In the Hall of the Mountain King

Its South Block in New Delhi. There was an office boy outside the large hall and he thought he heard someone singing. There was a big office occupied by a great guy and a song was filtering through the quite early morning fog of January. It was set to the tune of Edvard Grieg's "In the hall of the Mountain King".

Note: It will help if you know the tune of this song. Or you can listen to it here, if you are a classical music person: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrIYT-MrVaI). Else, if you like a more modern version, check out this fabulous version from the soundtrack of the movie - The Social Network (The Henley row boat scene) : (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD8EPdn5Ctg)

Now, for the song:


Hey! My name is Mohan Sing, I can sing – “Singh is king”
Do you know that I am a king who’s quietly losing his tough sting        1

I am really not a king, not a thing, not Nat King
You should know that now and know this Sing is not a king                 2  


I should confess and tell you that,  I can swing, without wings
I’m like a circus lion that’s jumping inside the master’s circle ring        3

Everyone calls me king, tells me-  sing, gives me ring,
I have to dance to my master’s tune – playing dong bell ding            4

Repeat 1 and 2


And my master’s a white lady , no Bindi, speaks Hindi
She cracks her whip that makes me stand on my ever hurting toes            5

Her son is not a shy baby, likes gravy, so may be
One day he will de-throne me, when I’m old and hazy                6

Every other party guy, gives a try, tells a lie,
They try everything they can to try and make me cry                7

Every day has been nightmarish, very doggish, in anguish
And it has always been like this –don’t be astonish                8

Repeat 1 and 2

There’s these games called Commonwealth, stealing wealth, with no stealth   
All these grimy affairs takes a toll on my fragile health            9

Then there’s  the food inflation, infiltration, agitation,
All of these are adding to increase of my palpitation                10

There is this price of Onions, labor unions, luncheons,
It’s like a fight between the Java Vs. Minion                11

The current status of my nation, my reputation, my limitation
These are adding to my levels of frustration                12

Hey! My name is Mohan Sing, I can sing – “Singh is king”
Do you know that I am a king who’s quietly losing his tough sting

I am really not a king, not a thing, not Nat King
You should know that now and know this Madan Mohan Sing is not a king

(C) Vijayaganesh Sampathkumar 2011. All Rights Reserved.