NEELAA AASMAAN KO ABHI NEEND NAHI AAYI HAI, AUR SHAAYAD AAYEGI BHI NAHI...

The lyricist Javed Akhtar may have written some of the best, great, melodious and meaningful songs and even his private poems - Ali Peter John

But , he must have certainly been at his best and his most romantic self when he wrote that song ,'neela aasman so gayaa' a song which had the good fortune of being picturised by the high priest of romance , Yash Chopra

The words of the song , the music of Shiv -Hari, the location on which the song was picturised and the absolutely natural performances of Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha was poetic to say the least , the facial expressions of Amitabh and Rekha could only be got alive by a young man and a woman who were deeply in the throes of love , the song was picturised, but not Javed , not Yash Chopra, not Shiv-Hari and certainly not the lovers , Amitabh and Rekha could have imagined that the song would be immortal.

The song has travelled all over the world , it has been translated in every major language , but nowhere and no one has been able to grasp the intensity of love in every word of the song and how the two lovers in the film bring the purity of true love to life.

I must have heard the song hundreds of times after l first heard it in 1981, when Yash Chopra played it for me in his office at Vikaas Park ( Yash Raj Studio was still a dream those days) and as an ordinary lover of music , l had told Yashji that the song would live as long as life and love lived and Yashji blessed me for saying it

Today , years later, Yashji has travelled to the true land of love, Javed Akhtar is more busy in politics than writing songs , except for the songs he writes for his children , Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar Shiv- Hari are busy creating new moods of classical music , Amitabh Bachchan has truly grown old and the only young witnesses to the growing up of the song are the pine trees in Kashmir where the song was shot and Rekha , the miracle of god who refuses to grow old

I was listening to the song again last evening when the sky was growing dark and l was transported to the world of romance made younger by the mesmerizing presence of Madam Re.

The song kept playing in the background and Rekha had gone back to the time and to the pine trees and river where love was taking its divine form more than 40 years ago ...

The song kept playing and every part , system and all the senses of Rekha was reacting to every line of the song

Her face glowed like the face of a woman who had fallen in love for the first time, her eyes kept dancing remembering the glory of her love of her man .

She was with him , she was in his arms , she was looking into his eyes looking for an assurance and a promise to be loved by him till the end of time

She was listening to his heart beats which gave her a new life and a new reason to live , only for him.

She looked blissful , she looked blessed , she looked anointed and she looked like an angel of love , and as the song went on , she even looked like the goddess of love

The joy of falling in love was with her , the ecstasy of believing that he would always be with her and the ultimate sadness of his leaving her was all there to see in every movement of her being and time had to bring her back to the world she was now living in with all those memories of the time they spent together in their own world of love, built by their love

Every ornament , every peace of jewellery on her body reacted to her feelings and lived , danced and cried with her as they too had become a part of a never ending love story which is a soulful mystery to them , like it has been a mystery for millions down the years

And as the song came to an end , l retreated into my soul and asked it why love torments true lovers so much , so much

Does Rekha believe that her love will come back to her ? As a devotee of love , l believe that her love must come back to her , l know people will say that her love is a story of the past , but how can l make them believe that true love doesn't look at age or any kind of barriers and bondages, true love , if it is true love will always come back at a time when the world which is so full of stress and strife and will realize that love is the only god and every god depends on true lovers to keep his divinity and godliness alive

EK AISI PREM KAHAANI JISKI SURUWAD PREM KARNE WAALO KO BHI PATAA NAHI HOTAA , AUR JISKAA ANT KHUDAH KO BHI PATAA NAHI HOTAA. LEKIN PREM KARNE WAALO KO ZAMAANA AUR KHUDAAI ITNAA KIU TADPATAA HAI AUR TARSAATA HAI . KUCH TOH BADALNAA HOGAA , NAHI TOH LOGO KAA PYAAR PAR SE BISWAS UDD SAKTAA HAI. AUR WOH ANT DUNIYAA KAA ANT HO SAKTAA HAI. PYAAR BINAA KOI RAHE SAKTAA HAI ? AGAR KOI KAHE KI ZINDAGI BEENA PYAAR KE JIYAA JAA SAKTAA HAI , TOH WOH JHUT BOLTAA HAI JISKI SAZAA NARK NAHI HOGI, SIRF BINAA PYAAR KE JAGAA MEIN USSE JINAA PADEGAA. AUR PHIR JAB BAHAT DER HO JAAYEGI , USSE PYAAR KAA SACHHA MATLAB SAMAJH MEIN AAYEGAA.