Headphones On?

I vividly remember the time this song got into my head. It was in 2014, April.. I was lying down in my small 1BHK apartment in Choolaimedu, Chennai, after a long tiring day at work. I was 22 then, the boy who was pampered and surrounded by people, always ready to head out for work with a passion, living all alone, managing food by getting them from hotels in every nook and corner of Chennai. The world was quite new but you could say that I was enjoying the phase. But, at night, it was quite different. I used to feel super lonely and only music filled-up those voids of my lonely nights. Especially this song!

I was using a Nokia Lumia 720 then, it came with an in-built Nokia Music app for streaming music. A random shuffle of playlist was when this song hit my screen. I’d seen the movie earlier, so obviously, had heard the song, enjoyed it for that moment and moved on. But, on that night, it was different. It made me emotional. I cried.

"ban liya apna paigambar
tar liya tu saat samandar
phir bhi sookha mann ke andar
kyun reh gaya?"

("You tried to be your own God
and crossed all seven seas
But your heart is still dry
Why is it so?")

Ached a bit. No idea why!

Kabira remains one of my go-to songs when I’m exhausted or even when I go on a trip. It’s also my companion during all the window-seat travels and one among the few songs that make me stop and realize the meaning of things around me & ultimately, makes me listen to myself. It’s nothing less than a Rumi quote.

In YJHD, Naina hugs Kabir tight and that’s when this song begins. He stands there in his own world, at Aditi’s grand wedding and notices Naina walking along with her, the sight of whom leaves him dumbstruck. Maybe it was also when those “Is she the one?” bells rang in his mind.

I’ve written about Iktara before. This song comes from the same director – Ayan Mukherji, striking his collab with the Hit Machine Pritam. (He had Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy & Amit Trivedi for Wake Up Sid). With just 2 films, Ayan has etched his mark through all of his song placements and beautifully portraying the nuances in human emotions. He was also smart with the visuals of this song especially.

Sung by Rekha Bhardwaj and Tochi Raina, this song has that motherly comfort; Amitabh Bhattacharya has penned his heart out as Kabir and has given a voice to his soul & Pritam has carefully constructed the song to give you a trancy groove. It runs just for 3:43 but has a fab repeat value. I’d play it on repeat atleast thrice!

I suggest you to listen to the song even if you don’t understand Hindi. I’m sure you’ll love it. You’ll connect to it 🙂

(Special mention is to the Encore version of this song, sung by my favorite Harshdeep Kaur and Arijit Singh. That’s a bit extended version of the original and runs for 4:30 with some different arrangements. I’d say, both the songs are a ‘must’ on your playlist!)

Write to me if you discovered the song through me or if you revisited it after reading the post. Also write about how much you love it. I’ll be happy to read them! 🙂

Live – Listen – Love

Yours truly, Pattukkaaran 🙂 Bye!