Happy Valentine’s Day to our dear readers! We hope you a very romantic day with your loved one. The Indian subcontinent has an amazing variety of terms of endearment for the word ‘lover’. The origins of these terms arise from a wide diversity of languages within the South Asian diaspora, including Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Farsi,… Continue reading →
O Mere Shah-e-Khuban
Happy Fourth of July from Mr. and Mrs. 55! To honor this occasion, we would like to discuss that well-recognized, unsettling phenomena of classic Bollywood: Hindi film songs with unnecessary English. Yes, I know you just cringed. But recognition is the first step towards healing. Like those t-shirts your aunties used to bring back from… Continue reading →
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” This quote by Ernest Hemingway is perhaps my favorite description of Paris, the quintessential city of lights and love. Being in… Continue reading →
Next we will explore the lyrics and translation of the hit song “O Mere Shah-e Khuban” from Love in Tokyo. Shot on location in Japan shortly after the 1964 Olympics, Love in Tokyo (1966) is nothing short of an “exotic” tourist fantasy. The film is one of a trilogy of films I put in this… Continue reading →
