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5017 | Post No. : | 16925 |
Memories of visit to London in September 2021
This post has been a long time in arriving actually. We went to UK not as tourist, but to see family, mainly the daughter of the family and the new grand-daughter. We came back to Mumbai in October’21. Lot of water has flown down the bridge since then and the grand daughter is growing by leaps and bounds since we were with her, by the grace of Almighty.
Upon returning, I found myself under pressure to find a song good enough, to write a post covering the visit. I looked, searched and watched, found many songs, newer ones mainly filmed in the UK, and some also showing locations of the London city. It has been a favorite location for Hindi film picturization of film makers since the 60’s, i.e. when the trend of filming on location really started in the industry. Unfortunately, I was less than satisfied with the newer songs, and characteristically, was reluctant to post a new song, which had song/dance, band/bajaa/baraat routine. The songs were quite good in their own genre, I might yet post at least one of them.
And all this while, Avinash ji has been doing a series of the songs of 70’s decade and his posts appear regularly. Now Avinash ji has also acquired a new degree, I have deduced from the Peevisie’s Mom’s post. Congratulations to the happy parents and best wishes for the daughter and the son-in-law.
One lucky day, while browsing the YouTube, I found this Rafi-Asha duet from the film ‘Professor Pyarelal’ (1981). It is a happy sounding romantic song and a much heard on the radio, which makes it a dear familiar friend, in my opinion. The song is filmed in London, mostly around the city center area, around Thames River, Westminster Abbey, the London Clock Tower etc. The famous London Tower Bridge is also visible in all its centuries old splendor.
Centuries old splendor is the term I was looking for to describe the architectural beauty of London city and its many monuments. It is evident that it is one of the oldest surviving cities of the world. And it has managed to maintain its beauty and its instinct for survival, adaptability to the modern times and modern architectural and infrastructure requirements can only be applauded and wondered at.
My search for a suitable song for this post ended the day I saw this song on YouTube. But the actual writing kept getting deferred. I thought this was a late 70’s song, and was apprehensive that Avinash ji or someone else may post this song and I will lose the opportunity to write this post. Now I find that this movie is from 1981. But the songs were released and popular for some years before the movie eventually released after production delays.
Getting back to the brief about our visit. As soon as we arrived in UK, various scheduling and planning for visits to different places were underway. My uncle, our host, insisted upon a visit to London city. The planning for the London city was so short, due to the leave constraints of my son-in-law, that I was on the verge of postponing it to the next visit. But the window of opportunity, and my son’s contention that everybody is going to ask, “hey you went to England and didn’t see London!”, decided in favor of the visit, so it happened.
London and some other landmark locations of England are a part of the consciousness. Just as we exist, these buildings – man made creations – also exist, and are famous for the events, known as historical turning points. Unlike other major cities of the modern world, London has seen wars too and has been destroyed and built again many times over, from what ever history I have read about it. England, on the whole has had a most violent history, in the medieval and pre-medieval eras. The fault lines between the Welsh, Scots, Irish and Brits, is evident even today in the various ruins and forts, and castles. But they did learn their lesson that divided they fall, decided to unite at some given point in history to conquer the world. I think it was the threat of the Romans that eventually united the British Isles. The glue could only have been an ideology of self-interest, binding the factions despite bitter animosity and gruesome wars behind them. Maybe the Protestant church had something to do with it, so Britain rose to great heights as a dominant civilization in the world and they were motivated enough to write and re-write the worlds history, literally and figuratively. British historians are also a notorious breed. Their language, is the dominant language in the world for centuries now. The rise of the British Empire took centuries to happen, where as the fall was swift in the 19th and 20th century. But the cultural and linguistic dominance continues to remain on top now, and for the foreseeable future too in the 21st century. Willingness to adapt to other cultures and language habits is said to be a major factor in the success of the English language. Historically speaking, the Roman empire was greater and more successful in the world, before the new found land of Americas. But the impact is all but lost in today’s world. The geopolitical scenario keeps changing with time and passing of centuries. These changes happen faster now in a matter of decades. There are catalysts recognizable and visible to these power shifts. This is a very heavy and deep topic, so better to leave it here.
