Songs of the Messenger

(Posted on Trivia – The Spice of Life on 28/04/2024)

Today, conveying a message to someone happens even before an eyelid is batted. That is of course attributable to the inherent power of digital technology. Delivery of mail as well as goods is also easy with robust postal and courier services operating across continents. But then, it was not always this easy or fast.

https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/

History is replete with examples of how messages were conveyed over long distances, even when there were no means of telecommunication. In the beginning, deliveries were made on foot, more specifically by running. The Greeks even worshiped a Messenger God named Hermes, who had wings attached to his feet. Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, back in 490 BC, delivered the message of the Greeks’ victory over the Persians at Marathon after running all the way to Athens. The legend goes that he ran 42 km to Athens, delivered the message and died of exhaustion right afterwards. This is the origin of the Olympic Marathon’s running distance of approximately 42 km. Later on, runners were gradually replaced by homing pigeons, stage coaches, horse riders and pony riders, among others.

https://dtar-27237.medium.com/the-meghad

In Hinduism, Vayu Dev (God of the winds) as well as Narada Muni are considered divine messengers. In Indian literature, Meghadūtam a lyric poem written by Kālidāsa describes how a Yakṣha  who had been banished by his master to a remote region for a year, asks a cloud to take a message of love to his wife. The poem became well-known in Sanskrit literature and inspired other poets to write similar poems (known as “messenger-poems”). Here is verse 5 of Meghadutam in Sanskrit followed by the English translation of Mallinatha’s Sanskrit commentary.

धूमज्योतिः सलिलमरुतां संनिपातः क्व मेघः
संदेशार्थाः क्व पटुकरणैः प्राणिभिः प्रापणीयाः ।
इत्यौत्सुक्यादपरिगणयन् गुह्यकस्तंइत्यौत्सुक्यादपरिगणयन् गुह्यकस्तं ययाचे
कामार्ता हि प्रकृतिकृपणाश्चेतनाचेतनेषु ॥ ५॥

What possible connection can there be between
a cloud which consists of smoke, light, water and wind,
and messages which can be carried by creatures endowed
with sound organs of sense? Unmindful of this,
through eagerness, the Yaksha, requested the cloud; for love-smitten persons are naturally incapable of distinguishing 
between animate and inanimate things.

This is the cue perhaps that lyricists of film songs have picked to pen songs where messengers are both animate and inanimate. Lovers who often lose their sense of ratiocination cannot distinguish between animate and inanimate things when it comes to messengers. Most often, anything that can fly or move from place to place is made a messenger. Thus, in our songs there are messengers right from the moon, the clouds and the various elements to the crow, pigeon, doe, and of course the postman being depicted as messengers; there is also the anonymous messenger who is referred to as कोई (koi, which I have not explored in this post). Entreaties are made to these messengers to carry a message or two to the lover; sometimes they are also given the additional responsibility of getting a response. So here are the several messengers that figure in songs. There are some who are employed more often than the other.

1) The Moon – The moon dons various hats when it comes to our film songs. The moon is sometimes the witness, at other times a metaphor for the lover and of course a messenger. There are several songs where the moon is pressed into service to do the honours. However, the song I have chosen is a duet from the film Banjarin, where the duet is a long distance one and surprisingly, some parts are sung together with two frames being juxtaposed. In this song, the moon is being asked to also be a scribe and thus write the address of the lover.

Chanda Re Mori Patiya Le Jaa (Banjaarin) (1960) – Pt Madhur – Chand Pardesi – Lata Mangeshkar & Mukesh.

jo likh sake jawab unhe tu
mera pata bata de re chanda re

2) Clouds – Clouds are a favourite with lyricists with the pioneer being Poet Kalidasa in Meghdutam. Since some clouds are dark and rain-bearing, they are perfect to draw a parallel with tears flowing from the kohl-lined eyes of the lady, even as they serve as a faithful messenger. No wonder, the Yaksha chooses the cloud as his emissary, in Meghadutam. Since there can be no better example of the cloud acting as the messenger than the megh of Meghadutam, I have chosen a song from the movie Kavi Kalidasa. The opening lines of the song are O Ashaadh Ke Pehle Baadal (which features very prominently in the beginning of Meghadutam). Interestingly, Mohan Rakesh’s seminal play Aashadh Ka Ek Din, which draws the title from Meghadutam’s verse, is the story of Kalidasa.

