Sooha saha – Highway (Lyrics and Meaning)

A  lullaby from the movie Highway (2014). Here’s the youtube link to the song: Sooha saha.

I think Highway was a well made movie in many ways – the cinematography is beautiful, the storyline is simple but emotionally engaging, the acting natural, but the music tops it all. I liked all the songs from the movie, Mahi ve – a different flavor of a romantic song, Kahan hoon main – a song trying to make sense of one’s life, Pataka guddi – a lively free-spirited song to name a few. The songs also blend in well with the story. I like sooha saha in particular because with such simplicity this song manages to describe the complexity of the emotions that Mahabir (the antihero of the movie) is experiencing. Halfway through, the song switches from innocent dreams to the unpleasant reality and then back.

Mynah ni sooha saha le jaana khoye ki meethi meethi kheti mein kehlan ho 

Totha bole pedon pe, pede se poodi se, sooha saha neendan mein bhookha na ho 

sangi saathi hum soone thaare ho na ho, sooha saha amma ka 

Oh red rabbit, take the mynah (bird) with you to the milk sweet farms to play 

Where parrot sings from the trees, like dessert and bread, so the red rabbit does not feel hungry in his sleep

There may not be friends to accompany you, (but the birds should keep you company)

Red rabbit so dear to his mother

Raina, kaari kaari koylan si raina, neendi tula tula sii lena* 

taaron ka bichauna, chain se sona,

gota gota gudhadi mein ghoomega ghaamega  sooha sahaa mynah ni le jaana ho **

The night is as black as the koyal (a black bird), stitch your nap (or sleep) a little at a time 

Sleep peacefully in the bed of stars

When you roam around amongst those shiny sequin fabric bundles (probably referring to the stars), oh red rabbit, take the mynah with you. 

Toota, tara sa, chota sa, taara sa, toota re 

Pooche wo dekho tere hi baariye 

Kyun na soye, kyun to roye, kyun to khoye yun pardes mein ho 

Kyun tu rootha, kisse rootha, kya hai chootha tera des mein ho 

Broken, a star, a small star, a falling star 

It asks about you, 

Why do you not sleep, why do you cry, why do you wander around in a foreign land ? 

Why are you annoyed, who are you annoyed with, what did you leave behind in your land? 

Jo bhi hai rookha sookha mann mein wo bolo to,

kholo raahein baaton ki baahein ho, 

Whatever it is in your mind, that is bothering you, share it (with me)

Give way to the words, open up your arms (and your heart)

Totha bole pedon pe pede se poodi se, sooha saha neendan mein bhookha na ho

sang saathi ham soone thaare ho na ho, sooha saha amma ka 

Where parrot sings from the trees, like dessert and bread, so the red rabbit does not feel hungry in his sleep

There may not be friends to accompany you, (but the birds should keep you company)

Red rabbit so dear to his mother

The song starts off as a lullaby about sweet fields and starry beds describing the unconditional care of a mother for her young child as she sings to him, and ensures that the child has everything (food, friends) for a good nights sleep with the sweetest dreams.  Later however,  though still about unconditional care, this time it is not for a kid wandering around in dreamland, but for someone who has wandered for so long and so far away from home, that comfort and familiarity seem like a distant dream.

I especially found the “starry” connection 🙂  appealing. How, the stars – the friends from dream land seem to have come looking for their long lost companion (the red rabbit) in the real world – “taara sa, toota re,  Pooche wo dekho tere hi baariye“

The lullaby is cute, adorable – words I would not typically use for a musical composition. The latter part of the song definitely has its tear-jerking moments.  If you live away from home, if its been a while since you talked to or visited your family, if its been a while since you had a heart to heart conversation with someone, anyone or if its been a while since you slept peacefully, you can probably relate.

And at the expense of sounding almost preachy, if you are not the lost restless soul in need for comfort, you can probably be the shining caring star that can comfort the lost restless soul, if you get what I mean. 😀

SPOILERS: In the movie, this song describes how Mahabir (the antihero of the movie) reminisces his happy childhood, just another innocent kid, loved by his mother, happy and playful,  which is in stark contrast to where he stands now several years later, the bad guy, feared by everyone, lost and lonely, which he is convinced is a point of no return, while Veera the rich girl who Mahabir has kidnapped, and who now has developed Stockholm Syndrome tries to convince him otherwise. (By the end of this song, you almost feel sorry for Mahabir, you want to forgive him, comfort him. Of course! kudos to Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt for delivering this emotion packed song so flawlessly :))

*Some other sources online with the translation of the song use “coal” to describe “koyalan” – it could be either I think, coal or the bird, but with all the bird references earlier in the song, I thought “koyal – the bird” may be more fitting.

“Tula” refers to a small unit of weight (~11g) , used to measure valuable metals like gold etc.  So the line -“neendi tula tula sii lena” could mean take small naps as you sleep, but if you sleep in short bursts how do you sleep peacefully (the next line :)), so I thought ‘sii’ here could mean “to stitch” instead of  “like tula”

** “gota-gota gudhadi mein” – can also mean sequin studded clothes that the kid (red rabbit) wears as he roams around, but again with the previous line about the bed of stars, I thought shiny sequin fabric bundles is more fitting.