Bhooli Bisri Chand Umeedein - Mehdi Hassan

Bhooli Bisri Chand Ummedein – Mehdi Hassan

Composition – Mehdi Hassan

Lyrics – Razi Tirmizi

Singer – Mehdi Hassan 

Prelude – The song “ Bhooli Bisri Chand Umeedein “ is a dulcet melody which has captivated me since the time it was performed by Shuja Haider and Aima Baig in Coke Studio Pakistan . It was only recently I came to know the original song was sung by ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan Saheb . The lyrics are penned by Razi Tirmizi . 

Bhooli bisri chand ummedein

Chand fasane yaad aye

I remembered a few hopes and tales from the past .

Tum yaad aye

Aur tumhare saath zamane yaad aye

I remembered you and the times spent with you .

 

Dil ka chaman shadab tha

Phir bhi khaak si udti rehti thi

The garden of my heart was verdant with greenery, yet the dust of withered petals drifted in the air . 

Kaise zamane e gham e jana

Tere bahane yaad aye

I remembered all the moments of grief of the past because of you.

 

Hasne walon se darte they

I feared people who laughed at me . 

Chup chup kar ro lete they

I used to cry in silence.

Gehri gehri soch main doobe

Do deewane yaad aye

I remembered two lovers who were immersed in deep thoughts .

 

Thandi sard hawa ke jhonke

Aag lagakar chod gaye

The cold mild blow of air left, igniting a fire in mind.

Phool khile shakon pe naye

Aur dard purane yaad aye

Flowers bloomed upon the boughs, and I remembered the old wounds .

Postlude – I tried to travel through the mind of the lyricist, and from what I could decipher , it’s the emotions of the lover who has got separated from the beloved . Love is a complex emotion, and there are only a few in the world who are able to work it through its ups and downs . The first line of the song explains how the emotion of love has its own expectations and desires . The lover reminisces about the moments the lover spent with his beloved . It is not always possible to fulfil all the expectations due to many constraints . In the beginning stages of love , the heart of the lover felt like a garden blooming with vibrant colours of flowers, and there was joy everywhere as he celebrated the feeling of love with nature . But at the same time there was the apprehensiveness of the unpredictability of love, like  the dust of wilted flowers blowing off in the air due to separation from the beloved. 

The lover remembered all the moments of grief felt when the beloved got separated from him . The separation of the beloved from the lover had such a drastic impact on him that he used to get scared when people used to mock and laugh at him in his state . He used to cry silently, dealing with his emotions alone . His plight made him remember about two lovers deeply immersed in thoughts, thinking of bringing their love to fruition and dreaming of a happily ever after . The cold blow of air ignited a fire in the mind of the lover as he recollected all his memories spent with his love . The blooming of the flowers in the boughs made the lover remember about the old wounds . The vicissitudes of nature bring myriad memories into the heart of the lover .