All that you want in a blog
ज़िन्दगी में अब भी तेरे नाम ने रुला दिया,
सुबह चली गयी पर शाम ने रुला दिया।
प्यार का आगाज़ हंसते हंसते हुआ था मगर,
यकायक प्यार के अंजाम ने रुला दिया।
तेरे इश्क़ में सैकड़ों मुकाम आये राह में,
सोचा न था पर आखरी मुकाम ने रुला दिया।
ज़िन्दगी की कशमकश में हम खुशमिज़ाज़ थे मगर,
पर क्या खबर थी ज़िन्दगी के आराम ने रुला दिया।
तेरी आँखों की कसम पीते रहे और जीते रहे,
बेखुदी तब बढ़ गयी जब एक जाम ने रुला दिया।
तेरे होंठों से होता था इज़हार-ए-उल्फत बार बार,
आखिर में तेरी नज़रों के पैगाम ने रुला दिया।
(On 23rd April 18, on my Facebook group ‘Main Shayar To Nahin’, I started a new series. Here is the third one of the series)
मेरे जेब का नोट और तेरे हाथ के वोट का,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं – 2
“नहीं, कभी नहीं”
कितने चुनाव लड़ चुका हूँ इस गद्दी को पाने में,
हर बार डिपाजिट लूज़ किया है इस सपने सुहाने में,
बैंक का बढ़ता लोन कभी कम होगा के नहीं,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं….
“जा, जा”
दो नदियों का मेल अगर इतना पावन कहलाता है,
क्यों न जहां राजनीतिक दल मिलते हैं, स्वर्ग वहां बस जाता है,
नोट से काम न चला तो व्हिस्की रम होगा के नहीं,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं..
“ऊंह”
एक बार मुझको मौका दो पावर में आ जाने का,
फिर देखो मैं टूर करूँगा सारे ही ज़माने का,
इस से आपकी प्रॉब्लम का हल होगा के नहीं,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं…
“जाओ न, क्यों सताते हो, होगा, होगा, होगा”
(On 23rd April 18, on my Facebook group ‘Main Shayar To Nahin’, I started a new series. Here is the second one of the series)
अमावस का चाँद हो, या काली रात हो,
जो भी हो तुम खुदा की कसम करामात हो।
अमावस का चांद हो….
चेहरा है जैसे कद्दू पे रखा हुआ तरबूज़,
या कोई बल्ब हो जिसका उड़ा हुआ हो फ्यूज़,
लगता है सबको ऐसे तुम एक में सात हो।
अमावस का चाँद हो..
ज़ुल्फ़ें हैं जैसे कई साल गेसू न धोये हुए,
मूंझे हैं जैसे धनिये के पौधे बोये हुए,
कहते हैं सब के तुम महाकाली साक्षात हो।
अमावस का चांद हो….
कान हैं जैसे हों कुंडें कढ़ाई के,
दांत हैं जैसे बने हों पुरानी मलाई के,
काली हो जिसमें स्याही तुम वो दवात हो।
अमावस का चांद हो…
(On 23rd April 18, on my Facebook group ‘Main Shayar To Nahin’, I started a new series. Here is the first one of the series)
आपके पहलू में आके रो दिए,
उसी पानी से कपड़े हमने धो दिए;
आपके पहलू में आके…
Bill धुलाई का सहा जाता नहीं,
पर गंदे कपड़ों में अब रहा जाता नहीं,
साबुन को घिसा घिसा के धो दिये,
आपके पहलू में आके…
बदबू ने जब भी किया हमको उदास,
ले आये कपड़ों के साथ पानी और घास,
ज़ोर लगाया ज़ोर लगाकर धो दिए,
आपके पहलू में आके….
ज़िन्दगी में एक दफ़ा आया यह मुकाम,
जब हमें हो गया था खांसी और जुकाम।
हौले हौले निकली भारी आवाज़ हमारी सुनके,
उन्हें लगा यह उनके प्यार का है अंजाम।
सांस हमारी फूली देख उन्होंने जज़्बाती समझ लिया,
इस गलत फहमी में यारो हम हो गए बदनाम।
यहां खांसी हमारी दिन बा दिन बढ़ती जाती थी,
वहां उनकी दिल्लगी ने जीना किया था हराम।
दोस्तो, सर्दी लगने पे फौरन जाईये दवाखाने,
इससे पहले माशूका करदे आपका काम तमाम।
डॉक्टर की दवाई का असर तो देखिए,
खांसी और महबूबा दोनों को किया सलाम।
नहीं तो बिमार की हालत कुछ ऐसी बन आयी थी,
खुद ही अपनी मौत का किया था इंतजाम।
I have this Facebook group called ‘Main Shayar To Nahin‘. Unlike many other groups on Shair-o-Shayari with members running into tens of thousands, I am very cautious about adding members. Following is the description:
“A group for Nazams, Ghazals and Shayari (but not songs). You can either upload your own or of a poet/writer. This is indeed a group for earnest fans of good and serious poetry. YOU SHOULDN’T BE JOINING IT IF YOU ARE ONLY INTO FRIVOLOUS, COPY-PASTE, FAST-FOOD EQUIVALENT IN SHAIR – O – SHAYARI.
