Why 'Coffee House' is an all-time favourite

Night is slipping away, and you are feeling a spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions as you are being dragged down the memory lane. It's because you have your earbuds plugged into your ears and are listening to the song 'Coffee Houser Sei Addata Aaj Aar Nei' on repeat. Caught in the everlasting lure of the anodyne lyrics of this song, we feel a plethora of antithetical emotions – nostalgic, euphoric and wistful at the same time – whenever we listen to this song.   

Penned by Gauri Prasanna Mazumder, Manna Dey lent his voice to this seminal song that portrays alluring and somewhat sad stories of a bevy of friends (Nikhilesh, Moidul, D'Souza, Roma Roy, Amol, Sujata and the singer) who once used to hang out together at a coffee house. This song has a perennial effect on us. Everyone likes to listen to this song. 

How is it possible that people of different age groups like the same song equally? What is it that keeps everyone hooked on this song? 

The very first reason is that we are more infatuated with and attracted to those creations which are more relatable to our lives. 'Coffee House' is a glaring example of this human tendency. This song is such a true and immaculate depiction of urban life. Most of us can relate to the life stories narrated in this song in some way or other. The characters in the song bear so much resemblance to real people from our lives.  

We all have such coterie of friends. This is also common and so life-like that we all know these stories: some of our talents were never given the proper chance to flourish just like Amol, someone else may be suffering from cancer, someone like Moidul is very good at depicting things, while there is also someone like Roma Roy who once went gaga over a belle at the university and Sujata who could luckily escape all those vicissitudes of life by tying the knot with someone belonging to the higher echelon of the society. 

All these stories are our own tales – so similar to our life as if the stories of our own lives have been transmuted into words in this song. 

Secondly, this song is so nostalgic. The fact is we all like to get trapped in the past because our past is what pains us, as well as inspires us to move ahead in life. We all love to relish in the nostalgia that we leave behind, in the things long gone, lament all those moments and feel a bit pensive over a cup of tea. Every nuance of our nostalgia moves us and consumes our heart, just like this song touches us. 

Moreover, it is also true that when those nostalgic moments are melancholic or somewhat tragic, it makes us more contemplative. Those with a bit of poetic sensibilities can understand this better. PB Shelly in his poem 'To a Skylark', says – "Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." You will find this tinge in this song since the composer depicts the story of one suffering from cancer or someone else who could not bloom to the full glory.  

Finally, the undeniable truth that we all will have to move on in life, leaving behind all those memories and our places are always replaceable, are stark reminders to us that we are nothing but slaves to the destiny. "Sei saath jon nei aaj table ta tobu ache//Saath ta peyala aajo khali nei//Eki se bagane aaj eseche notun kuri//Sudhu sei sediner mali nei" – these lines reflect the transience and ephemeral nature of life.  

We are all frustrated for some reason in life and when a song like this one affirms the fact that all those memories, friends and good times will fly away leaving you craving for all those memories to be rekindled, you find some kind of solace and connection. There is some kind of intoxication in this song that feeds the soul and fills the heart with remorseful feelings. That's why, we keep listening to this song which serves as an anodyne to our wounded feelings.     

Maybe you are now a full-fledged man or a hopeless man dragging on in life for years, maybe you have come so far in life that you have lost touch with some of your old friends, maybe you are caught in the crucibles of life and lost all your interest in life because you think life has done injustice to you – if you can relate to any of these situations, don't lose heart. 

Just plug in your earphones and play the song 'Coffee Houser Sei Addata Aaj Aar Nei. Kothay Hariye Gelo Shonali Bikel Gulo Shei'. I am sure it will offer you some form of catharsis, assuage some pain and help you heal your heart to some extent by taking the edge off the pain you are feeling.  

Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a columnist who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche and social incongruities with a view to exploring the factors that influence these