A Walk down the lane ...

India is my country ...

As a casual read I was searching for articles and lesser known facts about India. With my mind attendively lingering with the national song vande matharam from Bankim Chandra Chaterjee's "Anandmatt", I was wondering why the personification and when it started. My search started with google and took me to a wiki page where the following was the explanation:

(The first drawn personification of Mother India)

" Bhārat Mātā, Mother India, or Bhāratāmbā is the national personification of India as a mother goddess. She is usually depicted as a woman clad in an orange or saffron sari holding a flag, and sometimes accompanied by a lion. The image of Bharat Mata formed with the Indian independence movement of the late 19th century. A play by Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay, Bhārat Mātā, was first performed in 1873. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1882 novel Anandamath introduced the hymn "Vande Mataram" which soon became the song of the emerging freedom movement in India. Abanindranath Tagore, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's newphew, portrayed Bharat Mata as a four-armed Hindu goddess wearing saffron colored robes, holding a book, sheaves of rice, a mala, and a white cloth.The image of Bharatmatha was an icon to create nationalist feeling in Indians during the freedom struggle."

It was enlightening information that there is a temple dedicated to Bharat Mata.In 1936, a Bharat Mata temple was built in Benaras by Shiv Prashad Gupt and was inaugurated by Mohandas Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi said, "I hope this temple, which will serve as a cosmopolitan platform for people of all religions, castes, and creeds including Harijans, will go a great way in promoting religious unity, peace, and love in the country." A Bharat Mata temple in Haridwar was built by in 1983 by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

All these are things which you can search for but the person who personified India as Bharath Mata seems to be lesser known or not much details about him are available. But lets come to the present day. Will you find her happy as she was portrayed in the picture? Internally we are facing so many issues that we are weakened by them. We read about scams everyday and those we dont read about are happening now. When can we expect her to smile again. The question is a big one.

Starting from the attitude towards our land and its culture to the present day political scenario, we Indians should find a way to make India proud again. A Land which welcomed all alike, a land which gave birth to leaders and visionaries from the start of human history, needs to be given its due importance. On the 61st anniversery / 62nd republic day lets remind ourselves of a country which Gurudev had envisaged.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Also I would like to remind every Indian about a pledge that we used to take, when we were in school. Dont know whether we still remind ourselves about the same.

India is my country.

All Indians are my brothers and sisters.
I Love my country.

I am proud of its rich and varied culture.

I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall love and respect my parents, teachers and elders.
To my country and my people I pledge my devotion

Lets remember these lines and prove that we had pledged our devotion to the country. Lets also get to know our national insignia

NATIONAL FLOWER- Lotus
NATIONAL BIRD- Peacock
NATIONAL ANIMAL-Tiger
NATIONAL TREE- Banyan
NATIONAL FRUIT- Mango
NATIONAL GAME- Hockey and not cricket

Till India became a Soverign Republic there has been many important events. Lets run through it together:

2500-1500 B.C :Indus Valley civilization.
1500-200 B.C :Aryan civilization.
2000-1000 B.C :Composition of the Upanishads and the great Epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
600-500 B.C :Mahavir and Buddha lay down the principles of Jainism and Buddhism.
326 B.C  :Alexander, The Great invades India
78A.D  :The Saka era begins.
1498 AD  :Vascodagama lands at Calicut.
1600 A.D  :East India Company formed.
1853 A.D  :First Railway between Bombay and Thana.
1857 A.D  :The Sepoy Mutiny.
1858 A.D  :Government of India passes from East India Company to the British Crown.
1885 A.D  :Indian National Congress born.
1911 A.D  :Capital of India shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
1931A.D  :Inauguration of New Delhi.
1947 A.D  :India gets freedom. Nehru is India's new Prime Minister.
1948 A.D  :Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in Delhi.
1950 A.D  :India becomes a Republic.

- vaazhka bharatham -

A question which "Google" did not answer...

