These are are days of consumerism where people have mind boggling variety of materials to choose from. It is difficult to imagine today that Indian shops till 1970s wore spartan looks and they hardly had anything to offer. People got “phoren” goods from abroad and flaunted them proudly. And smuggling (bringing items without paying the exorbitant taxes) was a flourishing business.
Women of these days are into shopping in a big way. If they take a look down the memory lane, they will realise that women of their mother’s generation, and certainly their grandmother’s generation had very little opportunity for the kind of shopping that today’s women take for granted.
Here is a sweet song from half a century ago. Here a women is asking her baalam to bring her chhoodi of aasmaani colour because she has had enough of her old choodi that she sports on her wrists. She does not insist on accompanying him to the market and choosing the chhoodi herself. Yes, unimaginable it may be today, but womenfolk often had to depend on the menfolk to bring them the items that they needed. One has no idea how a man can pick chhoodi of the kind that would be entirely to the satisfaction of the lady. In olden days, when men would go out on a long tour, then would bring some gifts for the family members, and that would include a sari for his wife. And in most cases, the lady would rarely approve of the choice that her husband made.
As mentioned above, there were very little choices available in those days and men bringing items like chhoodi from market was not uncommon. It is not uncommon even today in villages, where women are not supposed to go out to market (which is often in some distant place) with their husband.
Here is this cute “Chhoodi” song from “Rail Ka Dibba” (1953). The song is sung by Shamshad Begam and Rafi. Shakeel Badayuni is the lyricist and music is composed by Ghulam Mohammad.
Only the audio of this song is avialable. I would have loved to watch the picturisation of this song. My guess is that this song is picturised on Madhubala and Shammi Kapoor. I am sure about Madhubala lip syncing in Shamshad Begam’s voice (since I have seen another Shamshad Begam song from this movie where Madhubala lip syncs), but Rafi’s voice those days was often used for all male actors in the movie, so I am not entirely sure about Rafi singing for Shammi Kapoor. I know for sure that Rafi had sung for Sajjan too in another song in this movie.
I request our knowledgeable readers to throw more light on the picturisation of this song. In the meanwhile , here is this song whose audio itself is quite enjoyable to listen to.
Song-Laa de mohe baalmaa aasmaani choodiyaan (Rail Ka Dibba) (1953) Singers-Shamshad Begam, Rafi, Lyrics-Shakeel Badayuni, MD-Ghulam Mohammad
Lyrics
laa de mohe baalmaa aasmaani chhoodiyaan
jee aasmaani chhoodiyaan
ho ho ho ho
dil ko mere bhaaye naa
ye puraani choodiyaan
jee ye puraani choodiyaan
laa de mohe baalmaa aasmaani chhoodiyaan
ho ho ho ho
dil ko mere bhaaye naa
ye puraani choodiyaan
jee ye puraani choodiyaan
aji bhar ke nazar dekh lo idhar
chhodiyon ki tum karo na fikar
bhool na jaanaa dil ko lekar
ghaayal man hai zakhmee jigar
jab se ladi tumse nazar
ham hain udhar tum ho jidhar
aao jee kar len mil ke guzar
duniya ko hona magar tere mere dil ki khabar
tere liye laaungaa
man lubhaani chhoodiyaan
jee man lubhaani chhoodiyaan
laa de mohe baalmaa aasmaani chhoodiyaan
ho ho ho ho
dil ko mere bhaaye naa
ye puraani choodiyaan
jee ye puraani choodiyaan
bhole piya mera jiya toone liyaa hai
bhole piya mera jiya toone liyaa hai
aji tumne hamen hamne tumhe pyaar kiyaa hai
he he
tumne hamen hamne tumhe pyaar kiyaa hai
tumhen chhod ke balam jaayenge na ham
khaaye huye hain pyaar ki qasam
royega na dil khaayenge na gham
koi na hoga dil pe sitam
tum hi piya tum hi sanam
rakhna meri laaj sharam
tere hi dam pe hai mera dam
laagi ho dekho na kam
saath milke jhoom chhamaachham
de de mujhe pyaar ki
tu nishaani choodiyaan
jee tu nishaani choodiyaan
laa de mohe baalmaa aasmaani chhoodiyaan
jee aasmaani chhoodiyaan
ho ho ho ho
dil ko mere bhaaye naa
ye puraani choodiyaan
jee ye puraani choodiyaan
haa haa haa
tere liye laaungaa
man lubhaani choodiyaan
jee man lubhaani choodiyaan
