Addendem: Happy Birthday

Adding a few more numbers (in no order of preference):

1. Aaj Kal Paon Zameen par - Ghar
2. Tujhse Naaraz nahin Jindagi - Masoom
3. Yeh Mera Dil to Pagal Hai - Gardish
4. Tumhe Chorr kar Ab jeene ko - Basera
5. Tu Tu hai Wahi - Yeh Wada Raha
6. Jab Andhera Hota hai - Raja Rani
7. Jeevan ke Har mod par - Jhoota Kaheen Ka
8. Roz Roz Aakhon Tale - Jeeva
9. Rah Pe rahte Hain - Bamkeen
10. O Mere Sona Re - Teesri Manzil
11. Ek hi Khawaab - Kinara

There are many many more of them. It is impossible to capture his genius in a couple of lists!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Pancham! Thanks for all the music!

Most of the pre-90s generation has grown up with RD’s music forming the background score of our lives. Most of the time we have associated him with the wild beats and pulsating music that the songs like ‘Dum Maro Dum’, ‘Mehbooba’, ‘Poocho na yaar’, ‘Aapke Kamrein mein’ etc. While he defined music for the angst filled generation of the 70s, he was one of the most melodious music directors that have had anything to do with Indian film music.

All time Favourite Pancham Melodies:

1. Chotti Si Kahani Se – Ijjazat
2. Phir Wohi Raat hai – Ghar
3. Huzur is kadar bhi na – Masoom
4. Kaheen na Jaa – Bade Dil Wala
5. Khamosh sa Afsana – Libaas
6. Chaand Mera Dil – Hum kisi se kam nain (the wakau number)
7. Kis mod se jaatein hai – Aandhi
8. Aye Ri Pawan – Bemisaal
9. Tumne Mujhe Dekha – Teesri Manzil
10. Gum hai kissi ki Yaad Mein – Rampur Ka Lakshman
11. Tere liye Palkon ki Jhalar Bunoon – Harjayee
12. Kahana Hai aaj tumse Pheli baar – Padosan
13. Tumse Milke AISA Laga – Parinda
14. Yaadon ki Baraat – Yaadon ki Baarat (especially the antras)
15. Gulmohar gar tumhara naam hota – Devtaa
16. Aane Waala Pal – Golmaal
17. Kis liye maine pyaar kiya – The Train
18. Chingaru Koi Bhadke – Amar Prem
19. Tum Bin Jaun Kahan – Pyar ka Mausam
20. Sholay Theme – Sholay (Honorary Mention)

You might notice that all these songs were either the songs of sadness, separation or longing and even philosophical… all of them in minor chords. But absolute soul stirrers nonetheless!

Yeh thi khabarein aaj tak

Many of us would remember ‘The World This Week’ that was presented by Prannoy Roy in his signature style in the 80s. The program remained our window to the world news for long. Many of us would also remember ‘Parakh’ that was hosted by Vinod Dua in his booming voice. But as I read this article today, I realized that how much I have forgotten and how much I miss SP… SP who? Surendra Pratap Singh of the Aaj Tak days. Aaj Tak not the news channel of ‘Shweta Tiwari’s married life in tatters - breaking news’ fame but of the most charming sign-off line in the history of Indian News reporting. Remember SP’s spirited 'Yeh thi khabarein aaj tak; intezar khijeye kal tak.’

I still believe that it was one of the best news shows on Indian Television. I would tend to favour it because it was in Hindi but even if I take off the hindi bias that I have, it was a hard-hitting no-nonsense show that was exemplary in content and style. Most of our modern day journalists have styled their delivery style on SP. Over the years, the number of news channels has proliferated but sadly there are hardly any good anchors at least in Hindi. We have to make do with a watered down Dua, an over-the-top Rajat Sharma and air-between-the-ears kind of non-sensical bodies. In such times, SP you are sorely missed…

Madam President

Finally, the Congress government has been able to grab a spot for itself in history. Of course, this is under the foregone assumption that the 54% strong majority will not jump sides over a minor issue like the president’s election. What is even more astounding (and scary as well) is that we would have the same woman as the Prime Minister as well? There are absolutely no-limits to what Sonia Gandhi can achieve. I mean she has a full-time job as the Prime Minister but she wants more! So another unsuspecting (?) dummy candidate is being brought into the fray.

We are in a situation where the Prime Minister’s Offices have been brought into such disrepute that the constituents of the government have scant regard for anything to do with that office. The parallel power centre rather the power centre of this government resides in 10-11 Janpath and each member of the coalition know which side of the bread is buttered! I have admired the astuteness with which Sonia has managed her political courier. Even with her legacy, it was a tough job and she has done well for herself. Whether she has done well for India would be a discussion that would die even before developing into a full blown argument!

