Burmanda's Gems

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GUIDE - Piya tose Naina laage re

AFSAR - Naina Deewane, ik nahin maane

Piya Tose Naina Laage Re      

A Well Polished Gem

- Tadatmya Vaishnav

       What was meant to be a short feedback on a much cherished song ended up being a full-fledged write up on it!  Such is the eloquence  'Piya tose naina laage re'  inspires. Tadatmya Vaishnav takes us through an engaging journey on his early reminiscences of the song and his thoughts and feelings on this Burman beauty......

Reading the beautiful description here of a great gem which bursts forth in all its glory as soon as you open the Pitara of Dada Burman gave me great pleasure. A polished stone it is, cut superfine by S.D.Burman's melodious tune and brilliant orchestration, Shailendra's simple and lyrical lines and Lata's flawless singing.

A song whose rhythm makes you sway and whose tune uplifts you. I have a personal reminiscence to share about this song. I got introduced to the song at around age 13 (as far as I can remember), by one of my cousin sisters, two years elder to me - Dhara Mankad by name. She has a pretty good voice, and she had participated in a music contest sponsored by a then-popular brand in consumer electronics, Optonica, in the city of Rajkot in Gujarat. It was this song which clinched the contest for her. Later when I went visiting from Ahmedabad, she sang this song on the karaoke system she had won as the first prize, and she did it very well. That was the first Guide song I ever heard, and I am glad I have such memories attached to such a song.

For people with little or no musical education and/or little sense of the technicalities of music (like me), tunes and songs which speak for themselves are favourites. And so when I listen to a mellifluous song like this where the singer's voice, the choral element, various instruments and the lyrics are combined so creatively (with the rhythm always seeming so natural to the song), it never fails to elevate. And S.D.Burman was a composer from whom you could expect fresh, new sounding compositions the most. In any mood, from the brooding to the frolicsome.

Returning to Piyaa tose.., surely this song was a dream team-effort. Besides the tune and the orchestration, the singing, the lyrics and the picturisation (normally the weakest link) create a wonderful atmosphere. Lata's singing is divine, without any unnecessary embellishments (she didn't need any, in this song, at least). I agree with the adjective used in the description here - 'innocent'. And Shailendra is at his best. On the surface, you find delightful internal rhyme (in the first and third stanzas) and onomatopoeia (chhana k chhana chhan, dhina k dhi n dhi n). The theme is one of a girl who has newly fallen in love, pining for her 'piyaa', and it is elaborated on by Shailendra using personifications of paayal, cha.Ndaa etc.

Finally two things I like the most:

First, the lyrics of the last stanza, where the standard onomatopoeic ending is replaced by the lines representing the final desire of the girl, the culmination of her new love, without spoiling the rhyme in any way.

Then, the way Lata prompts the chorus twice with piyaa! represents very succinctly (in one word only!) the current 'mugdha' mood of the girl.

If you have any trivia, opinions, impressions or feedback on this song or this article that you would like to share us, please do write to us at feedback@sdburman.net. We will be happy to put your thoughts up on this page.