Yeh meri kahani translated

I love music. While I do appreciate a good feet-tapper and a great beat every now and then, my favorite songs of all time all have one thing in common - great lyrics.

Nothing moves me as a song with good lyrics does. And very rarely in the recent past has a song moved me as much as a song from the Indian movie Zinda.

The song is titled 'Yeh Meri Kahani' or This my story when translated literally. The movie can be translated as Alive and it is a story of a man who one day for no reason he can think of is taken from his house and imprisoned in a dark place for a very long time. He has no idea why and then one day all of a sudden he is let loose and he attempts to figure things out. While I haven't seen the movie yet, the soundtrack from the movie is very good.

As I usually do when I like a song, I went online to find the lyrics and they were really good. I tried to understand them... I got the gist but let’s face it... I don't understand Urdu that well. I know my Hindi but words in Urdu are more classical and stylish.

The song in question was written, sung and produced by a great Pakistani band called Strings. I share a special bond with them since 1993 when I got their first album. Their songs keep popping up every 4-5 years and I get hooked all over again. Urdu is the language used for Poetry and some of the words are very hard to get. During such cases I simply ask my dad to translate as he knows the language very well and is well versed in Poetry of this form called Ghazal.

Anyway... he just read the lyrics in the past hour and liked them very much and quickly explained things to me. Things which I will attempt to further translate to English so everyone can enjoy.

So here you go:

Original Lyrics : Translation

Yeh hai meri kahani : This is my story
khamosh zindagani : A silent life
sannata keh raha hai : The silence is saying to me
kyun zulm seh raha hai : Why bear the injustice?

ek dastaan purani : An old story
tanhayi ki zubani : The voice of loneliness
her zakham khil raha hai : Every scar comes out
kuch mujh se keh raha hai : It says something to me

chubtay kantay yadoon ke daaman say chunta hoon : I pick prickly thorns from my past
girti deewaron ke aanchal mai zinda hoon : I live holding onto collapsing walls

bass yeh meri kahani : This is my only story
benishaan nishaani : The mark left by me is unnoticeable
ek darr beh raha hai : A fear flows through me
kuch mujh se keh raha hai : It says something to me

chubtay kaanten yadoon ke daaman se chunta hoon : I pick prickly thorns from my past
girti deewaron ke aanchal mein zinda hoon : I live holding onto collapsing walls

Spoken Poetry

bajay pyaar ki shabnum mere gulistaan mein : Dewdrops of love echo in my garden
baraste rehte hain har simt maut ke saye : Each instant brings a shadow of death
siyahiyon se ulajh padti hain meri aankhein : My eyes meet those of darkness
koi nahi .. koi bhi nahi jo batlaye : There is no one. No one to tell me
kitni der ujalon ki raah dekhe : How much longer must I await light
koi nahi hai koi bhi nahi : There is no one. No one at all
na pass na durr : Neither near nor far
yeh pyaar hai : This is love
dil ki dharkan : The beating of the heart
apni chahat ka jo ellan kiye jaati hai : That keeps declaring its affection
zindagi hai jo jiye jaati hai : That keeps living its life
khoon k ghoont peay jaati hai : That keeps accepting everything
khwaab aankhon se siye jaati hai : It keeps weaving dreams

ab na koi paas hai : Now there is no one near
phir bhi ehsaas hai : Still there is a feeling I have
siyahiyon mai uljhi padi : Entangled in the darkness
jeene ki ek aas hai : Is the will to live
yadoon ka jungle yeh dil : My heart is a forest of memories
kaanton se jal thal yeh dil : My heart is overflowing with thorns

chubtay kaanten yadoon ke daaman se chunta hoon : I pick prickly thorns from my past
girti deewaron ke aanchal mein zinda hoon : I live holding onto collapsing walls


Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.