I encountered a question which really made me think and wanted to know what the answer could be. As humans we have been facing a whole lot of queries which lead to all the inventions and discoveries in this world. The most useful these days could be the Internet. Communication, Entertainment, Networking, Socializing and the opportunities are inexhaustible. When we think of Internet most of you will agree you will start thinking about it with Google as a standard. There were many search engines since the beginning of the Internet but Google seems to have taken the world in its way. But the question which my friend asked me made me search an answer for it in the Google when I could not think of an answer, but even Google did not have an answer for it.

The querry was very simple.

What are the basic unit of thought?

Suraj, my colleague, with a smiling face asked me during the lunch hour while we were having our grub. The thought itself is shocking as I had never thought of it. If that thought can be measured then how can it be done? I suggested thinking of time as a base for thoughts as all our thoughts are about time and phases in our lives which have a time stamp - past present or future. But to that the retort was at that instant. The thought spans even a fraction of a second. So could the unit be nanoseconds or milliseconds. But the complexity increases. What if it is devoid of a timestamp as that is also a possibility?

In thoughts we can have many attributes images, symbols, concepts and the like.

Image: A visual, mental representation of an event or object
Symbol: an abstract unit of thought that represents an object or quality; anything that stands for or represents something else
Concept: a label for a class of objects or events that have at least one attribute in common
Prototype: a representative example of a concept
Rule: a statement of relation between concepts

And so time cannot be a measure used to describe it. Then I continued my quest for an answer. That’s when I stumbled upon a way to express a thought - in a sentence. A thought can be a simple sentence or even a complex one. It can be active or passive. Even when we research on language we come across a definition for "Sentence". Not as the sentence as in punishment but an element of language grammar. A sentence is commonly defined as "a complete unit of thought." Normally, a sentence expresses a relationship, conveys a command, voices a question, or describes someone or something. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation mark.

Thought the answer has not satisfied me this could be it. My quest continues but for the moment I rest my case and believe that thoughts can be measured in a sentence. Sometimes thoughts can span into many sentences, paragraphs or even volumes. May be they are the higher units of thoughts.

When you search for a thought in google you might come accross things like:

"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination. Because thought underlies almost all human actions and interactions, understanding its physical and metaphysical origins, processes, and effects has been a longstanding goal of many academic disciplines including, among others, biology, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.

The only thing I can tell you is to think about it in as many sentences as possible. The quest continues...

- vaazhka bhaaratham -

Must watch Movies ...

As promised in one of my previous blogs, here are three movies that can change the way you look at movies

Majid - An Experience you should not miss

Language: Morrocan (Arabic)

Directed by Nassim Abassi

Click here to Watch Trailer

A simple tale about a son's urge to have a photograph of his parents and his efforts to get. The relationship between him and his brother, who aspires to grow up in life and his life revolving around his daily chores as a shoe shiner captures the eye of a viewer. A carefully narrated movie takes us to a different world in and around a small town Mohammedia, the director's hometown. Nassim Abassi, the passionate Moroccan director, weaves this simple yet beautiful story Majid (2010), is about a ten years old orphan boy called ‘MAJID'.

The story of MAJID, set in Mohammedia, revolves around a coming of age story of a ten years old Moroccan orphan called Majid who works as a shoe shiner in the town's streets. Following recurrent nightmares, he learns that he can't remember his parents' faces anymore and that there are no photographs of them apart from the charred remains of a family photo with his parents heads burnt away in a fire. With the help of his new friend Larbi, an eleven years old cigarettes seller, Majid decides to go on a quest to find a photograph of his dead parents. It's a journey that will take them to the big city of Casablanca where many dangers and adventures await them. The characters of the movie like the street urchin Hogra, the rich business man Zougi and his wife, who were his father's friends, and the people at the mosque all add to the spice of the movie. After you watch this movie, you do realize that we tend to forget the past so easily.

Nassim Abassi started writing MAJID fifteen years ago, during his studies at a film school in the UK and only finished it three years later. The situation of cinema houses in Morrocco is also bleak as per the director of the movie. Over the last few years more than half of Moroccan cinemas have closed down. In Mohammedia, with 300000 inhabitants, people don't have any cinemas anymore as the last one, Cinema Miami, was knocked down last year to make way for a new business. With the resources India has we ought to make better movies, at least watching this movie will kindle the art of storytelling in celluloid in the hearts of many.

