Wednesday, July 23, 2014

I hate you- Sona!




I am that person who likes to call a spade, a spade. Generally I am sober except during my PMS or when someone does things where I feel it is justified to be mad at.

One of them is-  Insult to literature.

In any language, mispronunciation changes meanings. It becomes a laughing matter which I have written about previously. But when it comes to art and literature, it "affects" its beauty and to my belief, beyond forgiveness. 

And one such thing out of that being- wrong pronunciations when it comes to Punjabi literature. I am not Masters in Literature but I feel when you become a torch-bearer, you should either do it well or should politely hand it over to a worthy person.

You need to be a person of substance to sing Bulle Shah. You need to be soulfully worthy to even expect to pronounce his divine couplets. Just because you can show off your fashion statement or you have married a popular music director, you don't earn to be a Sufi singer- please limit yourself to meaningless indipop albums.  

Cutting the story short, this blog is dedicated towards my hatred towards the singer Sona Mahapatra (and love towards Bulle Shah) for singing (read ruining) and insulting this beautiful poem "Tere Ishq Nachaya" by Punjabi legend Bulle Shah. The pronunciation is so bad, that it changes the meanings and hence the beauty.

This is how this woman has ruined it:


Song 
Actual meaning  
Comments  
Tere ishq nachaya
Kar ke thaiya ve thaiya.
Jaldi aaja ve tabiba,
Nahi te main mar gaiyan.
Your love has made me dance,
Like a mad person.
Oh healer (Shah Inayat) come fast,
Or else I shall die.

Shah Inayat is Bulle Shah's Master. This poem basically is written as his dedication/love towards his Master.
Is ishq ki bagiya, me mayur aagaye.
Maine kaba-te-kibla mere yaar me paye.
Mujhe kar ke jo ghayal,
Mudd ke khabar na laiyan.
Peacocks have entered in this garden of love.
I found both Kaba & Kiblah in your love.
After having stabbed me,
You don’t even ask any news of me.
Is ishq dagar se, mujhe mod na maye,
Lahoo jate bede, kaun mod ke laye,
Meri akkal jo bhulli,
Sang malaahon ke gayian.
On this path of love, O mother, do not dissuade me,
For who can hold a boat once it has set to sail,
I was foolish,
I joined the Boatmen’s squad
Actual word- Malahon ਮਲਾਹੋੰ (Boatmen)
She pronounces as- Mai Lahon ਮੈਂ ਲਾਹੋੰ  (I remove... what??)
My reaction- oh just shut up!!
Bulleh Shah chal chaliye Inayat de boohe,
Jisne pehnaye hame,
Sawe te soohe.
Maine maari jo addi mil gaye peeya o dhaiya.
O Bulleh Shah, sits at Shah Inayat’s door,
The one who has dressed me,
In green and red.
When I tapped my feet and danced, I found my beloved.
Actual word- Chal Chaliye ਚਲ ਚਲਿਏ  (Lets go)
She pronounces as- Chhal Chhaliye ਛਲ  ਛਲੀਏ ( Lets deceive)
 -----------------------------
Actual word- Addi ਅੱਡੀ (Ankle )
She pronounces as- Atti ਅੱਟੀ (An Elevation)
My reaction- Shame on you!
Tere ishq ne dera mere andar keeta.
Bhar zehar pyala, main aap hi peeta.
Your love has established itself within me.
This bowl of poison I drank myself.



The Learning Curve:

Once Dilip Kumar made a comment about Lata Mangeshkar"You'll like her voice when you hear her. But their Urdu pronunciation isn't correct and in their singing you can smell 'daal-bhaat' (implying a Marathi accent would come through in the pronunciation of Urdu)."
Lata felt terribly hurt and this made her learn Urdu so that she could pronounce it correctly- "When I speak, my Urdu isn’t very good but when I sing I make sure there are no flaws in my diction,".
About singing in other languages she says: "I first listen to someone who speaks the language and who reads the lyrics to me. I pay great attention to pronunciation. Once I hear the words spoken, I wrote the song lines phonetically in Hindi and then sing.

So Sona, here is a lesson for you to learn to be modest. If not more, at least 50 different singers have sung the same song. Pl YouTube it! 

And this wasn't enough. This is what I got to hear exactly on the same day when I am writing this. Incidentally or co-incidentally.  This is life!! 



P.S. Sona Mohapatra, even if you continue to remain my brother's crush, I am gonna hate you for the rest of 'your' life. Huh!



4 comments:

  1. I like Sonam Kapoor now. Not Sona anymore. Don't write about Sonam now, else I'll report abuse. :P

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  2. Let’s not forget the composer.

    TereIshqNachaya is a Punjabi Sufi song composed by 18th-century mystic-poet Syed Abdullah Shah Qadri(1680–1757). Of course, he is better known as Baba Bulle(h) Shah[ਬੁੱਲ੍ਹੇਸ਼ਾਹ]. The man who composed this, was initially refused by the mullahs to be buried after his death in the community graveyard because of his unorthodox views. The tomb of Baba Bulle(h) Shah is in Qasur (Pakistan) The qafis (a style of Punjabi, Sindhi and Saraiki poetry) of Baba Bulleh Shah have reflected a tumultuous time in the history of Punjab. The poet perceives radical changes taking place in society around him. This was the middle of 18th century when the Sikh power was in the ascendancy and the Mughal power was waning.
    Sufism had a very distinct influence on Guru Nanak

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  3. …..In the rendering of Thyaagaraaja's songs, the failure to observe the meaning of the words of the song has produced bizarre results. Thyaagaraaja's songs are in Telugu. Tamil musicians, who are experts in music, rendering Thyaagaraaja's songs have often mangled the words of the songs and made them meaningless. In one of his songs, Thyaagaraaja sang: "Ne pogadakunteneekemikodhavuRaama?" (If I do not praise you, what do you lose Oh Raama?). A Tamil musician sang the song in such a manner that it meant: "If I eat pakodas, what do you lose?" It is essential to ensure that the meaning of the words, the emotional feeling of the composer and the melody of the song are all brought out in rendering the songs during Nagarsankeerthan and in bhajans. Where one does not understand the meanings of the words, he should get the meaning from those who know……

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