Since the universe appears to be in order, With very little exceptions and aberrations. One may assume everything would be in disorder, Unless someone or some force controls the operations.
That force or someone must be in command, And ensure for everyone and everything there is some rule. So that things and people must run as planned, And yet that someone must love and not be cruel.
That someone must never sleep or rest, And remain forever in command or control. That someone must listen to each and every request And must define each and every being’s role.
Now can you think of anyone better than God, To do all this without pause or break? And then see to it that nothing is ever flawed, And there is no room for error or mistake.
If you have to deal with someone very rude, Do you try to face him with conduct equally crude? Or do you as a general rule, Keep your balance, and cool, And deal with him at your and not his aptitude?
If another’s conduct can make you forget your own, And your behaviour mirrors what you often bemoan; Then don’t pretend to be what you ain’t, A gentleman or even a saint, Your own cover you would have easily blown.
A gentleman is one in all possible situations, He doesn’t publicly display his frustrations. When dealing with someone rude, He still tries to be kind and good, And especially avoids counter allegations.
Gentlemanliness is a strength and not a weakness, It’s polished behaviour is not to be taken as meekness. A gentleman takes in his stride, All conduct that is snide. And that is precisely his distinctive uniqueness.
Even though God has no birthday or end, The idea of God sees changes as it must. It has kept pace with the modern trend, And has emerged as a concept most robust. The core idea of God remains intact: God is not just an idea but is a fact.
Hence, in keeping with modern times* I propose, That God not belong to just a few but to everyone. Not just sages who lived in caves and wore saffron clothes. Who was hard to please and harder to be won. Let’s just think of God as a friend, Upon whom you can always depend.
You won’t have to go to a mountain or stand on your head, To somehow obtain Him as Lifetime Achievement. Live forever with Him, wake up and go to bed, Let Him be present in happiness and bereavement. Let Him not be seated on a throne, Sit with Him and don’t leave Him alone.
Include Him in when taking Selfies or pictures, Take Him for a swim and go with Him for a run. Don’t always quote about Him some verse from the scriptures. Let God be a daily joy, let God be everyday fun. “God, I won’t merge with you on my dying day; I have you as constant companion every moment of everyday.”
*Modern times: Things which were meant for a few are now easily accessible by the masses; eg, photography and publishing.
I am not amused anymore, To see people having different views of the same thing. I recall some facts about which we once swore, And now no credibility on the table they bring. Different people, different times, different situations, Can lend to most things different interpretations.
My experience is that even ‘facts’ do change, Something that we thought only to fiction. Now I no longer find it rare and strange, That I only imagined what I was sure was conviction. I now keep for errors a margin, Something that earlier I could never imagine.
With better knowledge I am not so sure as I once was, I have now the humility that I lacked. Now I listen, weigh it in my mind and pause, Before I declare anything as ‘truth’ or ‘fact’. There is a thin line separating facts from illusion, Hence take your time before jumping to conclusion.
….things are often different from what they appear to be.
A ‘Complex’ is really very simple indeed, You’re thinking too much of people around. One way in which, of it, you can be freed, Is if love for yourself you have found. Everyone has some unique talent, Find yours and you can become gallant.
Inferiority and Superiority are main complexes, Actually the origin of both is the same. Both are well entrenched into our reflexes, Both eventually lead to feeling of shame. If you try to focus on yourself, You can put both these on the shelf.
God has made each one of us as important, Neither more in comparison nor less. There is no cause for us to feel unimportant, Or with our supremacy try to impress. Believe that God made each of us, There is no minus, there is no plus.
It also gives us a chance to learn from others, All of them are created by the same God. All are our own sisters and brothers, No one is perfect no one is totally flawed. Trust in God makes you rid your complex, Trust in God makes you stay at the apex.
Afraid of losing an argument? Remember, it’s not such a great deal. Why give yourself a punishment, By trying to go through the ordeal. Those who adore you will always do so, By losing an argument their respect you don’t forego.
No one can be right all the time, It takes greatness to accept an error. To lose an argument is no great crime. You don’t have to fill the other with terror. When you allow the other party to win, Your journey to greatness you begin.
In the long run you’ll see the other is the loser, For you would have learnt many a new thing. You would have lost if you were the abuser, Or had to only your view continued to cling. A speaker never learns as much, That a listener can learn as such.
What matters is whether you earned or lost respect, Whilst avoiding to be seen as a fool. No one cares whether you are proved correct. But they notice if you actually lost your cool. An argument is a very small thing to lose, But to lose dignity don’t ever choose.
