Is mode se jaate hain - Songs I Love
It is weekend song time. There is so much to say about this song, mostly because it is one of my favourites. Lets dive in!
Some songs touch our hearts, but we don’t always know why. As we relax this weekend, let me take you to this song from the 1975 film Aandhi. This song is quite famous, but some interesting poetic insights will make it even more special.
The views are mine, but I could be wrong. So let me know what you think, why, and how much you appreciate this song.
Rarely do we come across great acting with great lyrics. So do watch the song and then let us get to the lyrics and translation.
Is Mod Se Jaate Hain
Film: Aandhi (1975)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
Lyricist: Gulzaar
Music: Rahul Dev Burman
Lyrics and Translation
HER:
Is mod se jaate hain,
kuch sust kadam raste,
kuch tez kadam raahe
From this point,
there go different path,
some leisurely,
some fast-paced
HER:
Is mod se jaate hain,
kuch sust kadam raste,
kuch tez kadam raahe
From this point,
there go different path,
some leisurely,
some fast-paced
HIM:
patthar kee hawelee ko,
sheeshe ke gharondo me
tinkon ke nasheman tak,
is mod se jaate hai…
Some paths leading to stately mansions,
others to glass houses
some to nests of weeds,
all go from this point
HER: (closing stanza)
Is Mod se jaate hain
****
HER:
aandhee kee tarah udakar,
ek raah guzaratee hai
sharamaati huyee koi,
kadamo se utaratee hai
Like a raging storm,
there soars one path,
then with sudden coyness
steps down to the earth,
HER:
in reshamee raaho me,
ek raah to wo hogee
tum tak jo pahuchatee hai,
is mod se jaate hai..
I hope amongst these many velvet paths,
there will be one path,
a path that leads to you
a path that starts from here
HER: (closing stanza)
Is Mod se jaate hain
****
HIM:
ek door se aatee hai,
paas aake palatatee hai
ek raah akelee see,
rukatee hain naa chalatee hai
A path comes from afar,
comes close but turns away,
it is a lonely path,
A path that goes nowhere,
HER:
ye soch ke baithhee hoon,
ek raah to wo hogee
tum tak jo pahuchatee hai,
is mod se jaate hai..
I hope amongst these many velvet paths,
there will be one path,
a path that leads to you
a path that starts from here
HER: (closing song)
Is Mod se jaate hain
kuch sust kadam raste,
kuch tez kadam raahe
From this point,
there go different path,
some leisurely,
some fast-paced
HIM:
patthar kee hawelee ko,
sheeshe ke gharondo me
tinkon ke nasheman tak,
is mod se jaate hai…
Some paths leading to stately mansions,
others to glass houses
some to nests of weeds,
all go from this point
HER: (closing stanza)
Is Mod se jaate hain
About Gulzar's poetry
Gulzar's poetry is a little different from general poetry. Gulzar's poetry is embedded in the dialogue of the context. It often explains or furthers the dialogue in addition to philosophizing about the situation. So often Gulzar's poems are focussed on something simple, daily stuff, and Gulzar assigns meaning to it wisely. Then you come to the song a little later and you realize that there is something deeper, more profound hidden in that small depiction.
Meaning and Analysis
This song explains the situation the characters find themselves in, explaining their excitement, anxiety, future possibilities, their innocent questions to life etc. The "mod" refers in general to a "turn" but also refers to "situation" i.e. "point in life". The song  is looking at future life from present situation of the characters.Â
From this point in life, there are various paths for the characters and their relationship with each other. Some lead to a prosperous, strong, stable (also conservative) but also opaque future and relationship (metaphor of patthar ki haveli, stone mansion), others to fragile, stylish, modern and transparent future and relationship (metaphor of sheeshe ka gharonda, glass house) still others to a temporary nest, risky(say fling), exposed but cosy nevertheless future and relationship (metaphor of tinkon ke nasheman - grass nest).Â
At this point, you see the Gulzar effect where you cannot be sure what the poet emphasizes - opaque-transparent- something in between OR solid-fragile-fling OR conservative-stylish-cozy. I think the poet leaves it to the listener to impose his/her own meaning on this.
Now, look at the second stanza. It refers to a path that soars like a twister and then returns to the ground coyly. To me, the soaring is metaphor for the rising emotions of love and courtship and coy return comes from the brides shy walk down the aisle during her wedding. This stanza talks of the emotions and circumstances leading up to the union of two characters. The last line depicts the innocence of young mind in love which wants to choose a path that leads to her partner amongst all these paths that lay before them.
You can see the narrative being explained and prodded. With a verse Gulzar creates the magic of emotions that we have all felt once but we were at loss for words to express them. Not only words, possibly we were at loss of the wisdom to understand our situation and Gulzar supplies it with words that tug at our hearts.
The final stanza is odd. It talks of a path that comes from afar but turns away before meeting them. It is a lonely path that goes nowhere. We can interpret this stanza in two ways.Â
Firstly, the characters are shown to be mature to know of a path which is lonely. They know they have to work at their relationship, they know the path afar goes nowhere. Then there is the innocence of youth which ignores this option and looks for a path that takes her to the partner.
Secondly, you can look at this stanza as an odd bit. The song starts with characters in their old age reflecting on their youth. So this wisdom gained at a considerable expense of their relationship is supplanted by the older characters on their young self. The last two lines become even more meaningful in this interpretation. Even at the twilight of their life that they have spent on the lonely path (which is the story of the film), they are looking for a path that will bring them together; they still look for hope, Â seek the courage to throw the society norms and take such a path (which is the story that follows in the film).
I prefer the second meaning. It is more romantic and as philosophical as the first. But the beauty is in the acting. The acting in this song makes you believe the first meaning (Sanjeev Kumar is smiling slyly, Suchitra Sen is a bit bubbly and naughty). Then as the movie proceeds the song acquires the second meaning. The second meaning depicts the inner conflict and that conflict is evident in the film (notably in the other song in the film - Tere bina zindagi se koi). Both Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen express it so well in the movie. You end up realizing that what seemed to be something wise was in fact something so deep, wise, romantic and visceral at the same time that you are overwhelmed by the poet's wisdom.
Music
The music of this song is by R. D. Burman and to understand the music, we need to contrast the music of this song and the other song in the same film - Tere bina zindagi main koi.
This song uses lighter music, bubbly but still within the norms. We know RD was perfectly capable of delivering something really funky but instead he chose this. To me, this tallies well with the characters' higher middle-class but conservative background.Â
In Tere bina zindagi main koi the music is strained and melancholy. Note that both use a similar set of instruments, yet the sitar is much more dominating in the first while the tabla-guitar dominates in the second (not really dominates, but rather sets the tune). In the second, you hear the violin straining throughout. It creates a happy-tinge-sad tang to that song. No such thing here though. This one is effervescent, vivacious even when the verse gets philosophical.Â
The singing
The song is sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. These are two all-time greats. Kishore Kumar puts his heart into the song and Lata is maestro-perfectionist. You can feel the enthusiasm and inexperience of youth through the singing.
The acting!
The acting throughout the movie is superb. The older Sanjeev Kumar remembers his past. The youthful Sanjeev Kumar is sly, naughty, intelligent but inexperience shows. Contrast this with Tere bina zindagi main koi where experience makes him restrained, apprehensive, reluctant to believe the possibilities. Suchitra Sen is happy in the first and tensed in second expressing the mood and mental state of both the characters.
Finally
When all the things come together is it a wonder that this is an all-time favourite song? It was written before I was born and to this date it brings more joy and tears than any song since. Hope you love it as much as I do.
Notes:
You can watch the entire movie (from the copyright holder) on YouTube here.