Bairi Piya

Any thoughts I may have had about the future of this blog in terms of whether I'll be able to keep myself motivated to write right till the end of (my) time have gone out of the window and down the drains. SHREYA GHOSHAL replied to my message on Twitter saying she'll keep checking the blog whenever she can. I didn't even know how to react when that happened. I just tore around my house in euphoric delirium. THANKS, SHREYA!!!

Coming to the song for this post. It's Bairi Piya from Devdas. I hadn't heard this song until yesterday. (I'd kinda obscurely "known" the song, but not "heard" it.)

BTW, please excuse any funny tone that creeps in at times. This is not intended to be a humorous blog, and my endeavor is absolutely nontrivial and very serious and sincere.

I'm probably going to exhaust all known adjectives in this post. Shreya in Bairi Piya is as good as anything I've ever heard. Now that's making a REALLY bold statement because "anything I've ever heard" includes Koi Humdum Na Raha by Kishore saab, Tarun Aahe Raatra Ajuni by Asha ji, Paara Paara Hua by Ghulam Ali saab, Dil Dhadakne Ka Sabab by Madam Noor Jahan and many other INEFFABLE renditions. But I'm helpless, and am compelled to add this song to that list.

इशssss
इशssss
बैरी पिया बड़ा बेदर्दी
इशssss

JUST LISTEN to the 1st "इशssss." Have you seen gold disperse? I haven't either, but I could not come up with better-sounding imagery. Goodness. I swear, that "इशssss" can kill a man. And I swear to God it half killed me. The song's just begun, and I'm already floored. Now listen to "बड़ा बेदर्दी." HOW can anyone sing like that? I think Shreya was 16 then if I'm not wrong. If anyone ever sang with expressions in one's voice, then this is it folks. Your search ends here.

हो बैरी पिया बड़ा बेदर्दी

The second "बड़ा बेदर्दी" tops even the first one. I think if she'd even hummed that the exact way she sang it, without uttering the words, it'd still have sounded like "बड़ा बेदर्दी."

दिल का दर्द ना जाने
सौदाई हरजाई ज़ुल्मी राम दुहाई
कैसे कहूँ कासे कहूँ हाय राम
दिल का दर्द ना जाने
ना जाने ना जाने ना जाने जाने जाने हाय

Listen to the breath control and planning in the long series of lines. (I mention this only because I read somewhere that this song was recorded in one go.) Notice also, the ease at which Shreya hits her high notes. And she's at equal ease with her lower notes (this is demonstrated better in some of her other songs, though.) Her voice seamlessly sails through all the three octaves with amazing consistency of texture. This is well demonstrated in the Dhanak Ka Rang song from Tumsa Nahin Dekha. (I could not not help but help but remember Kishore saab's Koi Humdum Na Raha in terms of the voice consistency.) Sorry, though, for being extraneous.

बैरी पिया बड़ा रे बेदर्दी
हो हो हो बैरी पिया बड़ा बे-इशssss

Shreya breaks the word बेदर्दी and after बे says "इशssss." Again, very well executed if the song was recorded in one go.

तू दूर जो था तो पास ही था
अब पास है तो दूर है क्यूँ

I have NO idea in the world how anyone can both laugh and sing perfectly in tune and carry it off so well. Shreya breaks into a short laughter and continues singing with the "तू दूर." What do you call this? An 16-year old singing this with THAT kind of vocal quality. She must literally have LIVED this song to have been able to put such awesome expressions in it. Hats off!

ना जाने जाने जाने जाने जाने

The "ना जाने जाने" series is also superbly sung.

तू दूर जो था तो पास ही था
अब पास है तो दूर है क्यूँ

हो हो हो पास तो आ
पहना भी दे
ये कंगना
ना सता
अब मान भी ले
ये कहना

Doesn't that "पास तो आ" sound like a REAL thing said by a girl to her lover? Doesn't that "पहना भी दे" sound like a GENUINE, HEARTFELT request in romance? The same goes with "ना सता, अब मान भी ले." I suspect all these emotions would have come out the way they have because for an 16-year old girl, that IS how the world is. Goodness, I'm so thankful to 1) Mr. Bhansali and 2) technology that we have Sherya's voice at that age recorded. At least my grandchildren will not disbelieve me when I describe to them how Shreya sounded at the age of 16.

Anyway, coming back to the song, let me tell you that the first time I was listening to this song, by now my eyes were shut, my watch had stopped ticking, time had stopped flowing and my heart had forgotten to beat. I was in a trance, devouring upon the voice of Shreya. And then what happens?

2:25 in the song

Suddenly I snap back into reality. The spell is broken. My eyes open. My watch starts ticking again. My heart starts beating again (thankfully, coz had it stopped beating for too long, I'd have died). And why do all these things happen? Absolutely out of nowhere, UDIT NARAYAN starts singing. Beat that. I mean not that I dislike Mr. Narayan (I quite liked his Jadoo Bhari Ankhon Wali from Dastak). On top of that, he just saved my life by waking me up! Jokes apart, the point is that I was expecting this song to be a solo by Shreya.

कैसे कहूँ कासे कहूँ राम
कंगना कहना ना माने
ना माने ना माने ना माने
ये कंगना बड़ा बेदर्दी
हो ये कंगना बड़ा बेदर्दी
कंगना कहना ना माने
दीवाना आवारा संगदिल राम दुहाई

अब मान भी जाओ ना
ना ना ना ना ना
तुम पास तो आओ ना
हाँ हाँ रे हाँ हाँ
बहकी बहकी बातों में तेरी
धीरे धीरे आने लगी
जुगनू ने मुझसे कहा ऐसा है ये तेरा पिया
ले ही जाएगा तेरा जिया

हाँ प्यारी प्यारी बातों पे तेरी
चांदनी भी हँसने लगी
तारे मुस्कुराने लगे हवा गुनगुनाने लगी
आसमाँ भी झूम उठा

Just listen to Shreya's singing here. I just dunno what to say. All this might sound rather dramatic, but I ask you, my reader, are you not overwhelmed like I am? Am I overstating things? I don't think so. I wish Shreya's voice always stayed like that. But unfortunately all said and done, the poor girl's still a human being. The voice WILL change with time :(

कैसे कहूँ कासे कहूँ हाय राम
राम राम राम राम
पगला इतना ना जाने
ना जाने ना जाने ना जाने जाने जाने हाय

Listen to the "कैसे कहूँ" line and the series that follows until the "हाय." How many distinct emotions can you list there? Perplexity, innocence, amusement,..? What shades of emotion at display! I should prolly slap myself for having at times thought that the poet and the composer play a bigger role in the making of a song than the singer. What if the singer is Shreya?!

इशssss
इशssss

I'm sorry I was unable to provide comments on too many specific words/parts of the song. But the WHOLE of it was so unbelievable, that you probably wouldn't need specifics.

I'm going to let you in on a secret now. I haven't heard the rest of Devdas songs! I'm going to do that tomorrow. And if they are ANYTHING like Bairi Piya, back I come with another post!