What if God hadn’t created Love, And we were to dissipate even more time on War? We would have made extinct the bird called Dove, And replaced it with the fiercest dinosaur. The expression “until we meet again”, Would have been replaced with “until we beat again.”
Everyone would be suspicious of all the others, No one would be prepared for a sacrifice. No one would have heard of dads, moms, sisters and brothers, Everything would’ve been sold for a price. “Sealed with a kiss” won’t stick, It’d probably be, “Sealed with a kick.”
No one would stop to think of God, the Creator, It would have been probably God, the Destroyer, He would have assumed the role of a dictator, Specialising in becoming a super annoyer. The world would have ended with Big Bang, Sermon on the Mount would be a harangue.
What a scary scenario, you must think, Everyone living on Earth as if in Hell, Everyone plotting to kill and hoodwink, There would be no music, only death knell. Love, to prevent this nightmare, Love, and don’t fall prey to this scare.
I was roaming on earth for many years,
Then one day I experienced life.
My tears were replaced by countless cheers.
When we started loving and you became my wife.
Lyn, you mean the world to me,
Lyn, you’re prettier than pretty can be.
You have filled our home with love and joys,
You have made my life complete.
You have given us two of the handsomest boys,
You’re blessed with a nature that’s sweet.
Lyn, you mean the world to me,
Lyn, you’re prettier than pretty can be.
Today, on our thirty-eighth anniversary,
I again thank God for this wonderful gift,
You stood by me in happy times and adversity,
You have always been admirable spendthrift.
Lyn, you mean the world to me,
Lyn, you’re prettier than pretty can be.
May we be together for eons to come,
May happiness and good health keep you company.
After decades when we look at our album,
We should’ve added pics of many an anniversary.
Lyn, you mean the world to me,
Lyn, you’re prettier than pretty can be.
Let’s (just for argument) think of God as just a concept, Well, it is the best we have ever conceived. For eons in its warmth and safety we are kept. It has helped all those who believed. This is the best thing I love about God, Even as an idea it is not flawed.
Any which way you look at it, Both God and His concept are great. Thanks to either, our life’s path is lit, It is not even worth having a debate. If you believe, you are never at a loss. If you don’t, you are not put on a cross.
Even if you think of Him or It as a Force, It is still worth have It in your mind, Someone must have been all universe’s source, Someone must have been the origin of mankind. Let’s say everything was self created, And God we have wrongly celebrated.
It has taught people to be loving and good, Has that done mankind any wrong? Thousands of evils the world withstood, People have rejoiced that to God they belong. God, thank you for being there for us, And your idea for those who debate and discuss.
When circumstances around you have changed, And newer forces against you are ranged. Your moral and physical courage would see you through. And would tell you what you are required to do.
That and your abiding faith in God, Is a combination that anyone would applaud. If you’ve trained your mind not to admit defeat, At all times victory would fall at your feet.
You can be sure God has actually selected you. To see if to yourself and Him you can be true. You should neither fail yourself nor Him, Even when chances of success appear to be dim.
Stand up and meet each challenge in the eye, Trust Him and be determined to give it a try. Seeing your resolve He’d decide to hold your hand, And you’d see it works out better than you planned.
Sometimes we begin to unnecessarily worry, About what is happen to loved ones and us; It appears as if the future, to us, is blurry, Fear of the unknown goads us to make fuss. Actually nothing is unknown or unexpected, Everything by God has already been directed.
Many times we pretend that we don’t know, And try to convert our fear into hope; “Sorry, God, in responding to it I was slow, I was actually preparing for how to cope.” So, where does worrying come into it? It’s a known fact that we have to admit.
God can give and He can take away too, Worrying is non-understanding of this fact; We already know what exactly for us is due, And in most cases we also know its impact. “God, I accept your command with humility, Of worrying, I already know the futility.”
Everyone knows how fond I am of the combination of Shakeel Badayuni as a lyricist and Naushad Ali as a composer. This blog has more than twenty posts on them.
Whatever may be the origin of the festival of Holi, it is forever associated with Radhe and Krishna. Shakeel and Naushad have given us many a beautiful song about Krishna and the ras-leela of the eternal couple; one of the basic reasons for us to celebrate Holi.
