ઓચિંતું કોઈ મને રસ્તે મળે અને ધીરે થી પૂછે કે કેમ છે?
Song starts at 3:14
Sung by Shabnam Virmani. Poem & composition by Dhruv Bhatt.

Renowned Gujarati writer Dhruv Bhatt recounts the moment when this poem was born. Once he was walking on a hot day in a poor rural belt in coastal Saurashtra. From a distance he saw an old man wearing a tattered dhoti struggling to till a harsh, rocky earth with a heavy plough, while the sun beat down mercilessly. Feeling deeply sympathetic to the old man's plight, Dhruv Dada gently asked him as he passed by, Dada, kem chhe? (How are you?) The old man lifted his face and flashing a beatific smile at Dhruv Dada crooned, 'I'm doing just great!' Utterly taken aback and brought face to face with his own assumptions, in that moment a song took shape in his heart.

ઓચિંતું કોઈ મને રસ્તે મળે અને ધીરે થી પૂછે કે કેમ છે?
તો આપણે તો કહીયે કિ દરિયા સી મૌજ માં ને ઉપર થી કુદરત ની રેમ છે!

ફાટેલા ખિસ્સા ની આડ માં મુકી છે અમે છલકાતી મલકાતી મૌજ
એકલો ઉભું ને તોયે મેળા માં હોઉં એવું લાગ્યા કરે છે મને રોજ
તાળું વસાયે નહીં એવડી પટારી માં આપણો ખજાનો હેમ ખેમ છે
આપણે તો કહીયે ...

આઁખોં માં પાણી તો આવે ને જાયે નથી ભીતર ભીનાશ થતી ઓછી
વધ ઘટ ના કાંઠ્ઠાઓ રાખે હિસાબ નથી પરવાહ સમંદર ને હોતી
સૂરજ તો ઉગે અને આથમીયે જાયે, મ્હારી ઉપર આકાશ એમ નેમ છે
આપણે તો કહીયે ...

All of a sudden, one day
Walking down a road 
If someone stops me
To gently ask,
How are you doing today?
Like joyous ocean waves
I'm at play, I'll say
Nature's hand
Rests like a blessing
On my head, always!

All of a sudden, one day. . .

My frayed pockets
I've stuffed
With bouncing, spilling
Waves of ecstasy
I may be alone, and yet I feel
I'm in a carnival all day
On a treasure chest
With no lock at all
My riches are plenty safe!

All of a sudden, one day. . .

Water in my eyes
Will come and go
But the moisture in my heart
Is always there
While the shores keep track
Of plenitude and lack
The ocean couldn't care less!
This sun will rise and it will set
But the sky over my head
Will be right there

All of a sudden, one day. . .

Poem & Composition: Dhruv Bhatt
Translation: Shabnam Virmani

A highly respected and popular literary voice from Gujarat, Dhruv Bhatt's writings are both philosophic and profound, reflecting a deep inspiration from nature - especially the ocean - and the wisdom of Adivasi and other marginal communities. To me, many of Dhruv Dada's poems are a contemporary expression of the mystic spirit, at once poignant and joyous. His novel 'Tatvamasi' has been awarded by the Bharatiya Sahitya Akademi and other novels by the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. Many have been translated into Marathi, Hindi, English and Oriya, and adapted into plays and films. He received the Darshak Award in 2005. It has been a privilege and joy over the last few years to travel to remote villages in Gujarat with Dhruv Dada, singing and partaking of the oral traditions with folk singers from the region.

Listen to other songs composed by Dhruv Dada at    / @dhruvgeet5776  , and this same song sung along with my students from Srishti at    • Ochintu Koi Mane | Dhruv Geet|Dhruv B...  .

Camera: Divy Bhagia
Concert organisers: Queerabad, Ahmedabad

This song was sung as part of a concert about gender in mystic poetry for Queerabad collective in Ahmedabad in January 2019