O Ashaadh Ke Pehle Baadal – Kavi Kalidas (1959) – Bharat Vyas – S N Tripathi – Manna De & Lata Mangeshkar.

3) The Wind – This element of nature has often been made messenger for it blows fast from one place to another. Hawa, pavan or saba (हवा, पवन, सबा ) as the wind is referred to in songs, has featured in many a song. I have chosen a wonderful but lesser heard song of Jaidev from the movie Do Boond Paani. As the title of the film suggests, the movie is about the severe water scarcity in a village of Rajasthan. In this song is Simi Garewal who plays the role of a village woman who has to deal with water scarcity as well as the migration of her husband. She asks the wind to go to the land of her husband and convey her message to him – about her loneliness, her pining and also to tell him not to return without accomplishing his mission.

Ja Ri Pawaniya Piya Ke Des Ja – Do Boond Paani (1971) – Kaifi Azmi – Jaidev – Asha Bhosle.

4) The Sakhi/Saheli – The sakhi/saheli (of the female protagonist) very often also serves as a messenger. While this is quite common in movies, surprisingly there are hardly any songs where the sakhi/saheli is requested to deliver a message. Here is the only song that I found, which is of the vintage era. Only the audio of the song is available. The sakhi is being requested by the lady (?) to deliver the message. From the way the song sounds, it appears to be a stage song.

Ja Ri Sakhi More Pee Ko Suna De – Zamindar (1942) – Bahzad Lucknowi – Ghulam Haider – Shamshad Begam & Umrao Zia Begam.

5) The Postman or Daak Babu – The daak babu was a very important character in the golden era both in the development of the plot as well as songs. He not only delivered letters but also doubled up as a scribe to pen messages because he was often the only literate person in the village. [Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008) in fact is a wonderful movie on this dimension. ]The female protagonist is usually seen waiting for a letter from the beloved or getting one written to him by the daak babu. I have chosen a less popular song from a movie called Pehali Shaadi(1953). It is not clear whether the movie was ever released. Only the audio of the song, which is again of poor quality – is available.

O Daak Babu Are O Daak Babu – Pehali Shaadi(1953) – D.N.Madhok – Robin Chatterjee – Shamshad Begum.

6) The Butterfly – The butterfly is more often than not used to signify romance and coming of age. Its bright coloured wings and its flight are an apt subject for love poetry. It is seldom used as a messenger. The only song that I came across where the butterfly is used as a messenger is from the movie Patang (1960). Since the butterfly anyway goes to the place where her beloved resides, why can’t it act as her messenger too?(Incidentally the patang or kite can and has been used as a messenger in a song which I will list next.)

Rang Dil Ki Dhadkan Bhi Laati To Hogi – Patang (1960) – Rajinder Krishan – Chitragupta – Lata Mangeshkar.

jaa ree ai titli nagariya pee ki tu jaanaa
ho bhala tera khabar kuchh unki le aanaa
tu wahan par vaisi bhi jaati to hogi

7) The Kite – The kite, though inanimate, can work wonders when its string lands in the hands of lyricists. Rajinder Krishan perhaps loved to use the metaphor of the kite in his songs. While there are several songs where kite-flying is shown, it is perhaps in this song from Dillagi (1949) that the famous girl gang of Suraiya sings about the kite and at the same time teases/sympathizes with her condition of being smitten by love. They describe how the kite has outdone the bird in flying and is crossing the Ganga to deliver a message to the beloved. The way the tempo of the song is altered when the girls are excited about saving their kite and snapping the string of the opponent is really delightful.

Meri pyaari patang chali baadal ke sang – Dillagi (1949) – Shakeel Badayuni – Naushad – Shamshad Begam & Uma Devi.

..Dekho patang mori
Gangaa ke paar chali
le ke sandesaa moraa
saajan ke dwaar chali
panchhi se chheen liyaa
udne kaa dhang
zaraa dheere-dheere
ho zaraa haule-haule
de dheel de dheel ho ri sakhi

8) The Crow – There are several omens associated with the crow. For Example – if a crow sits on your balcony and caws loudly, it indicates that guests are expected to arrive at your place. Also the kauva (कौआ /कागा or crow) is often looked down upon for not being melodious – especially when pitted against the black koyal (कोयल/cuckoo). Thus, the songs often refer to these two aspects – the coming of guests and the lack of melody in its cawing. But there is a song of Lata Mangeshkar’s composed by Vinod which music lovers believe is one of her best. In this song, the crow is called upon to get a message as well as deliver one by the lady to her lover, who is in a distant land and is cross with her.

