Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit: گھوم تانا

MonsieurGonzalito

MonsieurGonzalito

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Friends,

"Ghoom Tana" is a song, written by Salman Ahmad, from the Pakistani Sufi-pop band Junoon.
Ghoom Taana - Wikipedia

Apparently is a semi-autobiographical song because it narrates the migration of his family from Patiala to Lahore.
I translation sites, the song's title is left untranslated, but I found a suggestion that it could mean "Harmonious Journey".

Can taanaa ever work as an adjective, with that meaning?
Maybe "patterned/criss-crossed journey"?
 
    • I saw it, but I hesitated because it is a substantive!
    Is it OK to use a noun as attributive just like that in Urdu, with the same lassitude as in English, "Rhythm Journey"?
     
    I'm not familiar enough with the context to know why گھوم was used, but an attempt probably shouldn't be made to translate it (since that would be similar to attempting to translate do re mi in Western music).
     
    There is nothing "Urdu" about it, @MonsieurGonzalito jii! (Could you ask the moderator, please, to add Hindi, Sanskrit in the title?) It's a classical music beat heard in music across hundreds of songs and series and films: I am suprised you haven't noticed it anywhere before. The famous Chandraprakash Dwivedi series "Chanakya" raises a crescendo of it every time Chanakya is at a climactic moment. For example, listen closely to the background from 3:35 onwards in the video called "Chanakya's Pratigya ! ! !" on YouTube.

    Note that my ears rather always hear it as "dhoom tana-na-na", not "ghoom ...".
     
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    I just watched in Netflix the 2020 Indian crime movie "Raat Akeli Hai"
    The title song (which as far as I understand is a reflection about the vicissitudes of life) is called "Ghoom Charkhya"
    And it so happens, that there are plenty of songs revolving around the "Ghoom Charakra" theme!

    So, if "Turn, oh (little) spinning wheel" is a thing, then "Ghoom Taana" is not a mere humming/onomatopoeia, isn't it?

    Can it be translate in "weaving terms", as it seems to be possible for "spinning terms"?

    (This is an example poetic interpretation of one of such songs)
     
    MonsieurGonzalito said:
    I just watched in Netflix the 2020 Indian crime movie "Raat Akeli Hai"
    The title song (which as far as I understand is a reflection about the vicissitudes of life) is called "Ghoom Charkhya"
    And it so happens, that there are plenty of songs revolving around the "Ghoom Charakra" theme!

    So, if "Turn, oh (little) spinning wheel" is a thing, then "Ghoom Taana" is not a mere humming/onomatopoeia, isn't it?

    Can it be translate in "weaving terms", as it seems to be possible for "spinning terms"?
    Click to expand...

    It's "charkhaa", first of all, and "ghoom charkhaa", which are words, has nothing to do with "dhoom ta na na na", which is a classical beat and are not words as such (and they are not onomatopoeia!).

    Note: I haven't heard the Raat Akeli Hai song.
     
    littlepond said:
    It's "charkhaa", first of all ...
    Click to expand...
    In the Punjabi kaafii written by Shah Husain and popularly recited/rendered by Abida Parveen, it is actually چرخڑا - charaxRaa. That is probably what MonsieurGonzalito was referring to. Otherwise, it is obviously چرخہ - charxah in Urdu (and Punjabi as well).

    گھم چرخڑیا! تیری کتن والی جیوے' نلیاں وٹن والی جیوے
    ...
    چرخہ بولے سائیں سائیں
    ​
    ghum/k'hum charaxReyaa! terii katan vaalii jiive, naliyaaN vaTan vaalii jiive
    ...
    charxah bole saa'iiN saa'iiN
     
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    All this is the legacy of Amiir Khusro Dihlavi (xusraw) and his invention of taraanah singing style, which is not as ancient as Sanskrit but was created at the time when a certain local new Modern Indic language began mixing with Persian, becoming a literary medium.

    After Wikipedia: "In the words of Thakur Jaidev Singh, an influential commentator on Indian music:
    [Tarana] was entirely an invention of Khusrau. Tarana is a Persian word meaning a song. Tillana is a corrupt form of this word. True, Khusrau had before him the example of Nirgit songs using śuṣk-akṣaras (meaningless words) and pāṭ-akṣaras (mnemonic syllables of the mridang). Such songs were in vogue at least from the time of Bharat. But generally speaking, the Nirgit used hard consonants. Khusrau introduced two innovations in this form of vocal music. Firstly, he introduced mostly Persian words with soft consonants. Secondly, he so arranged these words that they bore some sense. He also introduced a few Hindi words to complete the sense…. It was only Khusrau’s genius that could arrange these words in such a way to yield some meaning. Composers after him could not succeed in doing so, and the tarana became as meaningless as the ancient Nirgit.[3]
    Click to expand...
     
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