Its all about wine, liquor, saaqi(bar tender), jam(a peg).......... Its all about life....
As the poetry was written way back in 1931, and the album was released in 1970s, we have to divide this review into two:
The Poetry
-------------
I call it as thinking at its best. Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan has written a book called Madhushala which will be remembered forever. All he wanted to write was about life, various stages of life which a person undergo. He has expressed it using the wine and the bar.
Read this lines explaining the birth of a child :
Bas aa pahunche door nahin ab chaar kadam bas chalna hai
Chahak uthe sab peene waale, chahak rahi hai madhushaala
Now who else has explained the same feelings with such a class act of poetry. No one.
I can put up a trivia here. When this book was released, Dr. Saab (as he was popularly known) was asked by someone that how could he write to such an extent on liquor and bars even that he has not touched wine in whole of his life. Dr. Saab replied by adding a few new lines(rubaaiyaan) to his book in the next edition. Those were :
Main kayasth, kulodhaw mere purkhon ne itna dhaala
Mere tan ke lahu mein hai pichhattar pratishat haala
Pushtaini adhikaar mujhe hai madiraalay ke aangan par
Mere dada pardada ke haath biki thi madhushaala
This book contains variuos aspects of society also. It contains rubaaiyaan which portrays the pains of Hindu-Muslim disputes like :
Musalmaan aur hindu hain do
Ek magar unka pyaala
(Muslims and Hindus are different, but they share a common peg of wine)
Ek magar unka madiraalaya
Ek magar unki haala
(Both have the same bar and both drink the same wine)
Dono rehte ek na jab tak
Masjid-Mandir mein jaate
(Both cannot live together untill they go to Mosques and temples)
Bair badhaate masjid-mandir
Mel karaati madhushaala
(Mosques and temples increase the difference but the bar helps them to be united).
Excellent.........
The Album
-------------
The album Madhushaala has some soul stirring music by the great Jaidev and some deep and sincere rendering (I will not call it as singing), by Manna Dey.
The album is divided into two different moods. As it is quite predictable, the moods are -
Sad or thinking and
Happy.
Now for the sad moods, Jaidev ji has made it a point to use slow taals like Daadra so that the mood of the poem is maintained. For a happy rubaayi, he has used fast taals like Jhaptaal and Kaharva.
This is indeed a great choice and has turned out to be a complete winner in all aspects.
According to me, Manna Dey has proved to be the best choice to fit in the task. He is a highly trained classical genius and it has shown through the excellent compositions and music of Jaidev ji.
The very first rubaaiyi is all about the birth of a new child. As it is quite obvious, it had to have a lot of happiness in it. The happiness had to be deep which the actual parents feel. Manna Dey ji has done perfect justice to the same.
You can feel the pain in Manna Dey ji’s voice in the rubaayi which is all about the death of a person. I am quoting it here so that you yourself can feel the depth in poetry :
Yam aayega Saaqi bankar
Saath liye Kaali Haala
Pee na hosh mein phir aayega
Sura Visudh ye matwaala
Yeh antim behoshi, Antim Saaqi
Antim Pyaala Hai
Pathik Pyaar se peena isko
Phir na milegi madhushaala
Isn’t it deep? It is deep and Manna Dey ji has shown why is he called the best classical singer in the industry. Jaidev ji has given very soft music for this rubaayi and you can feel the pain of parting here.
I would suggest this album to all those who love good poetry and good music. If you want to listen to good rather excellent music, get this one. It will not upset you al all. And do make sure that you get it on C.D. as the life of a cassette is less as compared to that of a C.D. and this one is a collector’s edition.
To end with, I would like to quote one Rubaayi from the preface of Madhushaala :
Pitra Paksh mein putra uthaana
Ardhya na kar mein par pyaala
Baith kahin par jaana
Ganga Sagar mein bhar kar haala
Kisi jagah ki mitti bheege
Tripti mujhe mil jaayegi
Tarpan Arpan karna mera
Padh Padh kar ke Madhushaala
Legend: Saaqi - Bartender, Haala - Wine, Pyaala - Glass containing wine, Madhushaala - Bar, Madhu - Wine