تو ہی رے Tu Hi Re — Only You

Mehboob Kotwal

Geet

Somebody is addressing the one person who can be addressed with every word: you, only you. Tu hi re, tu hi re: without you, how do I live. The song is the prayer of the separated, and the separated one is a man in love, which in this song's register means a man at prayer.

Mehboob Kotwal wrote it for Mani Ratnam's Bombay in 1995, and Hariharan and Kavita Krishnamurthy sang it. Five passages ahead. The middle ones are the two halves of the argument, the man's threat of death and the woman's crossing of every bond to reach him.

01 — tu hi re, tu hi re, tere bina main kaise jiyoon

تو ہی رے، تو ہی رے، تیرے بنا میں کیسے جیوں
آجا رے آجا رے، یوں ہی تڑپا نا تو مجھکو
جان رے جان رے، ان سانسوں میں بس جا تو
چاند رے چاند رے، آجا دل کی زمین پے تو
چاہت ہے اگر، آکے مجھ سے مل جا تو
یا پھر ایسا کر، دھرتی سے ملا دے مجھکو

तू ही रे, तू ही रे, तेरे बिना मैं कैसे जियूँ
आजा रे आजा रे, यूँ ही तड़पा ना तो मुझको
जान रे जान रे, इन साँसों में बस जा तो
चाँद रे चाँद रे, आजा दिल की ज़मीं पे तो
चाहत है अगर, आके मुझसे मिल जा तो
या फिर ऐसा कर, धरती से मिला दे मुझको

tu hi re, tu hi re, tere bina main kaise jiyoon
aaja re aaja re, yun hi tarpa na toh mujhko
jaan re jaan re, in saanson mein bas ja toh
chaand re chaand re, aaja dil ki zameen pe toh
chaahat hai agar, aake mujh se mil ja toh
ya phir aisa kar, dharti se mila de mujhko

You, only you: how do I live without you? Come, come, do not torment me like this. Life, life: settle into these breaths. Moon, moon: come onto the land of the heart. If there is love, come and meet me, or else do this: join me to the earth.

The passage is the man's whole argument, and every line is an address with a title. The beloved is called jaan, life, and chaand, moon, and the two titles place her in the body and in the sky. The plea's end is the song's largest line: if there is no love, then let the earth take me, dharti se mila de. The threat of death is offered as the alternative to the meeting, and the offer is the love's own measure.

دھرتی dharti: the earth, the ground underfoot

02 — in saanson ka dekho tum

ان سانسوں کا دیکھو تم
پاگلپن، نہ آئے انہیں چین
مجھ سے یہ بولی، میں رہوں میں تیری
اپنے بچھا دوں یہ نین
ان اونچے پہاڑوں سے جان دے دوں گا
میں گر تم نہ آئی کہیں
تم ادھر جان، امید میری جو توڑو
ادھر یہ جہاں چھوڑوں میں
موت اور زندگی تیرے ہاتھوں میں دے دیا رے

इन साँसों का देखो तुम
पागलपन, ना आए इन्हें चैन
मुझसे ये बोली, मैं रहूँ मैं तेरी
अपने बिछा दूँ ये नैन
इन ऊँचे पहाड़ों से जान दे दूँगा
मैं गर तुम ना आई कहीं
तुम उधर जान, उम्मीद मेरी जो तोड़ो
इधर ये जहाँ छोड़ूँ मैं
मौत और ज़िन्दगी तेरे हाथों में दे दिया रे

in saanson ka dekho tum
paagalpan, na aaye inhen chain
mujh se ye boli, main rahoon main teri
apne bichha doon ye nain
in oonche pahaadon se jaan de doonga
main gar tum na aayi kahin
tum udhar jaan, ummeed meri jo toddo
idhar ye jahaan chhodoon main
maut aur zindagi tere haathon mein de diya re

Look at these breaths: the madness, no rest comes to them. The heart said to me: let me remain yours, let me spread these eyes beneath you. From these high mountains I would give my life if you did not come somewhere. If you go that way and break my hope, I will leave this world on this side. Death and life, I have placed them in your hands.

The passage is the man's vow, and the vow is total. The first lines are the body's report, the breaths without rest, and the heart's own voice, main rahoon main teri, let me stay yours. The threat from the mountains is the passage's scale, and the last line is the surrender's end: maut aur zindagi tere haathon mein de diya, death and life placed in the beloved's hands. The giving is the prayer's final form, and everything after it in the song is the beloved's answer.

