Thursday, March 16, 2006

Hawa Hawa & Bombay Autos (Arbit Post)


Was listening to www.desi-radio.com in office the other day and suddenly in between all those Himesh Reshamiya sung songs (I think the RJ or whatever at the website is not paid well by the site owner hence he is trying to settle scores by cueing such songs) there comes up a voice which I could faintly remember, which is kinda long forgotten and and tucked away in some corner of the mind... the voice of Hassan Jehnagir.. the song Hawa Hawa and it ushered a storm of memories...n I am not the only one who experiences such emotions when they hear songs from the bygone era. Bloggers of notable repute have had reminiscences here n here....Days when there used to be audio cassettes and not Cds. 20 bucks apiece. in shiny decorative(and rarely sleazy) covers.. which could be used later for recording some other songs.

What a rage this song was.. total jhakaas/kickass/raapchick/bindaas/dhinchak song. I cant find words which describe it more aptly.

That brings a question to mind... whats with the song with repeated words ... like Hawa Hawa, Oye Oye, Tamma Tamma or (Tu cheez badi hain) Mast Mast???? Is it the repition of words in quick succession which ensures that the songs register in our mind and thus become chartbusters??

Arguably the favourite patrons of such songs is the clan of Auto-wallahs. The other notable ones being Dhoop-Chaun-Barbers-Association, Road-side Romeos Inc. and Nerds-Not-So-Anonymous United.

Now lemme yap about the Bombay autowallahs.. these guys have a cult of their own.. Their brotherhood is more powerful and widespread than the Harley Davidson Owners's Group worldwide …you have to travel in a Bombay auto to know what I am talking about ... Believe me it is nearest to Formula 1 that your will ever get...

They are a jazzy lot... decorate their autos tastefully… neon lights, plush seats(some of 'em), strategically placed rear view mirrors (ahem ahem) and music... know the Laws of Reflections from Physics better than the professors at MIT and carry the latest mobiles. Imagine, I was talking to a frnd on cell while in an auto and when I was done the autowallah remarks "I am not satisfied with this model" and I am like "Dude I didn’t spent more than a month's take-home salary to hear this"....Anyways if u do manage to strike a convo with one of these guys (which doesn’t require any special skills) you wont even know when u reached ur destination. May God bless their free spirit which is echoed well in the thought "Have Auto, Will Drive - through n over anything"

When I first landed in Mumbai in the rains of 2003 (talk about perfect timing) I was greeted by Daler paaji's "Kala Kauwa" in an auto, among other things like potholes (big enough to have a 2BHK constructed inside them and still have place left for a front yard), slime, and the humid sweaty weather. It took a while for me to realise it was our very own Dilli-da-Munda Daler. Atleast something was familiar in this new city.

Salman Khan called the shots (pun intended) with "Tere Naam" henceforth... every autowallah had a casette of this movie.. some even had a CD.

"Andaaz" came in as the next chart (and commuter ear) buster. So wherever you go 'Ho Rabba Ishq Na Howey' followed you.. Much like the pug in the Hutch commercial.
Akshay kumar encore(and Salman too not left behind)... this time with "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi"
"Laal Dupatta Ud Gaya" and "Aaja Soneya" became the anthem of the three wheeled speedsters... That was the rage when I left the shores

Can anyone tell me what’s the latest these days?

13 comments:

Samyak said...

must be Himesh only...
they need all these dhinchaak kinda songs only !!
nobody is gonna play RDB in rickshaw..

should I mention tht its so random yet so readable article to go thru....

praaji ..bade ustaad ho yaar leekhane me aap toh !!
keep it up !

Convivial said...

@thakur
aapka blog pehle baar visit kara, to socha comment karna banta hai!!!

khair, yeh gana mast hai... kahan se mila???
n also, ths chicken looks really tempting!!
damn ths chickn flu here!!!!

Delphic said...

Can you even understand the lyrics of the song in a Mumbai Auto? Saale, treble itna badaa dete hain...pata nahin kausa system use karte hain!!

If I tell ya, I'll have to kill ya said...

HAHAHA...I fell off when I read the bit about the auto wallah critiquing ur mobile...not to mention the strategically arranged mirrors bit.

True, they are a race unto themselves..Tere Naam, and Disco Dancer feature on their fave lists...Not to mention semi-nude pics of women in drenched sarees with the words "tum ghar kab aaoge" printed beneath!

Exam just got over. I need to blog... And yours has inpired me!

Cheers

Lalit Singh said...

@Siege
Thx :-))

@Convivial
lol@chicken flu fearing chick
koi gal nahi mausi ji
flu jaldi hi chala jayegaa

@delphic
Treble ka to serious problam hain yaar
Tweeter ke saath Woofer lagana bhool jaata hain har koi

@If yada yada
And guess why he was dissatisfied with the model. It only had 4096 colors and i was like staring with my mouth open
lols@ghar kab aaoge wali pics... another thing I have noticed is that a lot of them still have Divya bharti pics in the auto which makes me wonder how she remains so popular so long after her demise
chalo egg-jams over time to chill

@Bullo
kya dinhchak song sunti hain tu bhi yaar
mast hain . lagi rah!!

Lalit Singh said...

People
guess whats playing oin Desi-radio rite now...
"Tum to Thehre Pardesi"
In nasheele ankhon se kab humein pilaogey,
tum to thehre

GAWD!!! if only I get hold of the RJ.

If I tell ya, I'll have to kill ya said...

I've writte a continuation to that story I had written. Now you have to do your bit too.

R said...

Ha! nice post!

I hate all these. I never liked them. I used to think I am abnormal or something when people in school used to be crazy about these. :D

Apy said...

Hey.. looks like this is the same situation everywhere.. but in bangalore..they are one step ahead .. they have figured out about the treble problem that u mentioned n they are fully equipped with woofers now...so if you are not looking in the direction from where Auto is coming.. u cant distinguish whether its an auto or a sports car with a sexy music system.. thats heights!!

~ Deeps ~ said...

mumbai auto wallahs are diff kind of clan altogether but atleast they dont fleece like any other metro specially chennai.....

these days....himesh reshamiya rules....so u r not missing much :D

Sayesha said...

Hahaha! I dun know anything after 'Tum toh thehre pardesi'! Hahaha! :D

Lalit Singh said...

@if....
yeah sure... pehle poora to likho

@Rohit
U r not alone mate :-)

@Apy
been a long time since i visited bombay so dont know whats the current situation there

@Deeps
Thats so true. they will always go by meter and the fare for the same distnace shall remain constant over a period of time.

@Sayesha
Tumhara Bday kab hain??? I have just the perfect gift for you

venus said...

u've really funny posts, i will defienitely revisit u!