A Few Melodious Gems of Marathi

12th Feb 2025

Flashback to 2005: When this Marwadi girl used to rattofy Marathi as a subject, just to score passing marks as it was her third language. Even my Marathi teacher (Late. Joshi Ma'am) was surprised to see my score. (77/100) I remember committing major blunders with gender, subject-verb agreement, and words.
In 2008, I moved to Pune for my graduation. On the second day I learned, that to thrive here, I will have to learn Marathi. Without that, I may spend more time on trivial tasks like asking for things at a general store. Within a month, just by interacting more with the locals, I learned Marathi enough to communicate with the community helpers for daily necessities. It took me one more month to be fluent, and since then there has been no looking back. Marathi newspapers, stand-up shows, movies, songs, and overall content became my go-to stress buster. I am yet to explore Marathi Literature though.
Marathi music is phenomenal. There is a song for every mood and situation. I am sharing a few gems that I found in the short time that I have explored Marathi music.

1) होणार होतला जाणार जातला
मागे तू फिरू नको
उगाच सांडून खऱ्याची संगत
खोट्याची धरू नको
होणार होतला जाणार जातला
मागे तू फिरू नको
उगाच सांडून खऱ्याची संगत
खोट्याची धरू नको
येईल दिवस तुझा हि माणसा
जिगर सोडू नको
तुझ्या हाती आहे डाव सारा
इसार गजाल कालची रे
देवाक् काळजी रे
माझ्या देवाक काळजी रे.
This song should actually be treated as daily prayer, seeking strength and resilience from the Almighty, being assured that He is there to take care of us even in the darkest storms of life. This song also is a reminder of whatever happens, let it, you do not choose the wrong path to make it wrong, because He is there to take care of you.

2) कितीदा नव्याने तुला आठवावे?
डोळ्यातले पाणी नव्याने वहावे
कितीदा नव्याने तुला आठवावे?
डोळ्यातले पाणी नव्याने वहावे
कितीदा झुरावे तुझ्याचसाठी?
कितीदा म्हणावे तुझे गीत ओठी?
कितीदा सुकूनी पुन्हा फुलावे?
कितीदा नव्याने तुला आठवावे?
You may find break-up songs in every language. But this song from "Ti Sadhya Kaay Kartey" is about what you feel years after you see them after a break-up. The lyrics mean, "How many times do I remember you newly? How many times should new tears flow through my eyes? How much should I trouble myself in your memories? How many times should I keep your songs on my lips?", all of which eventually boils down to, "Why do I love you so crazily that even after years of separation I feel all of it newly, all over again?"



3) नकळता असे ऊन मागून येते
सुखाची पुन्हा दुःख चाहूल घेते
कितीदा हसूनी नव्याने जगावे?
कितीदा रंग या जीवनाचे पहावे?
These 4 lines are about the hide and seek that happiness and sadness play in our lives, just like the Sun, sometimes shines brightly and the rest of the time hides behind the clouds. And then all we are left with is a smile and the act of moving on. But how many times does this cycle repeat and which all shades of sadness are we yet to witness?
These are just 4 lines, yet powerful, imagine the whole song would be such a gem!

4) केव्हातरी पहाटे उलटून रात गेली
मिटले चुकून डोळे हरवून रात गेली
सांगू तरी कसे मी वय कोवळे उन्हाचे?
उसवून श्वास माझा फसवून रात गेली !
This song, as sung by Asha Bhosale, is too heart touching. It is a depiction of untimely death at a young age. And how the fate cheats everyone else around the loved ones of the one who passes away, like all of them were breathing but one betrayed.

5) देवा तुझ्या गाभाऱ्याला उंबराच नाही
सांग कुठं ठेऊ माथा
कळंनाच काही
देवा कुठं शोधू तुला
मला सांग ना
प्रेम केलं एवढाच
माझा रे गुन्हा
देवा काळजाची हाक ऐक एकदा तरी
माझ्या ह्या जीवाची आग लागू दे तुझ्या उरी
आरपार काळजात का दिलास घाव तू
दगडाच्या काळजाचा दगडाचा देव तू.
This is a proper hreatbreak song, where we reach to an extent, that we love them so much, we do not complaint to them. Instead we vent it all out to God. We blame him for being stone-hearted just like his stone idol.
There are many more songs, but I tried to keep this list precise. I often hear Marathi songs are only obscene, hence I was determined to prove that wrong. And that is the only reason I narrowed down these iconic and evergreen songs. Language is only a medium to convey what we as humans feel. Creativity and art explore all the 9 Rasas equally and fairly, be it love, lust, anger, fear, or any other. And trust me, every native language will have these expressions in their ways. So looking down one particular medium of expression by labeling it obscene is not the right thing to do. It may be striking lavani, Dada Kondke's way of comedy, or Pu La Deshpande's sarcasm, it is all in good faith and their unique style of expressions.

This post is a part of Embrace the Native Blog Hop hosted by Sukaina Majeed and Manali Desai under #EveryConversationMatters.