In the dance of life, love holds the melody, guiding us through the intricate steps of intimacy and affection. As we reminisce, we find ourselves drawn to the timeless narrative of love, woven through the tapestry of human experience. Embark with me on a journey through the seven stages of love, where nostalgia intertwines with the complexities of the heart.
LOVE TRANSCENDS THROUGH TIME AND SPACE – INTERSTELLAR
In the world of the digital era, if you’re someone who still clings to the concept of an epic 90s irreplaceable love, the only solution for this is Bollywood and SRK. Between the song, dance, and movie storyline are love stories with timeless themes that have influenced many relationships. The same goes for the movie ‘Dil Se..’, even after so many years of the movie’s release its classic song ‘Satrangi Re’ remains fresh in our hearts.
Dil Se has been on my list of movies that I have wanted to watch for the longest time. I have seen it only in parts when it came on TV sometimes. This week, I finally got some time to watch it. I have seen only about an hour of the movie and its sheer beauty already floors me. I have always believed Dil Se to be A.R. Rahman’s finest work. His music is spellbinding. Farah Khan’s terrific choreography and Santosh Sivan’s spectacular cinematography are some of the best ever that I have seen in a Hindi film. However, this post is not on the film, but on one song from the film — Satrangi Re. The music and the lyrics are thoughtful, having that characteristic Rahman vibe. The video is gorgeous. When I actually realized the depth of the song, I was amazed by the fact that how can anyone make something as beautiful and poetic as this? So, today, I try to deconstruct the meaning of Satrangi Re.
The word satrangi means something that has seven colors, and it is, generally, used to describe a rainbow. In the song, we actually see the seven colors of the rainbow — violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red — popularly known by the term — VIBGYOR. The song is filmed about two lovers, in which a boy (Shah Rukh Khan) is singing and expressing his love for a girl (Manisha Koirala). He calls her satrangi and we, actually, see her in all the seven colors of the rainbow. Not only is this a literal depiction of the colors produced by the dispersion of light by a prism, but also of an underlying symbolism alluding to the seven stages of love. Earlier this year, Dedh Ishqiya’s trailer talked about these seven stages. In Arabic literature, love is supposed to have seven stages. The seven stages are namely hub (attraction), uns (infatuation), ishq (love), akidat (trust/reverence), ibadat (worship), junoon (madness) followed by maut (death). Satrangi Re, in some way or other, whether through lyrics or the choreography, gloriously portrays these stages of love and charms us along.
These seven stages are:
1. Dilkashi means attraction.
Attraction is the feeling of being drawn to, interested in, or desiring someone in life.
The song begins and we see that both the lovers are dressed in black. The lyrics say,
Koi noor hai tu, kyun door hai tu,
Jab paas hai tu, ehsaas hai tu,
Koi khwaab hai ya parchhayi hai, satrangi re
It is as if some kind of light is attracting him to her. He wants to go near her and is wondering why is she far away from him. At some point, he is near to her and at the other point, he is far away from her. When she is near, it appears that she is a thought, a dream, and a shadow. The shadow is represented by the black color of her dress, and the enigmatic quality is pulling him toward her. This is the first stage of love — Attraction.
2. Uns means infatuation.
The condition of being entirely overcome by irrational feelings or love.
Then, when he sees her in reality, she is far away from him. The distance between them is shown by the presence of water between them. She is wearing white and is as pure as the snowflakes on her head. When he was dreaming, both of them were dressed in black, but now, she is away from him and she is dressed in white, and he is dressed in black. To reach her, he has to cross this path and undertake a journey as if moving from darkness (black) to light (white).
Then, he says,
Aankhon ne kuch aise chhua,
Halka halka uns hua
He is infatuated by the touch of her eyes. His heart feels that infatuation. This is the second stage of love — uns.
3. Ishq means love.
Love is an emotion that connects two people with a feeling of deep affection and attraction.
Then, the lover sings,
Tere jism ki aach ko chhoote hi, mere saans sulagne lagte hain,
Mujhe ishq dilaase deta hai, mere dard bilakhne lagte hain
He says that as soon as he touches her body, his breath is ignited. His pain makes him cry, but his love for her consoles him. The fire in the tree behind them represents the fire that is burning inside him.
This is the third stage of love — ishq.
4. Akidat means faith.
Faith is a feeling of complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
Then, he says,
Chhooti hai mujhe sargoshi se,
Aankhon mein ghuli khamoshi se
He says he is enchanted by her fragrance. He is enthralled by the silence of her eyes. He is showing reverence and admiration, symbolized by the lighting of the lamps in the monastery.
He looks at her with deep reverence in his eyes. She is his aarzoo. This is the fourth stage of love — akidat.
5. Ibadat means worship.
Worship means to express great affection and devotion for someone.
After that, he begins to start worshiping her.
