عشق رسک Ishq Risk — Love Is a Risk

Irshad Kamil

1971– living

Geet

Somebody has asked what love is, and the room cannot agree. One voice says love is a river, another says it is a desert, and the song is the argument that follows: love is a strange thing, an odd risk, and the people who weigh it like gold and the people who call it clay are both talking about the same thing. The song is a marketplace of definitions.

Irshad Kamil wrote it for Mere Brother Ki Dulhan in 2011, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sang it over Sohail Sen's music. Four passages ahead. The debate keeps circling one question: whose is this love, and who does it belong to when it arrives.

01 — kaisa ye ishq hai, ajab sa risk hai

کیسا یہ عشق ہے، عجب سا رسک ہے
کوئی بولے دریا ہے، کیسا کیسا ہے عشق
کوئی مانے صحرا ہے، کیسا کیسا ہے عشق
کوئی سونے سا تولے رے، کوئی مٹی سا بولے رے
کوئی بولے کہ چاندی کا ہے چھرا

कैसा ये इश्क़ है, अजब सा रिस्क है
कोई बोले दरिया है, कैसा कैसा है इश्क़
कोई माने सहरा है, कैसा कैसा है इश्क़
कोई सोने सा तोले रे, कोई मिट्टी सा बोले रे
कोई बोले कि चाँदी का है छुरा

kaisa ye ishq hai, ajab sa risk hai
koi bole dariya hai, kaisa kaisa hai ishq
koi maane sehra hai, kaisa kaisa hai ishq
koi sone sa tole re, koi mitti sa bole re
koi bole ki chaandi ka hai chhura

What kind of love is this, a strange kind of risk? Someone says it is a river: what, what is this love? Someone believes it is a desert: what, what is this love? Someone weighs it like gold, someone calls it clay, someone says it is a knife of silver.

The passage is the debate's opening round, and the definitions are all materials. Dariya, sehra, gold, clay, silver: the beloved is priced in every currency, and the disagreement is the song's whole subject. The refrain's word, risk, is the English word used in the Punjabi sentence, which is how the lyricist's generation actually talks, and the strangeness of the word inside the old language is part of the song's claim: this love is new enough to need new words.

صحرا sehra: a desert
تولنا tolna: to weigh something out
چھرا chhura: a knife, a dagger

02 — hota aise ye mauke pe roka jaaye na roke se

ہوتا ایسے یہ موقع پے روکا جائے نا روکے سے
اچھا ہوتا ہے، ہوتا ہے یہ برا
کیسا یہ عشق ہے، عجب سا رسک ہے
مشکلوں میں یہ ڈالے، جو بھی چاہے کرالے
بدلے یہ دل کے فیصلے
من کا موجی عشق ہے تو، جی البیلی سی راہوں پے لے چلے

होता ऐसे ये मौक़े पे रोका जाए ना रोके से
अच्छा होता है, होता है ये बुरा
कैसा ये इश्क़ है, अजब सा रिस्क है
मुश्किलों में ये डाले, जो भी चाहे कराले
बदले ये दिल के फ़ैसले
मन का मौजी इश्क़ है तो, जी अलबेली सी राहों पे ले चले

hota aise ye mauke pe roka jaaye na roke se
achha hota hai, hota hai ye bura
kaisa ye ishq hai, ajab sa risk hai
mushkilon mein ye daale, jo bhi chahe karaale
badle ye dil ke faisle
mann ka mauji ishq hai toh, ji albeli si raahon pe le chale

It happens like this: at the moment, it cannot be stopped by stopping. Sometimes it turns out good, sometimes bad. What kind of love is this, a strange risk? It throws you into difficulties, it makes you do whatever it wants, it changes the heart's decisions. If love is the mind's whimsy, then yes, let it carry us onto playful roads.

The passage is the love's behaviour report. The first line is the song's diagnosis, roka jaaye na roke se, it cannot be stopped by stopping, and the good-and-bad pair admits the risk is real. The middle lines give love the power of a small tyrant, daale, karaale, badle, it throws, it makes, it changes, and the last lines surrender with a smile: if love is the mind's whimsy, let it take us on its playful roads.