Please avoid:
1. Greetings except in poetry.
2. Religious posts including pictures of gods and goddesses.
3. Pornographic, obscene or vulgar stuff.
4. Irrelevant stuff such as sharing phone numbers and ‘Hi, anyone from Pahargang?'”
On the 19 Jan 18, I started with a regular ‘Sher Of The Day’ penned by me. I shall be doing a weekly compilation of those too on this blog. Three days later, on 22 Jan 18, I started with another series ‘Hasya Panktiyan of the Day’. I am doing a weekly compilation of those that are not long enough to stand as separate posts. This is the fourth one:
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #39
शादी के बाद पड़ गया उनको भी रोना,
जिन्हें बीवी नज़र आती थी चांदी या सोना,
बर्तन और कपड़े धोने में वह माहिर हैं अब,
जिन्हे कभी हाथ तक भी आता न था धोना।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #40
रात ख्यालों में वह आयी सांस रुक गयी,
कांपते लबों की प्यास बुझ गयी;
भारी भरकम बदन पेड़ पर जब बैठा,
हर शाख पेड़ की खुद बा खुद झुक गयी।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #41
काश उन्हें रोक लेता आने से पहले,
और सोच लेता तसवीर बनाने से पहले;
लेकिन क्या करूँ मेरी किस्मत ही ऐसी थी,
देख लिया उनको मैने नहाने से पहले।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #42
ज़ालिम तूने मुझे कर दिया है तबाह,
रात से अब हौले हौले हो गयी है सुबह;
तेरे पैर दबाते दबाते थक गए हैं हाथ,
और यह करने की तू देती नही कोई तनख्वाह।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #43
बहुत अरसे से वह आये नहीं इधर,
जो ले गए थे मुझसे उधार,
रह रह के मैं देखता हूँ उधर,
पैसे ले के जहां हुए थे वो फरार।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #44
खुदा के बाद उनका ही नाम आता था लब पे,
पर एक दिन उनकी बहन को देख जो लिया;
अब भी बीवी दूसरे नंबर पर ही है,
और साली को कहते हैं: या खुदा, या खुदा।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #45
आखिर उसने दे ही दिया नज़राना,
सिखा दिया शौहर को रोटी बनाना;
लेकिन पूरा हुनर उसने फिर भी न दिया,
अपने हाथ में रखा बेलन चलाना।
I hope you enjoyed these.
Please wait for the next compilation.
Friends,
Today I can share with you as to why I selected Waltzing numbers as the theme of the Live Fest in Kandaghat this year.
The day of the Fest, Saturday, 14th April, coincides with the Festival of Baisakhi or Vaisakhi. On this day, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji founded the Khalsa Panth. This day also coincides with the harvesting of crops in Punjab and the famous lines: Kanka di muk gayi raakhi, o jatta aayi baisakhi (We have finished looking after the wheat plants; now, baisakhi (harvesting) is there).
Now, you are bound to interject as to what Baisakhi has to do with Waltz. Well, the joy of the jatt (farmer) on harvesting is translated in the men and women getting together and performing the bhangra and the gidda. Both are peasant dances. So is Waltz! Next you are bound to ask me that Waltz is now a sophisticated ballroom dance and how come its origin is peasant dance? It is a fact. The noble of that era in Europe used to dance the minuet but found the close, vigorous, rhythmic dance of the peasants more inviting. Thus the dance called Walzer (German) of the farmers in Bavarai, Tyrol and Styria actually went into the ballrooms of the noble and delighted them. We have many equivalents in India of the elite following in the footsteps of the commoners.
Fests So Far
Our journey of Music Fests is FIVE AND A HALF YEARS old TODAY!
Here is a list of Music Fests that we have hosted so far on the group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne’:
1.Dec 2012 – Chand Songs
2.Jan 2013 – Shaam Ke Geet
3.Feb 2013 – Dil Ki Awaaz Bhi Sun
4.Mar 2013 – Boat Scene Songs
5.Mar 2013 – Piano Scene Songs
6.Jun 2013 – Songs of Rain
7.Jul 2013 – Bhajans in Hindi Movies
8.Aug 2013 – Funny, Comical and Anglicized Hindi Songs
9.Sep 2013 – Sadhana Songs
10.Nov 2013 – Mala Sinha Songs
11.Nov 2013 – Story Telling, Kahani, Katha Songs
12.Dec 2013 – Mohammad Rafi Songs
13.Jan 2014 – Complementary Songs (same number repeated by Hero/heroine later in the movie)
14.Feb 2014 – Qawwali Songs
15.Feb 2014 – Nutan Songs
16.Mar 2014 – Bicycle Scene Songs
17.Apr 2014 – Flute Scene Songs
18.May 2014 – Sapna, Khwaab, Dream Songs
19.Jun 2014 – Maa, Maiyya, Mata, Maan Songs
20.Jul 2014 – Raahi or Mussafir Songs
21.Aug 2014 – Patriotic Songs
22.Sep 2014 – Train Scene Songs
23.Sep 2014 – Jeep, Car, Bus, Truck Scene Songs
24.Oct 2014 – Deewana or Paagal Songs
25.Nov 2014 – Hindi Flavour Songs
26.Dec 2014 – Guitar Scene Songs
27.Jan 2015 – Songs With Whistle
28.Jan 2015 II- Zindagi (Happy or Sad) Songs
29.Feb 2015 – Horse (Mule and Donkey too) Scene Songs
30.Feb 2015 II- Flash Rain Scene Songs
31.Mar 2015 – Neend Songs
32.Mar 2015 II- Zamana or Duniya Songs
33.Apr 2015 – Indoor Party Scene Songs
34.May 2015 – Chaman Baag Bagiya Songs
35.May 2015 II- Zulf Gesu Baal Songs
36.Jun 2015 – Baadal Badra Songs
37.Jun 2015 II- Mujra Songs
38.Jul 2015 – Hawa Songs
39.Aug 2015 – Shraabi Songs
40.Aug 2015 II- Na or Nahin Songs
41.Sep 2015 – Chal Chali Chalo Songs
42.Oct 2015 – Kabhi Songs
