یہ تو نے کیا کیا Ye Tune Kya Kiya — What Have You Done

Rajat Arora

Geet

A man is reviewing the damage, and the review keeps turning into amazement. What have you done, he asks, and the asking is the song: love has burned him, fought with him, ruined his name, and the strangest part is that he keeps winning. The song is a love song built from the language of the gangster, and the beloved is the one holding the weapon.

Rajat Arora wrote it for Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara in 2013, and Javed Bashir sang it over Pritam's music. Five passages ahead. Every one of them ends on the same question, and the question is the title.

01 — ishq voh bala hai, ishq voh bala hai

عشق وہ بلا ہے، عشق وہ بلا ہے
جسکو چھوا اس نے، وہ جلا ہے
دل سے ہوتا ہے شروع، دل سے ہوتا ہے شروع
پر کمبخت سر پے چڑھا ہے
کبھی خود سے کبھی خدا سے
کبھی زمانے سے لڑا ہے
اتنا ہوا بدنام پھر بھی
ہر زباں پے اڑا ہے

इश्क़ वो बला है, इश्क़ वो बला है
जिसको छुआ इसने, वो जला है
दिल से होता है शुरू, दिल से होता है शुरू
पर कमबख़्त सर पे चढ़ा है
कभी ख़ुद से कभी ख़ुदा से
कभी ज़माने से लड़ा है
इतना हुआ बदनाम फिर भी
हर ज़ुबाँ पे अड़ा है

ishq voh bala hai, ishq voh bala hai
jisko chhua isne, voh jala hai
dil se hota hai shuru, dil se hota hai shuru
par kambakht sar pe chadha hai
kabhi khud se kabhi khuda se
kabhi zamaane se lada hai
itna hua badnaam phir bhi
har zubaan pe ada hai

Love is that calamity, love is that calamity: whoever it touches, that one burns. It starts from the heart, starts from the heart, but the wretch has climbed onto the head. It has fought with the self, with God, with the world, and even so disgraced, it sits on every tongue.

The passage is the love's report card, and the report is written in the gangster's register. Bala, the calamity, is the word for a plague sent from above, and the burning it causes is the tradition's oldest claim. The climb from the heart to the head, sar pe chadha, is the intoxication's progress, and the three fights, with the self, with God, with the world, are the love's full war record. The passage's prize is the last line: badnaam, disgraced, and still on every tongue, which is the disgraced love's one glory.

بلا bala: a calamity, an affliction sent from somewhere
کمبخت kambakht: wretched, luckless; said half fondly
بدنام badnaam: disgraced, spoken of badly

02 — ishq ki saazishen, ishq ki baaziyaan

عشق کی سازشیں، عشق کی بازیہاں
ہارا میں کھیل کے دو دلون کا جوا
کیوں تو نے میری فرصت کی
کیوں دل میں اتنی ہرکت کی
عشق میں اتنی برکت کی
یہ تو نے کیا کیا
پھروں اب مارا مارا میں
چاند سے بچھڑا تارا میں
دل سے اتنا کیوں ہارا میں
یہ تو نے کیا کیا

इश्क़ की साज़िशें, इश्क़ की बाज़ियाँ
हारा मैं खेल के दो दिलों का जुआ
क्यूँ तूने मेरी फ़ुर्सत की
क्यूँ दिल में इतनी हरकत की
इश्क़ में इतनी बरकत की
ये तूने क्या किया
फिरूँ अब मारा-मारा मैं
चाँद से बिछड़ा तारा मैं
दिल से इतना क्यूँ हारा मैं
ये तूने क्या किया

ishq ki saazishen, ishq ki baaziyaan
haara main khel ke do dilon ka jua
kyun tune meri fursat ki
kyun dil mein itni harkat ki
ishq mein itni barkat ki
ye tune kya kiya
phiroon ab maara maara main
chaand se bichhra taara main
dil se itna kyun haara main
ye tune kya kiya

The conspiracies of love, the games of love: I lost, playing the gamble of two hearts. Why did you finish my leisure? Why did you make such a stir in my heart? Why did you make such profit in love? What have you done? Now I wander beaten, beaten: a star parted from the moon. Why did I lose to the heart so much? What have you done?

