Kerala, where I am at present, is sweltering in unseasonal heat with temperatures soaring up to 38o C with a real feel of 40oC. While, my hometown in Northeast US is shivering at -3oC with a real feel of -9oC; wind chill not counting. Mother Nature has a crazy sense of humour.
Kerala has only three seasons – Summer, Monsoons and Winter (well, what passes for it these days). But this unseasonal heat means that summer blooms are in abundance, their myriad colours shimmering in the heat, a cooling sight to eyes, if not to the body. The bounty welcomes birds of various kinds and their chittering warms my heart. Incidentally, just outside my window, is a kani konna (Indian Laburnum/Cassia Fistula, otherwise known as the Golden Shower) tree that has already begun to bloom.
Coincidentally, a few days ago, my soul sister Dustedoff posted a list of songs about bees and flowers to celebrate Spring. So, I thought I would compile a complementary list of Hindi songs about flowers. My only criterion was that it shouldn’t be a generic ‘phool’ song. So, no Phoolon ki rani, bahaaron ki mallika, for example. But even with that self-imposed restriction, I found plenty of songs I love that fit the theme. Here they are, in no particular order.
Ek chameli ke mandwe tale
Cha Cha Cha (1964)
Singers: Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi
Music: Iqbal Qureshi
Lyrics: Makhdoom Moinuddin
Chameli is a creeper that is most commonly seen in Indian gardens. The lyrics are quite explicit in this song that’s picturised as a dream sequence (and not explicit viewing at all). But while the lyrics talk of ‘a canopy of jasmine flowers’, there’s nary a jasmine to be seen on screen.
But... the song almost makes up for having to watch Chandrasekhar as Prince Salim on screen, but there’s always the beauteous Helen.
The following two songs are also about specific species of Jasmine:
Mann kyun behka
Utsav (1984)
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle
Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Lyrics: Vasant Dev
While bela or mogra is native to India, its English name is the Arabian Jasmine. Its fragrance is the strongest during the night, a fact that lyricist Vasant Desai incorporated into his lyrics:
Man kyun behka re behka aadhi raat ko?
Bela mehkaa re, bela mehka re mehka aadhi raat ko…
(Why has my mind strayed so, in the middle of the night?
Because the jasmine has spread its fragrance in the middle of the night)
When Charudutt’s wife discovers his relationship with the beautiful courtesan, Vasantasena, she is curious enough to visit her. Her unconditional acceptance warms Vasantasena’s heart and soon, the women are good friends.
This song tells of their passion and desires in an explicit yet poetic manner. It’s a beautiful song in a beautiful movie.
Juhi ki kali meri laadli
Dil Ek Mandir (1963)
Singer: Suman Kalyanpur
Music: Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics: Shailendra
The ‘juhi’ in this song is a little girl, Uma (Baby Padmini) whom Sita (Meena Kumari) befriends in the hospital where her husband, Ram (Rajkumar) is a patient. Uma is terminally ill and Sita and the hospital staff (including Nagesh in a cameo) decide to celebrate her birthday in style.
Juhi is yet another common garden species that requires low maintenance. While it grows in both shade and heat, the plant blooms best during the hotter months.
Rajnigandha phool tumhaare
Rajnigandha (1974)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Salil Choudhury
Lyrics: Yogesh
For a change, the picturisation includes tuberoses, a bouquet of the fragrant, off-white flowers, once sent by a man to his beloved. Now, far away from him and having met an ex-boyfriend, she’s conflicted about who she really loves. But the flowers tweak her memories of him and their fragrance reminds her of the fragrance of his love. Picturised in the background, Yogesh’s lyrics express her feelings. As she walks around her flat, the flowers she so lovingly places in a vase keep calling for her attention.
Rajanigandha is also not a native plant; it's believed to have come from central and southern Mexico. With its intense fragrance, the tuberose is a significant part of perfumery, where it is often used as a base note. A little goes a long way.
Ae nargis-e-mastana
Arzoo (1965)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri
Women have been compared to flowers in literature and films for a very long time indeed. Here, the hero (Rajendra Kumar), who has fallen in love with the beautiful Sadhana compares her to a ‘carefree’ or ‘intoxicated’ Narcissus. It's a serenade alright, but how romantic, I'll leave you to decide since, later, he also refers to her as a saaqi-e-maikhaana or ‘the cup-bearer of a tavern’.
