Bahu
manorathe saaju avisaare pahlu suneel besh
Kajar nayaane salaaj bayane kusume
sajanu kesh
Sakhi
hum, mohan avisaare
jaaun
Bolo
hum, etath sukh kahan paaun
Jamunar
pare, gahana
aandhare, ghana nipaban
maajhe
Piya setha more bedana katare mohe
laagi baithi aache
Sakhi
hum, mohan avisaare jaaun
Bolo hum, etath sukh kahan paaun
Sakhi
chira abhagini hum
Baithe ekakini pohanu rajani tobu naa
aailo shyam
Sakhi
chira abhagini hum
Krishna kajal pighal sajal nayaner nir
dhare
Eka
khina patha britha manaratha bifala avisaare
Sakhi hum, kabhu naa avisaare jaaun
Dukh
laaj etath sah nahi paaun
Britha manorathe saaju avisaare pahlu
suneel besh
Kajar
nayaane salaaj bayane kusume sajanu kesh
Fir aaj yun, mohan avisaare jaaon
Sakhi
bol etath dukh kahan paaun
----------------------------
____________
Sometimes a song will hit you
suddenly, a word, a tune, the feeling. It will be a known song,
which you have heard a number of times, but not really paid attention. You
liked it. But sometimes it will mesmerize you all of a sudden.
It happens often with Rabindranath. Suddenly the feelings
match yours and it resonates in your mind. Like O
JE MANENA MANA. One night I was watching Iman
Chakrabarty perform on TV and when she sang Bidhura bikala haye khyapa pabane, faguno kariche ha
ha fulero bane, the entire song hit me. I was angry at my
stupidity at not realizing the emptiness that rang out so loudly throughout the
lyrics. Just because I hummed along with the tune and painted a different
picture.
The other day,
Subhamita was being interviewed on radio and I was humming along the songs she
played. She has a distinctly high pitched voice with a sweet tone, that
demanded and got your whole hearted
attention. And then she played Bahu manorathe
saju abhisare, from
Memories in March. I heard the song before. I liked it. But that day, I got the
full picture portrayed by the Lyricist, Rituparno Ghosh.
How he pens in a
few lines, the yearning lady going to meet her beloved in all her finery, her
anxious journey, her agony at not finding him.
How the happy ‘etath sukh kahan
paun’ melts into a tearful ‘etath dukh kahan
paun’. She swears ‘ Sakhi hum kabhu na
abhisare jau, dukha laj etath saha nahi paun’ only to relent later into ‘ phir aju mohana abhisare jau, sakhi woh , etath dukh kahan paun’. It is a beautiful story
penned in those few lines, set to a haunting melody by Debojyoti Mishra and
rendered to perfection by Subhamita. If you had seen her perform this song in
the event organized to pay respect to Rituparno Ghosh, you may agree with me.
