"I'm with you that true love transcends the accidents of
birth like gender, race and religion. The more it defies
conservative social norms, the more sublime it becomes," I
said before returning to Talat, "One of my favourite songs
in my childhood was Aaha rimjhim ke yeh pyare pyare geet
liye, which Talat sang with Lata for the film Usne Kaha Tha -
my first ever Hindi film. Which child wouldn't love a song
sung on a jhoola! Perhaps as a kid who didn't know a word
of Hindi, it was simply the lilt and rhythm of the Salil
Chowdhary song and the voice of Talat that attracted me.
He made the song as smooth as water flowing over
pebbles. There may not be anything in common between
the Punjabi village in Usne Kaha Tha and my north Kerala
village Chirakkal except that we too had a jhoola hung from
a mango tree in our homestead, hanging by a single rope,
the two ends of which were tied to the branch above.
There was no seat as such; you simply sat on the U part of
the rope!"
"We too had a jhoola like that in my village near Eluru and I
have many fond memories of swings in the mango season,"
said Seetha.
"Let me confess Jalte hain jiske liye and Nutan aren't the
only reason why I came to see Sujata. I like Bimal Roy films
and the strong social message he gave in Sujata. His
message is similar to yours, about the need for love to
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