बोल (Lyrics)
«Lakdi Ki Kathi» के बोल और अंग्रेज़ी अनुवाद।
Lakdi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda, ghode ki dum pe jo maara hathoda; dauda dauda dauda, ghoda dum dabaake dauda!
#English translation
A stick of wood, and a horse on the stick, and when you tap a hammer on the horse's tail — it ran and ran and ran, the horse tucked its tail and bolted!
#Lakdi Ki Kathi at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇮🇳 India
- Sung in
- Hindi
- Words by
- Gulzar
- First known
- 1983 (film "Masoom")
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, dancing
- Last updated
- 25 July 2026
Meaning and origin
This is one of the most cherished children’s songs in India, and though it comes from a film, it feels as old and as natural as a playground rhyme. Its subject is the simplest of toys: a hobby-horse, a wooden horse mounted on a stick. Give its tail a playful tap, and away it goes — dauda, dauda, dauda — galloping and galloping, tail tucked in, carrying its small rider off into pure imagination. There is no plot; the joy is entirely in the bounce of the words and the thunder of the make-believe gallop.
That playfulness is deliberate. The song was written for the 1983 Hindi film Masoom by Gulzar — one of India’s most revered poets and lyricists — with a tune by the legendary composer R. D. Burman, and sung by children’s voices. Gulzar has said that when he writes for children he chooses words above all for how much fun they are to say, so that the sounds themselves become a toy. “Lakdi Ki Kathi” is the perfect proof: decades on, Indian children still gallop around to it, and the wooden horse on its little stick never tires.
Common questions
- What is "Lakdi Ki Kathi" about?
- A toy hobby-horse. "Lakdi ki kaathi" means a wooden stick, and on the stick is a horse; give its tail a tap and off it gallops, running and running. It is playful nonsense, built from bouncy, rhythmic words rather than a real story — a celebration of a child's galloping imagination.
- Who wrote "Lakdi Ki Kathi"?
- It was written for the 1983 Hindi film "Masoom" by the celebrated poet and lyricist Gulzar, with music by R. D. Burman. It was sung by children's voices, and has become one of the most iconic Hindi songs for children.
- Why are the words so playful?
- By design. Gulzar has said his aim in writing for children was to spark their imagination with words that are fun to say — phonetically playful and rhythmic — so that the children can play with the sounds themselves. That is why the song bounces along on its rhymes.