It wasn’t a coincidence that when Mehboob Khan made his iconic movie Mother India in 1957 (the movie was so titled to counter American author Katherine Mayo’s 1927 polemical book Mother India, which vilified Indian culture), Nargis who enacted the title role was named Radha in the movie. Raaj Kumar as her husband (Radha and Krishna actually never married. Please read: ‘The Most Important Relations And Relationship(s)‘) was named Shamu, a variation of one of Krishna’s names: Shyam (dark-complexioned). Here is the Holi song that she sang on Holi (penned by Shakeel, composed by Naushad and sung by Shamshad Begum):
The team of Shakeel and Naushad were best in many ways. Shakeel made an unbroken hat-trick of Filmfare Awards and Naushad was not just the recipient of the highest award in cinematic excellence in India: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, but also was instrumental in ushering in Raaga based songs in Hindi movies (his 1952 movie Baiju Bawra had each of the 13 songs in the movie based on a raaga).
The Sanskrit word Raaga means Colour or Hue or Dye. Hence, recalling a raaga on Holi is appropriate. As far as Indian Classical Music is concerned, music invokes into you varied colours (moods).
The Raaga or Colour that I have chosen for you today is Raag Gara and the Taal is Tintal and Dadra. The song is Mohe panghat pe Nand Lal chhed gayo re. It was sing in the 1960 movie Mughal-e-Azam produced by Shapoorji Pallonji and directed by K Asif. The song was put together by the team of Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad Ali.
In my Raaga Based Song Of The Day, I gave you Raag Gara based songs twice: the second sons on the series: Unake khayal aaye to aate chale gaye (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #2‘) and the 67th song: Aise to na dekho (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #67‘). The first one was in Tal Kaherava and the second in Tal Dadra.
Raag Gara belongs to the Khammaj Thaat. Its Jati is Shadhav-Sampoorna, that is six notes in Aaroha (five notes except Rishab) and has all seven notes in Avaroha. The time for singing this raag is second part of morning. Khammaj Thaat’s pictorial description is sensuous and raagas derived from it have a certain degree of flirtatious mood about it. Listen to the song that I have selected for you and you will know what I mean.
Mohe Panghat Pe Bol Mere Nandlala Deewana Kehke Aaj Is Paar Saajan Kabhi Khud Pe Tu Kahan Kho Gaya Unke Khayal Aaye Kasme Hum Unki Do Roz Mein Jab Jab Tumhein Jo Guzar Rahi Hai Chehere Se Apne Guzre Hain Aaj Aapki Nazaron Ne Aapki Baatein Karein Phir Woh Bhuli Si Mein To Tere Haseen Apni Khushi Se Aaya Koi Khayal Mera Mann Tera Pyasa Aise To Na Dekho Aajkal Humse Roothe Chhodo Baeeyan Hamari Aankhon Mein Teri Yaad Main Nigahein tere
Mughal-E-Azam Bahana Mulzim Chori Chori Hum Dono Singapore Lal Pathar Mere Gareeb Nawaaz Pyar Ki Raahein Jahanara Mere Huzoor Paalki Dil Diya Dard Liya Anpadh Dil Ki Raahein Begana Sangraam Kunwara Badan Tarana Gambler Teen Deviyan Aamne Samne Tarana Hamari Yaad Aayegi Aapki Parchhaeeyan
Lata Lata Rafi Lata Rafi Lata Rafi Anwar Mukesh Lata, Asha Rafi Rafi Rafi Lata Lata Rafi Rafi Lata Vani Jayram Rafi Rafi Rafi Aarti Mukesh Rafi
Teental or Tintal is the most popular Tal in North India/Hindustani Music. It is also the most symmetrical. It has 16 beats in four vibhags. The period between every two beats is the same. We already know that the first beat is called Sam (to be pronounced like the English word Sum) and the ninth beat is Khali or empty. To perform the kriya of Tintal, one has to clap on the first beat, clap on the 5th beat, then waves on the 9th beat and lastly again claps on the 13th beat; these three claps give the rhythm its name: Teental or Tintal.
The Theka for Tintal
dha
dhin
dhin
dha
|
dha
dhin
dhin
dha
|
x
2
dha
tin
tin
ta
|
ta
dhin
dhin
dha
|
o
3
This can also be shown using the following figure:
Taal signs
X
2
0
3
Maatra
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Bols
dha
dhin
dhin
dha
dha
dhin
dhin
dha
dha
tin
tin
ta
ta
dhin
dhi
As far as Tal Dadra is concerned, Tal Dadra derives its name from Dadra style of singing prevalent in Dadra. It is a six or three beat Tal: Clap, 2, 3, Wave, 2, 3; that is two vibhags of three matras each. The theka is: Dhaa Dhin Naa Dhaa Tin Naa
Here is how the song was presented in the movie Mughal-e-Azam. Originally the song was a Black and White movie. The song was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and enacted by Madhubala as Anarkali in the court of Emperor Akbar and in love with Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar).
