Songs of Alankars: Figures of Speech

My last post was also on alankars; that was the jewellery women wear on different parts of their body. The language also needs alankars to beautify it. Without figures of speech a language would be quite bland. A British writer Nate White’s article, “Why do some British people not like Trump” went viral sometime back. It was not because of his xenophobic, bigoted, racist policies, nor his incoherent rantings, it was because he was crass in language, he didn’t show any wit, any wry humour, never said anything amusing or remotely funny – in short he was devoid of any figure of speech. They are integral to our everyday usage and we use many figures of speech without any conscious effort. In fact the two meanings of ‘alankar’ themselves constitute a figure of speech called ‘Yamak’ – that is, the same word is mentioned more than once in a text, each having a different meaning.

Off and on, a visitor to the blog posts a comment (in Hindi) sort of disapproving why a blog on Hindi film songs should be in English. I don’t have great fancy for any kind of vigilantism. I politely thank him for his love for our language and that I would be greatly pleased to interact with him on Hindi literature on mail. But that set me thinking, if we can discuss onomatopoeia, synecdoche and metonymy, why can’t we अनुप्रास, यमक, श्लेष, उत्प्रेक्षा, उपमा, रूपक etc.

Anupras (अनुप्रास): Alliteration
At the very early stages of Hindi literature a poet was lauded for writing lines like this:

तरणि तनूजा तट तमाल तरुवर बहु छाए

Modern Hindi poetry has long moved away from such alliteration. In film songs too, you would rarely find a song with such अनुप्रास. This is confined to humorous scenes in films, such as Amitabh Bachchan’s act with Kachcha paapad, pakka paapad. After repeating it fast a few times you are likely to lose track and get entangled in the tongue-twister. Less difficult, though longer, is Chandu ke chacha ne Chandu ki chachi ko chaandni raat mein chaandi ke chammach se chatni chataai. A long passage where every word starts with the letter ‘t’, attributed to Shashi Tharoor (?), is here:

A tribute to letter “T”                             
By Sashi Tharoor

The tongue’s terrible tendency to tell tall tales totally tarnishes traditional transcommunication theories. The tempestuous tirades traceable to the tongue testify to the traumatic tactics of this tiny tab of tissue. Thousands that take the time to think, try to tame the tumultuous torrent of the too talkative tongue. Temporarily, the tide turns. Towering tempers turn to tenderness. Then, tragically, the trend tapers. The tongue trips, teeters, then takes a tumble; the temptation to trifling twaddle triumphs.

Take time to tabulate this timeless truth: to train the tongue takes the tremendous talent of trust. Theology teaches that trust thrives through toil. Therefore, throttle the testy tongue! Terminate the trivial topics that tinge the tenor of talk! Trim the trashy, tasteless terms that transgress traditions of truth! Trounce the trite themes that toady to thoughtless tattling!

Theoretically, the tantalizing target of a true, tactful, temperate tongue torments and teases those that tackle the task. To tell the truth, thrilling triumph throngs the tracks of the tough, tenacious thwarter of tawdry talk !!!!!

(I feel all such creative excesses are wrongly attributed to Shashi Tharoor. His English is too elegant for such tricks. – AK)

1. Teetar ke do age teetar teetar ke do peechhe teetar, bolo kitne teetar by Asha Bhosle, Simi Grewal and Mukesh from Mera Naam Joker (1970), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Shankar-Jaikishan

Among rare anupras songs, I could find an excellent song Teetar ke do aage teetar. Its antaras, too, are full of alliteration which must have inspired Amitabh Bachchan’s comic Kachcha paapad pakka paapad. Look at this stanza from the song.

Chaar kachare kachhe chacha
Chaar kachare pakke
Pakke kachare kachhe chacha
Kachche kachare pakke

Yamak (Homonym?)/ Shlesh
They are close cousins. The first refers to two identical words used in poetry/song having different meanings. I started this post with a Yamak. The second refers to the same word used once having two different meanings. Yamak is quite common in literature as also in songs. Shlesh is rarer.

Rahim wrote quite a few didactic couplets using Yamak. A nice one is:

कनक कनक ते सौ गुना मादकता अधिकाय

The first kanak means gold (wealth), the second kanak, the poisonous plant dhatoora. The poet says, gold (wealth) is a hundred times more toxic than dhatoora – one’s mere possession makes a person intoxicated with arrogance, the other you have to consume to go crazy.