من کا موجی mann ka mauji: one who does whatever the mind feels like
البیلی albeli: carefree, jaunty

03 — koi peeche na aage hai, phir bhi jaane kyun bhaage hai

کوئی پیچھے نا آگے ہے، پھر بھی جانے کیوں بھاگے ہے
مارا عشق کا، عشق کا دل میرا
اس کے اس کے، یہ حصے میں، تیرے میرے، یہ قصے میں
مولا سکھائے بنا سکھے بنا دے سکھا

कोई पीछे ना आगे है, फिर भी जाने क्यूँ भागे है
मारा इश्क़ का, इश्क़ का दिल मेरा
इसके उसके, ये हिस्से में, तेरे मेरे, ये किस्से में
मौला सिखाए बिना सीखे बिना दे सिखा

koi peeche na aage hai, phir bhi jaane kyun bhaage hai
maara ishq ka, ishq ka dil mera
iske uske, ye hisse mein, tere mere, ye kisse mein
maula sikhaaye bina seekhe bina de sikha

No one is behind it, no one ahead, and still, who knows why, it runs. My heart is struck by love, by love. In his share and hers, in your tale and mine, the master teaches without teaching, gives the lesson unlearned.

The passage is the song's strangest and best verse. The running love with no one behind it is the risk's purest image, bhaage hai, it runs, with neither pursuer nor destination. The closing line moves the whole debate to the theology of the Sufis: maula teaches without teaching, and the learning happens without a lesson. The love that cannot be stopped is the master's school, and the pupils are the two whose story the song is telling.

مولا maula: the master; God
قصہ kissa: a tale, a story

04 — naina lage toh jaage, bina dori ya dhaage

نینا لگے تو جاگے، بنا ڈوری یا دھاگے
بندھتے ہیں دو نینا
خواب سے نا آتا ہو، نا پتہ ہو
کورے نینوں میں کوئی آ کے بسے
اس کا اس کا، نا اس کا ہے، جانے کتنا ہے کس کا ہے
کیسی بھاشا میں، بھاشا میں ہے لکھا یہ عشق

नैना लगे तो जागे, बिना डोरी या धागे
बंधते हैं दो नैना
ख्वाब से ना आता हो, ना पता हो
कोरे नैनों में कोई आके बसे
इसका उसका, ना इसका है, जाने कितना है किसका है
कैसी भाषा में, भाषा में है लिखा ये इश्क़

naina lage toh jaage, bina dori ya dhaage
bandhte hain do naina
khwaab se na aata ho, na pata ho
kore nainon mein koi aake base
is ka us ka, na is ka hai, jaane kitna hai kis ka hai
kaisi bhasha mein, bhasha mein hai likha ye ishq

When the eyes catch, they wake: without a cord or a thread, two eyes get tied. Not coming from a dream, with no one knowing, someone arrives and settles in the fresh eyes. His, hers, no one's: who knows how much of it belongs to whom. In what language, what language is this love written?

The passage is the debate's last round, and it ends where the debate must end, at the eyes. The tying of two eyes without a thread is the love's first act, and the settling of the unknown someone in the fresh eyes is its second. The closing question is the song's true subject, kaisi bhasha mein likha hai ye ishq, in what language is this love written, and the answer is the song itself: the love is written in the only language that has no dictionary, which is why the room could not agree.

کورا kora: blank, untouched, still fresh
بھاشا bhasha: a language

Reading it whole

The song is an argument in the form of a love song, and the argument is the point. Kaisa ye ishq hai, ajab sa risk hai: what kind of love is this, a strange risk. The refrain is the song's verdict, and the passages around it are the evidence, each one a different definition offered and weighed. The song never settles which definition is right, and the refusal to settle is what makes it a love song of its generation.

The first passage is the debate in its purest form. Someone says love is a river, kaisa kaisa, someone else says it is a desert, and the weighing goes on: one measures it like gold, one calls it clay, one says it is a silver knife. The song's answer to the disagreement is the refrain, and the refrain's key word is risk: love is the thing you cannot price, which is why the weighers disagree.

The middle passages are the love's report on itself. It throws you into difficulties, it makes its own deals with the heart, it carries you off on playful roads. The passage turns on the verb that carries the whole song: bhaage hai, it runs. Nobody is chasing it, and still it runs. Love is a runner with no one behind it, which is the song's version of the risk.

The last passage is where the debate reaches its edge. Two eyes meet, a thread ties them without being seen, and someone unknown settles in the fresh eyes. The song's closing question is the one it has been circling all along: in what language is this love written, kaisi bhasha mein likha hai ye ishq. The answer is never given, which is the only answer the song would accept.

Recordings

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

From Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), composed by Sohail Sen.

Text and rights

Devanagari text supplied and checked by a reader who knows the language. The Urdu script and the transliteration follow that reading.

The song is from the film Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), composed by Sohail Sen, lyrics Irshad Kamil. The refrain returns between passages in the recording more often than it is printed here.

Irshad Kamil is alive and the song is recent work. It is quoted here as the subject of Harf's own criticism: the translation, the reading of each passage and the essay around them are original work written for this page. If you hold the rights and would like something changed, tell us on Instagram.