However, this inexplicable urge of sullying the President’s office cannot and should not be ignored. I would like to believe that being a staunch loyalist to the Gandhi family should not be the only qualification under consideration for the country’s highest office. Some might want to argue that the President is nothing but a figurehead – so it does not matter. That is the precise reason why it matters! The same figurehead is one of the brand ambassadors of my country to the rest of the world. Governor Patil might have had a clean record as a politician but I will be unable to stand her as my president because she at best would be a façade for the Italian lady who governs our country. This would be nothing more than a re-run of the Indira-Jail Singh episode. From the reports that I have been hearing & reading, irrespective of the desires of many of us, the inevitable is bound to happen…

As We Age

60^th Year of Independence, 150^th anniversary of the first war of independence and the 57^th year of the Republic are the numbers that indicate our aging as a nation. As we age, I get a feeling that we have leapfrogged the stage of maturity and are knocking at the doors of senility. Lagta hai sathiya gaye hain hum log! How else do you explain the increasing fundamentalist rhetoric in the country? I guess most of you would be aware about the not so recent happenings at the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) Baroda. IITB visitors to this blog would remember it as the college with hot women that always missed the podium at the FashP in Mood Indigo! Anyway, Chandramohan Srilamantula, a student of the arts faculty at MSU happened to work on three graphic illustrations, two on the Indian Mythology (One on Durga and another on the lines of Dashavataram) and a third one featuring the Cross in an internal examination. Apparently the fragile religious sentiments of a few were bruised. Lo and behold, we had ‘activists’ from VHP/ BJP/ Bajrang Dal and a few motley Christian groups protesting against this attack on the ‘Indian’ culture and traditions. And in a total before-you-blink kind of style, the Gujarat Police exercised its powers and quickly arrested the ‘culprit’ for hurting, what else, religious sentiments. Most of the university faculty and student community was aghast at this development. The Dean of the Arts Faculty at MSU, Shivaji Panikkar refused to issue an apology and was immediately suspended at the behest of the state government. Incidentally, the student – Chandramohan happens to be the only student from Gujarat in 2005-06 to receive the prestigious Lalit Kala Academy National award for exhibited excellence in his works.

The detractors claimed that even the students were against this unabashed depiction of religious figures. We had the young student leaders (who of course are in their early 40s/late 30s) of the BJP affiliated ABVP wax eloquent about the vulgar and brazen nature of the illustrations. The leader of the opposition, a certain Lal Krishna Advani had the gall to say that freedom of expression is contingent to religious sentiments not being hurt! I fail to understand his locus standi at his crude attempt to qualify one of my fundamental rights. Hope someone has the good sense of reminding him that India is still the democracy and thankfully not the ‘Ram-rajya’ that he and his cohort of buffoons might want her to be!

And of course, there has been this fresh furore over the sketches of one MF Hussain and a ludicrous judgment issued by a lower court in Haridwar. Thankfully, good sense prevailed as the 24 hr news machinery cried itself hoarse and we had the Supreme Court stalling the order. It would be interesting to note that Hussain had relocated to Dubai 6 years back due to the constant outbursts of the ‘hurt’ segments! We have also seen the drama around non-hindus not being allowed to enter temples. Yesudas was denied entrance to the Guruvayur Temple because he is not a Hindu. Though there seems to be no hesitation in playing bhajans sung by the same yesudas in the temple. I have entered the Dargah Shareef at Ajmer and the Buddhist Gompas in Ladakh without anyone enquiring about my religious beliefs. I wonder what happened to the Hindu philosophy of ‘vasudhaiv kutumbam’ – entire world being one large family! We also have had Christian associations creating a scene around the release Da Vinci’s Code. This happened whilst the rest of the Christian world, which is numerically stronger, allowed screening of the film without much hue and cry! Guess I can simply go on and on – on this!

All this and the day-to-day incidents make me feel that we are losing it as a nation. We are a 5000 year old civilization and I think its time we act our age. I fail to understand how we have managed to pollute the moderate nature of our way-of-life! I try but cannot justify the free proliferation of fundamentalists in our country. It might be possible that all is not lost yet. We have some voices that have been unequivocal in their support for the freedom of expression. But it is high time that moderates stop being nonchalant … I mean non-vocal about the increasingly extremist events in the society. For whatever it is worth, Hindustan is one of the few successful democracies to emerge out of the imperialist era. It is important that we do not fall into the ‘righteous’ trap of fascism. So speak up, you also have a stake and an important one at that!

