Woh Sham Kuch Ajeeb Thi

 

I was posting some pictures from the sunset cruise in the Amazon forest and chose a clip of audio to complement the pictures. As I listened to this melody in the voice of Kishore Kumar, there was something haunting about the song. A deep sense of melancholy. I remembered the movie and the scene this song was picturized with. Waheeda Rahman played the compassionate nurse who was assigned the care of mentally ill patients. It proves to be an emotionally challenging task where lines between personal and professional involvement get blurred. While her patients get effectively nursed back to sanity, she succumbs to a nervous breakdown eventually and becomes a patient herself. 

Personally for me the song, as mentioned earlier, brought a sense of deep longing. As if the lyrics were taking the mind back to some things left behind. As if it was answering a painful call from the past. In that moment came a whole rush of realizations. 

Mind was conditioned by the past for pain. Pain was a familiar terrain. The mind associated the lyrics with pain and loss. Yet something was different today than it would have been ten twenty thirty or forty years back. Today I was a witness to the mind. Me and the mind were not one entity. Just by observing, reading and recognizing the dynamics of the lyrics, the pain and the turning of the mind towards pain, I was able to gently put forward an alternative paradigm before the mind. “You, oh Mind, no longer need to turn towards pain. Your bliss is within your reach now. That’s the only direction you need to face hereafter.” It was a powerful signal to the mind. Although the old conditioning may not vanish in an instant, the new message is sure to be remembered every time pain comes calling. 

There was a second interesting realization that came as I listened to the lyrics. The male protagonist singing the song makes reference to himself at several places in the song, for example, kahin mera khayal tha( in her lowered gaze, somewhere there was a thought about me). Who is this?

Ch 7: 19

बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते |
वासुदेव: सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभ: || 19||

For a mind running after the Supreme Reality or a mind that has realized the truth of the universe, there is only one real entity in the world. Therefore only that can be the protagonist. That’s Brahman! The Divine Master. And for this protagonist, the one HE is musing about can be none other than his true devotee. Let’s presume Krishna and Radha or Krishna and Meera. With this understanding when one tries to grasp the lyrics of this song it no longer spells out pain. It only spells out perfect bliss. A sense of peace and security. A sense of union and not separation. Even though  the song makes a reference in the past tense.

Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi, yeh shaam bhi ajeeb hai
Woh kal bhi paas paas thi woh aaj bhi kareeb hai

Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi, yeh shaam bhi ajeeb hai

That evening was rather strange.This evening too is strange.

Woh kal bhi paas paas thi woh aaj bhi kareeb hai

She was near me that day. Even today she remains close to me.

Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi

That evening was rather strange….. 

Jhuki huyi nigaah mein, kahin mera khayaal tha

In her lowered gaze, somewhere lurking, was the thought of me.

Dabi dabi hansi mein ik,haseen saa gulaal tha

The laughter, though subdued, held a colorful charm. 

Main sochta tha, mera naam gungunaa rahi hai woh
Main sochta tha, mera naam gungunaa rahi hai woh

I kept thinking , she is humming my name.

Na jaane kyon laga mujhe, ke muskura rahi hai woh

 I wonder why it appeared to me that she is smiling.

Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi

That evening was strange indeed! 

Mera khayaal hai abhi jhuki huyi nigaah mein

It is my belief now that in her lowered gaze,

Khili huyi hansi bhi hai, dabi huyi si chaah mein

there is a hearty laughter, along with a concealed desire. 

Main jaanta hoon, mera naam gunguna rahi hai woh
Main jaanta hoon, mera naam gunguna rahi hai woh

I know with certainty, that she is humming my name!

Yahi khayaal hai mujhe, ke saath aa rahi hai woh

I am aware at every moment that she is accompanying me.

Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi, yeh shaam bhi ajeeb hai

That evening was rather strange.This evening too is strange.

Woh kal bhi paas paas thi woh aaj bhi kareeb hai

She was close to me then, and she remains just as close now.

Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi

That was indeed a strange evening.

Essentially this song carries the message of the Bhagwad Gita in many ways.

Chapter 6: verse 30

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति |
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति || 30||

To those who see God everywhere and everything in God, God is never away from them, nor are they ever away from God!

Ch 9:29

समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रिय: |
ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम् |

God is not partial to anyone. But true devotees reside in God and God resides in them.

There never was a distance between God and his creation. A mind that recognizes God within the creation forever remains in close proximity with God.

Woh kal bhi paas paas thi woh aaj bhi kareeb hai

One has to simply look into the heart. God is closer than most people think.