Native to southern Europe and North Africa as well as the Western Mediterranean region, the flower, also called the ‘Poet’s Daffodil’, is now a common sight all over the world in cooler climes. In Kashmir, where the narcissus is called Yemberzal or Mazaar Posh, the flower is the harbinger of Spring and has been mentioned in literature dating back to the 3rd and 4th centuries BC. Symbolising love and resurrection, the narcissus can also be found blooming in abundance in graveyards, thus earning the name ‘Mazaar Posh’.
Genda 
/ Marigold / Tagetes species
Phool gendwa na maaro
Dooj ka Chand (1964)
Singer: Manna Dey
Music: Roshan
Lyrics: Sahir
“Don’t hit me
with marigold flowers”, sings Agha, “for they bruise my heart.” What the girl he's serenading doesn't know - yet - is that he's only lip-syncing to a record being played by his friends behind the bushes. And while he adeptly covers up when the record sticks, he cannot keep up the pretence for long. Manna Dey does a fabulous job, as always. The
lyrics, by Sahir, are in Khadi boli for a change, instead of in Hindi or
Urdu.
Marigolds, so ubiquitous in Indian culture, yet not a native plant. Marigolds are native to central and southern Mexico, and several other Latin American countries. The name ‘Marigold’ or ‘Mary’s Gold’ was first given to another, similar plant, the Calendula officinalis. The species most commonly found/used in India, especially in religious and wedding celebrations, is the Tagetes patula.
Gulmohur / Flamboyant
Tree / Delonix Regia
Gulmohur gar
tumhaara naam hota
Devta (1978)
Singers: Kishore
Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Gulzar
This lovely duet is
possibly better known than the film. The picturisation shows George (Rakesh Roshan)
romancing Lily (Sarika) under Gulmohur trees (which gives George the
inspiration for this song). Lily’s grandfather, Tony (Sanjeev Kumar), passing
by, looks approvingly at the young couple before driving on. Interestingly, Gulmohur gar tumhaara naam hota is not just addressed to the woman; later, she sings the same lines to the man. (And if someone were to translate the next line for me so as to make sense, I would be obliged.)
My school in Madras
(now Chennai) had an avenue of Gulmohur trees leading up to it. The flame-coloured
flowers provided a coloured canopy over our heads. We used to call it the ‘Flame
of the Forest’, little knowing it was a completely different species (the Palash
tree – Butea monosperma). Neither did I know then that the Gulmohur is
not native to India: it’s an import from Madagascar.
Kuchh din pehle ek taal mein kamal-kunj ke andar
Lajwanti (1958)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
When Kavita (Nargis) is exhorted by her students to tell them a story, she begins this ‘story-song’ – of two swans who live inside a house made of lotuses and about their little cygnet. To the listening children, it is just a story. But to Kavita, the song is really about her own life, the break-up of her home, and the loss of her little daughter. Interestingly, this song actually references the flower itself, not just in comparison to a beloved.
The lotus, India’s national flower, also holds a sacred place in Indian culture, signifying purity, enlightenment and spiritual growth. In Egypt, it symbolises the sun, creation and rebirth, since it blooms at sunrise only to close its petals and sink underwater at night.
Champa / White Plumeria
(Frangipani) / Plumeria alba
Teri zulf mein
chunke champe ki kaliyan
Jaan Bachi
Laakhon Paaye (1970)
Singers: Mahendra
Kapoor, Sharda
Music:
Ajay-Biswanath
Lyrics: Anjaan
Jaan Bachi Laakhon
Paaye is, as far as I
know, an unreleased film. I have never heard of the music directors, either.
But this song, sung quite well by Mahendra Kapoor, and ruined by Sharda, like
the previous song, actually references the flower. He will place carefully
selected frangipani buds in her hair, he sings, and fill the parting of her
hair with pearls. Such extravagant gestures denote love in Hindi films.
The creamy champa blooms are sweetly fragrant, and an excellent pollinator. It is a tree of great religious and cultural significance in India and several other Asian countries like Thailand and Bali, where the blooms symbolise peace. For Hindus, the flowers signify purity, devotion and love and Champa can frequently be seen as offerings in temples, and in decorative garlands at weddings. Champa also symbolises immortality and resilience, since a tree’s life span is more than a hundred years, and it blooms all year round.
