रंज कि जब गुफ्तगू होने लगी...

The revelry continues. Daag continues to arrest me with his captivating words. The matla of today's ghazal also has been a FB status in the recent past. This ghazal is special because unlike the normal subject of the ghazal which centers around describing the beauty or pain of love, it talks about these sweet-sour moments of enmity between two people (in love). The couplets below caught my attention because of some quibble I recently had with a friend of mine. It goes unsaid that the lyrics are more appealing if you just have had a fight with someone or you hold animosity in your heart for someone. I sincerely hope that you don't find them as appealing as I did back then;). We will talk about a few shers from this ghazal today. The matla is as follows:

रंज कि जब गुफ्तगू होने लगी,
अाप से तुम, तुम से तू होने लगी।

I find worth mentioning two more shers...

चाहिए पैगामबर दोनो तरफ,
लुत्फ क्या जब दुबदु होने लगी।

Verbatim:

पैगामबर - messenger(s)
दुबदु - face to face.

The above couplet talks about how when you need to communicate with someone whom you have fought with, you involve others to exchange messages without directly speaking with each other face-to-face. It talks about how two people who are mad @ each other send messages to one another via some intermediary. It insists that one-on-ones are no fun.

मेरी रुस्वाई की नौबत आ गई,
उनकी शोहरत कुबकु होने लगी।

Verbatim:

रुस्वाई - bad mouthing/notoriety.
कुबकु - every place in the neighborhood/town.

The entire ghazal talks about this duel between two people. The expression of hostility is evident in all the couplets. Although, I have gotten past my temporary emotion of antipathy, its only human if some people tick you off the wrong way, you get mad at them. The ghazal beautifully captures this very human emotion and although it pertains to bickering between two people who like each other, it can be generalized to people who have just had a fight.

As for the musical framing of this ghazal, I have heard it sung by Ghulam Ali - the undisputed Badshah of Ghazal singing. The ghazal's set to an evening Raga Bhoopali. Although the normal mood of this raga is meditative, the lyrics of the ghazal, and the tuning of the instruments on this recording sets the tone for bitter emotions. Ghulam Ali is always a master-act and is particularly adept at singing specific words from the Ghazal so as to bring out the emotions adherent to the meaning. If you hear him carefully, you would notice that with his singing he adds such nuances (to the words) that one can literally feel the emotion behind the couplet. He has done that beautifully here as well. Worth mentioning is the various ways in which he sings Ranj, to indicate aversion. Do take a listen to this one; I am sure you would find other versions online, if not, buzz me up and I will share with you the version I have.

--Sifar.

p.s. Please listen to this without having a need to fight with someone ;).