My fellow blogger Anita Rupavataran, who is also interested in language and literature, once wrote a nice article on ‘Homonym in songs’ and she was able to compile a good number of Yamak songs. However, in English, at times ‘homonym’ is used in a wider sense to include words like sent-cent-scent or knot-not or cell-sell or know/no. Hindi being a phonetic language, such situations are not likely to arise – both the words in Yamak would have identical spellings. To get over this difficulty, English grammar has created a narrower category of ‘homophones’ for similar sounding but differently spelt words. That would leave ‘homonyms’ with enough pure Yamak words, such as, “Mbappe travelled by train from Dusseldorf to Hamburg to train there for his next match”. “PM in his public address did not address the core issues.”

2. Tumne kisi ki jaan ko jaate huye dekha hai, wo dekho mujhse roothkar meri jaan ja rahi hai by Rafi from Rajkumar (1964), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Shankar-Jaikishan

Have you seen someone’s life ebbing away? Look there, my beloved is going away from me in a big sulk. This SJ composition has long been my favourite, it always comes to my mind for Yamak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Jg5pGJ4vM

3. Meri jaan kuchh bhi kijiye, chaahe jaan meri lijiye, par dil humin ko dijiye by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar from Chhalia (1960), lyrics Qamar Jalalabadi, music Kalyanji-Anandji

The two jaans have the same meaning as in the earlier song, but this song shows the difference more clearly.

4. Jab se tujhe jaan gayi, haye meri jaan gayi by Lata Mangeshkar from Bluff Master (1963), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Kalyanji-Anandji

This one is a unique Yamak song with two jaans capable of entirely different sets of meaning in two different ways. Here the first jaan is in the sense of the French verb ‘savoir’. In the frame Saira Bano, Pran and Shammi Kapoor are all there. She alternatively goes to Pran and Shammi Kapor, but the expression changes. Therefore, it lends itself to two sets of Yamak interpretations. To the villain: Since the day I understood you, I have been living in mortal fear. To the hero: Since the day I have known you, you have taken my breath away. Or, Since the day I came to know you, you have swept me off my feet.

5. Sajna hai mujhe sajna ke liye by Asha Bhosle from Saudagar (1973), lyrics and music Ravindra Jain

Moving away from jaan, here is a nice Yamak song with two sajnas – one meaning is ‘to dress up’, and the other, the husband in a romantic sense. Padma Khanna forgets that Amitabh Bachchan has to ultimately make a living by selling गुड़ in the village haat. In her obsession with dressing up she forgot that the gur in the pot on the oven would be badly burnt. The sajna would blast her for wasting her time in dressing up, and spoiling his business.

Yamak is more versatile thanks to the modern song-writers; they are not concerned with enhancing the literary beauty. An interesting song is:

जुम्मा चुम्मा दे दे
तू बोली थी पिछले जुम्मे को, चुम्मा दूंगी अगले जुम्मे को
आज जुम्मा है, तो आ जा आ जा
जुम्मा चुम्मा दे दे

In earlier days, our heroes were shy. The Sadi ke Mahanayak is more direct in messaging. “O Jumma (Kimi Ketkar)! You had promised last Jumma (Friday) that you would give a kiss on the next Friday. Now Friday has come, and I have come too, so come Jumma, and give me chumma.” The virtuous lady does the benevolent act as per her promise made on a holy day, also giving joy to hundreds of raucous dock workers.

Now I am leaving it to the readers to come up with more Yamak songs with other words.

श्लेष
Shlesh refers to a single word having two distinct meanings in the same sentence. It is not common in literature and rarer still in songs. But it has come in common usage in the punchline of some jokes where the humour is based on an entirely unexpected meaning of a word or expression. A nice joke doing the rounds in the context of Pakistan’s abysmal performance in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 went as follows:

A US judge had to decide the custody of an American child. OK, you say your parents beat you, would you like to go with your aunt. Oh, no! She has been beating me since my childhood.

Then, what about your grandmother? No, never with that old hag, she is the worst of the lot.

