become ash. Yes, I have left those alleys behind.
Translated from the Hindustani.
Note: I got to listening to Gulzar's "Maachis" again this evening so that I can lose myself in his words, and then attempt translations since in my "blind well" there are no poems to be had tonight. Gulzar will do more than enough.
Also, since my Hindi has become rusty, I will appreciate it if anyone lets me know the exact meaning of this phrase "Laton Se Uljhi Lipti" in a line that goes "Laton Se Uljhi Lipti Ek Raat Hua Karti Thi." Gracias.
Translations
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maybe "there used to be a night entwined and wrapped in flames?" Oooh, that looks not right. Laton: plural of flame Uljhi: enmeshed, tangled. Lipti: wrapped up. Argh. But I like Maachis too, a lot :)
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Thanks K!
I was way off from the original then when I wrote it out as:
"And that drizzle of talk In which night used to slip In unnoticed;"
But me thinks, my poetic license improved upon Gulzar's original, which I would have rendered as if only I had your vocabulary:
"Wrapped in a mesh of flames, night use to fall then..."
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O.K., well guess who's all red in the face now. I went back and listened to the song and realized that you had written laton instead of laaton. The second would translate to flames, the first would translate to strands of hair. "laton se uljhi lipti ek raat hua karti thi," which would kinda sort of mean his nights are still entangled in (memories of) her hair. Which sounds like a slightly painful experience when I translate it, but that's just cuz I translated it. I promise to stay away from poetry from now on. But yeah, poetic license away, your version sounds like the peaceful sort of night that Gulzar was trying to get at, instead of my fire and brimstone vision :)
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