I'm going to be showing my ignorance here, but...

cant help you with the meaning, but i can tell you that its originally from the movie dil se. my friends and i rock out to it.

o yeah and its hindi

Thanks, that's really interesting :)

Well I can translate about 70% of that by telling you that chaiyya has no meaning.

haha, ok. Does that mean that the whole song is nonsense, or they just made up the one word? I'm thinking maybe this is a fictional place or something, but I don't know enough about the musical. Thanks for your help :)

No, the rest is not nonsense. I can't translate it very well though.

Okay, I was wondering about this musical, too. I'm a fan of Bollywood music, and when my friend let me borrow her copy of the Bombay Dreams soundtrack, I recognized a few of the songs as being from Bollywood movies (sometimes translated as English, like "Shakalaka Baby"). And now apparently this one is from a movie, too? Did the makers of this musical write any original music at all? And do they even credit the original creators of these songs (because I looked at the website, and I don't see anything mentioning the original origins of the songs). It all seems kind of fishy to me!

That is a bit fishy! I'm listening to Shakalaka Baby as I type, actually :)
I bet if we looked hard enough, we could spot a tiny reference to something or other. I'll look into that. (regardless, I'd still like to know what the words mean)

If I remember well, A.Lloyd Weber made Bombay Dreams together with A.R.Rahman, who adapted the songs he had written originally for several Bollywood movies.

the girl who has the lead (anisha nagarajan) went to my high school and graduated the year before me. i sat next to her in concert choir and sang with her in two musicals.

Translation of the song...

Hey... I was searching google for a specific word in the song that u listed and I came to your site. First of all I would like to say that Chaiyya does have a meaning and it means shadow. Also on the site below the song has been translated. It has all of the songs from the movie "Dil Se". The one you want is the first one. I just thought this might help. The song is written in Urdu which is very similar to Hindi.

http://www.bollywhat.com/lyrics/dilse_lyr.html

I am not a member of LiveJournal but if you have any other questions, you can email me at BabuRao1282@yahoo.com

Re: Translation of the song...

JESUS H. CHRIST. THANK YOU.
shadow...as in shadow of love...which is what the dude is in, as he dances with the gypsy folk on the moving train.

EXCELLENT.

The song means.............

Chaiyya Chaiyya means (come my shadow come my shadow)in hindi. This song totaly rocks.

Re: The song means.............

The poem basically means "Let's go under the shadow of love, for then we shall have heaven beneath our feet."

Chal Chhaiyya Chhaiyya - Lets go under the shadows
BECAUSE...
Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chhaon, Paaon Ke Neeche Jannat Hogi - Those who are under the shadow of love (i.e. those who are in love) have heaven(jannat) beneath their feet.

That's the gist of the song! And it is NOT nonsense ppl! Gulzar doesn't write nonsense.

Re: The song means.............

The poem basically means "Let's go under the shadow of love, for then we shall have heaven beneath our feet."

Chal Chhaiyya Chhaiyya - Lets go under the shadows
BECAUSE...
Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chhaon, Paaon Ke Neeche Jannat Hogi - Those who are under the shadow of love (i.e. those who are in love) have heaven(jannat) beneath their feet.

That's the gist of the song! And it is NOT nonsense ppl! Gulzar doesn't write nonsense. This is sophisticated Sufi poetry.

Re: The song means.............

Or an even better way to to put it is:

"Those who have the shadow of love above them, have heaven below their feet"

Re: The song means.............

Or an even better way to to put it is:

"Those who have the shadow of love above them, have heaven below their feet".

Few other word meanings:
Nagma - Melodious song
Kalma - Beginning of a verse in Quran, implying a spiritual/holy song

Re: The song means.............

Thanks guys.. This has been a favorite song of mine and I did'nt know what the lyrics meant... After understanding what Chaiyya means, it just hit me what a great peom this is...

Re: The song means.............

its in urdu not hindi btw

My version of the translation (trust me it's a really good translation)

[] indicate words i've added in to complete the meaning of the translated words
() indicate my own comments

Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chaaon
Those who have the shadows of love above their heads

Paon' Ke Neeche Jannat Hogi
Shall have heaven beneath their feet (can also translate this as "will be walking on heaven")
(repeats...)

Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
Let's go to the shadows[of love] (chal=let's go, chaiyya=shadow)

Sar Ishq Ki Chaaon Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya
Our heads will be in the shadows of love, so let's go to the shadows[of love]

Paon Janat Chale Chal Chaiya Chaiya
[and] heaven will move beneath our feet (can also translate this as "we'll be walking on heaven") so lets go to the shadows[of love]

Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
(see above)
(...and this keeps repeating)

Woh Yaar Hai Jo Khusbhu Ki Tarah
That friend(he is refering to his lover) who is like a sweet perfume,

Jiski Zubaan Urdu Ki Tarah
[and] whose language is like [sweet poetic] urdu (this is supposed to be a much sweeter, almost poetic language than most east indian languages)

Meri Shamo-raat Meri Kaynaat Woh Yaar Mera Saiyyan Saiyyan
[She is] my evening, night, my universe

Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
(see above)
(repeats....)

Gulposh Kabhi Itraye Kahin,
This flower-wearer (see explanation* below) flirts[at me] (but he can't see her yet)

*Gul=flower, posh=wearer, i.e she wears the most beatiful clothes made of beautiful flowers)

Mehke To Nazar Aa Jaye Kahinfrom] somewhere[hidden from my eyes], [when/if] she emits a [flowery] perfume, then I can see her (i.e he uses the scent to figure outsniffs her trail which leads him to look to where ever she is, and see her)

(my further interpretation is that the flirting is what causes the flowers she is wearing to emit a sweet perfume...and then he can use that to turn and look towards wherever she is standing, and so he can see her...but that's just my interpretation)

Gulposh Kabhi Itraye Kahin, Mehke To Nazar Aa Jaye Kahin
(see above)

Taaveez Banaa Ke Pahnoo Use
I will turn her into a charm/locket and wear her (i.e keep her close to the heart),

Aayat Ki Tarah Mil Jaaye Kahin
[and thus] I will find her like [one finds] a verse [in a holy scripture](Quran) somewhere


Taaveez Banaa Ke Pehnoo Use Aayat Ki Tarah Mil Jaaye Kahin
(see above)

Gulposh Kabhi Itraye Kahin, Mehke To Nazar Aa Jaye Kahin
(see above)

Mera Nagma Wahi, Mera Kalma Wahi
Mera Nagma Wahi, Mera Kalma Wahi
She is my beautiful song, she is my prayer

Yaar Misaale Os Chale
My friend (again refering to his lover) walks like dew drops (ie she touches the earth lightly and beautifully, the way dew drops touch the grass)

Paon' Ke Tale Firdaus Chale
And beneath her feet flows the fountain of eden (=Firdaus)

Kabhi Daal Daal
someimes on branches[I search for her]

Kabhi Paat Paat
sometimes on pathways[I search for her]

("kabhi daal daal kabhi paat paat" leads into the next sentence...many don't seem to realise this)

Main Hawa Pe Dhoondho Uske Nishaan
[and] I search for her presence/trail in the air (or "I search for signs of her in the air")

(P.S...."dhoondhoo" can also be interpreted as being in past tense already...in which case "i search for her" would be "I find her"...I like my interpretation thought because it's more romantic in a way since it's give a sense of him wandering about so desperate in her love to find her)

Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya
(see above)
(and the rest is just stuff repeated from above...)

I realise this translation is like 3 years after you asked for it...but I hope it still helps =)

Chal Chhaiyya Chhaiyya

It literally means (spelled correctly) Chal (come) Chhaiyya (shadow)

Translation of the Chaiya Chaiya Song

Chaiya Chaiya

He who walks in the Shadow of Love,
Will have Heaven beneath his feet.
Walk in the Shadow of Love,
Let your feet walk upon Paradise.

My love is like a fragrance,
Her words are like Urdu Poetry.
She is my evening, my night, my Universe.
Walk in Heaven, walk in the Shadow of Love.

My love is like a hidden flower,
Whose perfume draws you near.
I will wear her like an amulet,
She shall be obtained as a Miracle is obtained.

My song…my declaration of Faith,
My friend’ is like a Priest to me.
She walks in the morning dew,
She walks with the Garden of Heaven beneath her feet.

Underneath her feet Heaven moves,
Sometimes through the branches,
Sometimes amidst the leaves,
I search for traces of her in the air.

I am an admirer of her beauty,
Fickle, she flits shamelessly from Sun to Shade,
Changing the color of her radiance,
I am a lover of her color and beauty.

He who walks in the Shadow of Love,
Will have Heaven beneath his feet.
She is my evening, my night, my Universe,
She is my Beloved.

Re: Translation of the Chaiya Chaiya Song

Found this while doing a google search and hope someone can answer my question. On the Dil Se soundtrack there is a song called Thayya Thayya that uses the same melody as Chaiyya Chaiyya. What does Thayya translate to, and why use the same melody? Thanks!

Re: Translation of the Chaiya Chaiya Song

I was searching for word gulposh thanks for this beautiful ctranslation... Good Job buddy