نین nain: eyes
بچھانا bichha doon: let me spread out, let me lay down
امید ummeed: hope

03 — aai re aai re, le main aai hoon tere liye

آئی رے آئی رے، لے میں آئی ہوں تیرے لیے
توڑا رے توڑا رے، ہر بندھن کو پیار کے لیے
جان رے جان رے، آجا تجھ میں سما جاؤں میں
دل رے دل رے، تیری سانسوں میں بس جاؤں میں

आई रे आई रे, ले मैं आई हूँ तेरे लिए
तोड़ा रे तोड़ा रे, हर बंधन को प्यार के लिए
जान रे जान रे, आजा तुझ में समा जाऊँ मैं
दिल रे दिल रे, तेरी साँसों में बस जाऊँ मैं

aai re aai re, le main aai hoon tere liye
todda re todda re, har bandhan ko pyaar ke liye
jaan re jaan re, aaja tujh mein sama jaun main
dil re dil re, teri saanson mein bas jaun main

I came, I came: look, I have come for you. I broke, I broke every bond for love. Life, life: come, let me dissolve into you. Heart, heart: let me settle into your breaths.

The passage is the woman's answer, and the answer is the crossing. Aai re, I came, is the song's turning point, and the doubled verb makes the arrival an event. The breaking of every bond, todda re, is the crossing's cost, and the cost is paid for love. The last two lines are the mirror of the man's verses: where he asked her to settle in his breaths, she asks to dissolve into him, sama jaun, bas jaun, and the two requests are the duet's whole argument, the two directions of the same river.

سمانا sama jaun: let me dissolve into, let me be contained in

04 — sau baar bulaayen, main sau baar aauun, ik baar jo dil diya

سو بار بلائیں، میں سو بار آؤں، اک بار جو دل دیا
اک آنکھ روئی تو دوجی بولو، سوئے گی کیسے بھلا
ان پیار کی راہوں میں پتھر ہیں کتنے، ان سبکو ہی پار کیا
اک ندی ہوں میں چاہت بھاری، آج ملنے ساگر کو آئی یہاں
سجنا سجنا، آج آنسو بھی میٹھے لگے

सौ बार बुलाएँ, मैं सौ बार आऊँ, इक बार जो दिल दिया
इक आँख रोई तो दूजी बोलो, सोएगी कैसे भला
इन प्यार की राहों में पत्थर हैं कितने, इन सबको ही पार किया
इक नदी हूँ मैं चाहत भारी, आज मिलने सागर को आई यहाँ
सजना सजना, आज आँसू भी मीठे लगे

sau baar bulaayen, main sau baar aauun, ik baar jo dil diya
ik aankh roi toh dooji bolo, soyegi kaise bhala
in pyaar ki raahon mein patthar hain kitne, in sabko hi paar kiya
ik nadi hoon main chaahat bhaari, aaj milne saagar ko aayi yahan
sajna sajna, aaj aansoo bhi meethe lage

Call me a hundred times, I will come a hundred times, now that I have given my heart once. If one eye weeps, tell me, how will the other sleep? How many stones lie on the paths of love, and I have crossed them all. I am a river of heavy longing, and today I have come here to meet the sea. Beloved, beloved, today even the tears taste sweet.

The passage is the song's last word, and the word is the river. The hundred returns for one heart given is the love's arithmetic, and the sleepless eye is its body's proof. The crossing of the stones, paar kiya, is the passage's history, and the river's meeting with the sea, saagar, is the tradition's oldest image of the soul's arrival. The last line is the song's gift, aaj aansoo bhi meethe lage, today even the tears taste sweet, and it is the only line in the song where the grief and the joy are the same thing.

ساگر saagar: the ocean
سجنا sajna: beloved

Reading it whole

The song is a duet of two crossings. The man's verses are the complaint of the one left behind: you, only you, how do I live without you, come, do not torment me. The woman's verses are the answer, and the answer is the crossing itself: I have come, I have broken every bond for love. The two halves of the song are the two directions of the same prayer, and the refrain belongs to both.

The man's argument is built on the body's terms. The breath needs her, the heart wants her, the moon is asked to come to the land of the heart. The passage's threat is the tradition's largest, maut aur zindagi tere haathon mein de diya, I have placed death and life in your hands, and the giving is the whole of the love: the power of life and death has been handed over, and the hand that holds it is the beloved's.

The woman's answer is the song's other half, and it is the half that makes the song a duet and not a lament. I came for you, I broke every bond for love, let me dissolve into you, let me settle in your breath. The passage is the mirror of the man's threat: the death he offered her hands has become the life she wants inside him. Aai re, aai re, I came, is the song's turning point, and it is the point the whole song has been moving toward.

The last passage is the river. In the paths of love there are so many stones, and the singer has crossed them all: a river of heavy longing has come today to meet the sea. The image is the song's final word, and it is the oldest image of the tradition, the river joining the sea as the soul joins the beloved. The recording is one of the defining duets of the Nineties, and the film's story of a marriage across the city's riots gave it a weight the song did not need and did not refuse.

Recordings

Hariharan and Kavita Krishnamurthy

From Bombay (1995), composed by A. R. Rahman.

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 Bombay (1995), composed by A. R. Rahman, lyrics Mehboob Kotwal. The refrain returns between passages in the recording more often than it is printed here.

The song is recent work and remains in copyright. 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.