Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

"Ek Sur, or Mile Sur Mera Tumhara"
Single by Various
Released	15 August 1988
Recorded	1988
Writer(s)	Piyush Pandey
Producer	Aarti Gupta & Kailash Surendranath with Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, India

"Ek sur" (One Tune) (languages of India), or "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" as it is better known, is an Indian song and accompanying video promoting national integration and unity in diversity.

The concept for Mile Sur was developed in 1988 by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, and promoted by Doordarshan (then India's sole TV broadcaster) and India's Ministry of Information. The song was composed by Ashok Patki, co-composed & arranged by Louis Banks, written by Piyush Pandey (then an Account Manager and presently the Executive Chairman and Creative Head of Ogilvy and Mather, India). The project was conceived and directed by Suresh Mullick (then all India Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather) and recorded by a group of people from all walks of life, including a supergroup of popular Indians - musicians, sports persons, movie stars, etc.

The national integration video was intended to instill a sense of pride and promote unity amongst Indians, highlighting the different linguistic communities and societies that live in India - India's unity in diversity, so to speak.

Mile Sur was telecast for the first time on Independence Day 1988, after the telecast of the Prime Minister’s speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort.^[1]

It quickly captivated India, gaining and maintaining near-anthem status ever since.

Lyrical format

The song's lyrics are unique; One phrase, repeated in fourteen Indian languages: "Milē sur mērā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā", meaning "When my tune and yours merge, it becomes our song". The lyrics in different languages are given below:

“

[hi] मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा, तो सुर बने हमारा सुर की नदियाँ हर दिशा से, बहते सागर में मिलें बादलों का रूप लेकर, बरसे हलके हलके मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा, तो सुर बने हमारा मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा [ks-dev] चॉन्य् तरज़ तय म्यॉन्य् तरज़, इक॒वट॒ बनि यि सॉन्य् तरज़ [ks-nast]چأنِۂ ترز تَے میأنِۂ ترز، اِکوَٹہٕ بَنِہ یِہ سأنِۂ ترز [pa] ਤੇਰਾ ਸੁਰ ਮਿਲੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਸੁਰ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ, ਮਿਲਕੇ ਬਣੇ ਇੱਕ ਨਵਾਂ ਸੁਰ ਤਾਲ [hi] मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा, तो सुर बने हमारा [sd-dev] मुंहिंजो सुर तुहिंजे सां पियारा मिले जड॒हिं, गीत असांजो मधुर तरानो बणे तड॒हिं [sd-nast] مُنهِنجو سُر تُنهِنجي سان پِيارا مِلي جَڏَهِن، گِيت اَسانجو مَڍُر تَرانوبَڻي تَڏَهِن [ur] سر کی دریا بہتے ساگر میں ملے [pa] ਬਾਦਲਾਂ ਦਾ ਰੂਪ ਲੈਕੇ, ਬਰਸਨ ਹੌਲੇ ਹੌਲੇ [ta] இசைந்தால் நம் இருவரின் ஸ்வரமும் நமதாகும் திசை வேறானாலும் ஆழி சேர் ஆறுகள் முகிலாய் மழையாய் பொழிவது போல் இசை நம் இசை [kn] ನನ್ನ ಧ್ವನಿಗೆ ನಿನ್ನ ಧ್ವನಿಯ, ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಧ್ವನಿಯ [te] నా స్వరము నీ స్వరము సంగమమై, మన స్వరంగా అవతరించే [ml] എന്റെ സ്വരവും നിങ്ങളുടെ സ്വരവും, ഒന്നുചേര്‍ന്നു നമ്മുടെ സ്വരമായ് [bn] তোমার সুর মোদের সুর, সৃষ্টি করুক ঐক্যসুর [as] সৃষ্টি হউক ঐক্যতান [or] ତୁମ ଆମର ସ୍ବରର ମିଳନ, ସୃଷ୍ଟି କରି ଚାଲୁ ଏକ ତାନ [gu] મળે સૂર જો તારો મારો, બને આપણો સૂર નિરાળો [mr] माझ्या तुमच्या जुळता तारा, मधुर सुरांच्या बरसती धारा [hi] सुर की नदियाँ हर दिशा से, बहते सागर में मिलें बादलों का रूप लेके, बरसे हलके हलके मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा, तो सुर बने हमारा मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा

”