A Worthy Thought

Read this at the beginning of a movie on HBO. Do not know how the movie was as I left it almost as soon as it started but the thought, one that has been attributed to Plato, lingered …

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle!

Really??

In the loving memory of Keeda

Got this forward a few days back. Yes, I still know people who believe that Orkut, yahoo and every other portal is dying to shell out money for saving someone’s life (Mind you, nothing less!). One of those mails that prompt you into using shift+delete, if you happen to use Microsoft outlook. Read through:

IIT Bombay student Anupam Biswas 5th Year Mechanical Engg is suffering from Colukabki (caused due to excessive nabad and depression) a disease very rarely found (3 in a billion). His condition is very pathetic and the treatment is very expensive, obviously his parents are not able to afford his treatment. Orkut has agreed to pay 1 paisa after each time this message is forward. So please pass to all ur friends. Please i request you to pass it to as many people as u can and lets try to save someone's life. I request please do not ignore this. It will take less than 1 min of urs to help save someone's life

This was so IITisque keeda that I could not help but smile! It had IITB written all over it. Am sure there would be some Anupam Biswas who would have been nbdoo and there would have been lots and lots of people who would have wanted to take his case! By the way, NBD (pronounced: nabad) is a high strung state – almost at the verge of Nervous Break Down (abbr: NBD) – frequently used to take a jibe at someone by the keedabaajs. The colloquial usage is for insulting anyone who gets tense about something that you are cool with. For e.g., Abey nbdoo, kyun nbd le raha hai, endsems poore aadhe ghante door hai!­!­

Anyway, this post is dedicated to all keedas and all my partners-in-crime! Relax, Am not about to recount them on this forum ;). However, we can probably take this opportunity to tell ourselves that we have started taking life too seriously, ‘ITNIII Nbd mat le yaar!’

Quiz Show : Re-visited

KBC seems to be in the hot seat. The Delhi High Court has directed the MRTPC (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission) to probe into the way the Quiz show is conducted. It was a story that has been in the making for long. People and more importantly the media, feel that KBC for celebrities is easier than it is for the normal participants. The impression gathered critical mass as the celebrities started winning hefty cash prizes. As murmurs grew into noise, we had a Mr. Anuj Kumar Bharti filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Delhi high court. Apparently, general junta seems to be surprised at this!

This is a repeat of the Federal Communications Commission Vs American broadcasting Company Inc. case that played itself out in the United States in 1950s. The 1994 movie Quiz Show captured the drama on celluloid. The show in question was Twenty One. The participant had to answer more questions than a competitor to get onto a total score of 21 before the competitor to win the big cash prize. This continued week-on-week till a 'Challenger' got to the magical number of 21 before the original participant.

The final judgment in the case under discussion was in the favour of the defendant (ABC et al). The argument being that the show was an entertainment show. It was not supposed to be an educational program. The defendant’s lawyers went on to compare the show to a ‘give-away’ on TV – only to add a qualifier that it was a slightly involved kind of a ‘give-away’ with a huge cash sum involved (Click on that link above if you need to know all the details). All the participants in the US TV show, Tewnty One, signed an agreement with the firm that made them a willing party to the photo-op.

The argument might hold true in the Indian Case as well. Though, a big difference being that Airtel made a lot of money from SMS and Phone Calls to the KBC dedicated lines. I am guessing that Star and Mr. Basu’s firm Synergy will admit to rigging the show and claim that there is nothing wrong with it. I happen to agree to this as well. After all, it is not more than a comic act at best. Also, it might be compared to a lottery. However, in India, a company needs a license to run a lottery. Plus, many states have made lotteries illegal. So the show might be on the wrong side of the law not because of the MRTPC regulations but for running an illegitimate lottery! May be some smart lawyer would compare it to a lucky draw or give-away again (taking a cue from the US case) with a large cash prize attached to it! And may be the Star TV Network and Synergy will get away with it.

Of course, the news channels will have many days worth of breaking-news from this tamasha. As far as the Indian public is concerned, we will do the usual collective loss of memory and continue to enjoy the shows and fancy the prize monies.

PS: On a totally un-related note (which incidentally is my most favorite of notes), don’t you think that 1994 was one of the best years of Hollywood with films like Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption, Léon and The Lion King! This list remains small as I am not including the popular hit movies like The Mask, Four Wedding and a Funeral etc. in this list.