43.Nov 2015 – Dance Scene Songs
44.Dec 2015 – Mil Milan Songs
45.Jan 2016 – Khushi Hansi Muskaan Songs
46.Feb 2016 – Geet Gaana Nagma Taraana Songs
47.Mar 2016 – Bahaar Songs
48.Apr 2016 – Funny Songs
49.May 2016 – Hill Scene Songs
50.Jun 2016 – Ghar Songs
51.Jul 2016 – Kahin Kahan Songs
52.Aug 2016 – Yellow Dress Songs
53.Sep 2016 – Dost Dosti Songs
54.Oct 2016 – Mera Apna Hamara Songs
55.Nov 2016 – Songs in Headgear
56.Dec 2016 – Ajanabee Songs
57.Jan 2017 – Krishna Songs
58.Feb 2017 – Husn Songs
59.Feb 2017 II- Hot Songs of Lata Mangeshkar
60.Mar 2017 – Rang, Rangeen Songs
61.Apr 2017 – Raat or Din Songs Live Fest at Kandaghat
62.May 2017 – Aansu Songs
63.Jun 2017 – Koi Songs
64.Jul 2017 – Combination Songs
65.Aug 2017 – Not Held
66.Sep 2017 – Maa Songs
67.Oct 2017 – Chand & Chand Scene Songs
68.Nov 2017 – Bada, Badi, Bade Songs
69.Dec 2017 – Sajan, Sajani Songs
70.Jan 2018 – Drunken Scene Songs
71.Feb 2018 – Ek, Ik, One Songs
72.Mar 2018 – Sridevi Songs
Counting that in the month of August 2017 no Fest was held, the Fest on Waltzing numbers is going to be our 72nd Fest.
Waltz
Waltz is defined as a ‘A gliding dance done to music having three beats to the measure’ or ‘the kind of music suitable for Waltzing’.
The basic Waltz is a box movement as given below:
With a couple, another way to look at the Waltz is:
One last look at Waltz Box before we move on:
For the beginners any number of online classes are available to learn Waltz. Here is one Demo Waltz for the beginners by Michael Thomas:
Waltz in Hollywood Movies and Music
Waltz has been a popular theme of music (and dance) for English movies. One of the most popular has been Lara’s Theme for the David Lean 1966 movie Doctor Zhivago with Omar Sharif in the title role and Julie Christie as Lara Antipova. The leitmotif was later adapted as the number Somewhere My Love and it was very popular indeed:
Another popular number has been Engelbert Humperdinck’s The Last Waltz:
Waltzing Numbers in Hindi Movies (Thanks Anand Desai for helping me with this):
“The Waltz a 3/4 beat or the Time Signature has been a very popular beat among Indian Music directors. The beat is divided into 2 Vibhags or
Cycles of 3 beats each i.e. 3 beats make 1 Bar.. Now since its played in a tempo cycle we call it 3/4 coz you would play it fully twice so have 4 bars.”
Ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the Waltz Box pictures that I provided, you will understand it better.
It is similar to Tal Dadra since that too is a 3 beat Tal divided into 2 Vibhags.
“The Hinch / Khemta or Udaliyo that one hears in Raas Garbas has 6 beats each of two cycles and thus sounds similar but is not the same. Its a variation of the Dadra … Dha tin tin Na dhin dhin again 6 beats make a Bar However one plays the total cycle twice so we have four bars.”
The first known appearance of waltz in a Hindi song is in “Hum Aur Tum Aur Yeh Khushi” from Ali Baba (1940) composed by the legendary Anil Biswas.
Music director Naushad, known for his brilliant Hindustani classical compositions, helped usher the waltz rhythm into Bollywood mainstream as early as with the tragic “Tod Diya Dil Mera” from Andaz (1949), “Ab Raat Milan Ki” from Jadoo (1951), and “Tara Ri Yara Ri” from Dastan (1952).
Hats off to Naushad to come up with Waltzing on a very sad number!
Anand Desai and his friends came up with a list of songs in Hindi movies based on the Waltzing beat:
1.Aaja panchhi akela hai
2.Aap ke haseen rukh pe aaj naya noor
3.Agar mujhse mohhobat hai
4.Ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahan
5.Bedardi balama tujhko mera maan yaad karta
6.Bhanwre ki gunjan
7.Chup hai dharti chup hai chand sitare
8.Dil ke jharaoko mein tujhko bithakar
9.Dil ki girah khol do chupp na baitho
10.Dil ki nazar se
11.Dil mein sama gaye saajan
12.Dilbar mere kab tak mujhe
13.Hum aapki aankhon mein
14.Humne toh dil ko aapke kadmon mein
15.Jeena yahan marna yahan
16.Jeevan ke din chhote sahi hum bhi bade dilwale
17.Kuchh na kaho
18.Lag jaa gale ke phir yeh haseen raat
19.Mai shayar toh nahi
20.Meri neendon mein tum
21.Mud mud ke na dekh mud mud ke
22.Na yeh chand hoga na taare rahenge
23.Pyar ki yeh kahani suno
24.Suniye kahiye
25.Tarari ara ri ara ri
26.Tera mera pyar amar
27.Tera mujhse hai pehele ka naata
28.Tum jo hue mere humsafar
29.Udhar tum haseen ho
30.Yeh dil tum bin kahin lagta nahi
31.Yeh raatein nayi purani
32.Yeh raatein yeh mausam
33.Zulfon ko hatale chehere se
My own favourite is Bhanwre ki gunjan that I shall be singing during the Fest (even though I hardly know how to sing). I am giving you the movie version of the song. After the Fest, I shall replace it with my own singing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aMH-zOmTh8
And now, friends, with this curtain-raiser for the Fest tomorrow, I must rush as my sister from Nagpur Manik will be arriving at the Kandaghat Railway Station shortly with her husband Sreehari and during the evening Vipan Kohli, Jaswant Lagwal and Kavita will arrive from Hamirpur.
