‘Amai Bhasaili re’- Bengali song that bonds three nations (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh)

Note : I could not find many historical details like year of recordings of different versions . So I cannot authenticate who sang it first or whose version is older due to paucity of data in internet. However I tried aligning these versions chronologically and put the years of recording wherever I could find data. I seek help from my readers for more information. Your comments are most welcome.

A recent Coke Studio Pakistan video on Pakistani pop music pioneer Alamgir singing ‘Amai bhasaili re’ spurred my interest to search more.  

And what I found after sifting through internet is profound. The following article will show how a strong musical bond exists between three countries – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh of the Indian subcontinent through a song sung in the language Bangla.

‘Amai bhasaili re’ is a Bengali song of the genre Bhatiali. Bhatiali songs are sung by sailors/fishermen/boatmen in West Bengal and Bangladesh. They are well known folk songs handed over from generation to generation and are very popular for their simple tune and soulful lyrics. Google search shows this particular song ‘Amai dubaili re, amai bhasaili re’ was a collection of the Bengali poet Jasimuddin and made popular by Abbasuddin Ahmed, the singer from Bangladesh. Please click on the following video for Abbasuddin’s recording.  The song has simple words but intense meanings. The sailor complains to the river waves that your ups and downs is drowning me at one time and floating me at another. It seems the shore is distant, however the boat which is broken should not drown. The shore has to be reached. Similar situations in our life makes us boatmen cruising through the turbulent sea of life where our ultimate redemption lies in reaching the end of our life - the death - the shore.

In India it was popularized by several singers. Nirmalendu Chowdhury became immensely popular in post independence Calcutta by swaying a whole generation of youth to its melodious tune. In the movie Ganga made by Rajen Tarafdar in 1960, Manna Dey sung this song under the baton of music director Salil Chowdhury.  

 This song , translated to Hindi by Gulzar with words differing from the original while maintaining the spirit was used sung by Hemant Kumar in 1961 in a Bimal Roy classic ‘Kabuliwala’. Note the tune; it is same as the original bhatiali song.

Then in Pakistan the pop icon Alamgir popularized this song in 1970’s. He migrated from Bangladesh to Karachi during the turbulent seventies. Along with him migrated this Bengali song which became an instant hit in Pakistan and a highpoint of his career when he recorded it in 1973. The recent Coke Studio video by Alamgir shows the immense popularity of this song which has swayed an entire nation for decades. Being a pop music pioneer and a pop icon in Pakistan, Alamgir commands a huge fan following spreading over generations. Following video is his interview on this topic where his awestruck musician friends chip in. 

This song continues to be popular in Bangladesh and India. Following videos are testimony of that. 

Sailors all over the world sing while rowing   to keep off the drudgery. However everywhere their songs reflect the perennial flow of the river, the ups and downs of the waves and how it blends with human life. Examples of the likes of Bhatiali genre or sailormen singing can be had from Russia and US. ‘Song of the Volga boatmen’ is a famous example from Russia. ‘Old man river’ is another example from the US. It also influenced Bhupen Hazarika of Assam, India in ‘Bistirno Dupare’. That is a different story altogether.

So the universal appeal and the ubiquitous popularity of the Bengali bhatiali song ‘Amai bhasaili re’ proves the existence of a unique musical bond and common heritage running through a vast sub-continent despite the geographical barrier and political animosity. This also proves that music has a timeless appeal that transcends borders and generations.

Note: I included only one Bengali song to illustrate the musical bond between three countries. However Hindustani classical music (the ragas and gharanas) and Quawalis and Ghazals form a common bond between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Rabindrasangeet, Nazrulgeeti, Atulprasadi, Dwijendrageeti, Lalon geeti, Baul songs form another common bond between India and Bangladesh. And then there is Bollywood whose songs and singers has charmed all across these borders for generations. I still remember a top Pakistani diplomat with roots in Murshidabad royal family scouring Calcutta music stores in early 2000’s to collect Pankaj Mullick songs. And I also remember flowing tributes by Javed Akhtar and Gulzar on Noorjehan who migrated to Pakistan after partition.