Que Sera, Sera

An English film song clip is circulating repeatedly on WhatsApp during the last one week. In popular language of today's times, it has gone viral. The song in question is "Que Sera, Sera", a song from the 1956 Hollywood English mystery thriller film "The Man Who Knew Too Much", produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Sung and acted in the film by the famous singing actress of yesteryears, Doris Day, it runs like this:

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother what I will be
Will I be pretty?, Will I be rich?
Here's what she said to me:

Que Sera, Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future is not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be!

The song continues in two more stanzas. The little girl grows up and asks her sweetheart the same question when she fell in love. She gets the same answer. Some years after her marriage, her son asks her the same question. Of course, her answer now will be the same!

The Youtube link to the song is given at the end of this blog post, for you to click on it and listen.

When we dwell upon the theme of the song in the Indian context, it makes very interesting reading indeed, as we see below.

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Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) is known for his suspense thrillers. There is hardly anyone who has not seen his movies. His film career covered a large span of time, covering early silent films, black and white film times to modren times. He has directed over 50 films. He also was host of the popular television shows like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "Alfred Hitchcock Hour", which are seen even today worldwide. 

Hitchcock's suspense was basically derived from the light and sound effects, even when there was not much horror scenes on the screen. The tension would build in the mind of the viewer, not due to what he saw but what he perceived. He was knighted and later became Sir Alfred Hitchcock. 

Hitchcock first produced and directed the movie "The man who knew too much" in the year 1934. More than twenty years later, he remade the film with some modifications, but the same name in 1956. James Stewart and Doris Day played the lead roles in the 1956 film that has this song, which has now gone viral.

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During the years when sound recording and background music and singing integration had not yet reached the perfect levels, singing artistes were in great demand and very popular. There were many stalwarts in Hollywood and other parts of the world as well, who were great singers in their own right, who did very well as film artistes. Artistes like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley and Barbara Streisand are some such names. Doris Day is another such illustrious name and she was on the screen some ten years before another similar artiste, Julie Andrews of Sound of Music fame. 

In India also, we had our own great singing artistes. In North India, we had Kundan Lal Saigal, Pankaj Mallick, Suraiyya, Noor Jehan and others. Kishore Kumar was active for a long time and till much later times. In South India we had the legendary M K Thyagaraja Bhagavatar, P Bhanumati (later Bhanumati Ramakrishna) and many others. In Kannada, Honnappa Bhagavatar was one such well known name. There were many others as well, who had short stints. 

Doris Day (1922-2019) had her great singing career as well as appearance in films on either side of World War II. She won innumerable awards in her long career and lived a full life of 97 years. This song Que Sera Sera won the Oscar for "Best Original Song". She was also honoured with an Oscar for her Life time achievements. 

Her star can be seen on "Hollywood Walk of Fame" in Los Angeles, USA. In "The Butchart Gardens" in Victoria Island, Canada (near Vancouver), a special rose plant is dedicated to Doris Day. 

Doris played the role of Josephine Conway McKenna (Jo Conway) in the film "The man who knew too much" opposite James Stewart, who played as husband Dr Benjamin McKenna (Ben McKenna). The song was used twice in the movie, the second time to help trace their kidnapped son Hank. 

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What is the origin of the phrase "Que Sera, Sera"? some sources say it is Spanish while some others say it is Italian. Some say it is a hybrid term. It is not an English phrase. But it is used to mean "Whatever will be, will be" in English. What is its equivalent for us? If we look to Sanskrit, it translates to "भवितव्यम् भवत्येव" (Bhavitavyam Bhavatyeva). In essence, it means "Future is not in your control. Don't worry about. Whatever is to happen, it will happen".

Where can we find this term in our literature? There is a Subashita in "Maha Subhashita Sangraha" (Shloka 4,901), which in turn has been picked up from "Samskrita Sookti Ratnakara", compiled by Sri Ramji Upadhyaya. It reads thus:

आपत्सु किं विषादेन सम्पत्तौ विस्मयेन किम् 

भवितव्यं भवत्येव कर्मणामेष निश्चयः 

Aapatsu kim vishadena sampattou vismayena kim

Bhavitavyam bhavatyeva karmanamesha nischayaha 

"Why feel sad in adversity and elated in times of affluence? Whatever is to happen, will happen! It is decided by previous karma. Do your duty and leave the rest to the future".

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The roots for this Subhashita can be found in Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, Shloka 12.219.10. This is the part in which Bheeshma, while lying on the bed of arrows, condenses his lifetime acquired knowledge and teaches Yudhishtira, as per the instructions of Krishna. 

It reads thus:

यथा यथास्य प्राप्तव्यं प्रप्नेत्यैव तथा तथा 
भवितव्यं यथा यच्च भवत्येव तथा तथा 

Yathaa yathaachha praptavyam prapnetyaiva tathaa tathaa
bhavitavyam yathaa yaccha bhavatyeva tathaa tathaa  

"Just as one is destined to obtain something, one obtains it precisely in that manner. And whatever is destined to occur, it occurs precisely in that manner"

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Que Sera, Sera is not new to us. It is a teaching that is several thousand years old. As the future is not in our control, it is not something to be worried about. Do your duty and leave the rest to future itself. This is not just a lesson. it is our philosophy of life!

The song "Que Sera Sera" can be heard by clicking on the video given below: