अंबर की सुराई ...बादल का जाम ....

Kadambari was a sort of arty film released in 1974 which nobody watched . It had absolutely uninspiring pair of Vijay Arora & Shabana Azmi.Only thing which is good about this movie was this song "अंबर की एक पाक सुराई "

This song is a beauty , although nobody heard it then . I heard it on a lazy Sunday morning in Rangoli ( DD).Song picturisation is nothing great...Shabna in a blue-green sari walking on dried yellow leaves and some ruins....

I loved the tune , never paid much attention to the words . They were obscure and a little difficult to understand . Music is by Ustad Vilayat Khan , being a sitarist he has not used sitar in this song and   apparently the guitar you hear is played by Bhupinder Singh. Asha's aalap and the opening notes are superb....

Lyrics as I heard them-

अंबर की एक पाक सुराई , बादल का एक जाम उठा कर
घूट चांदनी पी है हमने ,बात कुफर की की है हमने

कैसे इसका कर्ज चुकाये ,मांग के अपने मौत के हाथो
उम्र की चोली सी है हमने , बात....

अपना इसमे कुछ भी नाही है , रोजे या जलसे उसकी अमानत
उसको वही तो दी है हमने, बात....

Asha has selected this song as one of her favourites , speaks loads about the beauty of this song.

Sky is the holy wine jar , I am drinking the intoxicating moonlight in the cloud-goblets . Am I committing blasphemy....talking against God  ? But after all everything belongs to Him & only Him....and I am enjoying this precious gift called life ....
I have only so much life...I asked for an extension...from Death ....and I have got it . I have taken a thread and stitched my old , torn blouse ....
My life can be a fast or feast ...its not in my hands....It is decided by Him . I have to accept and enjoy life and then return .....redistribute the joys ...make others happy....

These lyrics are actually credited to Amrita Pritam . I tried high and low , searching for their meaning on the web . But apparently nobody understood even the words .

Also sharing Sonu Nigam's version ...words are much clearer than the original video...

After all these efforts , I finally discovered the reason for the obscure words  today....This song is not the original poem....Some unknown lyricist has left his signature on this poem...

For the original poem :

http://geeta-kavita.com/hindi_sahitya.asp?id=704