Babul Mora – Explanation of Babul Mora Thumri from Avishkaar
Meta Description: Wajid Ali Shah thumri, Babul Mora finds place
in many Hindi movies. This blog is based on Avishkaar. Get the complete
explanation and poetic translation.
The Poetic English Translation of the Lyrics of Babul Mora
Father dear I am
leaving your gate
Father dear I am
leaving your gate
Father dear
Father dear I am
leaving your gate
Four bearers together
my palanquin decorate
Four bearers together
my palanquin decorate
From my own I now
separate
I am leaving your gate
Your courtyard now a
mountain high and threshold feels unknown
Your courtyard now a
mountain high and threshold feels unknown
Go father to your
abode I leave for my love’s home
Father
Father
Father
Father dear
Go father to your
abode I leave for my love’s home
I leave for my love’s
home
I leave for my love’s
home
Father dear I am
leaving your gate
Father dear father
dear I am leaving your gate
The History of Babul Mora
Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, was not only a
great patron of the arts but also a poet of renown himself. In 1856, following
the annexation of Awadh by the British East India Company, he was exiled to
Garden Reach in Calcutta. It was during this painful and emotional separation
from his homeland that he composed the iconic thumri Babul Mora, in
which he compared his exile to a bride leaving her father’s home after marriage.
Explanation of Babul
Mora
While Babul Mora was composed in the personal context of Wajid Ali Shah’s forced exile, its layered imagery allows it to be understood on three interwoven levels: bidai (bridal farewell), exile, and death.
1. Bidai
At
the literal level, the thumri mirrors the traditional bidai ceremony —
the moment when a bride departs from her father’s home to begin a new life with
her husband. In earlier times, this parting was especially heart-wrenching
since the bride had never met her husband, nor seen the place she was going to
call home. Uprooted from familiar surroundings, she was transplanted into an
unknown world.
In the thumri, the bride poignantly declares that her father’s home has now
become foreign to her, and she must surrender to her fate in her husband’s
house. This symbolic departure encapsulates both grief and stoic acceptance.
2. Exile
On a metaphorical level, Wajid Ali Shah likens his own banishment to the bride’s bidai. Just as the bride must leave her childhood home, he is being torn away from his ancestral kingdom, not by tradition but by force and never to return. Like the bride, he accepts his fate with dignity and sorrow.
3. Death
At
its most profound level, Babul Mora can be seen as a meditation on
death. Even with the comforts afforded by the British during his exile, Wajid
Ali Shah senses that his end is near. The symbolic image of four palanquin
bearers subtly transforms into four pallbearers. In this interpretation, the
bride’s departure becomes a universal allegory for the soul’s final journey —
leaving the temporary home of this world (the father’s house) to unite with the
eternal divine (the husband’s realm).
Babul Mora as a Thumri
While an in-depth analysis of the compositional structure of Babul Mora lies beyond the scope of this blog, we can still explore some of its more accessible and defining features as a thumri.
Language
The lyrics of Babul Mora are composed in a local dialect, which is a likely a blend of Braj and Awadhi. Thumris are commonly written in such dialects so as to be accessible to a larger audience.
Thematic Content
Traditional thumris often revolve around themes of romantic longing or devotional yearning. Babul Mora, however, does not explicitly address these themes. In Sufi poetry God is considered as the ultimate beloved. In this context, the phrase "piya ke desh" (the land of the beloved) can be interpreted as the divine realm, subtly invoking both love and spiritual surrender.
Style
Though the thumri is rooted in the classical tradition, it has also evolved into a semi-classical form. Wajid Ali Shah played a pivotal role in this transformation by developing a more accessible and less formal style known as bol-baant. Babul Mora exemplifies this style. Bollywood has espoused this style of thumri in many of its movies.
Setting the Background for Translating Babul Mora from
Aavishkar
In Avishkaar,
director Basu Bhattacharya offers a fresh and evocative interpretation of Babul
Mora, departing from its traditional use as a bidai (farewell) song.
It plays in the background during the film’s final scene, when Amar and Mansi,
the central couple, overcome the differences that had arisen in their marriage.
The song conveys the message that both partners must
leave behind the securities and traditions of the past and with new outlook and
resolve tackle the uncertainties of the future.
The Original Hindi Lyrics of Ruaan from Avishkaar
Babul mora naihar chhuto
hi jaay
Babul mora babul mora naihar chhuto hi jaay
Babul mora
Babul mora naihar
chhuto hi jaay
Char kahaar mile, mori
doliyaa sajave
Char kahaar mile, mori doliyaa sajave
Mora aapnaa begana chhuto jaay !
Naihar chhuto hi jay
Aangana toh parbat
bhayo aur dehari bayi bidesh
Aangana toh parbat bhayo aur dehari bayi bidesh
Jay babul ghar aapno mai chali piya ke desh!
Babul
Babul
Babul
Babul mora
Jay babul ghar aapno mai chali piya ke desh!
Mai chali piya ke desh!
Mai chali piya ke desh!
Babul mora naihar chhuto hi jaay
Babul mora babul mora naihar chhuto hi jaay.
Meanings of Some Words and Phrases
Babul = Father
Naihar = Father’s home, where a girl spends her childhood before marriage
Kahaar = Palanquin bearer
Doliyaa = Palanquin
Aapnaa begana = Own and others
Dehari = Threshhold
The Literal English Translation of the Lyrics of Babul
Mora
My father my childhood home is being left behind
Four bearers together decorate my palanquin
The courtyard has become a mountain and the threshold like a foreign land
All known and unknown persons are being left behind
Father go back to your home I am going to my husband’s land
Babul Mora Fact Sheet
· Movie: Avishkaar