Oh, I see you have got quite a family of child-beaters. Giving paramount importance to the child’s welfare, the judge asked him, then you decide who would you like to live with. Your Honour! Please give my custody to the Pakistani cricket team.

The flummoxed judge who, like most Americans, had not heard of cricket, asked the kid wide-eyed: What, why on the earth? Because they can’t beat anyone!

That was a nice joke, but most such jokes are risqué – the kind we describe in our lingo as non-veg jokes. Dada Kondke once became famous for his double entendres, not fit for mixed company. But in 1982 one such song entered the mainstream. Now the bar has been lowered – you will see it in Kapil Sharma show or some OTT series. Even Dada Kondke has now become mainstream – Zee Classic recently showcased a retrospective of his famous films, such as Andheri Raat Mein Diya Tere Haath Mein.

(Pakistan have continued their washout performance in ICC Championship 2025, too. So this joke can be adapted to the more recent event with slight adaptations. There is something universal about Shlesh jokes  – as also jokes in general.)

6. Saat saheliyan khadi khadi, fariyad sunavein ghadi ghadi by Kishore Kumar, Alka Yagnik, Anuradha Paudwal, Hemlata, Kanchan, Padmini Kolhapure, Sadhana Sargam and Shivangi Kolhapure from Vidhata (1982), lyrics Anand Bakshi, music Kalyanji-Anandji

I think the film got a U certificate, but this song beats any Dada Kondke double entendre. The darzi’s wife laments: Raat bhar muaa sone na de, taanka lagave ghadi ghadi. And in a similar vein, engine driver’s wife: Raat bhar muaa sone na de, bhonpu bajave ghadi ghadi and so on. With each punchline the gesture on the stage leaves nothing to imagination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbvmoBZlt9U

7. Panna ki tamanna hai ki Heera mujhe mil jaye by Kishore Kumar from Heera Panna (1973), lyrics Anand Bakshi, music RD Burman

Here is a clean song which you can stretch to mean a Shlesh song. Panna (Zeenat Aman) covets the heera (diamond) and also Heera (Dev Anand).

Saare ke saare ga ma ko lekar gaate chale is an interesting song which has both Yamak and Shlesh. ‘Saare ke saare’ is an idiomatic expression signifying ‘all of them’. But each word may also be thought of in the context as the first two musical notes in the sargam – Sa (Shadaj) and Re (Rishabh).

Yamak/Shlesh in the film Shree 420 (1955)
An intresting use of Yamak/Shesh is in the film Shree 420. When Raj Kapoor goes to a laundry to seek a job, the manager asks him, Istri to kar loge? Raj Kapoor replies, Ji, pagar milni shuru ho jayegi, aur ghar ho jayega, to istri bhi kar lunga. The manager had to clarify, Wo istri nahin. Iron for pressing clothes. This should be Yamak, as the word is used twice, both having different meanings. Another scene, and see  how the same word is used as Shlesh. The Havildar Saheb smiles at Raj Kapoor-Nargis at the sea beach. He remembers his first encounter with them, and still under the misconception that they are a quarrelling married couple, asks Raj, Ab tumhari istri garam to nahin hoti? (Does your wife still get angry with you?) Raj Kapoor suddenly remembers that he has left the hot iron on the cloth at the ironing table, rushes there only to find the cloth is burnt to ashes. Nice Shlesh, now with two words Istri (woman/iron press); garam (angry/hot)

उत्प्रेक्षा, उपमा, रूपक
We are familiar with Upama (simile). It is a simple comparison of an object (Upamey) with a more famous object (Upaman). Such as, Chandrama sa mukh. Upama is the most common; but in our grammar there are two more comparisons. You can think of Utpreksha, Upama and Roopak as different degrees of comparison like the terms in an Arithmetic Progression (AP). The first, Utpreksha is tentative in the sense that there is a possibility – ‘as if’, मानो – that the Upamey is like the Upaman. In Upama the tentativeness is gone and ‘her eyes are like that of a doe’. Roopak goes a step further and the lady becomes Mrignayani or Chandramukhi – the Upamey and Upman though distinct, become one. A very apt illustration to understand the difference between Upama and Roopak is the essence of the film Sujata (1959). When asked by relatives, Nutan’s foster mother Sulochana becomes defensive about the orphaned daughter of an untouchable and describes her, Nahin ye hamari beti nahin, lekin ye bhi beti jaisi hai. In the climax, Sulochana accepts Nutan, Nahin beti jaisi nahin, tu hamari beti hai. Nutan is emotionally overwhelmed and breaks down in a flood of tears. The difference between Upama and Roopak is the difference between ‘beti jaisi’ and ‘beti’.