I hope you know now as to why I selected this theme (I always have a reason!)
i-Peg Poem of the Week #8
These poems are for my close friend Maj Vishwas Mandloi’s delightful group of tipplers called i-peg. One has to raise a toast to the committed lot for their single-minded aim of spreading cheers!
The last one was titled ‘Jannat Ke Khwaab Aur Sharaab’.
Here is the eighth one:
A drink is like your faithful canine,
Whisky, gin, vodka, rum, beer or wine;
Savoured in moderation, it remains docile,
Else, you would make it bark and whine.
Some of the effects that make it look bad,
Have nothing to do with what you’ve had;
It is really a drink fit for gods in heaven,
How you ingest is what may make it sad.
What fault of your wife if you ill treat her?
Likewise liquor is exactly how you greet her;
She is nice to you when you are nice to her,
She will give you a kick if you stoop to beat her.
A drink is sure to add to your mood,
All depends upon if you are indeed shrewd;
If happy, you become happier and cheerier,
You are ruder if you started being rude.
Liquor can be your worst enemy or best friend,
It can take you to paradise or around the bend;
It is not it but how you treat it that matters,
Like a mirror it just reflects your intent.
Twenty – fourth March this year saw the 37th anniversary of my wife and I (Please also read: ‘Lyn And I – Scene By Scene’ and ‘Hum Ek, Hamari Ek…’). Here is how I greeted her on Facebook:
Another year gone by,
Another year of sweet memories,
Your still make me fly,
You give my life a new lease.
My Life and Love are only you,
For thirty and seven years,
From the day when we said, “I do”,
It has been life full of cheers.
Happy anniversary my dearest Lyn,
May God shower on you joys and health,
As for me, I always win,
You continue being my greatest wealth.
A day will come when stars will dim,
And there will be no moon light,
Our love will be still full to the brim,
And its flame would be burning bright.
i-Peg Poem of the Week #7
These poems are for my close friend Maj Vishwas Mandloi’s delightful group of tipplers called i-peg. One has to raise a toast to the committed lot for their single-minded aim of spreading cheers!
The last one was titled ‘Jannat Ke Khwaab Aur Sharaab’.
Here is the seventh one:
A drink at the sunset,
Makes you completely forget,
What you went through the day;
The rogues you met,
Physically and on the net,
Who kept happiness away.
Yes, the day was hard,
It was almost a discard,
That actually came your way;
You were constantly on your guard,
Facing one or the other retard,
Who was hell-bent to have his say.
Now let the drinks glasses clink,
And before anyone can blink,
Everything becomes happy and gay;
Suddenly the surroundings become pink,
And you can say with a wink:
Even after the sunshine one can make hay.
As the first sip goes down,
Say “bye-bye” to your frown,
Don’t let your hair prematurely turn grey;
Wear the king’s crown,
Not that of his clown,
Let a sundowner show you the way.
There are many truths of life,
Some for peace, some for strife,
But a drink a day keeps the doctor away;
So don’t cut your throat with a knife,
Whilst being scared of your wife,
Just enjoy your drink at the end of the day.
I have already given you a post about pussy-cats, viz, ‘Pussy-Cat, Pussy-Cat, Where Have You Been?‘ Hence, let me tell you one about rats too.
Sooner or later we had to come to the innovativeness of this species on earth that is so curious that it is almost enigmatic. Away from the hills and plains, it makes its home at sea and learns to live there with hardly any means of subsistence. At times when the sea is rough, it wretches out its guts until there is nothing more to bring out; and yet, if you ask it its favourite place, it would unerringly point a resolute finger towards the seas, the oceans and beyond.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about The Sailor. The most innovative of this species is the Indian Naval Sailor. He finds a way where none exists!
To cement your realization of this fact, I must tell you about this incident in the year 1976 during the Monsoons. I had just got my watch-keeping ticket on INS Himgiri and suddenly realized that the whole world was waiting for me to finish my under-trainee watch-keeping phase. One of the “whole world” was officiating CO Betwa; who realized that his CO and many of his watch-keeping officers were on leave, when Betwa had to sail for a prolonged sailing called MONEX (Monsoon Exercise). He requested my CO and my CO, always ready to oblige, dispatched me to him for the duration of the MONEX.
It was the toughest sailing I have done. At the dining table, because of constant rolling and pitching, your plates and cutlery would go from one side of the table to the other and you had to wait for your plate to return it to you with the next rolling and pitching. Even at that you had to carefully look at what you were eating; for, if the quantity of gravy in your meat had become more than earlier, chances were that in its journey on the table, someone would have puked in the plate.
Many people never got out of their cabins, lest we should all see the changed colours of their faces.
The officiating CO (actually the XO of the ship) was man of steel and good humour. Rolling and pitching and even cork-screw motions had as much effect on him as water on a duck’s back. He devised ways and means of letting the ship’s company see the humour in those trying conditions. For the officers, he had an interesting story book, in which men and women did many naughty things. He took out the pages of the book and distributed these between the officers. So the trick was to come to the end of the page, when, for example, things were hotting up between a character called Jack and another called Julie and then figure out who would have the next page!
