Ab Ke Hum Bichde – Mehdi Hassan
Composition – Mehdi Hassan
Lyrics – Ahmed Faraz
Prelude – “ Ab Ke Hum Bichde “ is a poem penned by
Ahmed Faraz and sung by ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan . “ Raag Bhupeshwari “ to which
the song is set, brings out the pangs of separation of the lover from the
beloved . As the withered flowers inside the pages of a book are a testimony to
the saccharine feeling of love when they were in full bloom and full of life ,
this song brings out the lamentation of the beloved in memories of the past .
Ab he hum bichde to shayad khwabon main mile
Jis tarah sukhe hue phul kitabon main mile
Now that we have parted,maybe we will meet in dreams, just like how wilted flowers meet inside the pages of books .
Dhoondh ujde hue logon main wafa ke moti
Yeh khazane tujhe mumkin hain kharabon main mile
Search for pearls of loyalty among the miserable and dejected people . You are likely to find
this treasure in ruins.
Gham- ye – duniya bhi gham-e – yar main shamil kar lo
Nasha badhta hain sharaben jo sharabon main mile
The intoxication of the wine deepens with each glass of wine, just like the grief of the world is added to the
grief of separation from the beloved .
Tu khuda hain na mira ishq farishton jaisa
Donon insan hai toh kyuun itne hijaboon main mile .
You are neither God nor my love, like that of the
angels . If we both are humans , why do we have to meet each other in veils of secrecy ?
Ab na vo main na woh tu hai na vo maazi hai “ faraz “
Jaise do shaks tamanna ke sarabon men milen .
Oh Faraz ! Neither you nor I remain the same . It is
not like the times of the past . It’s
like two people meet in the mirage of their desires .
Postlude – The emotive poetry by “ Ahmad Faraz “ in the silhouette of ethereal singing by Mehdi Hassan in “ Raag Bhupeshwari “ brings out the yearning of the lover . From the words of the poetry, it seems like two people who have fallen in love amidst class differences . Due to the resistance from the family of the beloved , the couple had to part ways . Now that they have parted ways, the only possibility for the lover to meet the beloved is in dreams, just like the withered flowers which meet inside the pages of the book . Red roses have always symbolised love and are usually kept as a souvenir by the lovers inside books as a memory to cherish .
The lyricist speaks of how fidelity and faithfulness in relationships are found in the unlikeliest of the places, as the lover belongs to a low class of society . The third couplet describes how the world causes grief every day to the lover ,which, along with his separation from the beloved , multiplies the sorrow by leaps and bounds .The lover resorts to drinking to forget his sorrows and is in an inebriated state after drinking wine, one glass after the other . In the fourth couplet , the lover questions the norms of the society where the lover is barred from meeting the beloved . The meeting between a male and a female was resisted by elders in olden times, as it was considered against the modesty of a woman to mingle with a man. Men and women were generally segregated into groups considering the safety factor of women . The lyricist questions such strict standards of the society as to why he should meet his beloved in secrecy when they both are not exalted like the God and the angels .
The fifth couplet tells how the
lover and his beloved have undergone changes to the different experiences of
life . Their present reflects and is a result of their past experiences . The
lover feels like their whole union is just like two people meeting in an
illusion of desires . The lyricist wants to convey that there can be plenty of
desires in people, but one cannot guarantee that all of them get fulfilled . The
lover has lost his hope of uniting with his beloved . The song is really an ode
to all the star-crossed lovers who had dreamt of a happily ever after that turned into nights nursing the mental wounds of separation and heartache .
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