Mausam - Nitin Sawhney (Philtre, 2005)

Use your imagination, your fantasy, and help us out here (see it as a thought-experiment if you like). Just take a minute of your day now and relax. Reflect; take the effort to think, to stop for just a moment and see where you are now. Imagine yourself having walked on the same road for ages. All your life you have filled your time with the usual, the safe, the known, that with which you had certainty. Though there is nothing wrong with that, just imagine, if you would have opened up your mind...

If you had tried to understand that one friend's difficulties, and not held on to your own beliefs, would you still have had those fights with him? If you had tried to free yourself from the safeness of your 'home, sweet home', would you not have seen more of the beauties of the world? If you had walked the other road, would you perhaps not have found new joys, new routes to your goal, new friends and new dreams? Yes, uncertainty brings difficulties. Taking the road of the unknown requires guts. It certainly involves risks and making choices in 'the dark'. You might just run into sorrow, into sadness. You could lose it all, you could lose yourself.

On the other hand, if you have had difficulties all your life, if you feel you have been neglected by that wizard some would call God, if you feel like you will have to live in misery for the rest of your life... (it would almost seem that you have been comforted by and got accustomed to pain)... Have you tried letting the sun in? Stepping out in the open?... Having walked on the same road all that time, have you once thought of abandoning the painful road of the past and just take a new pathway to your dreams?...
I would say, use your discrimination to judge where you came from, where you are now, what you can become and how you can hold an open mind to new beautiful opportunities to enrich your life. We get accustomed to walking the road we have walked all our life.

Nitin Sawhney is a gifted musician. He has the talent to blend different styles, genres, instruments, melodies, sounds and grooves… he might be called a master cook in music, a magician if I may say so. Beautiful tracks come to my mind: Nadia, The Conference, Rainfall, Prophecy... and these are just a few. All his musical pieces have a very distinct character. There is a global feeling by the way he blends everything. Or, perhaps, instead of calling it blending, he just lets the music flow…
His last album, Philtre, is a gem to me. The whole album is filled with a unity I cannot grasp yet. Effortlessly he moves from sound to sound, seemingly crossing the whole world and taking the listener on a journey. Both this, and having Reena Bhardwaj (see Yeh Rishta, an earlier blog) sing some of the most soothing melodies I have ever heard, has made him win my heart and mind with this album. Some of the lyrics are like haunting me ever since I first heard them, just like for example the lyrics of the song Mausam, sung by Reena Bhardwaj and Murtaza Khan.

Mausam, meaning 'weather' or 'season', is a song that to me holds a powerful message. Starting of with the confluence of a bansuri (bamboo flute) and strings, Reena takes over almost immediately with the first two lines.

Ek rang me jeena, jeevan ko
To live your life in one color
Aye jaan-e-tamanna, theek nahi
Oh my beloved, is not right

The smooth rhythms together with the strumming of the guitar seem to set the pace for the journey. Walking on the road we walked all our life. But the melodies and the sargam ('notes') sung by Murtaza Khan already show that there is more at the horizon… a new horizon... things we can acquire, dreams we can achieve, happiness we can make our own... And not having to wait too long, Reena shows new possibilities…

Gham aur khushi do raste hai
Pain and joy are two roads
Ek raah pe chalna theek nahi
To walk only one path is not right

Badal jaaye mausam
The weather changes
Khushi aaye, jaaye gham
And joy comes while pain leaves

Murtaza Khan showers the song with his beautiful sargam variations to the likings of a heavenly sweet shower of rain in mid-summer, only to find the sun shining brightly thereafter with Reena's voice. Their confluence in singing the last lines together is incredible. Having the bansuri adorn the visions of a new horizon, the song keeps on going. The torrents of Murtaza's sargam over the bright 'joy comes while pain leaves' is a delight.

The song, with very simple lyrics but with profound meaning, keeps on reverberating in my head. Just remember, there are two roads, and the beauty of life is captured in the changing weather... pain will leave and joy will come. Rest assured...

(Unfortunately, I could not find a full online version for listening. A sample can be found here: Juno Records :: Nitin Sawhney - Philtre. If someone finds a usefull link, please let me know and I'll add the link.)

Lady - Colonial Cousins (The Way We Do It, 1998)

Apologies for the long silence.

'Lady', by Colonial Cousins. An older song, if you consider the year (1998), but I recently got the album 'The Way We Do It' in my hands. Colonial Cousins for me means a confluence of two seemingly contrasting worlds, that are brought together by two brothers in music. Hariharan, from what I know and believe, a master in anything between classical or ghazal and funky fusion, and Leslie Lewis, a to me fairly unknown musician compared to Hari but who's got the groove close to his heart; both cross the borders of music, both break the fences of the different genres they are born in, and make new pathways to greater music. They inspire me, show me new worlds, show new roads that I couldn't have imagined being possible.

I love their Indian Rain, Krishna, Sa Ni Dha Pa, Sri Rama, Mata Pita, Sundar Balma, Visions... They keep on finding new ways to my heart. Though I find some of their songs more commercialized and missing out on creativity at times, the overall ideas they bring to their music is - to say the least - praiseworthy and outright divine expressions of the God of Funky and Sweet Music.

'Lady' is a quite straightforward song, it is sung mostly in English. A nice and soothing melody... with stringparts based on Raga Hamsadhwani that remind me of 'Milan', a track from the album Liberation by Karsh Kale and Zakir Hussain (but this album is from 2003, so do not think that Colonial Cousins ripped it). It is haunting... it is mesmerizing...

Guitarpatterns and strings build the mood... Lezz and Hari sing the lines:

Will you be my lady, will you be my lover
Will you be the one love, always and forever
Will you be the sunlight, wake me in the morning
Will you be the starshine, touch me when I'm dreaming
Will you be my lady, will you be my lover
Will you be the one love, always and forever

A smooth rhythm starts, by an electronic snare and a pakhawaj-like sound... And the lines are repeated along with a scintillating and minimalistic tanpura-sound... the song seems to be getting it's wings.

And after that... it takes off...

When your friends surround you, I will be your laughter
When the party’s over, I will be thereafter
When you’re feeling down girl, I will be your sorrow
When your day is over, I will be tomorrow
Will you be my lady...

(Am I the only one to notice the beauty in Hari's way of singing the English text...?)

The strings add, raga Hamsadhwani in flashes adorns the melody.

When your eyes are smiling, I will be the reason
King of your heart girl, right through all the seasons
When your world is lonely, I will be your shadow
When your day is over, I will be tomorrow
Will you be my lady...

Hariharan adds the flavour of hindi lyrics and melodies...

Sajanaa... Kahe nahi aaye
My love... why haven't you come...

When your feeling lonely, I will be your shadow
When your day is over, I will be tomorrow
Will you be my lady...

Will you be the sunlight, wake me in the morning
Will you be the starshine, touch me when I'm dreaming
Will you be my lady...

Sajanaa... Kahe...
My love... why...
Kahe nahi aaye...
Why haven't you come...
Sajanaa... Kahe...
My love... why...

:)

Will you be my lady... *dozing off..* wonder when I get the chance to sing this song for someone :)

(The song can be found on Musicindiaonline.com :: 'The Way We Do It' Tracklist.)

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.)