Pasoori (पसूड़ी) is a Punjabi word, that is actually a way of saying 'Bhasoori' (भसूड़ी). Bhasoodi has also resulted in the Hindi slang word bhasad (भसड़), which is close in meaning to 'chaos'. In Punjabi, the meaning of Pasoori is somewhere between problem or trouble, especially one that can be avoided, to sheer pointlessness. Thus, the lines agg laavaan majboori nu, aan jaan di pasoori nu, translate to something like, 'may this compulsion, this pointless trouble of meeting and going away, go to hell ..read more

It was 1994, and the one audio cassette that was playing in every household was Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! And Maye ni Maye, I believe the first song on the cassette, was increasing the income of the neighbourhood dance classes. There was a line in the song that intrigued me for a long while, that went “us jogi ke sang meri tu kar de ab kudmaai.” That stumped me because neither I, nor the people I knew, seemed to know what this kudmaai was. A few years later, when the Internet was there to help us, I found out that it was a Punjabi word, which meant engagement, sagaai, roka, basically deciding th ..read more

Zinda is Hindi/Urdu for 'alive', while 'banda' is a casual word for a person. Originally 'banda' meant a follower of god, but it has now become synonymous with a 'person' in casual language. Hence, the words 'Zinda banda' literally mean someone who is alive. While the words may literally sound odd, poetically, they would mean someone who is lively or energetic. Zinda Banda is the title of a song from Jawan (also spelled as Jawaan). Jawan is a word used for a soldier, though it literally means 'young ..read more

Ve Kamleya is the title of a song from the film Rocky aur Rani kii Prem Kahani. The word 'kamleya' comes from kamla, meaning a crazy person, and is the vocative form of the word, that is, a form used when you call someone. So when you say 've kamleya', it means 'O crazy one', and thus, the line 've kamleya mere naadaan dil' means 'O my crazy, naïve heart ..read more

The song uses the gender-independent, ‘respectful’ pronouns for the beloved about whom the protagonist is talking. Therefore, ‘they/them’ is used while translating since it’s not specified it’s a woman he’s talking about or even that it’s an exclusively romantic love, though these are the common assumptions. humne kiye aise sawaal jinka mila na jawaab unse TooT gaya mera jahaan jisko dhaage se banaaya bunke I asked questions for which I didn’t get the answer from them. My world broke, that I had weaved with threads (of love). ajnabi hue wo, jo kabhi thhe apne aaya na phir kabhi mud ke wo, hu ..read more

tumhein dil nisaar karte tumhein jaan nisaar karte Wasn't it supposed to be 'tumpe dil nisaar karte'? (Of course that wouldn't fit the meter here, but just talking of the grammar.) But then of course, one can take some poetic liberty, as long as the meaning of the lyrics doesn't go some other way, and they are understood by people. Except that in case of words like 'nisaar', things can go the 'other' way very quickly. Nisaar means to sacrifice, and if not used carefully, it can go kinda... wrong. That is to say, instead of saying sacrificing 'for someone', you might sacrifice that someone ..read more

How many times do we get to listen to lyrics which are not only fun, but also talk about the character a little, and then even add some figures of speech, or alankaars, as they are called in Hindi? The lyrics from Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan starrer Zara Hatke Zara Bachke seem to do that in quite a few places, thanks to Amitabh Bhattacharya's nuanced writing for the film. I mean there is 'Baby tujhe paap lagega' there in the film too, but interestingly, the two songs which seem to be doing really well are the ones I'm going gaga over — namely 'Tere Vaaste' and 'Phir aur kya chaahiye ..read more

Dafa kar is a song composed and sung by A R Rahman for the film Heropanti 2. The song is written by Mehboob Kotwal. 'dafa kar' or 'dafaa kar' (दफ़ा कर) is an interesting choice of words which uses two of the meanings of the word 'dafa'. One of the meanings of 'dafa' is to ward something off. It's used as 'dafa hona' or 'dafa karna'. So when you say 'dafa ho' to someone, you ask them to just go away, and if you say 'isey dafa kar' for something, you are asking them to get rid of it. Another meaning of 'dafa' is times or occasions. That is, if you do something twice, you could say you did it 'do ..read more

Ratti (Hindi: रत्ती) is an Indian unit to measure small amounts of something, generally used for jewellery etc. It's a little less than a fifth of a gram, 0.182g to be precise. That's why it's used to signify something very small in poetry and songs. Reza (Hindi: रेज़ा) is an Urdu word of Persian origin which means a particle, or a very small piece of something, often a gem. Hence, the line ratti ratti reza reza jo hai tera le jaana means take away with you even the smallest thing that is yours, the smallest thing that you have given me ..read more

Music and Lyrics: Mithoon Singer: Arijit Singh Music Label: T-Series ghar se thhe chale to ye baat ho gayi na jaane kyun unse mulaaqaat ho gayi nazrein aise wo Takra gayi(n) ke humein aashiqui aa gayi aa gayi When I started from home, This happened. I don’t know why, I met her. Our eyes met such that I learned to love. yaar ki dilkashi bha gayi bha gayi ke humein aashiqui aa gayi I fell for the beloved’s attraction. Such that I learned to love. baRi deewani si raat thi huyi ghani barsaat thi hawaaon se uljhi woh zulfein unhone thaam jo lee(n) to zulfein aise wo bikhra gayi ke humein aashi ..read more