For the sailors too he devised another game. Since, in a cat and mice game, the officers had got the cat end, the sailors had to be content with the mice game. Through the medium of daily orders he announced that anyone catching a mouse would be rewarded with a prize of Five Rupees (which wasn’t peanuts during those days).
Topass (sweeper) First Class Pillai caught the first mouse and was promptly given Rupees Five. For the next few days, we noticed that at about five in the evening, he’d bring a freshly killed rat and collect his Five Rupees and go.
On the fifth day, the XO got suspicious and sent his best spy after Pillai to see if he could…..well, smell the rat.
This super-spy discreetly followed Pillai and half an hour later reported the story to XO and it speaks volumes for the innovativeness of Pillai.
The story was that whilst the XO expected that Pillai would go straight out of his cabin to the ship’s side and get rid of the bandicoot, Pillai took it straight to his mess where a plastic bag awaited him. He packed the rat nicely into the plastic and then in a paper bag and then deposited it in the freezer in the galley. This would now be taken out about 30-45 minutes before going to XO next evening, thawed and readied as a freshly killed rat.
Finding a freshly killed rat, therefore, for Pillai, was less trying than for all of us trying to find the next page about what Jack did to Julie.
From your mom, dadi and nani
On my first birthday, after I went away,
I know you will be miserable and sad,
But today I have something else to say,
I hope that would make each one glad.
Let me start with the eldest of you,
Mona’s husband our dearest Maharaj,
I always loved you, my son Linoo,
You were always the jewel in my taj.
Mona, you have always been a daughter,
That can make any mother proud,
We have shared together tons of laughter,
Sometimes subdued, at others loud.
I am not going to write for you much,
The one nearest, my dear son Ravi,
I know you can write anything as such,
After all, you were born (to me) a kavi.
That brings me to my bahu, my Lyn,
Who shared with me endless love,
I hope that brings, on your face, a grin,
When I shower blessings from above.
JP, my darling, my little “Sweet”,
You were always closest to my heart,
You were there whenever we could meet,
Even death can’t make us apart.
Chuck you came into our lives gently,
I really adored your attitude and skill,
You are smart physically and mentally,
Having you in family was always a thrill.
Let me turn to first of grand and great-grand,
Ankur, Simran, Mohiraa and Noor,
Anywhere they went on sea and land,
Nani‘s house was never too door (away).
Tiny and Ippy are my favourite darlings,
Can’t describe the joy of being with them,
Whenever they visited I developed wings,
One a diamond and the other a gem.
Samira and Arjun filled me with elation,
When they tied their knot together,
I would have given them great celebration,
If they had visited Kandaghat ever.
That brings me to my youngest grandson,
One and only Arun-the-great,
There is no one like you under the sun,
You were really worth the wait.
Birthdays are special, I know,
You’d have wanted me to be there,
But look for me wherever you go,
And you’d find me everywhere.
And I would be waving at you, as always,
When you’d leave Whispering Winds, my abode,
Then, waiting for you to return on important days,
My eyes forever fixed on the road.
I am back after a long break caused by my blog having been hacked. It is absolutely alright now and back with you.
The twenty-eighth day of songs in this series.
In the last twenty-seven days, we have taken up songs of thirteen male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, SD Burman, KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’, Hariharan and Yesudas. We also took up songs of eleven female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali, Sudha Malhotra, Amirbai Karnataki and Kavita Krishnamurthy. We took up a duet between Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle in the last post. And lastly we took up a Talat Mehmood song: Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhaayi hai. After that, on the twenty-sixth day we took up a Kishore Kumar song for Piya Ka Ghar: Ye jeevan hai. The twenty-seventh post was devoted to Shankar Jaikishan Foundation’s Mumbai Meet with the Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey song from Raat Aur Din: Dil ki girah khol do.
Today, I am back with Mohammad Rafi with one of the best of Laxmikant Pyarelal from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti, a movie whose songs made L-P one of the most loved music duos in India and a movie whose songs are still fondly remembered even today. Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the lyrics and L-P composed it in the raaga of my place: Pahadi.
Lets start with the movie. Bombay based Rajshri was founded by Tarachand Barjatya in the year 1947. However, Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd engaged in films production came about in the year 1962. Its first film Arti, in 1962 was highly acclaimed. However, the grand success of its second production Dosti in 1964 included winning the National Award for Best Feature Film and as many as six Filmfare Awards: Best Film, Best Music Director (the debut Filmfare Award for L-P), Best Story: Ban Bhatt, Best Dialogue: Govind Moonis, Best Playback Singer: Mohammad Rafi for the song I am giving you today, and finally Best Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri for the same song.
Dosti was directed by Satyen Bose. It was Sanjay Khan’s debut film and had Sudhir Kumar Sawant, and Sushil Kumar Somaya in lead roles. The film focuses on the friendship between two boys, one blind and the other a cripple.