Main farsh pe sajde karta hoon,
Kuch hosh mein, kuch behoshi se
He kneels down on the floor, and bows in front of her, sometimes consciously and sometimes, unconsciously.
thus, he has reached the fifth stage of love — ibadat.
6. Junoon means madness.
Love is a unique kind of divine madness that comes from the understanding of a more profound love.
Now, he has become united with her, and they are joined to each other. Their passion is depicted by the red color.
After they become one, they dance in the water. She has now become the water of his life, symbolized by her blue- and indigo-colored dress. He cannot live without her if she goes away from him, even for a few moments. He feels helpless when she goes away.
He, then says,
Teri raahon mein uljha, uljha hun
Teri baahon mein uljha, uljha,
Suljhane de hosh mujhe,
Teri chaahon mein uljha hun
Slowly, and slowly, he is getting more and more entangled in her love. He wants to go back to his senses but he is bound by her love. He simply cannot untie himself, even if he tries, as depicted by the rope-dress of hers and the net that he is trapped inside.
After that, he says,
Mera jeena junoon, mera marna junoon,
Ab iske siwa nahi koi sukoon
He is unable to free himself from her love and it has become an obsession for him. His life is an obsession, like the deep violet of her dress, and his life will be like this until he dies. .
Nothing brings peace to him except her love. He has entered the sixth stage of love — junoon
7. Maut means death.
It means a person can die for the one they love.
Finally, he says,
Mujhe maut ki god mein sone de,
Teri rooh mein jism dubone de
He wants to sleep in the lap of death. He wants to immerse his body in her soul. He has finally reached the seventh stage of love — maut. Also, worth observing is that now, he is wearing pristine white, like her, as compared to the black that he wore in the beginning. He has crossed that pond of water (as was depicted earlier) and transcended the barriers to reach her. He has undertaken all the steps of his journey and all that he wishes for now is death in her arms so that he can be in peace. Perhaps, both of them have attained some salvation, and have reached some cosmic redemption, and that is why a white heavenly aura around them starts shining. He has finally attained his death, and his spiritual voyage encompassing the stages of love has reached its destination — his lover.
Seriously, can there be a song more beautiful than this one? Before I was accused of being over-analytical and hagiographic about the song, I found out that Mani Ratnam, in fact, in an interview has said that this was his intention. He had given directions to Rahman that he wanted to make a song based on the seven stages of love. And, as I always say, there is so much more to our movies, and I wish more people could see the brilliance of Hindi cinema.
Now, the reason why we love TITANIC movie so much is because that movie also represents the same 7 stages of love beautifully. I want to show you how.
1. Dilkashi (Attraction)
In the first stage of the beginning of a story, eyes meet, sparks are initiated and something happens. At this stage, a boy likes or gets attracted to a girl. He may not know exactly as to what attracts him, but he realizes that there is something in her that he finds interesting. When Jack met Rose for the first time it was attraction.
2. Uns (Attachment)
And now in this stage, he is more interested in her and decides to woo her. So he will try to get any opportunity to talk to her, meet her, and so on. He keeps on looking for her signals too. In case he does not get any indication from her at this stage he will move on to other greener pastures but not without a sincere attempt. Here Jack and Rose attached – Uns.
3. Mohabbat (Love) :
The most blissful of all stages. Here the guy starts feeling at the top of the world unaware of other things in life just lost in thoughts of his beloved. Here, he is totally involved. She showed him attention and he is now in love. Here is when Jake and Rose’s love starts.- Mohabbat.
4. Akidat (Trust/Reverence) :
This stage initiates the process of love. Here one started trusting someone more than anything and anyone. At this stage, the boy decides about the relationship and gets into it. Now, he is becoming dependent and his feelings are getting serious. After this, there is no turning back in love. The most iconic scene in this world where not just Jake and Rose but the whole world trusts in their love.- Akidat/Trust.
5. Ibadat (Worship) :
In this stage, love reaches the extent of worshiping the beloved where nothing can be wrong with the object of worship. Here love not end even after a denial by the beloved instead leads to the next stage of love. He is losing control here. Now Jake can’t live without Rose and he worships her- Ibadat.
6. Junoon (Madness) :
In this stage one finds his own identity incomplete without beloved thus his urge to have love reaches to the level of obsession and madness. A stage where the mind stops working and the heart starts ruling everything, a very dangerous stage where nothing except obsession about the beloved counts. Now the whole world is invisible to Jake and Rose.- Junoon
7. Maut (Death) :
In the final stage of love now the self-identity is completely lost. Here the existence of a lover depends on the existence of a beloved. There is no turnaround. The final end of a love story, either from both the lover or the boy as he believes he can’t exist without her. In this stage he can do anything for her and sacrifice himself for her – Maut.
Oh, beautiful right. But nowadays in the 21st century, the meaning of love changed. Now these 7 stages are just like fairytales or fiction. I wish everyone gets their love to appreciate life and enjoy its immortal beauty.
See this for a more nostalgic experience….