Aye watan, watan mere aabad rahe tu...

It was Aug 15, 2008, my first year in Toronto, away from India. I was traveling in a cab and the radio channel was playing an India Independence Day special program. The mellifluous voice of Manna Dey in 'aye mere pyaare watan, aye mere bichde chaman, tujhpe dil kurbaan' reminded me of the fragrance of Delhi mornings and I found myself crying like never before. Before this, I must have had heard this song a 1000 times, but that day, the words 'tere daaman se jo aaye, un hawaon ko salaam' had taken on a completely different dimension for me. I then realized that no matter how much I wanted to travel and explore the world, my country, my home is where my heart and soul belonged.

Our nation has gone through innumerable invasions, upheavals and continues to face challenges both internally and externally. Those who gave up their lives protecting this beautiful country, how do we privileged citizens, thank them enough!

Today, as India celebrates 76 years of independence, I am sharing my favorite songs that fill my soul with gratitude, heart with pride and eyes with tears for every sacrifice about which we had read while growing up and for every sacrifice we hear about even today. May we and our future generations always be grateful for being born in a free land and what went into achieving that.

To our soldiers who have laid down their lives while protecting our precious land and to those who continue to sacrifice their comforts as they protect our borders:

Mera rang de basanti chola- Shaheed, 1965

Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev - these names are forever etched in India's patriotic consciousness. 'Shaheed' that was released in 1965, was a well made film that gave a glimpse into their lifestories.  The soundtrack by Prem Dhawan is filled with gems such as 'sarfaroshi ki tamanna', aye watan, aye watan' and each of these have the intensity to give you goosebumps. 

This song sung by Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor and Rajendra Mehta, aptly describes the 'junoon' -the passion with which our real life heroes were ready to sacrifice their lives for our country. 

जिस चोले को पहन शिवाजी खेले अपनी जान पे 

जिसे पहन झाँसी की रानी मिट गयी अपनी आन पे 

आज उसी को पहन के निकला, हम मस्तों का टोला 

मेरा रंग दे बसंती चोला, माये रंग दे बसंती चोला 

Aye watan, Aye watan, humko teri kasam- Shaheed, 1965

Sung by none other than the great Rafi sahab, another tear jerking song from 'Shaheed' that fills heart with reverence for our martyrs.

ऐ वतन, ऐ वतन, हमको तेरी कसम,

तेरी राहों में जाँ तक लुटा जाएँगे,

फूल क्या चीज़ है, तेरे क़दमों पे हम 

भेंट अपने सिरों की चढ़ा जाएँगे | 

कोई पँजाब से, कोई महाराष्ट्र से 

कोई यूपी से है तो कोई बंगाल से 

तेरी पूजा की थाली में लाये हैं हम 

फूल हर रंग के आज हर डाल के 

नाम कुछ हो सही , पर लगन एक है 

जोत से जोत दिल की जगा जाएँगे 

Aye watan, watan mere - Raazi, 2018

Music of new movies usually fades with time. This song from Raazi though is different. Lyrics by Gulzar sahab and Allama Iqbal and music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, this is one of those rare new songs that bring up the feeling of immense pride for representing our country, whichever part of the world we may be in. Both the versions, one sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and the other by Arijit Singh are worthy of being in your music playlist. Personally, I like Sunidhi's version more and sharing that here.

ऐ वतन, वतन मेरे आबाद रहे तू 

मैं जहाँ रहूँ, जहाँ में याद रहे तू 

ऐ वतन, मेरे वतन 

तू ही मेरी मंज़िल है, पहचान तुझी से 

पहुँचू मैं जहाँ भी, मेरी बुनियाद रहे तू 

  

Aye mere pyaare watan - Kabuliwala, 1961

Based on a short story by Shri Rabindranath Tagore, this movie is about a fruit seller from Afghanistan, who visits India for earning his livelihood. He develops affection for a little girl who reminds him of his daughter back home. Many of us who are away from our country, our towns/villages can relate to the essence of this story. This song written by Prem Dhawan, composed by Salil Chowdhary and sung by Manna Dey takes the listener back to those lanes of one's hometown, to those beautiful mornings and evenings that one is now far away from.

ऐ मेरे प्यारे वतन, ऐ मेरे बिछड़े चमन, तुझपे दिल क़ुर्बान

तू ही मेरी आरज़ू, तू ही मेरी आबरू, तू ही मेरी जान 

छोड़ के तेरी गली को दूर आ पहुंचे हैं हम 

फिर भी है येही तमन्ना, तेरे ज़र्रों की कसम 

हम जहाँ पैदा हुए , उस जगह ही निकले दम 

तुझपे दिल क़ुर्बान|

Kar chale hum fida - Haqeeqat, 1964

This movie, set against the backdrop of India-China war of 1962, had won the National Film Award in 1965. The soundtrack composed by Madan Mohan sahab and lyrics by Kaifi Azmi sahab is filled with masterpieces such as 'zara si aahat hoti hai', 'hoke majboor mujhe', 'main ye sochkar uske dar'. 

'Kar chale hum fida' sung by Rafi sahab, is picturized on Indian soldiers as they are martyred while protecting our borders from China. The very popular 'aye mere watan ke logon' was also sung by Lata ji during this same wartime to boost the morale of our Defence forces. 

कर चले हम फ़िदा, जान-ओ-तन साथियों 

अब तुम्हारे हवाले वतन साथियों 

खींच दो अपने खून से ज़मीं पर लक़ीर 

इस तरफ़ आने पाए ना रावण कोई 

तोड़ दो हाथ अगर हाथ उठने लगे 

छूने पाए ना सीता का दामन कोई 

राम भी तुम, तुम्हीं लक्ष्मण साथियों 

अब तुम्हारे हवाले वतन साथियों 

Ending this post with these famous lines by Kavi Pradeep-  beautifully sung by Lata ji:

'aye mere watan ke logon, zara aankh mein bhar lo paani, jo shaheed hue hain unki zara yaad karo kurbani. Tum bhool na jao unko, isliye kahi ye kahaani, jo shaheed hue hain unki zara yaad karo kurbaani. Jai Hind!'