Laxmikant Pyarelal started off with 1963 movie Parasmani and they made such popular songs for their very first movie that these are fondly remembered even today:
| 1. | “Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra” | Asad Bhopali | Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Barot | 3:40 |
| 2. | “Mere Dil Mein Halki Si” | Asad Bhopali | Lata Mangeshkar | 4:56 |
| 3. | “Ooi Maa Ooi Maa Yeh Kya Ho Gaya” | Asad Bhopali | Lata Mangeshkar | 3:24 |
| 4. | “Salamat Raho Salamat Raho” | Indeevar | Mohammad Rafi | 5:57 |
| 5. | “Woh Jab Yaad Aaye” | Asad Bhopali | Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar | 4:43 |
| 6. | “Chori Chori Jo Tumse Mili” | Faruk Kaiser | Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar | 4:01 |
The duet Woh jab yaad aaye was picturised on small time actors Mahipal and Geetanjali. However, even after 55 years, its popularity continues being as strong as it was when the film was released:
The duo that started off so outstandingly well in their very first movie had indeed great future ahead for them. Dosti was only their sixth movie (they did a total of 635 movies between 1963 to 1998) after Parasmani (1963), Harishchandra Taramati (1963), Sati Savitri (1964), Sant Gyaneshwar (1964) and Mr X in Bombay (1964). All these movies too had excellent and memorable songs; eg, Main ek nanha sa main ek chhota sa bachcha hoon and Suraj re jalte rehna from Harishchandra Taramati; Tum gagan ke chandrama ho main dhara ki dhool hoon, Jeevan dor tumhi sang bandhi, Sakhi ri pi ka naam naam na poochho, and Itni jaldi kya hai gori saajan ke sang jaane ki from Sati Savitri; Jaago re prabhat aaya, Jyot se jyot jalaate chalo, and Ek do teen chaar bhaiya bano hoshiyar from Sant Gyaneshwar; Mere mehboob qyaamat hogi, Khoobsurat haseena jaan-e-jaan jaan-e-mann, Chali re chali re gori paniya bharan ko, and Julmi hamaare saanwariya ho Raam from Mr X In Bombay.
The 1964 movie Dosti was a landmark for Laxmikant Pyarelal as the movie’s songs enabled them to receive their first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Out of the six songs of the movie, Mohammad Rafi sang six and Lata Mangeshkar sang one. These two playback singers, the best in their fields, stayed with Laxmikant Pyarelal till the end and even sang for them in low budget movies.
Here are the iconic songs that Majrooh Sultanpuri, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar made together for Dosti:
| 1. | “Chahoonga Main Tujhe Saanj Savere” | Mohammad Rafi | 04:55 |
| 2. | “Meri Dosti Mera Pyar” | Mohammad Rafi | 04:23 |
| 3. | “Rahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta” | Mohammad Rafi | 04:07 |
| 4. | “Mera To Jo Bhi Kadam” | Mohammad Rafi | 04:03 |
| 5. | “Gudiya Humse Roothi Rahogi Kab Tak Na Hasogi” | Lata Mangeshkar | 03:31 |
| 6. | “Jaanewalo Zara” | Mohammad Rafi | 04:06 |
Lastly, before we take up the song, lets for a minute talk about the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Presently, on my Facebook page Lyrical, I am engaged in covering Lyricist #5: Majrooh Sultanpuri under my Remembering Great Lyricists series. I have kept my favourite Shakeel Badayuni out of this series since I already have a number of articles and tributes on him.
Majrooh is the fifth of our lyricists who was a contemporary of Shakeel Badayuni. Out of all these six (*including Shakeel), three have been from Uttar Pradesh, which says something about that region producing some great poets and lyricists.
Majrooh Sultanpuri was born on 01 Oct 1919 as Asrar ul Hassan Khan in a Tarin Pashtun family, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father was an officer in the police department, but, preferred to send his son for traditional madrasa (Urdu school) rather than provide him with English schooling.
He tried his hand at being a quack until he was noticed in a mushaira in Sultanpur.
He was a disciple of the great Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi. When he visited Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, the director Abdul Rashid Kardar noticed him and invited him to write for the movies. Majrooh turned it down as he looked down upon movies! He was persuaded through his mentor Jigar Moradabadi and then there was no turning back.
Many traditionalists of the Urdu literature, however, felt that Majrooh sold his soul to the Hindi films and that he could have emerged a great poet in the likeness of Ghalib and Jigar.
The takhalus Majrooh means “injured” or “wounded”.
Majrooh was awarded, in 1993, the highest award – Dadasaheb Phalke award – for his lifetime contribution towards lyrics and poetry. He was the first lyricist ever to be given that award. For the film Dosti, that made Laxmikant Pyarelal famous, he was awarded the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere.
For someone who didn’t want to join Hindi movies, Majrooh emerged as a natural lyricist, very popular, very romantic and enchanting.
Laxmikant Pyarelal and Majrooh Sultanpuri paired in a number of movies to make songs: Dosti (1964), Mere Lal (1966), Dillagi (1966), Shagird (1967), Patthar Ke Sanam (1967), Duniya Nachegi (1967), Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Wapas (1969), Pyasi Sham (1969), Meri Bhabhi (1969), Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke (1969), Abhinetri (1970), Jal Bin Machli Nritya Bin Bijli (1971), Bikhre Moti (1971), Ek Nazar (1972), Anokhi Ada (1973), Imtihaan (1974), Mere Sajana (1975), Anari (1975), Aaj Ka Mahatma (1976), Dus Numbri (1976), Master Dada (1977), Kali Raat (1977), Parvarish (1977), Swan Ke Geet (1978), Naach Utha Sansar (1978), Phaansi (1978), Prayaschit (1979), Ladies Tailor (1981), Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (1981), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987), Janam Janam (1988), Humshakal (1992), Badi Bahen (1993), West is West (2011) and Soundtrack (2011).
