This used to be a favorite song of my mom. Perhaps the only Hindi song she would sit down and listen to. The poet was Indivar and the version my mom would listen to was rendered by Jagjit Singh. She never understood the words (Hindi was not her mother tongue) but the song has a lilting tune that can captivate anybody…

My favorite stanza:

“Jag ne chhinaa mujh se, mujhe jo bhi lagaa pyaraa
Sab jeetaa kiye mujh se, main har pal hi haaraa
Tum haar ke dil apna, meree jeet amar kar do”

Roughly translated…

“The world has snatched from me whatever I found love for
Everybody won against me; I lost every single time
This one time, you lose your heart to me and make my win immortal”