Wednesday 11 May 2011

O humdum soniyo re

I am recovering from what must have been the most hectic weekend I have ever had. On top of all the work and essays and intensive dance practices, we finally performed at the asian society's fashion show: "Sitara *" and our own dance show "Around the World Of Dance". Pictures to follow, and many thanks to the people who took such amazing photos- how I wish I could shoot anything that well. *Sigh*


So this post revolves around some of the lovely words and pieces of writing I've stumbled across over the last week or so which have sounded lovely or stirred some sort of reaction in me, enjoy!


1. "O humdum soniyo re, O jhaniyaa soniyo re...Say my name, if no one is around you say baby I love you if you ain't running games"
At the fashion show there was this brilliant, and I mean BRILLIANT, acoustic act, 2 girls mashed up "O Humdum" and "Say my name" backed up with a guitar. It sounded so amazing, nearly had me in tears during a rehearsal!
"O Humdum" is a song coming from a Bollywood film (? I think), and is sung in Hindi. From a very brief tutorial in Hindi, the following lines have a beautiful translation;
"Humdum" isn't a word that can be directly translated, and captures a lot of ideas at the same time. Firstly, it's a way of saying "lover/friend/soulmate" but also means there's a playfulness between you, so there's a heavy "friendship" in there. It also encapsulates the idea that two people are so close, in many ways, to the extent that even their breathing aligns. (Humdum is now my favourite word in the entire world, and I desperately want to learn Hindi, it's such a poetic language by the sounds of it. I'll also know the man I want to marry is somebody I can call my humdum).
"Jhaniyaa" is another way of saying "lover" or "darling", not as difficult to grasp as humdum. So these lines are the singer calling for his loved one to listen to him, asking her/him to listen.


 We should know what Destiny's Child "Say My Name" is about, a woman is suspicious of her man and accuses him of cheating, and blasts his behaviour by way of song. Originally it's quite a sassy and aggressive song to some extent, but when the tempo has been slowed right down, and the song has been mixed in with "O Humdum", the girl singing managed to turn it into the saddest love ballad I think I've heard. We now have a singer pleading with their lover to deny there's been any infidelity and just to make things ok, and there was just so much affection in it all I had goosebumps.  I was just floored by the line "if no one is around you say baby I love you". I know in the original context she means if physically there no one on the end of this phone then tell me you love me, but for some reason I jumped to memories of times when I just wanted someone to say it, when it was the only thing I wanted to hear regardless of why. Mmmm shivers.


2. Most people don’t marry the loves of their lives. You marry for compatibility; for friendship. And Jane, there’s a lot to be said for that. It may not be a kind of relationship where you can read each other’s minds, but it’s comfortable, like a familiar spot on your favorite chair. That’s just another kind of love, one that doesn’t burn itself out, one that lasts in the real world.
-Songs of The Humpback Whales, Jodi Picoult.

I've read and re-read this several times, and I still don't know what to make of it. 



3. "One day she'll start sending mixed signals, and you'll get mad because she learned how to play your game.
You know me, I like it when a lady outwits the guy who likes to be one step ahead.  This year I've been taking mother's advice and outright ignoring someone who's been making digs and getting all passive aggressive up in my grill- I sometimes enjoy little moments of silent satisfaction, but overall  I'm getting antsy with not having retaliated after so long. My natural urge has always been to strike back as soon as someone tries to wind me up, I have to have the last word in a fight and so on, so suppressing that urge has been a big challenge. C'moon patience!


Wanna see some pretty pictures now?



Both of these taken by the wonderful Gillian Gamble,
Go ahead and find her over here

And during this week's crazy weather yoyo between storms and sunshine- a double rainbow!
Preeetty