Aahista Aahista – Swades (2004)

The movie is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, who also made the movie Lagaan. For Swades he chose the same powerful combination of A.R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar for the music and the lyrics. I believe the song Aahista Aahista has only been released on the album of Swades. I have come across the deleted scene of this song on YouTube recently, which confirmed this for me. I did not come across it in the movie, and while watching I did not immediately miss it, I was too mesmerized by the other songs in the movie. Songs like the impossibly beautiful and enchanting Saanwariya Saanwariya by Alka Yagnik, the catchy Yun Hi Chala Chal with Hariharan, Kailash Kher and Udit Narayan telling about life (go listen to it!!!), the challenging Dekho Na by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik, which has impossible melodies and a fantastic feel, the calling of the homeland in Yeh Jo Des by the ever haunting voice of A.R. Rahman… And let’s certainly not forget the heartwarming Yeh Tara Wo Tara by Udit Narayan and the beautiful song Pal Pal Hai Bhaari by Madhushree, Vijay Prakash and Ashutosh Gowariker. Of the last, I can only say that I thoroughly enjoy the way Rahman is able to bring to life the feelings and plight of Sita through melody, for which Javed Akhtar gave some impossibly beautiful lyrics, in this small Ram-katha-like song.

How I would love to discuss all these songs, since I find the whole album very powerful and full of emotions, but I will confine myself here only to the song mentioned in the title: Aahista Aahista, sung by Udit Narayan and Sadhana Sargam. It is unknown to so many people since it is only on the audio album and therefore it gives me more reasons to talk about; I would highly recommend anyone to listen to it. It is a ‘lori’ or a lullaby. I myself love the Indian lullabies… :) One other favourite of mine is So Jaa Chanda from the movie Mission Kashmir.

But without further ado, let’s not waste precious space and time, and move to the song itself. Udit’s humming, like a mother rocking the cradle of her newborn child, sets the first moods of the song, and gives it a feeling that rocks it’s way through the song. The mood of the whole song is made by the soft melodies sung, with only very subtle percussion, a harp-like sound, flute, some bells and side rhythm and the arrangements by A.R. Rahman, perhaps on keyboard or by live violins.

‘Oh sleep, come…’ Bells, strings and the harp-like sound start. ‘Slowly, slowly… oh sleep, come to these two eyes… Softy, gently… oh sleep, bring some innocent dreams to these two eyes… All the winds flow sleepily… the atmosphere is sleepy…’
The song, already having some pace, which is difficult to notice since it is so delicately sung and arranged, gains more momentum from here on, when Udit with his sweet voice moves to the upper octave and is joined by a simple drum and very elegant string patterns, creating the platform for Udit’s voice to gain strength in the higher notes.
‘Oh sleep, come to me, and rest yourself on these closing eyes… Slowly, slowly… Oh sleep, come to these two eyes…’

In the music piece that follows, the bells and the harp create the atmosphere to drown in dreams, to find oneself lost in the silence of the night. It’s the easiness with which Rahman creates the stepping stones for the ‘sleep’ to come to us, crossing the melodies, that haunts me.

‘Soft and tender is the dark blue night… many memories tap on this heart… The cradle of memories holds some lost matters… Oh sleep, come and sing a lullaby of bygone days… and show me again my lost dreams… Rock the cradle of my memories…’
The plucking of strings, that so softly starts in the background, almost seems like the footsteps of sleep coming near. ‘Slowly, slowly… Oh sleep, come in these two eyes…’

The instrumental interlude brings even more momentum to the song. The complex way in which different melodies mix, the fullness that is achieved by Rahman, is praiseworthy. Udit hums again. I know for a fact that he loves children. He has as far as I know one son himself, but as I saw him once on TV talk about children and the joy he received from looking at and working with children, I immediately knew how big and warm his heart was. It can be felt through his singing. His humming reminds me of that. But as softly as he starts, the outcome is somewhat surprising... Sadhana Sargam takes over as gently as taking over a baby from the arms of another.

‘If you wish I can spread you a silken blanket of scented air… From the blue sky I can take the moon to make you a pillow…’ Udit again takes over, with the beauty of their voices mixing with the first word when taking over the lines: ‘I can bring the light of the moon, and spread it over you… and I will hum you a song…’ Sadhana: ‘And at that very moment, very stealthily, sleep will come and rest itself on your eyelashes…’
My God, how full of feeling do they both sing the words ‘will come’ in the last line together. I find it difficult to comprehend; with what genius mind Rahman has made and composed these and the following lines… Of course, Udit and Sadhana deserve at least equal credit for their seemingly endless stream, a garland, of beautifully picked notes and melodies…
They sing together: ‘Sweet sweet sleep comes…’ and then Sadhana alone: ‘Slowly, slowly… oh sleep come to these two eyes…’

They repeat the main theme and lines, alternately, singing themselves one at a time or together… As waves, not with force but as if the waves join each other, they touch and let go of each other’s voices. It almost sounds sad, considering the melody and the haunting way in which they sing the last lines. But the way Rahman pulls it all again to the soft instrumentals at the end really gives you the idea of having pleasant dreams and memories of bygone days… it in a way sounds melancholic, how the song ends. And for me, it brings nostalgia. It’s the beauty of childhood, that innocence, that one can sleep without fear and heavy feelings.

If only my sleep would bring me those pleasant memories…

(The translation has partly been adapted from bollywhat.com. The song can be found both on musicindiaonline.com and raaga.com for online listening. See for instance Raaga.com :: Swades Tracklist. To see the deleted scene of this song in Swades, see for instance YouTube.com :: Swades deleted scene Aahista. I would recommend to listen to the song first though, it gives in my opinion more depth to the music to hear it first without the scenes. The scenes are beautiful, but already give the music quite a twist.)