Gudiya Chaahe Na Laana, Pappa Jaldi Aa Jaana...

I was playing with our neighbour's kid again, yeah D :) She loves to listen to songs, and sometimes tries to sing with us. Generally, my mother sings for her as she knows all the lullabys. But yesterday, for a change, I sang to her. 

D's father was on his way home and I know how excited she gets to see him. Well any daughter would :) And the song that came to my mind was 'Pappa Jaldi Aa Jaana' from the old movie Taqdeer. The restless baby that D is, I was surprised when she calmly rested on my shoulders listening to this song. Beautiful lyrics in the first stanza itself :

Saat samandar paar se
Gudiyon ke bazaar se
Achi si gudiya laana
Gudiya chaahe na laana
Pappa jaldi aa jaana....

This song never came to my mind for all the times I have sung for D. But it did yesterday, and I have not been able to take this song out of mind since then. I hadn't watched the video before today as well. I don't quite remember if my mother sang this song for us when we were kids.

Childhood memories crowd in. All I can think of since yesterday is how much I would be worried when my father wouldn't come home on time. Even one day if he wouldn't come on his usual time, I would miss him. If I had asked him to bring something for me, then it would pretty much be like how it is in the song above - Gudiya chaahe na laana, Pappa jaldi aa jaana! As a kid, I was scared to get out of the train on stations, simply because I didn't want to miss my train. When the family would travel together, I would keep looking out of the window when my father would get down. If the train started moving and he wouldn't be seen near us, I would panic. Just for those 10 seconds!

All the women in our colony had these monthly trips for them to spend some time away from the daily rush. It would be those Sundays when Mom wasn't around, that me and my sister enjoyed being with Dad the most! He would cook us the most delicious meal, also keeping in mind what we would like to eat.

I remember those nights when he would tell me the story of a brave boy. I remember how he would nurse me and my sister when either of us would fall sick. The worried expression on his face is still etched in my mind. I remember his big belly near which I would sleep using it as a cushion sometimes :) I remember the times he had fought with Mom for us.

Outings on Saturdays, his half day at work, would not involve Mom, mostly. He would take us to the zoo-cum-park to feed the animals there. I guess such small lessons made me and my sister an environment freak :) When the three of us would be on the scooter, he would keep tucking at us for fun, asking if both of us were there :) Cleaning the house on Sundays would be a family thing. Each of us would be allotted a department. Dad would switch on the music and off we would groove and clean the house. The tradition still continues! I'm grateful to Dad for the ear for music he has given us :)

My dad wouldn't tour much. But whenever he did, as any other child, I would expect him to bring something for me! May be a doll.... But at the end, I would be most happy for his return. 

Little did I know that someday he would never return from the hospital....
May be that's why the lines have been inside my head since yesterday, "Saat samandar paar se, Pappa jaldi aa jaana...." For we want him to return... We miss you Dad! But I also hope that you're having fun up there in heaven :) And we will always love you! :)