The (Ab)Use Of Power

Power Corrupts! We have known this aphorism since recorded history and beyond. But does it inject imbecility as well? George W Bush vows to veto the senate vote! Would like to issue an anticipatory apology to the imbeciles for the comparison. And interestingly, he is not the only person who believes that the war is justified. Almost half of the US senate believes the same as well. I hope someone does a VLCC style ‘Before’ and ‘After’ of Iraq for him. Common people across the globe are being affected in one way or the other. The brutal killing of Suryanarayana in the not so recent past reminds us how neutral countries might be affected as well.

River and her family are moving from Baghdad. This is what she had to say about leaving:

On the one hand, I know that leaving the country and starting a new life somewhere else- as yet unknown- is such a huge thing that it should dwarf every trivial concern. The funny thing is that it’s the trivial that seems to occupy our lives. We discuss whether to take photo albums or leave them behind. Can I bring along a stuffed animal I've had since the age of four? Is there room for E.'s guitar? What clothes do we take? Summer clothes? The winter clothes too? What about my books? What about the CDs, the baby pictures?

The problem is that we don't even know if we'll ever see this stuff again. We don't know if whatever we leave, including the house, will be available when and if we come back. There are moments when the injustice of having to leave your country, simply because an imbecile got it into his head to invade it, is overwhelming. It is unfair that in order to survive and live normally, we have to leave our home and what remains of family and friends… And to what?

It's difficult to decide which is more frightening- car bombs and militias, or having to leave everything you know and love, to some unspecified place for a future where nothing is certain.

I still cannot believe that Oil and a slightly sluggish US economy prompted the US President and his coterie of yes-men into this conflict. As a bystander, I have the option of doing the helpless shrug and forgetting about this. But the problem is that I am not a bystander anymore. Such conflicts are increasingly polarizing the world. I believe this is the most significant threat to world peace since the cold-war and the nuclear arms race. Images like these can induce indignation and vengeance in the most gentle of souls. However, the political rhetoric around the conflict continues to instigate than to reconcile.

India faces a significant threat from this polarization. The Hindu-Muslim relations have been strained due to a variety of reasons. The report prepared by Justice Rajinder Sachhar highlights the failure of successive governments of assimilating the Indian Muslim into the Indian Social fabric. Given the porous borders and the strong presence of separatist elements in the country, we run a significant risk of disrupting the precarious peace in many parts of India. I do not know if we can afford the indifference of the Indian government on this issue. I do not understand the love-affair of our politicians with the technique of silent protests. What is the reason for this inexplicable silence? At least, the French had the gumption to speak-up!

At times, I think if this scenario is similar to the policy of appeasement that the European powers used during the rise of Hitler. Given the present nuclear balance, the next world war cannot be amongst nation states. It will be a wide-spread uncontrollable skirmish. Are we already into the Third World War? I really hope not!

A Little Dash Of Irrationality

When things like this happen, I start feeling that we are approaching a point where too much money is chasing woefully small number of opportunities. The event might not even qualify as a rounding-off error in the 350$B Revenues for the year that Wal-Mart closed exit January but what makes me so vexed about it is the inappropriateness of the entire affair. They do need to make the right noises to speed-up the legislation for allowing FDI in retail. But, is this the best trick they have got to lobby with the Indian Government? I am sure that it is not and if the Indian management of this firm thinks otherwise it desperately needs a re-jig. I hope someone is inquiring about the results expected from such an exercise.

It is the same with Cricket, all advertising money chasing one game. This year’s ICC world cup is a case-in-point. Every marketing manager worth his salt might have constructed an IMP (Integrated Marketing Plan) around the world-cup. A host of promotional activities, ad-campaigns, event and what-not planned around it. Even if the India-Pakistan teams were to make it super 8s, most of these plans would have fetched a poor ROI for the firms. At best it would have ended as another bullet point on someone’s CV, who would have then moved on to a better role within or outside the firm. As for money spent on such an activity, one can always site the fact that it is of tactical importance to do so since the competitors would be doing it anyway!

And what is the deal with Jhanvi Kapoor? Out of hibernation on the wedding day? The entire drama was outright hilarious. Apart from the Aj-taks and Mid-Days, International Herald Tribune and Fox News could not resist her charm as well. Indeed she got all the hype that she was looking for but where are film offers that she might have thought would come her way. Even Ekta Kapoor is not willing to cast her in Kayamath (Yes! that is the spelling). And what is the deal with Ekta kapoor? Even the Kanadda and Tamil serials are as weird as the hindi names e.g. kadambariii!

Yes, the world is irrational. And that is the reason why economists and statisticians have a job. The more they try to untangle this chaos into identifiable patterns the more arcane it seems to get. Thankfully, the world is not yet, as insane as it is irrational. Anyway, a little dash of irrationality is something that makes it livable, Warna yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai?