Walk alone

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Notwithstanding all the controversies around the movie Laal Singh Chaddha, it has a gem of a song (see below) that is worth discussing. While you have the English translation in the subtitles, the deeper meaning I gather comes from the principles of Advaita. This couplet says it all:

तू आपे सवाली है, आपे ही पयम्बर है

तू खुद है तमाशा भी, आपे ही कलंदर है

You are the seeker, You are also the messiah

You are the circus,  And also the ringmaster

The next couplet is very meaningful as well:

बेकार तलाशे तू, दरगाह में शिवालों में

जिस यार को तू ढूंढें, वो तेरे ही अंदर है

You wander in vain, In shrines and in temples

The one that you seek, Is within you

It further says don't let the pain and scars of separation  torment you. Isn't this what the Ashtavarka Gita says, "The one whose mind is serene, never agitated or tormented, he ever sees the Absolute Self and is thus neither gratified nor angry.".

There is a common and continous refrain in the song, "तुर कल्लेयां, तुर कल्लेयां, तुर कल्लेयां" meaning, "Walk Alone, Walk Alone, Walk Alone". I think this alludes more to walking alone, unburdened by material concerns, without pretence and prejudice. Also in a deeper sense, it is the Absolute Self that walks alone. 

You will notice, that Aamir Kan as Laal Singh Chaddha is running continously while the song plays in the background. There are fields and wide open spaces and one gets the impression of him breaking free. Here is a renewed man who sees the world from a new, enlightened perspective, and having known his goal, wastes no time, but keeps running towards it. The song introduction goes on for a full two and half minutes where the lyrics, accompanied by a minimum instrumentation, provide the philosophical context of the song, before the chorus breaks out with, "तुर कल्लेयां, तुर कल्लेयां..."

This theme of 'walking alone', is not uncommon in our music. Am instantly reminded of Gurudev's, _Ekla Chalo Re_, with its most remarkable opening stanza:

If they answer not to thy call walk alone, 

 If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,

 O thou unlucky one, open thy mind and speak out alone.

Walk Alone, Walk Alone, Walk Alone

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