Petal pushers: Poonam Saxena writes on spring
Now that Holi is over, we should metal ourselves for the blazing summer season months forward (although no quantity of planning can actually put together one).
Maybe, as we wait, the reminiscence of spring could sweeten the stifling months to return.
Spring in Delhi is fleeting however terribly beautiful (as it’s throughout a lot of northern India). The winter chill step by step abates till, seemingly in a single day, town is ablaze with flowers. The sky is a brilliant blue, with a frisky breeze. Even the dreaded air pollution takes a backseat.
The Hindi phrase for this season is basant or vasant. However I want the Urdu phrase bahaar, as a result of it’s such an evocative umbrella time period. It means springtime, but additionally magnificence, a lot, the prime of 1’s life, resurgence, hope, the bloom of youth, Nature in all its splendour, and a lot extra.
Together with all this, it implies love, romance and need.
Over time, Hindi movie songs, all the time an exquisite mirror to our altering seasons, have celebrated bahaar, in all its shades, in so many glad methods.
Within the 1955 movie Azaad, a really younger and interesting Meena Kumari sings “Dekho ji bahar aayi, bagon mein khili hai kaliyan (Look pricey spring has come, within the backyard the buds have bloomed),” as she frolics amongst flowers with a garland in her hair.
9 years later, within the color movie Rajkumar, Sadhana calls to her lover as she celebrates the season in an extravagantly picturised track: “Aaja aai bahar, dil hai bekarar (Come spring is right here, my coronary heart is stressed),” she sings, with a posse of girlfriends, all of them twirling about on floral rafts floating on a placid lake.
Sadhana pops up once more, in Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee (1971; If You’re Right here, So Is Spring). She has a rendezvous along with her boyfriend (Rajendra Kumar) in a flower-filled meadow, with snow-covered mountains within the background. He serenades her with the title track: “Saare zamane pe, mausam suhane pe, is dil deewane pe, veeraani si thi chhayi. Aap aaye, bahaar aayi. (There was vacancy all over the place, within the nice climate, in my coronary heart that’s loopy for you, the world was overcast. Then you definately arrived, and so did spring).”
The youthful exuberance of the time period was captured to nice impact within the track Din Hai Bahar Ke (These Are the Days of Spring) from the 1965 movie Waqt. Within the track sequence, kids vigorously do the twist on a big floating raft, as Sharmila Tagore and Shashi Kapoor sing of their love.
Some of the romantic songs of this season is from the movie Suraj (1966). Unusually, it’s set on a moonlit evening. Rajendra Kumar is in an ardent temper as he sings to Vyjayanthimala: “Baharo phool barsao, mera mehboob aaya hai (Bathe spring flowers all over the place, my beloved is right here)”. Vyjayanthimala wanders dreamily amongst flowering vines and lies down on a floral bower, as dancing peacocks and swaying elephants maintain her firm.
The precise reverse of the phrase bahaar, by the way, is the time period khizan. It means autumn, but additionally decline, decay, outdated age, desolation; a withering of issues. Bollywood has some memorable songs mirroring this temper too. My favorite is the melancholy Kishore Kumar quantity from Do Raaste (1969; Two Roads), during which a lovelorn Rajesh Khanna sings of his heartbreak: “Khizan ke phool pe aati kabhi bahar nahi, mere naseeb mein aye dost tera pyaar nahi (Simply as autumnal flowers by no means see one other spring, I too am not destined in your love, my buddy).”
My favorite bahaar track might be the title quantity from Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966). Within the sequence, Dharmendra is on a practice. “Badal jaaye agar maali, chaman hota nahin khali. Baharen phir bhi aayengi. (The gardener could change, however the backyard gained’t be barren. Spring will nonetheless return.)”
Via the remainder of the track, the message of hope turns into clearer. Instances could change, individuals could change, however the backyard will nonetheless bloom once more.
So, spring and its flowers could also be fading. It might be months earlier than we see them once more. However bahaarein phir bhi aayengi.
(To achieve Poonam Saxena with suggestions, e mail poonamsaxena3555@gmail.com)
