Hum To Yun Apni Zindagi Se Mile Lyrics English Translation

Hum To Yun Apni Zindagi Se Mile, translates to English as I am discovering/finding my life, in such a way.... It is a Hindi song that was sung by Jagjit Singh and found in the record LP Ghazals. Due to it also being in the genre of Ghazals, the writer takes colloquial words from a wide Hindi dialect making it very difficult to translate precisely, however most of the lyrics make reasonable sense.

Have you ever examined your life and found a stranger looking back at a stranger, because nothing turned out as you hoped? Perhaps you looked at yourself in the mirror and found that the person starring back at you was not the person you knew or wanted to be. Perhaps the events of your life are a mirror reflection of yourself that you eventually discover to understand who you really are. Many people wake up from this illusionary life and find their true selves again. In life, nothing turns out the way we want it to, and everything twists and turns and becomes something else. No matter how hard you try to do the right thing, there are always external forces which can change things. Then there is always the man upstairs who from time to time likes to assert who is really in charge. That is why the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and if you live long enough, then eventually every faithful deed (wafa) becomes like a crime (jurm). Hence, all the honest and faithful of this world have committed this one crime. Similarly, friends can also turn out to be deceptively heartless and without regard (bey-rukhi). You hoped for the best and expected life to throw you a bouquet of flowers (phool), but all you get from life is scars and stain (daag).

I remember buying and listening to the record in 1978 and thinking how fresh and unique the sound was, which consisted of guitar and table accompaniments. Starting at track one of the LP, this was the first time I had heard any of his work, and with hindsight it appears this was one of his best songs that was most befitting his voice. Jagjit Singh’s natural voice throughout the song was like that of a man wronged, hurt, totally broken, and he was explaining the why and how of his predicament. Each verse is a beautifully crafted couplet explaining the events of his life, followed by the chorus part reminding why he identifies himself as a stranger seeing a stranger.

If you did not understand any of the lyrics, then the line daag hi, daag, zindagi se mile would have given you some clue to the gravity of his situation. A stain (daag) is something not very nice, it can be undeserved blame causing hurt, or perhaps someone saying or doing something not very nice, and this remains with you like a scar wounding you throughout your life. In his real life, he too had his fair share of scars, pain and sorrow, as almost everyone’s life is scarred in some shape or form, and this underlying message plays in the lyrics. Mr Jagjit Singh should have received The Nobel Prize for this song, but I do not think that there was anyone in the committee that could have recognized the brilliance of this song.

Meaning and Context

Goya -- Approximates to became as

Yun -- in such a way

Be-rukhi -- without heart, or heartless, devoid of feeling

Maanga the -- requested, asked for, hoped for in this context

Mile -- found, discovered, got, but in this context he means discovering.

Daag -- stain, or scar in this context

Wafa -- faithfulness, or acts of faithfulness, but in this context, good intention is a better approximation.

English Translation

Hum to yun apni, zindagi se mile,

I am discovering my life, in such a way,

ajnabi jaise, ajnabi se mile.

like a stranger, finding a stranger.

Har wafa, ek, jurm, ho, goya,

Every good intention, became like a crime,

dost kuch, waisi bey-rukhi, se mile.

(and) friend(s) somehow, similarly unfamiliar, we get.

Phool hi, phool, ham-ne, maanga the,

Flowers, and only flowers, I hoped for,

daag hi, daag, zindagi se mile.

(but) scars, and only scars, one gets from life.

Jis tarah, aap, humse milte hain,

In this way, I am meeting you,

(That is why) I am meeting you in this way (like a stranger),

adami, yun na, adami se mile.

a human being, not in such a way, meet another human being.

a human being should not meet another human being in such a way.

If you did not get that epiphany, and make the leap in understanding, then let me point it out for you. In the beginning, he says that he is discovering himself as a stranger meeting a stranger, and in the end part he is saying that a human being should not have to meet another human being in this way...

The truth of our very existence is that we are all born as strangers, and nobody even asked us whether we wanted to be alive. We have no idea what we will become, or how our lives will turn out. We all hope for the best but not everything is in our control.