Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Roobaroo Translation

In reference to my earlier post here, I finally moved my butt and took a shot at translating this wonderful song. Warning - this is a "prose" translation, not a poetry translation (D's working on that) - a lot of nuances of the song/poetry are lost in translation - but hey ...

aye saala
Dude ...

abhi abhi huaa yaqeen ki aag hai mujh mein kahi
hui subaah main jal gaya
suraj ko main nigal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2
I just realized that I have a fire inside me somewhere
Its a new morning and I am aflame
I overpowered the sun
I'm face to face with light


jo gumshuda-sa khwaab tha voh mil gaya voh khil gaya
who loha thaa pighal gaya kichhaa kichhaa machal gaya
sitaar mein badal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy
I have found my lost dream and it had started to blossom
It was a block of iron before but now it has melted, stretched
And has transformed into the melodious strings of the sitar
I'm face to face with light

(dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara) - 2
The fog clears and I can now see my open blue skies
I can see new paths and journeys ahead of me
If you could be my traveling companion
Match your stride with mine …

aandhiyon se jaghad rahi hai lau meri
ab mashaalon si bhad rahi hai lau meri
naamo nishaan rahe na rahe
ye kaaravaan rahe na rahe
ujaale mein pee gaya
roshan huaa jee gaya
kyon sehte rahe
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy – 2
My ardent desires fight with hurricanes
My ardent desires burn bright like torches
I don't care if I disappear without a trace
I care not if these caravans no longer exist
I soak in the sunlight
I am radiant and alive
Why keep suffering?
I'm face to face with light.

dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy – 2
The fog clears and I can now see my open blue skies
I can see new paths and journeys ahead of me
If you could be my traveling companion
Match your stride with mine…
I'm face to face with light.



Roobaroo Chords
The Chords for this song are extremely simple - A Repeating pattern of A,D throughout the song, except for A,E in the "dhuaan chata ..." part. The strumming is a lil tricky though - am working on that!

Update (2/17/2006)
Thank You Brij for pointing out the mistake in the lyrics. Have corrected it and also adding the "official" lyrics from the CD sleeve. Also including Khoon Chala which deserves a separate post for itself. Pssst - I'm headed to the cinema for my second helping tonight.


16 comments:

brij said...

Venks the lyrics have a mistake.
The first para being:
abhi abhi huaa yaqeen ki aag hai mujh mein kahi
hui subaah main chal gaya
suraj ko main nigal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2

the 2nd line should read hui subaah; main jal gaya.
This changes the meaning to:

I just realized that I have a fire inside me somewhere,
It's moening(or a new morning for me); I am aflame,
I overpowered the sun
I'm face to face with light

Sib said...

Mistakes or not...NICE !

Ajit said...

Yeah ... really a good one !!!

SilverTongue said...

Preety good. Can some one give me the chords plz for the song??

Udayan said...

Hey dude,

Thanks a ton for the chords. Roobaroo is one of the few Bollywood songs that are led almost solely by a guitar, that too an acoustic.

The strumming is a little tricky. Any help on that would be welcome!
Also, the Dhuaan
Chhataa part is a little confusing. Is A,E right?

Nairobian said...

wow.. dude, ya don't know me, but thanks a tonne for the chords.. I've been meaning to learn to play this for a while... *hugs and jalebis for ya* do you suppose a nylon-string would work?? cuz that's all i got...

sreddy03 said...

I am glad to have stumbled onto your blog I've had the song stuck in my head a few days without completely understanding its meaning. Finally a little peace of mind. Thanks!

shristi

mads said...

just stumbled on this blog coz i googled my favourite song. and realized that there are several others who love this song equally. thought i should let you know who deserves the credit. prasoon joshi, national creative director, mccann india has penned these lyrics. he's an ad-man, poet, script writer, philosopher and an amazing human being!

Jay Nainar said...

Thanks a lot buddy, awesome the way you have translated!!

Helps a lot for those who know very less Hindi.

Mega Lomania A.C. said...

awesome stuff ! i initially thought that "roobaroo" means "in person". So i din't quite understand what " in person is light" ( "roobaroo, roshni hai" ). Thanks for the translation !

bhopsterix said...

Hey! very well written!I love the song myself! :)

reva said...

I was searching on google for gumshuda and this post was the first one! N said is this apna venky......and it is, howdy! - reva

Praveen Damodhar said...

Never realised the lyrics of this song is so heavy. Great!

carolramas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
carolramas said...

tks for sharing ur translation...i always fly high after listening this song, it opens the chest and make me feel a giant.
Great Indian movie!
BTW, the Mumbai album has nice shots.

Unknown said...

Mr Nookayya mp3 Songs download