Yes, I had to chalk out a fool proof plan and schedule, wherein a few places I wanted to visit, were not missed. Lords cricket ground and Thames River cruise were two things I was not willing to miss. So we worked around this, to do the Lords tour, city ride in the red bus, short cruise of Thames river, Madame Tussaud’s, Harrods, a long walk inside the Hyde Park, especially where equestrian clubs are situated, visit to Science Museum and Natural History Museum (free entry), Bakers Street and Sherlock Holmes Museum, etc. We gave a miss to Tower of London and Buckingham Palace tours, as they were more time consuming and also expensive. The London Eye is also a popular choice, which we could not take. Other tourist locations in UK also have a giant wheel rides, as an attraction. The Giant wheel is a common feature in other places, like Dubai, Sydney, etc. I am wondering why we don’t have a thing like this in Mumbai.
We were based in Manchester, so could visit the nearby areas too like Lake District, North Wales, Blackpool, Lancaster, Chester, Preston etc. We passed through Oxford too on our way back from London. When we had arrived in UK, everyone told us the weather is good for only 2-3 days, so enjoy as much as you can, as it is really foul from September onward. But luckily the weather held for the entire period of our stay, and we had rains to enjoy only in North Wales and for an hour or two in London, while we were riding the red bus and we had to cross the Bridge near Westminster on foot as we missed the stop for the Westminster Pier. A part of the song I am presenting is filmed on the same bridge, where Zeenat Aman is standing in the middle of the road and crosses to join Dharmendra on the curb. The famous Tower Bridge is now painted in azure blue. I find that the Bridge has been painted blue since 1977, but in the song, it is not looking blue, so the song was filmed before 1977, it would seem.
Some trivia about the film:
This film took so long to complete – five years – and its plot was so convoluted that after director Brij had finished shooting it, nobody could figure out how to put the film together. The producers had then called in Hrishikesh Mukherjee to edit and salvage the film. He was credited prominently in the film’s posters and publicity material.
Astonishingly, no part of the city which is showcased as the beautiful attractions, looks old or dilapidated. All of them look freshly painted and well maintained, except for the bridges on the Thames River and the Westminster Abbey, which is the family church of the British Royals. London is best enjoyed on foot, I was told and I agree. After covering a few miles on foot, in and around Exhibition Street, Marylebone, Kensington, Hyde Park, we can be surprised and find the unexpected. In fact, the most parts of UK are best enjoyed on foot, which is the common consensus. Walking trails are taken as granted in different parts of UK.
I am told that the whole of UK is connected through rivers and canals and one can go from anywhere to anywhere on a boat. I was mentally prepared to be impressed by all that I was going to see in this visit, but was more than impressed and wish to do more trips which include visits to the remaining places in England, Scotland and Wales.
We took a pre-booked guided tour of the Lord’s cricket ground at the MCC. Seeing the many Indian in the group taking the tour, the guide asked us “Where is Sachin Tendulkar’s home?”. The common answer was the obvious – Mumbai. But the guide insisted that “No. Sachin’s home is right here in Marylebone.” No surprises there too, for the evidence is everywhere in London especially, that who can afford to, would prefer to stay in London. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar was here in Mumbai in February 2022, as we all saw him attending the funeral of Lata Mangeshkar. Incidentally, I could not find Sachin Tendulkar’s name in the list of Test centurions at the Lords. Extensive lists are put up inside the Pavilion, of all centurions and also 5+ wicket takers in an innings. The guide was in full form and regaled us with a story about the ‘death row’ in the viewers gallery or members gallery. There are two such galleries, one for the home team and one for the away team. As both India and West Indies are ‘away teams’, I guess the away team gallery was the one, where Kapil Dev stood with the Prudential Cup trophy after his team’s victory in 1983 World Cup. The original Prudential Cup is still there in the small Museum for memorabilia, related to the MCC.
I have read and heard at various places, that London was the favourite place in the world for Rafi Sahab also. He is said to have been fond of the city, as his sons are settled there.
