Ek Chidiya --- Refreshing the memory

The Films Division masterpiece --- “Ek Chidia” has been doing the rounds across the emails recently. The video uploaded on the You Tube conjures up memories of childhood when the kids played langdi tang and gallery while humming the lines of this beautiful song that encourages harmony and unity in diversity--- the mottos that best describe India. In a time when the TV News channels are fighting tooth and nail to create an atmosphere that generates news (read chaos, riots, disharmony and sensationalism), the song is something of a reminder of simpler times.

Since the day I received this particular link in the mail I have been trying to find the elder community Didi, who shares wisdom with the aid of simple tools like beads or seeds, mangoes and short stories; the kid who actually truly believes that the elder Didi is the wiser one and listens to her solution; the other kids whose appetite is satiated with fresh mangoes plucked from the trees unlike those dissatisfied bundles of trouble I spot around with designer shoes and garb outside Mc Donald’s always greedily asking for one more Happy Meal. The simple solution that the animation (though not of the state of the art category) provides to a problem that infects and threats not only India but the entire globe in today’s times is incomparable to anything I have seen so far.

The melody is something that beats the best of the pop songs and the filmi latka jhatkas of today. Its simple and I am ready to wager a fortune that once the tune registers in your mind it is a difficult one to let go. The innocence in the voice of Sadhna Sargam, who rendered her voice to the character of Didi, is of the quality that you can almost touch it if you try hard enough. The music by Vasant Desai complements the simplicity of the narrative without actually ever underestimating the power or the importance of the message.

The illustrations are single line figures without too much detailing, yet aptly defining and demarking each n every character. The regional and religious characters of all the varied segments of Indians are fittingly depicted in the 5 minute animation. Bhim Sain, better known today as the creator of the animated series on Hanuman, did the animations for Ek Chidya which I believe laid the foundation for other Indian animations as well.

The credit of the final product as usual goes to the captain of the ship i.e., the director Vijaya Mule. The conceptualization and execution is something that touches a chord with the audience even today. There is no better way to end the piece than to quote the chorus of the song. But writing just the chorus feels like doing injustice to the rest of the lyrics. So to refresh your memories I present the transcript of the song of our childhood and something that I hope passes down to our children one day as folklore or verbal tradition.

Didi ye anek kya hota hai ?
Anek.... anek yani bahut saare....
jaise...
suraj ek...
chanda ek.....
taare anek....
achcha to taron ko anek bhi kehte hain ?????
nahi nahi !!
dekho phir se batati hoon
suraj ek...
chanda ek.....
taare anek....
ek gilhari, ....
ek aur gilhari......
ek ek ek karke ho gayee ab anek gilhariyaan...
ek titali, anek titaliyaan....
ek chidiya.. ek ek anek chidiyaan......
anek chidiyon ki kahani sunoge ....
haan sunao...
ek chidiya anek chidiya....
dana chugne baith gayee thi .....
chorus : didi humen bhi sunao.......
phir se suno...
ek chidiya, anek chidiyan
dana chugne baith gayee thi .....
WahiN ek byaadh ne jaal bichhaya tha...
byaadh, byaadh kya hota hai didi ?
byaadh ... chidiya pakadne wala
to phir kya hua, usne chidiyoN ko pakad liya,...
unhe maar diya ......
un..huh...
Himmat se jo jute rahe to bada kaam bhi hove
Bhaiya.. bada kaam bhi
hove bhaiya ...
1..2..3.. furrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Chaturrr cidiyaaN sayaani chidiyaaN,
miljul kar, jaal le kar...
Bhaagi chidiyaaN....
furrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
door ek gaaon mein chidiyon ke dost chuhe rahte the....
unhone unka jaal kaat diya.........
dekha ekta mein kitni shakti hai......
didi agar hum ek ho jaayen to kya koi bhi kaam kar
sakte hain ?
haan haan kyon nahi ...
to kya is ped ke aam bhi tod sakte hain ???
haan magar jugat lagani hogi ...
JUGAT ???

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achchha ye jugat .... wah bada mazaa aayega....
HO GAYE EK ...
BAN GAYEE TAKAT..
BAN GAYEE HIMMAT...
hind desh ke niwasi sabhi jana ek hain, -2
rang-roop vesh-bhaasha chahe anek hain -2> > ---- repeat...
bela gulab juhi champa chameli..... -2
phool hain anek kintu mala phir ek hai ...-2>
ek-anek-ek anek
suraj ek, chanda ek, taare anek,
ek gilhari , anek gilhariyaaN,
ek titli, anek titaliyaaN,
ek chidiyaa , anek chidiyaaN......
are bela gulab juhi champa chameli.. -2
phool hain anek kintu mala phir ek hain.....2

Screenplay and direction: Vijaya Mule
Compilation: Vaman Guru
Hind desh ke nivasi: Pandit Vinay Chandra
Music: Vasant desai
Animation: Bhim Sain