The passage is the damage report, and the report is built from the gangster's words. Sazishen, conspiracies, baaziyaan, games, jua, the gamble: the love is the underworld of the feelings, and the singer has lost the stake of two hearts. The four questions that follow, fursat, harkat, barkat, the leisure, the stir, the profit, are the beloved's four crimes, and each is a different way of saying the same damage. The star parted from the moon, chaand se bichhra taara, is the passage's one image, and the refrain closes over it, ye tune kya kiya.

سازش saazishen: conspiracies, things plotted quietly
جوا jua: gambling, a wager
فرصت fursat: leisure, time that is your own
برکت barkat: abundance; a blessing that keeps giving

03 — saari duniya se jeet ke main aaya hoon idhar

ساری دنیا سے جیت کے میں آیا ہوں ادھر
تیرے آگے ہی میں ہارا، کیا تو نے کیا اثر
میں دل کا راز کہتا ہوں
کہ جب جب سانسیں لیتا ہوں
تیرا ہی نام لیتا ہوں
یہ تو نے کیا کیا

सारी दुनिया से जीत के मैं आया हूँ इधर
तेरे आगे ही मैं हारा, किया तूने क्या असर
मैं दिल का राज़ कहता हूँ
कि जब जब साँसें लेता हूँ
तेरा ही नाम लेता हूँ
ये तूने क्या किया

saari duniya se jeet ke main aaya hoon idhar
tere aage hi main haara, kiya tune kya asar
main dil ka raaz kehta hoon
ki jab jab saansein leta hoon
tera hi naam leta hoon
ye tune kya kiya

I came here having won from the whole world, and lost only in front of you: what an effect you made. I will tell you the secret of the heart: whenever I take a breath, I take only your name. What have you done?

The passage is the defeat stated in its full scale, and the scale is the passage's point: saari duniya se jeet ke, having won from the whole world, the only loss is the one in front of her. The secret of the heart, dil ka raaz, is the confession's oldest form, and the breath that carries only her name, jab jab saansein leta hoon, tera hi naam, is the love's daily prayer. The refrain lands on the secret, ye tune kya kiya, and the question has become the answer.

راز raaz: a secret
اثر asar: an effect, the mark one thing leaves on another

04 — meri baahon ko teri saanson ki

میری باہوں کو تیری سانسوں کی
جو عادتیں لگی ہیں ایسی
جی لیتا ہوں اب میں تھوڑا اور
میرے دل کی ریت پے
آنکھوں کی جو پڑے پرچھائی تیری
پی لیتا ہوں تب میں تھوڑا اور

मेरी बाँहों को तेरी साँसों की
जो आदतें लगी हैं ऐसी
जी लेता हूँ अब मैं थोड़ा और
मेरे दिल की रेत पे
आँखों की जो पड़े परछाई तेरी
पी लेता हूँ तब मैं थोड़ा और

meri baahon ko teri saanson ki
jo aadatein lagi hain aisi
jee leta hoon ab main thoda aur
mere dil ki ret pe
aankhon ki jo pade parchhaai teri
pee leta hoon tab main thoda aur

My arms have picked up such habits of your breaths that now I live a little more. When your eyes' shadow falls on the sand of my heart, then I drink a little more.

The passage is the strangest part of the damage, and the strangeness is the point: the wounds have become the diet. The habits of her breaths in his arms, aadatein, are the love's daily bread, and the living a little longer, jee leta hoon thoda aur, is the damage's unexpected yield. The shadow of her eyes on the sand of the heart, dil ki ret, is the passage's one image, and the drinking, pee leta hoon, returns the song to the tavern of the earlier passages. The damage and the nutrition are the same thing.

ریت ret: sand
عادت aadatein: habits

05 — dil karta hai teri baatein sunoon

دل کرتا ہے تیری باتیں سنوں
سودے میں ادھورے چنوں
مفت کا ہوا یہ فائدہ
کیوں خود کو میں برباد کروں
فنا ہو کے تجھ سے ملوں
عشق کا عجب ہے قاعدہ
تیری راہوں سے جو گزری ہے میری ڈگر
میں بھی آگے بڑھ گیا ہوں ہو کے تھوڑا بے فکر
کہو تو کس سے مرضی لوں
ہنستا اب تھوڑا فرضی ہوں
یہ تو نے کیا کیا

दिल करता है तेरी बातें सुनूँ
सौदे में अधूरे चुनूँ
मुफ़्त का हुआ ये फ़ायदा
क्यूँ ख़ुद को मैं बरबाद करूँ
फ़ना होके तुझ से मिलूँ
इश्क़ का अजब है क़ायदा
तेरी राहों से जो गुज़री है मेरी डगर
मैं भी आगे बढ़ गया हूँ होके थोड़ा बेफ़िकर
कहो तो किससे मरज़ी लूँ
हँसता अब थोड़ा फ़र्ज़ी हूँ
ये तूने क्या किया

dil karta hai teri baatein sunoon
saude mein adhoore chunoon
muft ka hua ye faayda
kyun khud ko main barbaad karoon
fanaa hoke tujh se miloon
ishq ka ajab hai qaayda
teri raahon se jo guzri hai meri dagar
main bhi aage badh gaya hoon hoke thoda befikar
kaho toh kisse marzi loon
hansta ab thoda farzi hoon
ye tune kya kiya

My heart wants to hear your words, to pick half-finished deals. This profit came free: why should I ruin myself? To meet you having dissolved: the rule of love is strange. My path has passed through your roads, and I too have moved ahead, a little carefree now. Tell me, whose permission should I ask? I laugh a little fake now. What have you done?

The passage is the song's final account, and the account refuses to balance. The half-finished deals, adhoore saude, are the lover's chosen trade, and the free profit, muft ka faayda, is the love itself, which costs nothing and ruins everything. The passage's rule is its last gift, fanaa hoke tujh se miloon, to meet her dissolved, ishq ka ajab qaayda, the strange rule of love, and the closing lines hand the whole song to the refrain: the laugh is a little fake, farzi, and the question, ye tune kya kiya, is the only honest thing left in it.

فنا fanaa: annihilation; dissolving entirely into the beloved
قاعدہ qaayda: a rule, the way a thing works
ڈگر dagar: a path, a track
فرضی farzi: false, put on for show

Reading it whole

The song is a love confession conducted in the register of the fight. Ye tune kya kiya, what have you done, is the question that opens every passage, and the answers are all wounds: the heart burned, the peace of it destroyed, the restlessness doubled, the defeat total. The beloved is never once accused. She is asked, and the asking is the love.

The first passage is the love's report card, and the report is mixed. The love is a calamity, bala, that burns whoever it touches, it starts in the heart and climbs to the head, it has fought with the self, with God, with the world, and still it sits on every tongue, badnaam and unavoidable. The passage's verdict is the song's whole method, ishq ki saazishen, ishq ki baaziyaan, the conspiracies of love, the games of love, and the singer has lost the game of two hearts.

The middle passages are the strangest part of the damage: the defeats keep turning into victories. I came here winning from the whole world and lost only to you, and what a result you had. The passage's turn is in the last lines, jee leta hoon ab main thoda aur, I live a little longer now, and the reason is the beloved's shadow falling on the desert of his heart, pi leta hoon tab main thoda aur, then I drink a little more. The damage has become the diet.

The closing passage is the song's final account, and the account is a paradox. I want to hear your words, I would choose half-finished deals for it, I got this profit for free: why should I ruin myself? The last lines carry the song's strangest claim, fanaa hoke tujh se miloon, ishq ka ajab hai qaida, to meet you having dissolved is the strange rule of love. The recording became the year's most played confession, and the question ye tune kya kiya has been the caption of every defeat that turned out to be a win.

Recordings

Javed Bashir

From Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara (2013), composed by Pritam.

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 Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara (2013), composed by Pritam, lyrics Rajat Arora. 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.