Sabina Yasmin had a famous jingle, ‘Aha misti ki je misti ei sundor chhoto sangsar…’ (Oh, how sweet is this beautiful little family). This jingle was used in a black-and-white advertisement for ‘Maya Bari’, a birth control pill designed for movie theaters. Rojina (later a heroine) acted in it. The male actor is unknown. The jingle played on the radio day and night.
It used to be displayed on BTV’s screen also.
I really loved the tune of this jingle. Sabina Yasmin’s extraordinary melodious voice almost elevated the jingle to the status of a song. I found myself humming it involuntarily. Then I would discover the bewildered and pained expressions of the older people around me! For parents, the song was a manifestation of an uncomfortable public display of a private matter. So, sometimes, just for fun, I would sing it out loud instead of humming – ‘Oh, how sweet, how sweet this beautiful little family… There is affection in this life, be it your own / I can eat affection without fear / Playing with this affection will keep everyone healthy… / This life will pass by laughing and playing / There won’t be many children anymore playing with affection…’.
Songs possess an extraordinary power. The combination of lyrics and melody in every song creates certain images. These images, however, manifest in a different form for each individual. Even though the atmosphere of joy, sorrow, or sadness depicted in the song remains the same, the characters and the surrounding environment change, taking the shape of the listener’s preferred image.
Interestingly, when I heard or sang the jingle for the contraceptive ‘Maya Bari’ (literally, ‘illusion pill’), my brain cells didn’t resonate with any image of a tablet, capsule, or a woman. Instead, I resonated with the formidable images of my favorite sweets like rasgulla, chamcham, lalmohan, kalojam, and boondi.
While browsing the internet aimlessly today, I stumbled upon this devastating image, and my heart sank. Regardless of who was around me, I couldn’t help but burst out singing that famous jingle from the 70s – ‘Oh, how sweet, how sweet this beautiful little family is…’ after a long time.
