میتوا Mitwa — Friend

Javed Akhtar

1945– living

Geet

Somebody is talking to the fear in a friend's chest, and the whole song is an argument with that fear. Mitwa, friend, is how it begins, and the friend it addresses is the one who is afraid: what is there to fear, the song asks, this earth is ours and this sky is ours. The song is a pep talk, and it is one of the best ever written for film.

Javed Akhtar wrote it for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna in 2006, and Shafqat Amanat Ali sang it with Shankar Mahadevan. Five passages ahead. The first one states the creed, and the rest of the song keeps returning to it like a runner to a mark.

01 — har sant kahe, saadhu kahe

ہر سنت کہے، سادھو کہے
سچ اور ساہس ہے جس کے من میں
انت میں جیت اسکی رہے

हर संत कहे, साधू कहे
सच और साहस है जिसके मन में
अंत में जीत उसी की रहे

har sant kahe, saadhu kahe
sach aur saahas hai jiske mann mein
ant mein jeet usi ki rahe

Every saint says it, every sage says it: whoever has truth and courage in the heart, the victory stays his in the end.

The passage opens the song by outsourcing its authority. Har sant, every saint, every sadhu: the creed is presented as unanimous, which is what a pep talk needs before it can argue with fear. The two virtues named are sach and saahas, truth and courage, the pair that the film's characters keep failing to hold together, and the last line is the guarantee in the future tense: the victory stays with him, jeet usi ki rahe.

سنت sant: a saint
سادھو saadhu: an ascetic who has left the world
ساہس saahas: courage

02 — aaja re aaja re, aaja re aaja re

آجا رے آجا رے، آجا رے آجا رے
بھلے کتنے لمبے ہوں راستے، ہو
تھکے نہ تیرا یہ تن، ہو
آجا رے آجا رے، سن لے پکارے داگریا
رہے نہ یہ راستے ترستے، ہو، تو آجا رے

आजा रे आजा रे, आजा रे आजा रे
भले कितने लम्बे हों रास्ते, हो
थके ना तेरा ये तन, हो
आजा रे आजा रे, सुन ले पुकारे दगरिया
रहे ना ये रास्ते तरसते, हो, तू आजा रे

aaja re aaja re, aaja re aaja re
bhale kitne lambe hon raaste, ho
thake na tera ye tan, ho
aaja re aaja re, sun le pukaare dagariya
rahe na ye raaste taraste, ho, tu aaja re

Come, come, come, come. However long the roads are, let your body not tire. Come, come: listen, the road itself is calling you. May these roads not go on longing, come.

The passage answers the fear of distance, and the answer is a call. Dagariya, the little road, is given a voice: the road itself pukaare, calls, which is the song's way of saying the path is on the walker's side. The two requests frame the verse, aaja re at the start and the road's tarasna, its longing, at the end. The fear of the long road is answered by the road's own impatience to be walked.

ڈگریا dagariya: the little road, the path: Braj
تن tan: the body

03 — is dharti ka hai raaja tu, ye baat jaan le tu

اس دھرتی کا ہے راجا تو، یہ بات جان لے تو
کٹھنائی سے ٹکرا جا تو، نہیں ہار مان لے تو
میتوا، سن میتوا، تجھکو کیا ڈر ہے رے
یہ دھرتی اپنی ہے، اپنا امبر ہے رے
او میتوا، سن میتوا، تجھکو کیا ڈر ہے رے
دھرتی اپنی ہے، اپنا امبر ہے رے
تو آجا رے

इस धरती का है राजा तू, ये बात जान ले तू
कठिनाई से टकरा जा तू, नहीं हार मान ले तू
मितवा, सुन मितवा, तुझको क्या डर है रे
ये धरती अपनी है, अपना अम्बर है रे
ओ मितवा, सुन मितवा, तुझको क्या डर है रे
धरती अपनी है, अपना अम्बर है रे
तू आजा रे

is dharti ka hai raaja tu, ye baat jaan le tu
kathinaai se takra ja tu, nahin haar maan le tu
mitwa, sun mitwa, tujhko kya dar hai re
ye dharti apni hai, apna ambar hai re
o mitwa, sun mitwa, tujhko kya dar hai re
dharti apni hai, apna ambar hai re
tu aaja re

You are the king of this earth, know this. Crash against the difficulty, do not accept defeat. Friend, listen, friend: what fear do you have? This earth is yours, this sky is yours. Come.