Please enjoy: Mohe panghat pe Nand Lal chhed gayo re…
मोहे पनघट पे नन्दलाल छेड़ गयो रे मोरी नाजुक कलइया मरोड़ गयो रे मोहे पनघट पे …
कंकरी मोहे मारी, गगरिया फोड़ दारी मोरी साड़ी अनाड़ी भिगोय गयो रे मोहे पनघट पे …
नैनों से जादू किया, जियरा मोह लिया मोरा घूँघटा नजरियो से तोड़ गयो रे मोहे पनघट पे …
Shapoorji Pallonji was not just the producer of the movie Mughal-e-Azam but the company called Shapoorji Pallonji Group is acknowledged as “India’s most valuable company”. In Mumbai alone, the company is responsible to have constructed Brabourne Stadium, Bombay Central Station and a host of other important buildings, particularly in the Fort area. In the year 2004, Shapoorji Pallonji Group completed a two year project to colourise and digitise Mughal-e-Azam and the colour version of the movie was released on 12 Nov 2004. Here is then our favourite song in colour:
Mughal – e – Azam was not just the costliest movie of its times (its 1960 budget was a massive Rupees 1.5 Crores), it was the most iconic movie ever made. Hence, down the ages, many artistes have evinced interest in reenacting the movie and its songs.
In Aug 2018, the actress Madhuri Dixit who rose to great heights of popularity reenacted Madhubala’s damce on Mohe panghat pe on Dance Deewane, a reality show she was judging with Tushar Kalia and Shashank Khaitan. Madhuri was seen wearing the same orange and silver embroidered lehenga and maroon coloured choli from the still that she had shared previously. The outfit harkened back to Madhubala’s costume from the legendary Mughal – e -Azam. Here is an excerpt from her dance uploaded by a fan:
Mugahl-e-Azam and particularly its songs continue to enchant audiences around the world. In 2016, the fruits of a ten month production by Shapoorji Pallonji Group were seen in the form of a stage play (musical) that was released on 21 Oct 2016. Shapoorji Pallonji Group had Feroz Abbas Khan directing the stage-play (imagine a stage play based on a movie). Since the lead actresses had to both sing and dance simultaneously, two actresses – Neha Sargam and Priyanka Barve – played the part of Anarkali alternatively; the role that was originally done by Madhubala. A separate video of this iconic song is not available. However, you would see it as part of the promo of the play:
One of the important personalities seen in this promo is the richest man in the country: Mukesh Ambani. Please see the promo at this stage and what he said because we shall come back to it a little later.
If you think that the interest in the songs of Mughal-e-Azam is restricted to film and stage personalities only, you have another guess coming. Mohe panghat pe is sung and performed as much in the temples as it was by a courtesan in Emperor Akbar’s darbar.
In Aug 2016, when my wife and I went to attend the Janamashtami celebrations in ISKCON temple (under construction) in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, we were pleasantly surprised to see it being sung there. Here is my recording of it:
And lastly we return to Mukesh Ambani and his charming wife Nita Ambani. On 12 Mar 19 we were invited to Jio World Centre for a reception for armed forces personnel for the marriage of their elder son Aakash with Shloka. In Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s promo on their play Mughal-e-Azam (Musical), you would have noticed Mukesh Ambani expressing his happiness at the play matching Broadway standards. Well, that evening, in the Dhirubhai Ambani Square of the Centre, a spectacular enactment of Radhe Krishna ras-leela was done and it would have surely set knew standards.
It didn’t come as a surprise that one of the songs selected for the ras-leela was Mohe panghat pe. Here is how it was performed:
The Ambanis are great devotees of Krishna. One of the most beautiful Krishna temples has been constructed by them at Vadodara. Here are two picture of the temple (you would notice that it is open all round):
Well, that was Mohe panghat pe down the ages a song by Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad Ali that would remind us of Radhe Krishna ras-leela for times to come.
In near future India is thinking of sending a manned mission to the moon. I am sure one of the first songs to be performed there would be Mohe panghat pe.
One small step for Shakeel – Naushad combine; one big leap for Indians.
Where there is a will there is a way, When there is night, there is always a day. Up always follows down, Smile soon replaces frown, Just trust God and let Him have His way.
In periods of darkness let Him be your guide, Enjoy happy moments with Him on your side. Just let Him in your heart, Don’t ever let Him depart, And take autumns and springs in your stride.
When God is with you, there is always a way, All you have to do is to do your best and pray. Suddenly there is sun, And the rain is done, And the dark clouds move far far away.