I can go on remembering things and my impressions of the visit, but the post is got to end somewhere. The song being presented in this post is filmed in London on Dharmendra and Zeenat Aman. Rafi Sahab and Asha Bhonsle are giving playback to them in the song written by Rajendra Krishan and composed by Kalyanji-Anandji.
This duet is typical of the Kalyanji-Anandji style of duet composition, sounding very similar to the Rafi-Asha duet from ‘Qurbani’. We the radio fans, listened to the song in late 70’s, loved and liked it, but had all but forgotten it. Even the links on YouTube are few, with only one video available.
Video
Audio
Song – Tere Siwa Na Kisi Ka Banoonga (Professor Pyaarelal) (1981) Singer – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Lyrics – Rajendra Krishan, MD – Kalyanji Anandji
Mohammed Rafi + Asha Bhosle
Lyrics
tere siwa na
kisi ka banoonga aa
tere siwa na
kisi ka banoonga
khoon e jigar se
ye likh ke main doonga
ye waada aa
ye wada raha dilruba aa
ye wada raha dilruba aa
qadmon mein tere
jannat hai meri
ho ke rahoongi
hamesha main teri
ye waada aa
ye waada raha saajna aa
ye waada raha saajna
aayenge mausam
aayenge mausam
jaayenge mausam
hum ko sada
saath paayenge mausam
koi saaz badle
koi raag badle
na badlegi apni
muhabbat ki sargam
har saans meri
tere liye hai ea
har saans meri
tere liye hai
yeh waada raha saajna
yeh waada raha saajna aaa
tere siwa na
kisi ka banoonga
khoon e jigar se
ye likh ke main doonga
ye waada aa
ye wada raha dilruba aa
ye wada raha dilruba aa
awaaz de ke ea
awaaz de ke
jo roke zamaana
zamaane ki baaton
mein hargiz na aana
aankhon mein aankhen
baahon mein baahen
daale huey saathh chalte hi jaana
tera pyaar hi to
meri zindagi hai
tera pyaar hi to
meri zindagi hai
ye waada raha dilruba
ye waada raha dilruba
qadmon mein tere
jannat hai meri
ho ke rahoongi
hamesha main teri
ye waada aa aa
ye waada raha saajna
ye waada raha saajna
saajna
ye waada raha saajna
saajna
ye waada raha saajna
———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————
तेरे सिवा ना
किसी का बनूँगा
तेरे सिवा ना
किसी का बनूँगा
खून ए जिगर से
ये लिख के मैं दूँगा
ये वादा॰॰आ
ये वादा रहा दिलरुबा
ये वादा रहा दिलरुबा
कदमों में तेरे
जन्नत है मेरी
हो के रहूँगी
हमेशा मैं तेरी
ये वादा॰॰आ
ये वादा रहा साजना
ये वादा रहा साजना
आएंगे मौसम
आएंगे मौसम
जाएंगे मौसम
हमको सदा साथ पाएंगे मौसम
कोई साज बदले
कोई राग बदले
ना बदलेगी अपनी
मोहब्बत की सरगम
हर सांस मेरी
तेरे लिए है
हर सांस मेरी
तेरे लिए है
ये वादा रहा साजना
ये वादा रहा साजना
तेरे सिवा ना
किसी का बनूँगा
खून ए जिगर से
ये लिख के मैं दूँगा
ये वादा॰॰आ
ये वादा रहा दिलरुबा
ये वादा रहा दिलरुबा
आवाज़ दे के॰॰ए
आवाज़ दे के
जो रोके ज़माना
जमाने के बातों में
हरगिज़ ना आना
आँखों में आँखें
बाहों में बाहें
डाले हुये साथ चलते ही जाना
तेरा प्यार ही तो
मेरी ज़िंदगी है
तेरा प्यार ही तो
मेरी ज़िंदगी है
ये वादा रहा दिलरुबा
ये वादा रहा दिलरुबा
कदमों में तेरे
जन्नत है मेरी
हो के रहूँगी
हमेशा मैं तेरी
ये वादा॰॰आ
ये वादा रहा साजना
ये वादा रहा साजना
साजना
ये वादा रहा साजना
साजना
ये वादा रहा साजना