The creed gets its full form here, and the form is a title. Raja tu, you are the king: the song promotes the fearful to royalty, which is what a pep talk does and why it works. The middle lines give the king his work, takra ja, crash against the difficulty, and the creed's couplet follows as the answer to every fear the song will name: dharti apni hai, apna ambar hai, the earth is ours, the sky is ours. The address, mitwa, friend, makes the whole creed a message between equals.

متوا mitwa: friend, companion: Braj
کٹھنائی kathinaai: difficulty, hardship
امبر ambar: the sky

04 — sun lo re mitwa

سن لو رے میتوا
جو ہے تمری من میں، وہی ہمرے من میں
جو سپنا ہے تمرا، سپنا وہی ہمرا ہے
جیون میں

सुन लो रे मितवा
जो है तुमरे मन में, वही हमरे मन में
जो सपना है तुमरा, सपना वही हमरा है
जीवन में

sun lo re mitwa
jo hai tumre mann mein, vahi hamre mann mein
jo sapna hai tumra, sapna vahi hamra hai
jeevan mein

Listen, friend: whatever is in your heart is in mine. Whatever dream is yours, that same dream is mine, in this life.

The passage is the song's only verse in the feminine voice, and it answers the creed with the creed's twin. The fear is not being faced alone: the heart is shared, and the dream is shared, in the dialect of the song's folk register, tumra, hamra. The duet is the song's quietest argument, because fear is hardest to hold when someone else admits they carry the same one.

ہمرے hamre: our: Braj, where Urdu would say hamaare

05 — sun lo re mitwa

سن لو رے میتوا
پوروا بھی گائے گی، مستی بھی چھائے گی
مل کے پکارو تو
پھولوں والی جو رت ہے، آئے گی
میتوا، سن میتوا، تجھکو کیا ڈر ہے رے
یہ دھرتی اپنی ہے، اپنا امبر ہے رے

सुन लो रे मितवा
पुरवा भी गाएगी, मस्ती भी छाएगी
मिलके पुकारो तो
फूलों वाली जो रुत है, आएगी
मितवा, सुन मितवा, तुझको क्या डर है रे
ये धरती अपनी है, अपना अम्बर है रे

sun lo re mitwa
purwa bhi gaayegi, masti bhi chhaayegi
mil ke pukaaro toh
phoolon waali jo rut hai, aayegi
mitwa, sun mitwa, tujhko kya dar hai re
ye dharti apni hai, apna ambar hai re

Listen, friend: the east wind will sing, intoxication will spread. If you call together, the season of flowers will come. Friend, listen, friend: what fear do you have? This earth is ours, this sky is ours.

The passage gives the creed its final weather. Purwa, the east wind of the plains, is given a voice, and masti, the intoxication, is promised as weather. The condition is the song's whole point, milke pukaaro, call together: the season comes when the friends call it in chorus. The passage then returns to the creed verbatim, mitwa, sun mitwa, and the repetition is the song's design, the same sentence said until it is believed.

پروا purwa: the east wind
رت rut: the season

Reading it whole

The song is a conversation with the part of a person that hesitates. Mitwa, sun mitwa, listen, friend: the address is to the fear itself, and the song's whole method is to rename the fear. What is there to be afraid of, it asks, and the answer it gives is the largest possible: the earth is ours, the sky is ours. The fear is being told it has mistaken the size of its own home.

The first passage is the creed, and it is stated with the simplicity of a children's rhyme: every saint and every sage says the same thing, whoever has truth and courage in the heart wins in the end. The song then spends the rest of its length repeating the creed against the road's objections: the roads are long, the body is tired, but the road was made for the walker.

The middle passages make the creed a duet. The woman's verse answers the man's: whatever is in your heart is in mine, your dream is my dream. The two lines are the song's quietest argument against fear, that it is not being faced alone. The man's reply carries the images of the lamps, aasa ke diye, the lamps of hope carried in the eyes, and the promise that they will not be blown out.

The last passage gives the creed its final form. The east wind will sing, intoxication will spread, the season of flowers will come when it is called together. The closing image is the strongest: how many stones lie on the path of love, and the walker has crossed them all. The song ends where it began, with the creed repeated in full, which is how pep talks work and how they should: the same sentence, said until it is believed.

Recordings

Shafqat Amanat Ali and Shankar Mahadevan

From Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

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 Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), music Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyrics Javed Akhtar. The creed returns between passages in the recording more often than it is printed here.

Javed Akhtar 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.