These movies that Majrooh and LP did together produced some really enchanting songs such as Bade miyan deewane, Dil wil pyar wyar, Kanha kanha aan padhi, Woh hain zara khafa khafa, Ruk ja aye hawa, and Duniya pagal hai ya main deewana (all from 1967 movie Shagird); Koi nahin hai phir bhi hai mujhako, Tauba ye matwali chaal, Mehboob mere, and Patthar ke sanam (all from 1967 movie Patthar Ke Sanam); Chhalkaye jaam, Chalo sajna jahan taq, Na jaa kahin ab na jaa, Allah ye ada kaisi, Hui shaam unka khyaal aa gaya, Hamen to ho gaya hai pyaar, and Tum jao kahin (all from 1968 movie Mere Hamdam Mere Dost); and Ye kaisa gham sajna and Yaaro mera saath nibhao (both from 1969 movie Pyasi Sham).
Before we take up the song, let me tell you briefly as to how it came about in the movie. Ramu (Sushil Kumar) is a cripple and good at playing harmonica. Thrown out of his home, crippled and penniless, he roams around the streets of Mumbai. Here he comes across Mohan (Sudhir Kumar), a boy who is blind and has a similar tale of woe. Mohan is a singer. Both meet on the streets of Bombay and form a good pair. One day, Ramu gets into trouble for no fault of his own and is bailed out on the condition that he would keep no contact with Mohan. That’s how this song came about.
Please enjoy Mohammad Rafi sing a composition of Laxmikant Pyarelal on the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri, a song from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere….
चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे
फिर भी कभी अब नाम को तेरे
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा
देख मुझे सब है पता
सुनता है तू मन की सदा (२)
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा
चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे
दर्द भी तू चैन भी तू
दरस भी तू नैन भी तू
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा
I have been giving you Songs that Tug at your Emotions, off and on, since 04 Oct 2017. However, I don’t think other songs would tug at your emotions as much as songs of the 1964 movie Dosti that made Laxmikant Pyaralal very famous indeed. It was, first of all, the unlikeliest of the stories to succeed: a cripple and a blind boy; hardly any entertainment there. However, Majrooh, Laxmikant Pyarelal, and Mohammad Rafi created songs that went deep and touched your heart like nothing had ever done before.
Another song from the movie: Jaanewalo zara mudh ke dekho mujhe main bhi insaan hoon was a pointer towards how we treat cripples on our streets.
Chahunga main tujhe not just tugged at our emotions but rightly won so many awards for all three who made it possible.
I know I can never forget it.
I hope you enjoyed it too.
Please await the next song in the series.
I have recounted to you many tales about Gunners; an endless topic of mirth and bewilderment with me.
Today, after a few years, I return to this.
His name was Lieutenant B and he was the Gunnery Officer of the ship on which we were borne as Midshipmen (a rank between being Cadets and full-fledged commissioned officers).
He was as clear-headed as all the gunners that I have told you about in the anecdotes so far; gunners, as I told you, seek clarity at both ends.
Long before the Army’s Bofors guns landed into media controversy, the naval ships had guns from Swedish company Bofors. Indeed, Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun, designed by AB Bofors in 1930s, was a standard gun on all our ships and the gun was simply called Bofors. In 1934, Bofors improved this gun and came up with a model 40mm L/60. It was simply called Forty-Sixty on board the ships. All of us, whether gunners or not, have been trained on this gun. Here is a picture of this gun, many many years later on Sukanya class of Offshore Patrol Vessels:
Even after the gunners moved into the missile world, they continued playing with these toys.
Generally, evening twilight times used to be reserved for these AA Firing serials called CRAA Firing (Close Range Anti-Aircraft gun firing). As cadets and midshipmen we have often manned and fired these guns.
Gunnery Officers when they are conducting these serials, have an air of importance about them. After all, signals, navigation and other things are only supporting roles; the main role of the navies is to slam the daylights out of the enemy and that’s where gunners come in.
Lieutenant B, after his Policy orders for the firings by our Starboard and Port Bofors, called G1 (Starboard) and G2 (Port) started giving orders about the bearing and range of firing. To our horror, he had crisply (GO’s are always crisp), instructed the Port Gun (G2) to train to Green 90 (Right) and Starboard Gun (G1) to train to Red 90 (Left).
After that, he smartly saluted the CO and asked permission to commence firing. We were manning the guns and at that stage the logic of both guns firing at each other had totally beaten us. However, we had been trained in:
Ours is not to reason why,
Ours is but to do and die.
Fortunately, the Captain made a last-minute visual check and found both the guns pointing at each other and cancelled the firing.
Lieutenant B, incidentally, was the same officer, who angrily picked up a sound-powered telephone on the Bridge when he was on watch as OOW and barked out, “Engine Room, stop making black smoke”. From the other hand, Captain who had been woken up at two in the morning shouted, “Captain here; who is this idiot (who has picked up the wrong phone)?” And, Lieutenant B had the presence of mind to answer, “Sorry Sir; Midshipman of the Watch here.”
(I started a new series recently on this topic. Many of you would be incredulous but I vouch for their factual correctness. All of these are first hand.)
The first one was titled: ‘Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part I – Mister India And His Ship‘. This was about a Seaward Defence Boat undergoing refit and everyone just forgot about it. The second one was titled: ‘Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part II – All Cats Are Grey In The Dark‘. This was about some of my course-mates mistaking another tanker at anchorage for my ship INS Aditya when they were invited by me on board. The third one was titled: ‘Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part III – Huge Mirages At Sea’. This was about a visual encounter between INS Ganga and INS Viraat when both of them were 180 nautical miles apart.
Here is the fourth one. It is about an exercise nearly four decades ago in the Navy that I was part of (circa 1981, that is 37 years ago). The exercise was called Maghreb.
