I havent read Rabindranath Tagore's Chokher Bali. But have seen various versions of the story in hindi over the years. When I first saw the show, I interpreted it as Ashalata and Binodini as complementary pieces of jewellery like a necklace and earrings set. They are very different but they go together as a whole and complement each other just like a necklace and earring. Not sure if this was the intended meaning or a misintepretations. Apparently, Chokher Bali in Bengali means grain of sand in the eye. That beloved Binodini is a grain of sand in the eye for Ashalata. They are not one of a whole, they are not individual pieces of jewellery that not only complements but goes together. Was I reading too much into this? For me Binodini and Ashalata are matching jewelry pieces.
Another one, misinterpreted. This one goes like this 'Pairon me na saya koi sar pe na sayi re'. There is neither shade for my feet nor my head. Sayi is it feminine gender for saya? Or is it poetic licences something added for the tune and meter. Another far fetched one maybe, a refernce to Sai's blessings maybe. Something like I dont have gods blessings on my head Then it dawned one fine day, she means ink, red ink that signifies that she is married. She means she has no shade to rest her feet nor refuge of marriage. Maybe this one is more far fetched than the other. Maybe misinterpreted or interpreted as seems fit.
Has it ever happened that you have been singing a song all your life and you realise that you have been singing it wrongly. We had an old cassette at home. Not sure how we had it. Did dad buy it? Did we borrow it? Not sure. But we had it and we played those songs over and over again. And we knew all the words and we sang it at the top of our voice, everytime we played it. We were singing 'Jahaan charya miljaye wahi raat gujar jaye'. If you had asked me the meaning, I would have told you, wherever I find shelter there I spend my time. Strangely, I havent heard that song in a while. This is one of the songs that I have never seen it picturized. It was something that was played in a tape recorder as we called it. I search for that song in youtube and realise that it was never Charya it was always Chaar yaar 4 friends. I would say our version makes more sense.
Comments
Post a Comment