Lambi Judaai
Reshma's song of a long separation, sung in a Hindi film and adopted by both Punjabs.
The song was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal with words by Anand Bakshi for Subhash Ghai's film Hero of 1983, and sung by Reshma, the folk singer from Pakistan. Its subject is the long separation of lovers, the four days of love and the long parting that follows.
Reshma's voice, untrained and aching, made it an instant classic. For Punjabis on both sides of a closed border, a song of long separation sung by a Pakistani singer for an Indian film carried a meaning beyond the film.
It is still among the most covered and most played Punjabi-flavoured songs, and it is the song Reshma is remembered for wherever she is remembered.
More famous songs and poems
Guru Gobind Singh's prayer for courage, the anthem of the Khalsa and of the Sikh Regiment.
▶ Watch
Amrita Pritam's lament for the Partition, calling on Waris Shah to rise from his grave and see Punjab now.
▶ Watch
Batalvi's poem of a girl called Love, who is lost and never found again.
▶ Watch
Bulleh Shah's kafi of who I am not, turned into a rock song that became India's anthem of 2005.
▶ Watch
The dhamaal of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, sung by every great Sufi voice of the Punjab.
▶ Watch
Pash's poem that the most dangerous thing is the death of our dreams.
▶ Watch
'Guard your turban, farmer': the protest song of 1907 that became the slogan of every Punjabi farmers' movement since.
▶ Watch
The bhangra of Southall and Birmingham, which mixed the dhol with synthesisers and reggae and went round the world.
▶ Watch
Arif Lohar and Meesha Shafi's version of the old Jugni that made Coke Studio Pakistan famous across the world.
▶ WatchMadhaniyanFolkThe farewell song of the bride to her mother and father, one of the saddest songs in Punjabi.
▶ WatchKala DoriyaFolkThe teasing wedding song of the black thread, sung by women at the mehndi and in giddha.
▶ WatchLathe di chadarFolkA mahiya duet about a sheet of white cotton: a lover's invitation to sit down and talk.