qismat kii havaa kabhii garam

qismat kii havaa kabhii garam (Hindi: क़िस्मत की हवा कभी नरम, Urdu: قِسْمَت کی ہوا کبھی نَرَم) "The Winds of Destiny are Sometimes Mild", also known as "Oh, Beta Ji, Oh Babu Ji" ("Oh, Son, Oh Mister!") because of its opening lines, is a song played in the 1951 Bollywood film "Abela".

The film is about Pyarelal, an aspiring actor (Bhagwan Dada), who ends up working in the kitchen of a pretty actress, Asha ( Geeta Bali).

Not knowing that Asha is listening to him, Pyarelal sings an uplifting song about the vicissitudes of life, while drumming the kitchenware.

The song contains some culinary references, for example:

the word mazaa:" joy, enjoyment", is used in the sense of "relish, flavor".

o beTaa jii jiine kaa mazaa Oh, son, the flavor of life kabhii naram kabhii garam is sometimes gentle, sometimes hot

bartan dhonaa is "to do the dishes, to wash up"”

The halvaa puurii ("puurii halvaa" in the song) is a rich dish made of fried bread (the puurii) and refined confection fillings (the halvaa).

This dish is traditionally associated with upper and middle-class consumption, as opposed to the simple dry bread or suukhii roTii.

This is used to symbolize the different lots people get in life:

mile kisii ko suukhii roTii Some meet with the dry bread kisii ko puurii halvaa Some with the succulent meal

A khichRii is a traditional hodgepodge base on rice and lentils, but it is used as a metaphor of the changing circumstances of life:

o beTaa jii khichRii kaa mazaa kabhii naram kabhii garam Oh, son! The flavor or life's hodgepodge is sometimes gentle, sometimes hot

And finally, the word garm or garam itself, refers not only to (unpleasantly?) "hot wind" but also to "hot or spicy food".

The song's lyrics were written by C. Ramachandra, who is also the playback singer in the movie.

The music was composed by Rajendra Krishan.

This song was also played in the 2020 Indian film "Ludo", a comedy noir with multiple subplots which is also about the twists and turns of destiny.