Lakdi Ki Kathi
Hindi Nursery Rhyme
Original Lyrics
Hindi script
लकड़ी की काठी, काठी पे घोड़ा,घोड़े की दुम पे जो मारा हथौड़ा,दौड़ा दौड़ा दौड़ा घोड़ा, दुम उठा के दौड़ा।
Romanized (pronunciation)
Lakdi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda,Ghode ki dum pe jo maara hathauda,Dauda dauda dauda ghoda, dum utha ke dauda.
English Translation
A frame of wood, a horse on the frame,When the hammer struck the horse's tail,The horse ran, ran, ran, with its tail held high it ran.
Translation Notes
Vocabulary
लकड़ी (lakdi) - wood काठी (kaathi) - wooden frame or saddle घोड़ा (ghoda) - horse दुम (dum) - tail हथौड़ा (hathauda) - hammer दौड़ा (dauda) - ran उठा के (utha ke) - lifting or raising
Grammar Notes
The possessives "ki" and "ka": Hindi links owner to thing owned with a little joining word. Lakdi ki kaathi is "frame of wood" and ghode ki dum is "the horse's tail." The word shifts between ka, ki, and ke to match the gender and number of what is owned, which is why both phrases here use ki.
"Pe" (on): kaathi pe ghoda means "a horse on the frame." Pe (a casual form of par) comes after the noun, where English would put "on" before it.
Repetition for motion: saying dauda three times in a row, dauda dauda dauda, paints the horse galloping faster and faster. Doubling or tripling a word to show action building up is a favourite trick in Hindi rhymes.
History and Meaning
"Lakdi Ki Kathi" is a galloping little song about a wooden toy horse, and almost every Indian child of the last forty years knows it by heart. It came from the 1983 film Masoom, with words by the poet Gulzar and a bouncing tune by R.D. Burman, but it slipped loose from the movie long ago and into playgrounds and classrooms. The chorus, "dauda dauda dauda" (ran, ran, ran), is the sound of the horse taking off.
Origins
The song was written for the 1983 Bollywood film Masoom, which was directed by Shekhar Kapur. The noted poet and lyricist Gulzar wrote the lyrics, and the famous music director Rahul Dev Burman composed the energetic melody. It was sung by child singers Gauri Bapat, Gurpreet Kaur, and Vanita Mishra. The film scene featured child actors Urmila Matondkar and Jugal Hansraj riding a wooden rocking horse.
Meaning & Interpretation
The lyrics describe the playful adventures of a children's wooden toy horse. The song follows the toy through various humorous scenarios, such as visiting a market square where a barber tries to shave its tail, and getting cold in a snowy vegetable market.
The repetitive chorus using the word "dauda" (ran) mimics a galloping rhythm, which makes the song highly engaging for young children. While it was created as a modern film song, it acts as a language-learning tool that introduces children to Hindi vocabulary and sentence structure through rhythm and rhyme.
Who wrote the song Lakdi Ki Kathi?
The lyrics of the song were written by the Indian poet and lyricist Gulzar. The music was composed by Rahul Dev Burman for the 1983 movie Masoom.
What does Lakdi Ki Kathi mean in English?
The phrase translates to "wooden frame" or "wooden saddle," referencing a traditional wooden rocking horse played with by children.
Lyrics from nurseryrhymes.info