भातुकलीच्या खेळामधली — मंगेश पाडगावकर
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भातुकलीच्या खेळामधली राजा आणिक राणी
अर्ध्यावरती डाव मोडला अधुरी एक कहाणी
होती एक राजकन्या तू होतो एक राजकुमार
झाली होती स्वप्नांमधली एक छानशी संसार
आता नाही राजकुमार ना राजकन्या कोणी
अर्ध्यावरती डाव मोडला अधुरी एक कहाणी
कडवे १ — पहिले कडवे #
अर्ध्यावरती डाव मोडला अधुरी एक कहाणी
| Word | Roman | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| भातुकलीच्या | bhaatukaleechya | of playing house, of the children’s game of home-making (bhaatukali = the game where children pretend to cook and keep house) |
| खेळामधली | khelamadhli | in the game, inside the play |
| राजा | raja | king |
| आणिक | aanik | and (aanik = older Marathi form of aani, and) |
| राणी | raani | queen |
| अर्ध्यावरती | ardhyaavarti | at the halfway point, midway through (ardha = half) |
| डाव | daav | the game, the move, the play — also: a turn, a chance |
| मोडला | modla | broke, was broken, ended abruptly |
| अधुरी | adhuri | unfinished, incomplete |
| एक | ek | one, a |
| कहाणी | kahaani | story |
What Padgaonkar is saying: In the game of playing house, there was a king and a queen. The game broke off halfway. One story left unfinished.
The poem opens with the image of bhaatukali — the game Indian children play where they set up a tiny household, cook pretend food, take on the roles of husband and wife. It is among the most tender and universal of childhood games. Padgaonkar uses it to set up the whole poem’s emotional logic: love begins as play, as imagination, as the casting of two children into the roles of king and queen. And then the game is broken at the halfway point — ardha, half — and the story is left unfinished. The word daav carries weight: it means a game, a turn, but also a gamble, a chance taken. The chance was taken, and it broke.
कडवे २ — दुसरे कडवे #
झाली होती स्वप्नांमधली एक छानशी संसार
| Word | Roman | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| होती | hoti | you were (feminine past) |
| एक | ek | one, a |
| राजकन्या | rajakanya | princess (raja = king; kanya = daughter, girl) |
| तू | tu | you |
| होतो | hoto | I was (masculine past) |
| राजकुमार | rajakumaar | prince |
| झाली होती | zhaali hoti | had become, had taken shape |
| स्वप्नांमधली | swapnaanmadhli | in dreams, made of dreams |
| छानशी | chhaanshi | lovely, beautiful, just right — the diminutive suffix -shi gives it tenderness |
| संसार | sansaar | home, the household, the life built together — also: the world |
What Padgaonkar is saying: You were a princess; I was a prince. A lovely dream of a home had taken shape between us.
The verse moves from third person (a king and queen) to second person (tu — you). The shift is the poem’s first intimacy: those children playing house were us. The sansaar — the home, the world built together — had become real inside the dream. Chhaanshi is a characteristically Marathi word, its diminutive softening carrying a quality of something precious and small, the right size for two people in love. This was not a grand palace but a lovely little home made of dreams. And it was becoming real until it wasn’t.
कडवे ३ — तिसरे कडवे #
अर्ध्यावरती डाव मोडला अधुरी एक कहाणी
| Word | Roman | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| आता | aata | now |
| नाही | naahi | there is no, is not |
| राजकुमार | rajakumaar | prince |
| ना | na | nor, neither |
| राजकन्या | rajakanya | princess |
| कोणी | koni | anyone, no one — koni naahi = there is no one |
| अर्ध्यावरती | ardhyaavarti | at the halfway point |
| डाव मोडला | daav modla | the game broke, the chance was lost |
| अधुरी एक कहाणी | adhuri ek kahaani | one unfinished story |
What Padgaonkar is saying: Now there is no prince, nor any princess. The game broke off halfway. One story left unfinished.
The final verse returns to the refrain but strips away even the roles. In the first verse there was a king and queen — at least the game had its players. Now there is no one. Koni naahi — no one at all. The prince and princess were the game; without the game they cease to exist. The two people grew up, perhaps, or moved away from each other, and the childhood roles dissolved with them. The unfinished story is not a complaint or a lament — Padgaonkar says it simply, as a fact. The game broke at the midpoint. The story was never completed. This is what happens.