Late last night I received an odd text message on my mobile phone; I think it might be spam; here is the content:
pass retha
hai,dur retha
ha,koi dil mai
zurur retha
hai,jab say
dekha un ki
ankho ko halka
suroor retha
hai /Footy mad?
txt FOOTY to 80202
Now I understand the last bit is probably an invitation to get sent messages relating to football, but what the hell is all the rest?
Can’t say what it means, but I think it might be indian.
I ought to add that I suspect it was sent from a server and that the bit after the / is advertising that does not necessarily bear any relation to the body message.
I also made a typo in what is the third line; ha,koi dil mai actually reads hai,koi dil mai.
It sounds to me like it might be (a phonetic representation of )Japanese, but I may be way off there.
It could possibly be a genuine message with a footer - 80202 is a shortcode used by O2 for requesting various information services (not just football). Could it be a footer added to a wrong number message? (maybe one sent via the web, hence the addition of advertising)
Looks like the lyrics of a Hindi pop song (see final stanza on the page) called Talk abt her. Quite how it ended up on your mobile with that footer I couldn’t guess - gremlins in the server, no doubt.
Thanks for that jjimm; any idea what the words mean, anyone?
My Indian colleague had a go for you - his first language is Malayalam, but here’s his take on the Hindi:
It could be quite good news if you happen to know any sexy Indian ladies…
ok, i don’t believe i’m actually deciphering code 
what you see is Hindi, the national language of India.
allow me to translate. disclaimer: my hindi sux.
pass retha hai - it (he/she) stays close to you.
dur retha hai - it (he/she) stays far away from you.
koi dil mai zurur retha hai - somebody, surely, stays in your heart.
jab say dekha un ki ankho ko - from the time * saw her/his eyes.
halka suroor retha hai - light heady feeling stays. (this sentence literally translated)
that’s the translation. i think it’s a shaheri (as the link **jimm ** offered suggests). a shaheri is basically a kinda poem. and i’ll agree with you, mange that the footy bit is totally unrelated.
i’m just going out to get some more info on this…
Can I be the first to say:
Mangetout has a girrrrrrrllllfriend!
(or boyfriend?)
ok there’s a discussion going here in my house that is…
a shaheri is actually mostly recited in Urdu, but this one specifically seems to be hindi. although many words are common between the two languages.
now we’re trying to figure out how to translate the word “shaheri”.
it’s like a powerful short poem, kinda like a couplet, but more intense. the kind recited over a campfire, evoking a strong response from the audience which goes “wah wah wah” which means “great great go on”…
I think it must just be a wrong number.
Dude, reply. Use the first verse of the poem for your reply. It might be a girl!
Interestingly, jjimm, I already did that, well almost; I replied “Re: pass retha hai… I think you have the wrong number”
It isn’t anyone I know, it can’t be. In any case, I’m not interested in whatever highly remote romantic possibilities there might be.