My interpretation of the Ghazal, Ek Ghadi from D-Day

Disclaimer: I do not consider myself knowledgeable in Urdu so please go easy on me, this is simply my interpretation of a Gazal that I happen to love. So here goes…

I have always wondered why we are attracted to the unknown. Or even the half understood. This is particularly evident when it comes to Ghazals in Hindi cinema. To be honest, I don’t quite understand Urdu, having never learnt is formally, I studied in a KV and therefore studied Hindi. But like many, I am fascinated with the Urdu language, not understanding it completely, gives the language a unique aura of mystery, In Hindi cinema, while most of the dialogues are in Hindustani the songs are mostly Urdu, it is almost as if the song lyricist finds freedom to use Urdu which the script writer does not have and has to stick to the simpler Hindustani. The lyricist, on the other hand, does not have to work within any limits.

So here is an interpretation of a Ghazal from a person who does not know Urdu.

It is important to understand the context of this Ghazal, The setting for the song is a prostitutes house in Karachi and the two characters are, the prostitute and one of her customers, a customer that she likes (at least more than the some of other customers), it can be implied that this customer is gentler than her other customers and, while one can say that she prefers him over others, one cannot stretch this to mean love. She feels that she is free from the sorrows of her life when she is with this particular customer. The freedom is not complete but she can at least dare to contemplate how life would be with this man. The song is sung from the point of view of the prostitute and is set in the early hours of the morning, A time when he will get up and leave without so much as a second thought about her.

Wait another moment because there is still life left in me.

She urges him to stay back a few moments. She comes alive only in the night. To the world, the only purpose of her existence is to give pleasure, her customers come in the night, people pay attention (or rather acknowledge her existence) only in the night. So, she wants to draw out every moment, so she can live a few more moments.

Your lips carry the marks that I exist.

Once he has left, the only sign of her existence would be marks on his lips, maybe the marks of her lipstick. It is her attempt to prolong his departure by a few moments. Maybe by saying “wipe the marks off your lips before you leave” and hence getting him to stay for a few more moments.

So what, if the colour that has risen in the dark sky is that of the morning.

Imagine how rouge gives a bit of colour to the cheeks, here the morning light is acting like the rouge on the dark sky.

despite the setting of my dreams, I still exist

The dreams that she has dreamt of, in the peak of the night are fading, but she will continue to exist and live on the hope that he will return.

Do not punish yourself by separating from me in this manner

She feels that he also has developed feelings for her and she feels that, by leaving, he is unnecessarily adding to his own sorrow. She knows that her thoughts on his loving her are an illusion, and yet, she is willing to live with the illusions, since they give her a chance to live and hope, even if it is for a brief moment.

There are still many more crimes that will happen at your hands.

In the film the prostitute has a knife scar on her face. She has been attacked by another man. Probably her husband who married her with the intention of putting her into the flesh trade. Or it could have been another customer who could not stand the fact that she was so beautiful and he so ugly, (how can a tawaif be so beautiful and graceful, and possibly more educated than him, how dare the tawaif show airs to him).

In all this she feels that may be this customer will avenge her, therefore a reference to crimes that have yet to come at your hands. So there is a bit of manipulation involved in all this.

The stories that you told me of blooming flowers were all excuses and simply a ruse.

The story of the dying embers (of coal/fire) is yet to be told. The fire is not yet fully gone, It simply need to be rekindled, probably with hope.

So what if my eyes are empty/lifeless and the parting in my hair is without(devoid of) colour (the symbol of a woman’s protection/marriage), there is still hope (that the embers/my life will be rekindled).

The colour of hena on my hands is still visible. As if to say that she has been widowed before the decorative hena (that women apply to their hands just before their wedding) has faded away.