Sinful Sip – Ambar Ki Ek Paak Suraahi – Kadambari

Ambar ki ek paak surahi
Baadal ka ek jaam uthaakar
Ek ghoont chandni pi hai humne

Kaise iska karz chukaaun
Maang ke apni maut ke haathon
Ye jo zindagi li hai humne

So goes the original poem in Amrita Pritam’s novel Dharti, Sagar Aur Sipiyan. Kadambari (1975) is a love story based on the same novel. The story by Amrita Pritam is unprecedented and somewhat realistic with today’s world. It is the story about people who have been taken away by the fluctuations and the alterations in life. But they cling tightly to hope and are brought back to the shores to find some oysters in life.
Amit (Vijay Arora) is an illegitimate child and is rejected by his father. Because of these circumstances in life, he’s not able to return his feelings to Chetna (Shabana Azmi) who is in love with him. Chetna on the other is so much obsessed and in love with him that she thinks, if she’s not able to live with the man she loves, she’ll bear his child and live with that child forever. There arrives a night when Amit is alone in the house, Chetna takes this opportunity to seduce him and spends tender moments with him. For her, it is purity of her love and heart though for others it might be just passion and doing something sinful or crossing the norms.
And hence in the song she says –

Ambar ki ek paak suraahi,
Baadal ka ek jaam utha kar
Ghoont chaandni pi hai hamne,
Baat kufr ki ki hai hamne

From the pure pitcher of the skies, with cloudful of nectar, I’ve tasted the moonlight, I’ve sipped it. To many it might be a sinful act – Baat kufr ki ki hai hamne, but for me it is as pure as my love for him, as pure as the heavens above.
The santoor in the beginning comes to give this message of purity. The guitar strums apprise the depth of her love for him, followed by the beautiful sitar which is rejoined by guitar to give you the taste of moonlight she’s talking about. Asha Bhonsle’s voice fill in those skies she has reached. Music for Kadambari is composed by Ustad Vilayat Khan, the famous sitarist. This is the only Hindi film he must have given music to, apart from Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar (1958). The song is an ensemble of the stalwarts since it has Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma at the santoor, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia – the flute, Bhupinder Singh – guitar, Uttam Singh – the violin and the music director himself with Shujat Husn Khan – sitar.

Kaise iska karz chukaayen
Maang ke apni maut ke haathon
Umar ki sooli see hai hamne,
Baat kufr ki ki hai hamne

The sin which I’ve done has thrown me into a debt for life. I know I have to bear its fruits for a lifetime (she means the child which will come into the world without a father). She will be at the receiving end from everyone. It is as good as getting crucified for the entire life. But if she has sinned, it is as pure as the moonlight she has sipped.

Apna isme kuchh bhi nahin hai,
Kuch bhi nahin hai,
Roz-e-azal
Roz-e-azal uski amanat
Usko wohi to di hai hamne,
Baat kufr ki ki hai hamne

Loving someone, is not in our hands. It just happens. It is the play of hearts, the intensity, the desire. Amour fou. It is also the fidelity and trust of one’s heart. From day one it was his, it is his. I’ve given my heart what it wanted, it belongs to the heart and I’ve given back to it.

Asha Bhonsle has done full justice to this song. Moonlight drips from her voice. It is a semi classical but difficult to sing song. But there’s no one like Asha!! You can’t makeout where exactly she takes a breath while she’s singing. Her voice just flows and flows and even relaxes us.

Amrita Pritam, always known for her boldness. She was undaunted about the outcomes of her writings. She wrote because she liked it. This poem of hers certainly describes her boldness for she always lived beyond the worldly right and wrong!!