In case you were curious about the lyrics and their meaning, screenwriter and lyricist Varun Grover has helpfully translated of two of the standout tracks from Masaan

Editors' note: Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan is set in Varanasi and one of the ways that the film explores the complex mix of tradition and modernity that is Varanasi, is through its soundtrack. In case you were curious about the lyrics and their meaning, screenwriter and lyricist Varun Grover has helpfully translated of two of the standout tracks from Masaan, complete with explanatory notes. Enjoy!

MANN KASTURI

Mann kasturi jag dasturi

Baat hui naa puri re

Mann kasturi

Khoje apni gandh na paawey

The heart is like the Kasturi, that doesn’t get closure.

Kasturi is the musk deer that goes mad searching for the scent of musk around it, not realizing that the essence comes from within.

Paat na paya meetha paani

Or-chhor ki doori re

Mann kasturi

Even the purest of things, i.e. sweet river water,

Couldn't bridge the gap of this side and that side.

(Varun Grover: The intent being that even Ganges can't fill the divides between castes and genders that we have created in our society.)

Khoje apni gandh na paawey

Chaadar ka paiband na paawey

[The musk-deer] Searches for own essence, but can't find it

Can't find the pattern for the torn sheet of existence

(VG: Paiband : A patchwork. Chaadar: A sheet of cloth. Kabir used chaadar as a metaphor for the mortal body.)

Bikhrey-bikhrey chhand saa tahley

Dohon mein ye bandh na paawey

Naachey ho ke phirki lattu

Khojey apni ghoori re

Mann kasturi

Moves around like a broken verse,

Can't be composed into poetry

Revolves like a lattu

Looking for its own axis

Umar ki ginti haath na aai

Purkho ne ye baat batai

Ulta kar ke dekh sakey to

Umber bhi hai gehri chhai

Ageing, growing up is a mystery

And old people have told us this

If you turn it upside down,

Even the sky is like a bottomless pit.

(VG: The intent being everything changes with perspective.)

Rekhaaon key paar nazar ko

Jisne pheka andhey man se

Satrangi bazaar ka khola

Darwaza phir bina jatan ke

So if you can see beyond the 3-D world,

And see it with a blinded heart (unprejudiced heart)

The door to a seven-coloured world,

Opens without much efforts.

(VG: Seven-colored world is again a metaphor used by Kabir for the world of pure souls.)

Phir to jhooma baawal ho key (x2)

Sar pey daal phitoori re

Mann kasturi

And then it dances, like a mad man

With an exceptional craziness,

Its heart, like kasturi.

TU KISI RAIL SI

(VG: The lyrics of this song were inspired by the Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar's works, translated by Ashoo Khosla.)

Tu kisi rail si guzarti hai

Main kisi pull sa thartharaata hoon.

I’m the bridge under the train that speedily flees

When you are passing by, You reverberate in me

Tu bhale ratti bhar na sunti ho

Main tera naam budbudaata hoon

You may or may not listen,

But i keep mumbling your name.

Kisi lambe safar ki raaton mein

Tujhe alaav sa jalaata hoon.

On the way to endless journeys,

I light your memories up, to keep me warm.

Kaath ke taaley hain,

aankh pe daale hain,

Unmein ishaaron ki chaabiyaan laga.

The wooden locks

That shut the sight

Need to be opened with the gesturing eye

Raat jo baaki hai

shaam se taaki hai

neeyat mein thodi kharaabiyaan laga.

The night hasn’t ended

Since its fall I’ve been waiting

Let the intentions now be less honorable, a little sly

Main hoon paani ke bulbule jaisa

Tujhe sochoon toh phoot jaata hoon.

I’m a water bubble, I burst, I cease to be

As your thought crosses, my mind touches me