I have a theory…it’s about a
special connection, a special fascination, that Shafqat Amanat Ali has, which inspires
him to create the music that he does- and the theory emerged after watching
some of his recent television appearances.
First, the opening episode of the
season 2 of The Dewarists- on which Shafqat along with the music director duo
of Salim- Suleiman and Fin Greenall created a song called “Let Go”. And then there was MTV unplugged, again into its second
season, where Shafqat featured in the 2nd episode and sang, along with a few of
his very popular hits, a brand new song called “Manmaniyan”
Let go
“Akhiyan wich wasda…nazar ni aaunda/Samajh ni aaundi karamat , teri
Hai yeh kaise mujhme sohbat teri…Akhiyan nu de de aasra
Suna tu hai vaade de khara ve…Akhiyan nu de de aasra
Sab toh sona, tu mere ch rehnda /Hai ae kaisi ajab sajavat teri
Hai ye kaisi mujhme banavat teri..Akhiyan nu de de aasra”
In my eyes you dwell, yet remain invisible- just can’t fathom this enigma
You are within, one with me… Just reassure my eyes
You are true to your words, so I’ve heard- Reveal Yourself and soothe my eyes
You, the most beautiful, resides in me- how mysterious is this magnificence
You take my form and that’s why I am…Let my eyes, too behold this glory
Manmaniyan
“Jagde rehnde na saun, Kaanu vairi hue apne/Bas teriyan rahan te jam gey ne nain mere
Tainu labde ne nain, Phaven din phaven rein/Tainu har vele, kehn, jaaniyan
Das jaa ve dil jaaniyan/Kaanu karna hai manmaniyan
Laaye dere saatho door ve, Kaanu keeta ee majboor/Kinu aakhan dil diyan galaan,Tainu likh likh sanehe ghallan
Teriyan socha ch rehn, Nai thakde kamle nain/Na ik pal lende chein./Dukh tere has- has sehn”
The sleep eludes… my eyes, torment me/ Staring forever at the path you walked on
Searching, day and night/Asking you- Why do you never yield, never relent?You are so far away, and I feel helpless/ Whom do I confide into, have tried reaching out to you
Thinking about you endlessly, they don’t tire, these crazy eyes/ Never resting for a moment, happily they endure this suffering…
So what’s common in both these songs, besides the fact that Shafqat sang them?
One of course is the genre and
mood. Both the songs have the elements of Sufism. Then the lyrics of Shafqat’s
portion in Let Go and of course the song Manmaniyan are both in Punjabi and both
incidentally, have been penned by the man himself. (That Punjabi is the
language that Shafqat has his conversations with God in, is another theory that
I have, but let’s just stick to the present one for now)
So the one common thing in these
two songs that struck me was that both the songs talk about- Eyes! And my
theory is that Shafqat has a special connection and fascination with the word
eyes and its synonyms too, when it comes to his songs…
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.” - Meister Eckhart
This connection with the eyes is not really surprising
because it is a well-known fact that there is a strong Sufi side to Shafqat’s
personality and you can catch a glimpse of it in every song of his. Sufism
often talks about eyes being the gateway to the soul. The eyes and the heart
are the senses of the soul and all three are interconnected. We use our eyes to
see the physical world around us but when we shut our eyes we start looking
inwards.
“I shut my eyes in
order to see”-said Paul Gauguin because when we close our eyes we start
seeing what we are supposed to see- In an attempt to find an inspiration, in
prayer or meditation, while experiencing something beautiful… Many singers,
including Shafqat, often sing with their eyes closed… and we often close ours
while listening to our favorite songs..
“Then love knew it was called love. And when I lifted my eyes to your name, suddenly your heart showed me my way”- Pablo Neruda
Shafqat also is, by his own admission, a hard core romantic.
In fact Sufism is also a form a romance- the highest and the purest- where the
soul romances the Supreme. But even for the mere mortal kind of romance the
significance of the eyes can never be undermined. So poets and songwriters of
all times have written about love at first sight, songs in praise of the eyes
of the beloved, eyes shedding tears of separation, eyes waiting for the lost
love to return and so on…
“Eyes can only capture objects that are already seen in mind. And mind can only see things that are already written in heart.”- Toba Beta
Shafqat has written the lyrics for almost all the songs of
his 3 albums so far. Fuzon’s Saagar was Shafqat’s debut album and the very
first song composed for it was “Aankhon
ke Saagar”. The other equally popular Khamaj talks about the lover who is
silent and urges him to come back – “Nain teehari raah nihare, naino
ko tarsao na”. And then there is another one which is called Akhiyan, pleading the lover never to be
out of sight…
Probably the best song from his next, Tabeer, is Khaireyan
de Naal and it talks about having found enlightenment through love… “Bund Aankhon
se raah dikhe, Raanjhe who jot jagayi” It also has a song called Naina- about eyes that have forgotten
to sleep as they are so lost in love…”Din
mein na soyein bairi, raaton ko jaage, jab se ye paagal naina tere sang laage”
His last released
album was- Kyun Dooriyan, which has a beautiful composition in Pahaari
that talks about how a pall of gloom
that has descended in someone’s world since their beloved abandoned them and
how the tears from the eyes can never stop flowing…
“Humri Nagariya Chhayee Badariya/Naina Bahein Saari Rain
Aaja Sanwariya Teri Ye
Bawariya, Jogan Ho Gayo Bhes”
Like someone has said- “If
eyes are windows to the soul, then tears
are heavens rain.”
And the mood continues in Mahiya…
“Har Vele Rehndiyan Ne
Taanga Mainu Teriyan/Tak Tak Rawaan Akhan
Thak Gayeeyan Meriyan
Akhiyan Nu Chaa Barha
Channa Teri Deed Da/Ban Ke Tu Aaja Kadi Chann Jiven Eid Da”…
The eyes yearn to have one glimpse of you…appear before me;
won’t you like the blessed Eid moon in the sky?
If I ever get to ask him, I am certainly going to ask
Shafqat – what’s with you and the eyes? :) Because when Shafqat himself isn’t pursuing
the eyes, they are pursuing him…look at the lyrics of some of the Bollywood
songs that he got to sing…
Tere Naina –"Rab ki
nemat hai teri nighaein"
Mitwa –"teri nigahein
paa gayin raahein, par tu ye soche jaun na jaun"
Bin Tere- "Ajnabi se hue
kyun pals nazar se nazar yeh milaate
hi nahin"
Zindagi se churake- "Ab sath hain hum is tarah aankhon ke sang palken/Aa waqt ko ye
baat hum phir ek baar kehde"
Tu hi mera- "Tere Ishq
Me Dooba Rahe/Din Raat Yuhin Sadaa/Mere Khwaab Se Aakhein Teri /Ik Pal Na Hoye Judaa"
You might call this stretching the logic, too far: P…but
then maybe you should have watched Shafqat at a recent TV channel event singing
– “Main kya jaanu kya jaadu hai, inn do
matwaale naino mein”- when he
was asked to sing a memorable song that he grew up with. And then “Ye nayan
dare dare” when asked what his most favorite romantic number was.
Convinced? Do you see the connection, now? For Eye I
certainly do… But if you still don’t then I suggest that you put on your
favorite Shafqat song, 'shut your eyes and see listen to the beauty…'
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