Mere saajan phool kamal ka, kali main raat rani ki
Tere Mere Sapne (1971)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Neeraj
I’d initially chosen this song for the lotus, but this song also references the Raat ki Rani or Night-blooming Jasmine. In the context of the film, an older couple (Sapru and Dulari) conceives their first child. When the child is born and in distress, the village doctor, comatose in an alcoholic haze is of no use to anyone. So Dr Anand (Dev Anand) steps in to save the day. The relieved and happy parents hold a celebration at which Dr Anand is the honoured guest. Also present is the village school teacher, Nisha (Mumtaz), who has a fondness for the doctor who's newly arrived.
She (Jayshree T) is an itinerant dancer performing at the event. Her beloved is a lotus while she’s the bud of a night-blooming jasmine, she sings before going on to list all the places from where her jewellery and apparel (Ajmer, Dilli, Chanderi, etc.) and even her manners (from Lucknow) have been acquired. She also compares herself to Simi, Saira Bano and Sadhana. Phew!
The tubular flowers of
the Raat ki Rani (colloquially known as the ‘Queen of the Night’) bloom
in clusters. Back in my home in Kerala, we have a Parijat tree (Coral
Jasmine or the Tree of Sorrow/Nyctanthes arbor-tristis), a champak
(White Jade Orchid / Magnolia x alba)tree and the Raat ki Rani all
bloom in close proximity to each other, releasing a combination of heady
perfumes into the sultry night air.
Mere sainyya gulab ka phool
Navrang (1959)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music: C Ramchandra
Lyrics: Bharat Vyas
Diwakar (Mahipal) is miffed with his wife, Jamuna (Sandhya) and is poised to leave in a huff. When Jamuna (as her alter-eg0, Mohini, also portrayed by Sandhya) tries to coax him back. So, “You, my beloved are a rose,” she sings, “what have I done to drive you away?” These lines make no sense, really, and seem like an attempt to find a word that rhymes with ‘bhool’. The sequence is rather humorous, however, since Diwakar’s horse seems to be quite mollified and does his best to get the squabbling couple back together. And for someone who seems to be wanting to ride away in a huff, Diwakar does nothing of the sort; he just climbs onto the horse and let it plod a few steps here and a few steps there, then finally gets off the horse, making it all the easier for Jamuna/Mohini to bring him back.
All around the world, the rose (especially, the red one) is celebrated as the flower of romance. They are a popular choice for romantic occasions like anniversaries, birthdays, and, of course, Valentine's Day. According to experts (!), even the number of roses you give your beloved say something significant: one rose suggests love-at-first-sight; two suggests mutual love; nine represents eternal love while a dozen red roses is the classic romantic gesture.
Ketki gulab juhi champak ban phoole
Basant Bahar (1956)
Singers: Manna Dey, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
Music: Shankar-Jaikishan
Lyrics: Shailendra
This song references a full bouquet: flowers, ranging from the screwpine (of which only the male flowers are fragrant while the female flowers bear fruit) and rose to jasmine, the champak and the pansy. Since I already had songs for the rose and jasmine, I dithered between listing this for the champak (Son champa/Joy Perfume Tree/Magnolia champaka) and the banphool, but decided to go with the latter. Because while the champak is a beautiful, fragrant flower, in both its golden and white specimens, the humble pansy, or Heartsease, is one of my favourite flowers.
In the context of the film, this song is a competition between two classical singers to decide who will become the court musician. Manna Dey sings for Bharat Bhushan while Pt. Bhimsen Joshi sings for Parshuram.
In an interview, Manna Dey recounted how he almost packed his bags and left Bombay because he was nervous about recording the song with Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. Especially since, according to the script, he was to ‘win’ the competition. But thanks to his wife, he stayed back, recorded the song, and we have a song for the ages. This film was allegedly Shankar-Jaikishan’s answer to taunts that they could not compose a classical score.
[I’m reliably told that banphool is pansy, though I’ve also come across the dandelion being called the same name. If anyone has the right information, please say so in the comments.]
References:
https://freepresskashmir.news/2021/03/28/mazaar-posh-yemberzal-flower-of-the-graveyard
p.s. I must also apologize for the late responses to the comments. The internet is pretty sketchy where I am and I couldn't upload my responses, or even this post, which was scheduled for the 5th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to be more regular.