Utpreksha
8. Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga jaise khilta gulab, jaise shayar ka khwab.. by Kumar Sanu from 1942 A Love Story (1994), lyrics Javed Akhtar, music RD Burman

This is a perfect Utpreksha song. Every comparison is preceded by Aisa laga jaise…. Thanks to Anita again, I know that this song is also a very good example of another figure of speech ‘Anaphora’. Its Hindi equivalent has to be पुनरावृत्ति. I have not seen it being mentioned as a formal figure of speech in Hindi. Though not so common in songs, it is quite common in speeches in political campaigns. The greatest examples of oratory in the history have this feature, as Martin Luther King’s I have a dream.., Winston Churchill’s We shall fight them on the… Now I see most leaders prompting the public to repeat a few catchy words after them in election speeches.

9. Aisa lagta hai tum ban ke baadal by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar from Ajnabi (1974), lyrics Anand Bakshi, music RD Burman

This song has a couple of Utprekshas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsBn80hqz8M

Upama/ Roopak
10. Nain ka chain churakar le gayi kar gayi neend haram, chadrama sa mukh tha uska Chandramukhi tha naam by Mukesh from Chandramukhi (1960), lyrics Bharat Vyas, music SN Tripathi

Listing Upama songs would be quite trite as there are so many of them. Hers is a song which has both Upama (Chandrama sa mukh) and Roopak (Chandramukhi). This must be a B-Grade movie, but Mukesh was at the peak of his vocal prowess. He has sung an immortal song.

11. O mrignayani chandramukhi main hun tera prem deewana by Vasantrao Deshpande and Kumari Faiyaz from Rang Birangi (1983), lyrics Yogesh, music RD Burman

Senior citizens also have a right to become romantic. Here is a great song which has two very nice Roopaks – mrignayani and chandramukhi – in the opening line. Vasantrao Deshpande is a legend in Marathi culture and music, and we have discussed this song earlier in another context. Om Prakash and Chhaya Devi do a great job in emoting it on the screen.

पुनरावृत्ति (Anaphora)
We just discovered, incidentally, that the Utpreksha song – Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga – also happened to be a Punaraavritti song. But are there any independent Punaraavritti songs? There must be several. Anita has posted some good ones in her compilation of Anaphora songs. Kaahe koel shor machaye re always came to my mind as a पुनरावृत्ति song.

12. Kaahe koyal shor machaaye re, mohe apna koi yaad aaye re by Shamshad Begum from Aag (1948), lyrics Behzad Lakhanvi, music Ram Ganguly

Kaahe koyal shor machaaye re, mohe apna koi yaad aaye re
Mere dil se nikale jo haaye re, koi dosh mera batlaaye re
Kah do kah do koyal se na gaaye re, O mohe apna koi yaad aaye re

More nainon mein neend bhar aaye re, mohe beete wo din yaad aaye re
Mera jeevan pal pal jaaye re, rahun kab tak aas lagaaye re
Koi jaake use samjhaye re, O meri maut ke pahle aaye re

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWRUlCN1Bs8

After careful examination I find there is a better example of Anaphora song from the same film, Raat ko ji haye raat ko ji. Whether Mukesh or Shamshad Begum, each repeats this group of words in every line.

13. Raat ko ji haye raat ko ji chamke taare by Shamshad Begum and Mukesh from Aag (1948), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, Music Ram Ganguly

You can’t get a better example of पुनरावृत्ति (Anaphora) song.

Raat ko ji haye raat ko ji chamke taare
Dekh balam mohe ankhiyan maare ji main mar gayi Ram

Raat ko ji haye raat ko ji bole papihara
Bhed khole tera-mera mera-tera ji main kya karun Ram

Raat ko ji haye raat ko ji chamke chanda
…….
Raat ko ji haye raat ko ji udate baadal
…….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnSN5SwtNU

विडम्बना/ व्यंग्य
You can’t imagine English language without irony, satire or sarcasm. Our ancient Sanskrit language was primarily religious. The classical Sanskrit drama had a Vidushak, who provided some trite humour. In between we had a tradition of Subhashits such as Vidya dadaati vinayam, or Vasudhaiva kutumbakam. The sources of most subhashits are unknown. In classical poetry the focus was more on aesthetic embellishments. But modern Hindi literature has taken to irony, satire and sarcasm in a big way. You can think of Raag Darbari as an excellent work of satire throughout. It was immediately heralded as one of the greatest novels in Hindi ever. In Hindi film songs my favourite example of विडम्बना/ व्यंग्य is this great bhangara from the film Jaagte Raho. Going back to Sujata again, when Sulochana first hears Tarun Bose use the name Sujata for Budhua’s daughter, she exclaims, Aapne ye naam use kab diya? Aankh ke andhe naam nayansukh! Nice vidambana.

14. Aivein duniya deve duhaai jhootha paundi shor by Rafi and Balbir from Jaagte Raho (1956), lyrics Prem Dhawan, music Salil Chowdhury

This was a rare RK film in which Raj Kapoor was not the director, though he acted in it with a very small and almost non-speaking role. The music director was an unusual Salil Chowdhury, and equally unusual was the lyricist Prem Dhawan, and more unusual for Salil Chowdhury – he composes a very realistic bhangra song with hard-hitting lyrics on the hypocrisy of the civilised society. A hungry and thirsty, poor villager Raj Kapoor strays into an urban multi-storeyed residential society in search of water. His dishevelled look sends an alarm that a thief has entered the Society. All hell breaks loose. A night-long watch by volunteers and a house to house search is mounted which reveals that the civilised and wealthy people were engaged in various nefarious activities –  from printing fake currencies to making spurious drugs, to illicit liquor, to beating their wives and so on. Among the volunteer groups is one of bhangra singers. The puzzled intruder Raj Kapoor, who is the cause of all the mayhem, bumps into the group. And what befitting lyrics of irony and satire:

People have become wealthy trampling on the rights of others
I call it out as robbery, the world calls it destiny
Am I telling a lie? No, not at all.
….
We have seen pandits, epitome of kindness and charity
They chant Ram’s name, but they enrich themselves from the donation given to goshala
Am I telling a lie? No, not at all.
…..
We have seen righteous people going to the gallows
And the sinners enjoying life.
People say it is God’s will, I say it is injustice.
Am I telling a lie? No, not at all.

(Original lyrics)
Ainve duninya deve duhayi jhootha paundi shor
Te apne dil ko puchh ke vekho kaun nahin ai chor
Te ke main jhooth bolya, koi na
Te ke main kufra toleya, koi na
Te ke main jahar gholeya, koi na ji koi na
….
Hak dooje da maar maar ke ban de log ameer
Main ainu kanhda chori duniya kanhdi taqdeer
Te ke main jhooth boliyan, koi na..
…..
Vekhe pandit gyani dhyani daya dharam de bande
Ram naam jap de te khande gaushala ke chande
Te ke main jhooth boliya, koi na
…….

Sachche phansi chadh de vekhe jhootha mauj udaye
Log ki kanhdi rab di maya main kanhda anyay
Te ke main jhooth boliya, koi na
Te ke kufra tolya, koi na
Te ke main jahar gholiya, koi na, ji koi na, ji koi na

Notes, Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
1. I had some useful discussion with my friend Brijeshwar Singh.
2. Those familiar with Sanskrit grammar would recognise many Roopaks fall under some form of Tatpurush or Bahubrihi Samas.
3. Lest you should think Sanskrit is completely devoid of Vidambana/ Vyangya (irony/satire), Bhartrihari in his Nitishatak amidst dozens of subhashits comes up with मतिमताम् च विलोक्यदरिद्रता विधिरहो बलवानिति मतिः, and सर्वे गुणा: कांचनमाश्रयन्ते (Seeing the penury of the learned, one can only conclude, the fate is very powerful./ The wealthy have all the virtues.)
4. The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog has no commercial interest and claims or suggests no copyright over these songs which vests with the respective rights owners.