In Arabic, the word Maghreb means ‘the place where the sun sets’ or the West, whilst Mashriq means ‘the place where the sun rises’ or the East. The Maghreb or Maghrib is the name given in pre-modern times by Arab writers on geography and history to the northern part of Africa, that which Europeans often came to call Barbary. In modern usage the Maghreb comprises the political units of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.
Now why would anyone give an exercise a mystical code-name Maghreb? Well, code-names are supposed to be like that; they shouldn’t ever give away what is actually happening.
But the Naval Headquarters authorities who code-named this exercise by this near occult name Maghreb won’t have ever known in advance what would happen during the first phase of the exercise, that is in the forces deployment stage.
Before the exercise, the available platforms of ships, submarines and aircraft were divided into two forces Blue (Friendly forces) and Red (Enemy forces); the colours that represent contenders all over the world and taken from the boxing ring. Neutral umpires were embarked on many of these platforms to decide on casualties during encounters. The Chief Umpire and his team operated from Bombay (now Mumbai). Every encounter between the platforms were to be signalled in a particular format. Based on the tracks of the platforms and other data, the Chief Umpire and his team would then signal Casualty by a pre-defined signal.
Despite all the modern means available such as radar, often ships would like to remain silent so as not to give away passive electronic intelligence to the other force. Even for a layman, it is easy to understand that in a radar (RADAR is actually an acronym that stands for Radio Assisted Detection And Ranging), radio signals have to travel two ways to and from an object for its detection to take place on the radar platform. However, for a passive detection (by another ship with Electronic Warfare equipment), it only has to travel one way. Hence passive detection ranges are anything between one and half to two times the radar ranges. Therefore, the radar ship, being active, loses the surprise element.
So, in the deployment phase of Maghreb, we had these two modern frigates, with (that time) state of art radars and other means, wanting to silently open out from each other and rejoin in wee hours. On one of these the OTC (Officer in Tactical Command; an admiral) Blue force was embarked.
Now, in case you have understood the scenario and the restrictions for both of them being silent on electronic means, the funny part starts. The funny part is somewhat similar to Spy versus Spy in Mad comics. To start with, here is the picture of both the ships about to part on opposite tracks:
They went their ways, silently, cautiously, thinking of enemy lurking in every part of the Arabian Sea, especially since the OTC had already made a signal to all the Blue forces to be extra cautious so that nothing untoward would take place during the initial stage of the war. Within two hours of their opening out from each other, the Naval Headquarters signalled commencement of the hostilities. The OTC patted himself on the back (I know it is not physically possible but in the Navy we do the impossible too) for having had the good sense to have given detailed orders before the commencement of hostilities so that no one would have to break radio and radar silence after that and thus give itself away.
Another two hours and now with their relative speeds away from each other, both the ships were more than a hundred miles apart. Each one had investigated suspicious contacts along the way and had to several alterations of courses to indulge in such investigations. The currents and winds played their parts too.
At the pre-planned time, they reversed courses so as to affect a rendezvous (RV) between the two. Lookouts with powerful binoculars had been placed on both the ships to scan the horizon all around. As Asrani would say in the movie Sholay: Hamari jail mein patta bhi pankh nahin fadfada sakta (Even a bird can’t flutter its wings in my jail). For the purpose of the remaining narrative, lets call them OTC Ship and Other Ship.
After about three hours of steaming (the world sleeps but we the guardians of the seas are forever vigilant), the Other Ship Lookout sighted a silhouette on the horizon and reported to Bridge: Bridge, Port Lookout, Red 20, a darkened ship on the horizon. The Bridge of Other Ship suddenly came into action. Action Stations were sounded and all sensors and weapons were manned. A similar scenario took place on OTC Ship too.
It occurred to both the ships that this could be friendly force. There was only one way to find out; which was to challenge the ship with a predetermined code on flashing light and receive either friendly reply or else.
Now, on the OTC Ship, the OOW (Officer of the Watch) of the First Watch (2000 hrs (8 PM) to midnight) hadn’t handed over these Challenges and Replies Codes and Replies to the OOW of the Middle Watch (Midnight to 0400 hrs (4 AM)). Hence, when the Other Ship visually challenged the OTC Ship with the Light as shown above, the OTC Ship’s OOW suddenly realised that he didn’t have the appropriate Reply Code to signal back. He sent for the First Watch OOW who had gone to sleep.
The delay in the challenged ship replying confirmed the suspicion of the Other Ship that this was indeed an enemy ship. To be on the safe side, she made another challenge on the Signalling Projector and still didn’t receive a reply. She remembered all the Principles of War and seized the moment and fired her Ship to Ship Missile at the ‘Enemy Ship‘ and then signalled Maghreb’s first encounter, within four hours of commencement of hostilities to the Chief Umpire.
You would recall Rudyard Kipling’s famous:
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;”
In this case, it wasn’t even Mashriq meeting Maghreb; but, the Other Ship, that night, successfully fired at his own OTC and nearly sank him. Blue OTC’s Ship was the first casualty of war in Maghreb and after quickly analysing the tracks and getting inputs from umpires on both the ships, OTC’s Ship was declared out of the exercise.
When I was at the Naval Academy, many years ago, I had done a small parody during one of the outdoor camps in which the Passwords and Responses of Friendly and Enemy Forces happened to be the same (as a coincidence) one night and two soldiers encountered each other with comical consequences as a result of this.
Little did I know that my parody would actually come true at sea with equally comical but results with far more enormity.
