I don’t watch too many Hindi movies and the ones I have really cherished have been from the 70s and 80s where some of the most sensitive, poetic films were tenderly rendered. From these films were also some of the memorable Hindi songs ever recorded.

The dismantling undercurrents in my life in my life today reminded me of this song from Gulzar’s film, Ijaazat (1987). The song is sung as a poetic letter where a woman asks her ex lover to return some of her things that are still with him. But this is not about books or cds or even money. This is what she asks for…

… those few rain-soaked days and nights they shared. The time they stood huddled together under one umbrella, getting half wet, staying half dry. Her rain-soaked body might still lying by the bedside night… send that back, she says. Return my things to me.

She reminds him of the 116 moonlit nights; the mole on his shoulder; the fragrance of mehndi, the small squabbles, the promises. Remember them, she tells him. And send it all back. Give me back all these things, she says…

For those who understand Hindi, it goes like this:

Since hearing from you, I have wept inconsolably for a day and 2 nights. Now I am thinking, if I had to ask you for something back, what would I ask for? Things you could never give me.