Listening guide for “vo jo ham meñ tum meñ”

Prepared by Richard Wolf

Poet: Ḥakīm Momin Ḳhāñ “Momin” (1800-1852)

Singer: Begum Akhtar

Source of text and spoken sound files: Digital Urdu Ghazal Reader

Translator: Amy Bard

Note: Sung version of this poem uses only couplets 1, 3, 7 and 11 of the original11 couplet poem

Meter: S S L S L / S S L S L / S S L S L / S S L S L

Example with first line of how poetic meter corresponds with syllables of text

vuh / jo / ham / meñ / tum / meñ / qa / rā / r / thā
tu / mheñ / yā / d / ho / kih / nah / yā / d / ho
S / S / L / S / L / S / S / L / S / L

Hear the meterwhen this couplet is recited

Musical Meter

The musical meter as articulated on the drums is clearly derived from the poetic meter. Give the value of one unit to each Short syllable and two units to each Long syllable. Each foot of poetry would translate into rhythmic units as follows:

S S L S L = 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 7

Now listen to the drum. An extended bass stroke changing pitch from low to high (referred to as “deep” below) often appears twice in succession (4 units). Following that is a moment in which the bass is absent (3 units). Together this bass part and the part without bass (called “damped” below) outlines a seven unit metrical pattern called rūpak tāl. By convention, the “damped” part (3 units) comes first. Click here to hear the drum pattern repeated three times.

The drum pattern is often represented by syllables as follows; “unit” numbers (counts) appear above the corresponding syllables:

1 (damped) / 2 / 3 / 4 (deep) / 5 / 6 (deep) / 7
tin / - / tra ka / dhin / - / dhā / ge

Only rarely will the drummer play drum strokes that correspond exactly with the syllabic model above, but you can hear similarity from time to time in the changes in density of strokes. For example, on count 3 above, where the syllables “tra ka” appears, the drummer tends to play faster (more strokes in a time unit is equivalent to more syllables in a time unit).

Note that the singing does not assiduously follow the 7-unit drum pattern, but floats rather freely above it. Nevertheless, each foot of poetry takes up the space of one cycle on the drums.

So, for example, in the first line, the refrain “vuh jo ham meñ tum (meñ)” will correspond with one seven unit cycle on the drums. “(meñ)” is in parentheses because it is technically part of the next foot

Melody Structure

The melody is composed of two named sections:

sthāyi (Sanskrit: “standing”; also pronouncedasthāyi ): The refrain melody in the classical music of North India and Pakistan; centers on the lower “tonic”; used for the rhyming lines of the ghazal.

antara (Sanskrit: “in the middle” or “different from”): The second part of a classical melody, which centers on a contrasting register, usually the upper tonic. Used for non-rhyming lines of a ghazal.

Rhyme

The rhyme consists of two parts:

qāfiyah (rhyme): a rhyming syllable at the end of every couplet in a poem in the ghazal format; usually followed by a “monorhyme” called a radīf

radīf (“one who rides behind another [on the same horse]”): a word or set of words that is repeated exactly at the end of every couplet in a poem in the ghazal format. A radīf is common but not required for a ghazal to be a ghazal.

Example of qāfiyah (bolded below) and radīf (italicized below) in first two couplets of the original poem:

vuh jo ham meñ tum meñ qarār thātumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho

vuhī ya‘nī va‘dah nibāh kātumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho (click to hear recited)

vuh jo lut̤f mujh pih the peshtar vuh karam kih thā mire ḥāl par

mujhe sab hai yād zarā zarā tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho (click to hear recited)

Instruments on this recording

sārangī – bowed lute, short neck, body covered with animal skin, metal strings

tabla – pair of drums, one high pitched, the other with variable deep pitches

svarmandal – trapezoidal zither plucked with plectra (picks attached to fingertips)

Time / Original Text / Translation / Description
0:00 / arpeggio on svarmandal
0:03
2 / vuh jo ham meñ tum meñ qarār thā tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho / That which was understood between me and you, do you remember it or not? / line 1, couplet 1 begins using sthāyi melody; repeats
0:32
3 / vuhī ya‘nī va‘dah
vuhī ya‘nī va‘dah nibāh kā tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho
vuhī ya‘nī va‘dah / That very thing; that is, fulfillment of a vow. Do you remember it or not? / line 2, couplet 1: sthāyi
0:55
4 / instrumental interlude: sārangī (bowed lute); tabla (drum)
1:13
5 / vuh na’e gile vuh shikāyateñ vuh maze maze kī ḥikāyateñ / Those novel grievances, those complaints, those delightful stories, / line 1, couplet 2: antara melody, centered around upper tonic; second time melody is embellished and returns to lower range in preparation for the sthāyi melody
1:49
6 / vuh har ek bāt pih rūṭhnā
tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho / that sulking over every little thing. Do you remember it or not? / line 2, couplet 2: sthāyi; 2 times
2:18
7 / vuh jo ham meñ tum meñ / That which was between me and you / First part of first line of ghazal used as musical and textual refrain, followed by instrumental interlude on svarmandal
2:39
8 / kabhī ham meñ tum meñ bhī chāh thī kabhī ham se tum se bhī rāh thī / Once there was desire between me and you; once there was a path (communication) between me and you / line 1, couplet 3: antara. Text repeats; melody returns with variation
3:21
9 / kabhī ham bhī tum bhī the āshnā tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho / Once we were intimates; do you remember? / line 2, couplet 3: sthāyi; 2 times
3:49
10 / vuh jo ham meñ tum meñ / That which was between me and you / First part of first line of ghazal used as musical and textual refrain, followed by instrumental interlude on sārangī
4:13
11 / jise āp ginte the āshnā
jise āp kahte the bā-vafā / The one you counted an intimate, the one you called loyal / line 1, couplet 4; antara. Text repeats; melody returns with variation
4:51
12 / maiñ vuhī hūñ momin-e mubtalā tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho / I am that same anguished “Momin” (believer), whether you recall it or not / line 2, couplet 4: sthāyi; 2 times; includes the pen name of the poet “Momin”
5:20
13 / vuh jo ham meñ tum meñ qarār thā tumheñ yād ho kih nah yād ho
vuh jo ham meñ tum meñ / That which was understood between me and you, do you remember it or not?
That which was between me and you / Concludes with first couplet, using sthāyi melody