ye us waqt tak tumhaarii beTii naheen kahlaayee jaa saktii, jab tak ... tum mere koThe se iskaa Dolaa nahee.n uThvaaoge

Film : Paakeezaah
Year of release : 1972
Spoken by : Nawaabjaab (Veena)
Spoken to : Shahaabuddin (Ashok Kumar)
Dialogue writer : Kamaal Amrohi


The climax of the classic Pakeezah. Shahaabuddin is shot by his father Hakim Saahab (Sapru). Salim (Raj Kumar) comes running and puts Shahabuddin's head in his lap. 
Shahabuddin tells him "saleem ye meri beTi hai"
Nawaabjaan says


"nahee.n shahaabuddin, ye abhii tak sirF nargis kee beTii hai, ye us waqt tak tumhaarii beTii nahee.n kahlaayee jaa saktii, jab tak, ek baaraat ise byaahne nahee.n aayegii. aur tum mere koThe se iskaa Dolaa nahee.n uThvaaoge"
"नहीं शहाबुद्दीन, ये अभी तक सिर्फ़ नरगिस की बेटी है, ये उस वक़्त तक तुम्हारी बेटी नहीं कहलायी जा सकती, जब तक, एक बारात इसे ब्याहने नहीं आयेगी. और तुम मेरे कोठे से इसका डोला नहीं उठवाओगे."

kis kis kaa naam poochhenge aap

Film : Pakeezah

Year of release : 1972

Spoken by : Saahib Jaan (Meena Kumari)

Spoken to : Salim (Raaj Kumar)

Saahib Jan is a nautch girl. Forest Officer Salim falls in love with her after he meets her in that famous romantic train sequence. He is taking her back to the city with the intention of marrying her. One of her patrons, Hashim Khan, recognises her and starts following her. Salim asks Sahib Jan who he is. She responds with the classic

"kis kis kaa naam poochhenge aap?"

"किस किस का नाम पूछेंगे आप?"

Afsos ke log doodh se bhee jal jaate haiN

Film : Paakeezah
Year of release : 1972
Spoken by : Salim Ahmed Khan (Raaj Kumar)
Spoken to : Hakim saahab (Sapru)

Paakeezah is another film where the writing has what we call 'nafaasat' - a kind of finesse which is very rare in Hindi films. Salim is in front of his family patriarch who has objected to his bringing Saahib Jaan (Meena Kumari) home without determining her pedigree. He has had a similar experience with Shahabuddin (Ashok Kumar) who had, many years ago, brought a woman called Nargis (Meena Kumari again) home. So he says

"Jo log doodh se jal jaate haiN, wo chhaachh bhee phoonk phoonk kar peete haiN"
"जो लोग दूध से जल जाते हैं, वो छाछ भी फूंक फूंक कर पीते हैं"

A visibly irritated Salim retorts with this great line

"Afsos ke log doodh se bhee jal jaate haiN"
"अफ़सोस के लोग दूध से भी जल जाते हैं"

He is referring to the benign nature of milk and using it to hit back at his grandfather's proverb.

This Hindi equivalent of 'once bitten twice shy" is oft used by people. So if it is used in a situation where you disagree, go ahead and say

"अफ़सोस के लोग दूध से भी जल जाते हैं"

My first century - and a dedication

Eight months ago, a chance comment from a friend of mine prompted me to start this blog.

My first post

Little did I know that within such a short time, I would have such a regular readership. While looking at the list of posts, I realised that this would be the 100th post. Special circumstances deserve special solutions. So the 100th post has been written by a guest contributor. Who better than the man himself. Hitherto I had not named him, but now I shall name him and fame him (or shame him depending on whether you like the blog or not). Over to you Pramod

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I have been quite lucky when it comes to friends. They have always been kind and generous, both in terms of time and money. I have always been flooded with gifts and copious amounts of advice from my friends. The former I gladly accept, the latter I routinely reject politely.
A very dear friend of mine would take me to a shop and ask me to select dresses for him and on the way out would hand me a packet, saying he bought some for me too.
It was as if "My wish was their command". I happily accept goodies and gifts from my friends without reciprocating. My wife, who is also my well-wisher, absolutely abhors this habit of mine. She chides me no end when I come back and announce to her my latest possession.
I am reminded of the dialogue in Seeta Aur Geeta when Ravi (Sanjeev Kumar) introduces Geeta (Hema Malini) to his mother (Ratnamala) and she tells Ravi how beautiful Geeta is looking. Hema responds with this line

"MaiN maange huye kapdoN meiN hamesha achchhee lagtee hooN"

"मैं मांगे हुये कपड़ों में हमेशा अच्छी लगती हूं"

A slight distortion of what I tell my wife at such times. Whenever we get something free of cost, we seem to enjoy it more than if we had actually paid for it. Ghaalib also conveys this thought beautifully with his line

"muft haath aaye to maal achchhaa hai"

"मुफ़्त हाथ आये तो माल अच्छा है"

Not very true for some of my very conscientious friends though. But if you agree with me, and ever land in a similar situation, use this line.