Kaaga Re Jaa Re Jaa Re – Wafa (1950) – Aziz Kashmiri – Vinod – Lata Mangeshkar.

Jaa re jaa re ae
more piyaa kaa sandeswaa aa aa
laa re laa re laa re
kaagaa re
jaa re jaa re ae

ud jaa re o kaale kaagaa
jaa saajan ke dwaaar
kehnaa uss bedardi se
kaahe diyaa bisaar
binaa dosh ke o nirmohi
kaahe rooth gayaa re
jaa re....

door des ke jaane waale
le jaa mere bain
kehnaa tujh bin nain baawre 
rote hain din rain
meri dashaa dikhlaane ko o
do nain mere le jaa re
jaa re....

[ The lyrics of the second antara are rather interesting. They borrow the idea from Baba Sheikh Farid’s couplet :

Kaaga karang Dhadoliya saglaa Khaaiyo Mass
Aey Do Nainaan Mat Chhuchho pir dekhan ki aas 

which has often been used in films as

Kaga sab tan khaaiyo chun chun khaiyo maas
Do naina mat khaaiyo mohe piya milan ki aas

But in the second antara, the lady says that the crow should take her eyes along to actually show to the lover how grief stricken she is. This is a major departure from the couplet of Baba Farid that the lyricist Aziz Kashmiri makes. ]

9) The Pigeon (also envelope) – The pigeon has of course been one of the time tested messengers used by the police and other agencies. Our film songs use them largely for delivering love messages. The song that I have chosen is from a lesser known movie called Deedar-e-Yaar, which is a Muslim Social set in Nawabi Lucknow. The hero – Rishi Kapoor – has written a love note and kept it in an envelope (lifaafa) and he addresses it and asks it to take inspiration from the pigeon and deliver the message without any fiasco. Both Kafi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi are credited for this song. Sahir Ludhianvi perhaps began writing it but passed away and Kaifi Azmi completed it. The song has some amateurish animation of a pigeon which reminds you of Ek Chidiya Anek Chidiya of Doordarshan.

Chala Chal Lifaafe Kabootar Ki Chaal – Deedaar e Yaar(1982) – Sahir Ludhianvi/Kaifi Azmi – Laxmikant Pyarelal – Kishore Kumar.

Video link of the song

10) The Doe/Deer – The doe is an animal which is praised for its gait and eyes. But to imagine a doe/deer to be a qaasid (or messenger) is rather difficult. But in the movie Laila Majnun (1976), Majnun who is distraught and pining for Laila – who has been married off to another man – is in a desert and he suddenly spots a deer and requests it to be his qaasid. He says that the qaasid cannot speak but can surely express his message through its eyes. And the doe/deer reaches Laila and she immediately understands that it is Majnun’s message that the qaasid has brought. She sends a message back with the qaasid which is again delivered to Majnun, who cannot stop praising the qaasid.

Ae qaasid tu jab pahunche mere dildaar ke aage  – Laila Majnun (1976) – Sahir Ludhianvi – Jaidev – Md. Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar.

ae qaasid tu jab pahunche mere dildaar ke aage
adab se sar jhukaana husn ki sarkaar ke aage
zubaan se gar na keh paaye to aankhon se bayaan karna
mere gham ka har ek qissa mere ghamkhwaar ke aage

kehna ek deewana teri....

kehna mere deewaane se
Laila teri amaanat hai....

sadqe jaaoon iss qaasid par
jiss se yeh paighaam milaa
jiss se yeh paighaam milaa
meraa qaatil meraa maseehaa
ab bhi bhi mujh par martaa hai

This brings me to the end of my post. This post has been an endeavour to shift the focus from the message to the messenger i.e. from the khabar/paigaam/sandes to the doot/qaasid/sandeshvaahak. I have also tried to show the various messengers that lyricists have innovatively thought of in addition to the postman and pigeon.

Disclaimer

anitamultitasker.wordpress.com, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from YouTube/ Daily Motion and other platforms only to make the post audio-visual. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.