I wanted to share a song that is so nostalgic from the 90s era. It's a Sufi rock song that originally hails from the Pakistani pop band Junoon (featuring Salman Ahmed on the guitars). First this is the song:
Junoon - Sayonee (Official Music Video)
I did not know until recently that the story of the song evokes folk tale of Sassi-Pannu about separation from divine/Beloved (Sayonee: Lamenting the Cruelty of Fate - The Khusrau Circle). Infact the words "kon mode muhaar" in the song actually refer to reins (muhaar) of the camel that is connected to the story that can be read at the link above.
In the music video, a boy gets kidnapped and becomes homeless and separated from his mother. He is shown striving and struggling to find his soulmate while going through innumerable hardships and even after he is grown up, the struggle does not cease, neither does the search. The boy is thus constantly on the run, almost analogous to the whirling of the Sufi dervish who is constantly spinning, that's' where the Sufism aspect of the song comes into play. Sadly, as the cruel wheel of fate keeps on spinning too, the boy never gets peace or meets his mother or the soulmate, reflecting cruel fate of some...
The song lyrics and translation (available from link Sayonee: Lamenting the Cruelty of Fate - The Khusrau Circle ) are:
Text, Transliteration, and Translation
سیّو نی
सैय्यो
नी
sayyo ni
O my friends!
چین ایک پل نہیں اور کوئی حل نہیں
चैन
एक पल नहीं और
कोई हल नहीं
chain ek pal naheeN aur koi hal naheeN
I have not a moment of peace, and there is no solution!
کون موڑے مہار کوئی سانول نہیں
कौन
मोड़े मुहार कोई सांवल नहीं
kaun moRe muhaar koi saanwal naheeN
Who shall turn the camel’s reins? My beloved is no longer here.
کیا بشر کی بساط آج ہے کل نہیں
क्या
बशर की बिसात आज
है कल नहीं
kya bashar ki bisaat aaj hai kal naheeN
What is a human’s worth? He is here today, but not tomorrow!
چھوڑ میری خطا تو تو پاگل نہیں
छोड़
मेरी ख़ता तू तो
पागल नहीं
chhoR meri khata tu to paagal naheeN
Leave my mistakes behind, for you are not also mad!
What I find somewhat nostalgic is that I still have vivid memory connected to this song when I would hear it a lot (along with other favorite songs in my cassettes) probably around 10-12 years old. A specific vision is glued. I still remember as I heard this song I was gazing in a small mirror kept at face height on a wood platform and from the side window, the sun rays pour in right over such that I see half of my face in the mirror but other half remains so deeply illuminated that it's difficult to identify if it indeed it was me or another face but the eye color appeared to change to amber brown so it was not my eye color for sure....I wonder how human memory is so amazing that certain events /visions remain strongly imprinted connected to sounds/music....
