آج میرے مَن میں سکھی

aaj mere man meN sakhii (Hindi: आज मेरे मन में सखी, Urdu: آج میرے من میں سکھی) “Today in my Heart, Friend”, is a song played in the 1952 Bollywood period film “Aan”.

The film is about a commoner, Jai (Dilip Kumar) who tries to win the heart of a princes, Rajshree (Nadira).

The song describes how Rajshree starts feeling the call of love in her heart, while being visited by Jai.

She associates her nascent feelings with the coming of Sawan, a traditional Indian month corresponding with the beginning of the rain season (and typically associated with romantic feelings, life-giving clouds and rain, and specific types of music and poetry).

For example, the hiNDolaa is not only a swing, but a specific traditional raga musical style, intended to produce a romantic mood, and to be played during Sawan or springtime.

During all the song, the young woman is constantly addressing a sakhii, a female friend or confidante, also a common trope in Hindustani poetry.

So are escapades under a mango tree or ambuaa, and playing the baaNsurii, a specific type of side-blown flute played by the god Krishna, epitome of seduction and love.

At some point, the sakhii asks back to the singer:

bhalaa, vah kaun hai ghaayal? Why, who is that lovestruck one?

ghaayal is a Hindustani word meaning injured or stricken, but in the context of the song it means "wounded by love', i.e., someone lovestruck, an enamored, suitor.

The playback singer is Lata Mangeshkar plus a female chorus for the sakhiiyaaN

All the the lyrics in the movie, including this one, were written by Shakeel Badayuni and the soundtrack music was composed by Naushad.