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“Musafir Hoon Yaaron”: Kishore Kumar's Musical Legacy
- Priyanka Gupta
- 21 minutes ago
- 6 min read
A Voice Steps Beyond...
Behind all these manifestations is the one radiance, which shines through all things. The function of art is to reveal this radiance through the created object…
Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth
On the wings of melody, music breathes life into silence, the silence of the darkness that is lit with the musician’s pursuit of quiet longing. Each note, each tone, each stir of the magic spell of the song invites a wandering—a hero-dive, promising an adventure of an ever-renewing lifetime. The music of the legendary Indian singer Kishore Kumar speaks to the orders of our own life, our travels of the soul—as a herald, essential for our adventure’s mystical realizations.
A traveler’s heart: the melody of the road ahead
Musafir hoon Yaaron
Naa Ghar hai naa thikaana
Mujhe chale Jaana hai
Bas chalte Jaana hai
“Musafir Hoon Yaron” from Parichay, 1972
“I am a traveller, friends. I don’t have a home or a destination. I just have to keep moving, just have to keep moving…”
Long before my father picked up an instrument himself, his love for music was passed on by his mother, who herself was a singer for a radio station. Their home was always filled with the music of the legendary Indian musicians, composers and singers like R.D. Burman, Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, among others, who later became his inspiration for his music composing career. As a family tradition and coming from a family whose hobby was deeply connected to music, we often dedicated weekend afternoons to their melodies, transporting us to the golden age of the 60s and 70s Indian cinema. I now welcome you all to an era that captures the spirit of the call of the ventures of the heart, love and life.
Kishore Kumar’s iconic song “Musafir Hoon Yaron” elicits the beauty of the wandering soul, pushed into the realm of the unknown. To travel inwards and open oneself to new experiences, like the supernatural yonder as Joseph Campbell puts it in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. To light the roads to challenge, adventure, excitement and chaos by simply stepping forward into the experience. This comes through beautifully in this classic 1970’s Hindi movie Parichay (meaning introduction), where a simple man is asked to move as he is appointed as a teacher and life guide to the grandchildren of a wealthy and emotionally estranged grandfather. Leaving the familiar, his home, to fulfil a greater purpose in a new city among new people, he embarks on a journey of knowing himself through being a medium of bonding, connection and bringing a family together.
On his way to the new city, he hums along, enjoying the ride to the new destination. His acceptance as a traveler in life is his readiness to cross the threshold. He takes up a new undertaking in life that is not just to unite a family, but serves a higher heroic purpose; instilling harmony, a radiant strength that enables growth, guides in crisis for breaththroughs. Ravi, the new teacher, flows with the song, the tune of which is symbolic of the pace of stepping into a new life. The call may be sudden, but crossing the threshold is the beginning of the transformative energy. When a hero does so, inner sources are gathered to bear the journey ahead, and for Ravi it was his music.
Parichay: introduction to a new you
The familiar life horizon has been outgrown;the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit;the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand…
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Ek raah ruk gayi toh
Aur jood gayi
Main mooda to saath saath
Raah mood gayi
“Musafir Hoon Yaron”
“When one path stopped, another joined. When I turned, the path turned along”
Much like Ravi, Kishore Kumar’s musical journey began by leaving his old self—Abhas Kumar Ganguly of Khandwa (now part of Madhya Pradesh, India)—to pursue music in Mumbai, the city of showbiz and dreams where he would later establish himself as one the most iconic singers in the history of Indian cinema.
Synchronicity seems to play its part in the very title of the movie—Parichay (“introduction”)—symbolizing how, like Ravi, one can bring a family together, revealing connections in a new, luminous light. In a similar way, Kishore Kumar discovered a new self through his musical journey. As a singer without any formal training, his experiments and explorations gave Indian music a new flavor. He introduced yodeling, singing for male and female characters in the movie, and adding a unique playfulness to the lyrics as well as the symphony, coupled with profound depth and philosophy.
Parichay for him was stepping away from his family’s legacy in acting, and more specifically his brother’s fame as an actor, one of the most celebrated Indian actors of his time—Ashok Kumar. By choosing an unfamiliar path, a career in music, he truly found his bliss, inspiring generations of musicians.
As he answered his call, his path was illuminated by his talent, his supernatural aid, the womb of all his creative endeavors and genius.
The songs of life the heart has yet to see…
I now invite you into the world of his music, where each glimpse of his songs unlocks the doors that the heart has yet to see…
Zindagi ek safar hai suhana
Yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
Pichhe reh jayega yeh zamana
Yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
“Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana” from Andaz, 1971
“Life is a beautiful journey. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? This world will soon be left behind. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”
Ruk jaana nahin tu kahin haar ke
Kaanton pe chal ke
Milenge saaye bahaar ke
O raahi, o raahi
O raahi, o raahi
“Ruk Jana nahin” from Imtihan, 1974
"Do not stop to give up, walk over the thorns and you will find the signs of spring. Oh traveler, oh traveler, Oh traveler, oh traveler."
Dread the passage of Jesus, for he doesn’t return.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Kishore Da, as he was fondly called chose to follow his love for music over acting, making it his primary path (though he eventually contributed to both fields, acting and music), with music always remaining his first love and so it rewarded him plenty. For he was ready to learn, fall, and then fly. His brave conviction of entering an unknown territory presented him with countless opportunities to create and innovate such fine melodies. Approaching it with new methods of blending Indian classical and Western music genres, weaving creative musical storytelling and experimenting with unique vocal improv.
Had he chosen a path already laid out for him, he might never have returned to us with the musical inventions and masterpieces that continue to be reinvented even today…
Each note, each tone, each stir of the magic spell of the song invites a wandering—a hero-dive, promising an adventure of an ever-renewing lifetime.
MythBlast authored by:
Priyanka Gupta is a recent PhD graduate in Psychology with a specialization in Jungian psychology and mythology from the University of Delhi, India (2023). Her doctoral thesis explored the hero archetype, delving into the Campbellian structure of the hero's journey through the distinctive prism of Hindu mythology and Native American mythology. As a researcher, she's captivated by the interplay of the meaning of symbols, life, and religions, drawing inspiration and contemplating on the perspectives laid out by Joseph Campbell and prominent Jungian thinkers. Beyond academia and research, she's a writing enthusiast and a passionate painter. Her diverse interests converge in a desire to share new perspectives and ideas, propelling me towards a future in teaching and knowledge.
This MythBlast was inspired by the Separation stage of the hero's journey.
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This Week's Highlights
"Behind all these manifestations is the one radiance, which shines through all things. The function of art is to reveal this radiance through the created object."
-- Joseph Campbell
