Civil War

Benazir Bhutoo's assassination has confirmed that Pakistan is heading towards a major political crisis and a civil war might soon follow. Now that is really bad news, not just for the people of Pakistan but also for we Indians. I just hope that people of Pakistan awaken at this point and fight against these religious fundamentalists.

The G'NR song "Civil War" comes to my mind when I think about what's happening in Pakistan. It depicts how they are fighting a meaningless war in the name of religion and God.

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land

And I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war

Look at the shoes your filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before

Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights'
Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need one more war

What's so civil about the war anyways?

Saloon on the Road

We saw these unique saloons in Lucknow. Though had seen these on TV, it was quite funny to see this in reality :). I wonder how people feel comfortable in such a setup :)

The Mystery Solved

Though I don't follow Indian classical music to a great extent, there are songs/ragas that I really like. Especially the songs like Piya Bawari, Man tarpat hain, Ek Shahenshah ne etc. However, the song I like the most in this category is "Laaga chunari me daag" from the movie Dil Hi To Hain (1963). But I never understood the meaning of this song. First of all I didn't understand why a man is singing this song as the lyrics would suggest that it is more of a woman centric song.

The only thing that I could imagine was that a woman is singing this song after having gone through a lot of problems in her life. But finally this mystery was solved when Javed Akthar explained the real meaning of this song in the reality TV show "Mission Ustaad", which I watch just because A R Rahman is a judge.

According to him, this is a philosophical song. In the song, "Chunari" is referring to our "Soul". So essentially the song talks about a man who has come to this earth ("Sasural") from the God's abode ("Baabul") and after coming here, due to his greed has committed lots of sins and polluted his soul ("Hogayi maili mori chunariya"). The man is now contemplating how he will face God after going back to him.

It really bowled me over. What a nice way to convey such great thoughts in such simple words! It also made me realise that I didn't listen to the lyrics of the entire song as the last few lines in the song really explain what it is all about.

Here are the lyrics of the song:

Laagaa, Chunarii Me Daag, Chhupaaun Kaise
Laagaa, Chunarii Me Daag
Chunarii Me Daag, Chhupaaun Kaise, Ghar Jaau Kaise
Laagaa, Chunarii Me Daag ...

Ho Gayi Mailii Morii Chunariyaa
Kore Badan Sii Korii Chunariyaa
Aa ... Jaake Baabul Se, Nazaren Milaau Kaise, Ghar Jaaun Kaise
Laagaa, Chunarii Me Daag ...

Bhuul Gayi Sab Bachan Bidaa Ke
Kho Gayi Main Sasuraal Me Aake
Aa ... Jaake Baabul Se, Nazare Milaaun Kaise, Ghar Jaaun Kaise
Laagaa, Chunarii Me Daag ...

Korii Chunariyaa Aatmaa Morii
Mail Hai Maayaa Jaal
Woh Duniyaa More Babul Kaa Ghar
Ye Duniyaa Sasuraal
Haan Jaake, Baabul Se, Nazare Milaaun Kaise, Ghar Jaaun Kaise
Laagaa, Chunarii Me Daag ...