“

Transcription [hi] milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā sur kī nadiyān̐ har diśā sē, bahte sāgar men̐ milē bādalōn̐ kā rūp lēkar, barse halkē halkē milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā milē sur merā tumhārā [ks] Chaain taraz tai myain taraz, ik watt baniye saayen taraz [pa] tērā sur milē mērē sur dē nāl, milkē baṇē ikk navān̐ sur tāl [hi] milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā [sn] mun̐hin̐jō sur tun̐hin̐jē sān̐ piyārā milē jad̤ahin̐, gīt asān̐jō madhur tarānō baṇē tad̤ahin̐ [ur] sur ka darya bahte sagar men mile [pa] bādalān̐ dā rūp laikē, barsan haulē haulē [ta] Isaindhal namm iruvarin suramum namadhagum Dhisai veru aanalum aazhi ser aarugal Mugilai mazhaiyai pozhivadu pol isai Nam isai [kn] nanna dhvanige ninna dhvaniya, sēridante namma dhvaniya [te] nā svaramu nī svaramu sangamamai, mana svaranḡa avatarinchē [ml] eṉṯe svaravum niṅṅkaḷoṭe svaravum, ottucērnnu namoṭe svaramāy [bn] tōmār śūr mōdēr śūr, sriṣṭi kōruk ōikōśūr [as] sriṣṭi hauk aikyatān [or] tuma āmara svarara miḷana, sriṣṭi kari chālu ekā tāna [gu] maḷē sur jō tārō mārō, banē āpṇō sur nirāḷō [mr] mājhyā tumchyā juḷtā tārā, madhur surānchyā barastī dhārā [hi] sur kī nadiyān̐ har diśā sē, bahte sāgar men̐ milē bādalōn̐ kā rūp lēkar, barse halkē halkē milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā

”

The song itself ends by fading into the final notes of the Indian National Anthem.

Languages used

Hindi, Kashmiri, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Bangla, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati and Marathi. (Among the languages present, then in 1988, in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

People featured (partial list, not in order of appearance)^[2]

Mammootty, Kamal Hassan, Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Tanvir Ashai , K. R. Vijaya, Revathi, Jeetendra, Waheeda Rehman, Hema Malini, Tanuja, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, Deepa Sahi, Om Puri, Dina Pathak, Meenakshi Seshadri (Actors: Film and T.V.) Mallika Sarabhai (Dancer) Mario Miranda (Cartoonist) Mrinal Sen (Filmmaker) Sunil Gangopadhyay, Annadashankar Ray (Authors) Bhimsen Joshi, M Balamuralikrishna, Lata Mangeshkar, Suchitra Mitra (Singers) Narendra Hirwani, S Venkataraghavan, Prakash Padukone, Ramanathan Krishnan, Arun Lal, P. K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami, Syed Kirmani, Leslie Claudius, Gurbux Singh (Sportsmen), Pratap Pothan, AV Ramanan

Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Twenty years after the original debut, the song was re-recorded with an updated cast for telecast on January 26, 2010 by Zoom TV. This version titled Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara features Indian musicians, singers, sportspersons and film personalities from the current generation. The current version (16 min 17 sec) runs longer than the older version (6 min 9 sec) and has been directed by Kailash Surendranath who had produced the original version of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara as well. The new version also retains music composer/arranger Louis Banks who had co-composed/arranged the original Mile Sur Mera Tumhara as well^[3]. It attracted tremendous amount of criticism in a large section of population among them were the Sindhi community which were hurt over the deletion of the Sindhi lines "Mohnja sur tohi desa pyara mile jadein Geet ashaanjo madhur tarano bane tadein" present in the original Mile sur mera tumhara. Furthermore, criticism arose over many notable personalities such as, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Sachin Tendulkar and Vishwanathan Anand, not featuring in the song. According to the critics, the new Phir mile sur mera was not able to bring patriotism among a large section of population and is considered to be a huge failure.

References

1. ^ The Financial Express:The unofficial Indian anthem
2. ^ Cutting the Chai: Mile Sur Mera Tumhara (with Subtitles and Credits)
3. ^ http://zoomtv.smashits.com/video/6615/phir-mile-sur-mera-tumhara-recreated-by-zoom.html

External links

• New version
• http://www.assamtimes.org/blog/3702.html
• http://www.fyoq.com/2010/01/25/mile-sur-mera-tumhara-new-version-as-phir-mile-sur-90042/
• http://www.speakbindas.com/phir-mile-sur-lacks-the-touch/
• (inspired) - Yahoo version
• (inspired) - Intel version
• (inspired) - Juniper Networks version
• (inspired) - Software Company Hyderabad