What we can learn from R.D. Burman’s music and Life

Learn to accept pain and be happy despite the circumstances. If your work is unputdownable, you will be remembered. Forever. 

​By the happynesswalas™, Vaani and AVIS

2-minute read
​Synopsis:
No matter how talented and successful you are, you have to go through what you have to go through. So learn to accept pain and be happy despite the circumstances. Be happy with what you have. Also, learn to appreciate the impermanence of everything: Of Life itself surely. Also, of name, fame, wealth, success and glory. And of failure too. Focus instead on what you love doing and do it very, very well. Simply, if you create great, unputdownable work, both you and your work will be remembered. Forever.
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​Style guide: Vaani and AVIS spell Life with a capital ‘L’ and Happiness with a capital ‘H’. This is because both of them believe that Life is the greatest teacher and Happiness is the biggest wealth. However, when quoting the subjects of their writings, they use these two words without the accentuated capitalization of their first letters.

Picture source: Internet/Mintage World

We love R.D. Burman (Pancham).

It is his birthday today. We celebrated it by listening to his music over coffee this morning.

When ‘Tujhse naaraz nahin zindagi, hairaan hoon main’ (‘Masoom’, 1983, Gulzar, Anup Ghoshal, Lata Mangeshkar) played, we paused the song to look up the lyrics.

​All of what Gulzar has written is powerful. But these two lines stand out:
‘Tujhse naaraz nahin zindagi, hairaan hoon main…’
‘Jeene ke liye, socha hi nahin, dard sambhalne honge...’
They mean:
‘I am not angry with you Life, I am baffled (by you)…’
‘I never imagined that I will have to deal with pain in order to live (during the course of Life)…’​

​Pain is non-negotiable
Gulzar makes a very important point: You cannot negotiate with pain. And pain is integral to the process of Life. His lyrics convey the sense of stark bewilderment that all of us go through when we encounter pain in our Life.

Well, obviously, nobody wants to deal with a painful situation. So we keep wishing that it just went away. We try to push it away. But Life doesn’t operate like that. A painful situation always arrives uninvited. And it stays on and on and on. Simply, you cannot negotiate with pain. You have to accept it and cope with it till it goes away. Or, as it often happens in some situations, you have to learn to just co-live with your pain.

​It’s Pancham’s music that makes Gulzar’s lyrics memorable. That’s why we believe that Pancham was a genius. He not only made great music, he made sure his music seeped into and stayed on in the listener’s soul.  

​Life lessons from Pancham’s remarkable journey
Interestingly, Pancham too had to grapple with his share of pain: Although he had ruled Hindi film music for two decades, he struggled to get work in the last 10 years of his Life. Bappi Lahiri’s disco music had taken over and nobody wanted to touch Pancham. Chroniclers of Hindi cinema say that Pancham died a heartbroken man because he felt that the industry had abandoned him.

Yet, ironically but fittingly, recognition came Pancham’s way again – after his death. He died on January 4, 1994. The music of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘1942: A Love Story’ (Pancham’s last film) released a week later, on January 12, 1994. The album was a huge hit. It still remains an all-time favorite for generations of Hindi film music lovers.

Well, here’s what we can learn about Life from Pancham’s remarkable journey: No matter how talented and successful you are, you have to go through what you have to go through. So learn to accept pain and be happy despite the circumstances. Be happy with what you have. Also, learn to appreciate the impermanence of everything: Of Life itself surely. Also, of name, fame, wealth, success and glory. And even of failure. Focus instead on what you love doing and do it very, very well. Simply, if you create great, unputdownable work, both you and your work will be remembered. Forever.

​As the lines of another iconic Pancham song (‘Dharam Karam’, 1975, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Mukesh, Poornima) go:
‘Ik din bik jayega, maati ke mol, jag mein reh jayenge pyaare tere bol. Dooje ke honton ko dekar apne geet, koi nishaani chod, phir duniya se dol…’
These lines mean:
‘One day (when you die) you will be dust. What you will leave behind dear are your words (how you treated others). (So, make sure to) leave behind your music for others to sing, leave your mark, and then leave this world…’

[Vaani and AVIS are the happynesswalas™. They are expert writers and biographers, accomplished speakers and conversationalists, and culture specialists. To know their fascinating story, click here.]