Hottarake no Shima: Haruka to Maho no Kagami

(Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror)

Language: Japanese

Directed by Shinsuke Sato

Click here to Watch Trailer

A story which will put an insight in your minds – “whether to cherish the memories or forget them”. The beautifully animated adventure makes you forget the real world and takes you to another world of fantasy. The story is about Haruka, the 16-year-old high school student living with her father, who lost her mother at a young age. The father who tried to get over the grief of his wife's demise turns gloomy, which turns Haruka to be bickering and hence the relation between them gets strained.

 



The adventure begins when one day Haruka leaves to visit her grandmother in Musashino. On her way she stops by at a shrine where she sees, Theo, a little fox like creature who steals her trinket with keys. Theo carries anything and everything discarded by humans. Haruka sets on a chase behind Theo and in the woods, she finds a mysterious puddles. Lukewarm water in the puddle turns out to be entrance to the strange world of "Oblivion". An island without humans humans filled with all that has been discarded by humans in their lives. Haruka decides to search for a hand mirror which was given to her by her mother and once close to her heart. The adventure goes through many interesting twists and turns with Kotton a rag doll, Baron and his allies in the island and whole lot of characters. Watch it and you might start thinking about those yester years in your life.

Le scaphandre et le papillon

(The Diving Bell and the butterfly)

Language: French

Author: Jean-Dominique Bauby

Directed by Julian Schnabel

Click here to Watch Trailer

A movie that taught me how to think in celluloid. The pains taken by Julian Schnabel and Pathe movies, to communicate pain and distress, have been successful. A must watch if you think you like movies. The narrative might seem a bit slow, but come to think of it, the movie at least has some story behind it. Many a times, I watch movies till the end and still wait for a storyline to start. The movie is about a man who has reached the pinnacle of life loses it in an instant and his life thereafter. The desire to communicate in a person, and his thoughts when he is not able to express as he used to. His life and relationships post a tragic phase in his life.

On December 8, 1995, Bauby, the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings but physically paralyzed with the exception of some movement in his head and eyes (one of which had to be sewn up due to an irrigation problem). The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid, which took ten months (four hours a day). Using partner assisted scanning, a transcriber repeatedly recited a French language frequency-ordered alphabet (E, S, A, R, I, N, T, U, L, etc.), until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. The book took about 200,000 blinks to write and an average word took approximately two minutes. The book also chronicles everyday events for a person with locked-in syndrome. These events include playing at the beach with his family, getting a bath, and meeting visitors.The French edition of the book was published on March 6, 1997. It received excellent reviews, sold the first 25,000 copies on the day of publication, reaching 150,000 in a week. It went on to become a number one bestseller across Europe. Its total sales are now in the millions. Bauby died two days after the book was published, on March 9, 1997, of pneumonia.

The movie tells us a story at the same time makes you think about the merits of what we have now and what we may not have in the next moment. A must watch

Enjoy the movies ...

- vaazhka bharatham -

"Rahul and I" - As is. On Jan 14, 2011

The clock was ticking towards 9:00 pm of the 14th of Jan, 2011. We were rushing to park our car somewhere in Bur Dubai and rush to Sheikh Rashid Hall to experience an event close to our hearts - Rahul and I. RDB as RD Burman or Panchamda would be fondly remembered by many, will always create a ripple in the hearts of people who love Indian Film Music. A person who revolutionized the film music with his styles. The cherry on the icing is Ashatai's (Asha Bhonsle) live performance. 

Reached the venue, got our tickets from the counter and rushed in, where, Anamika and family were already eagerly waiting for the show to start. Everything was in a hurry to an extent where we were feeling really thirsty. Serena opted to rush out and get some water to drink and Anamika joined her. 120 seconds away from the show start Narendra gets a call - Serena and Anamika are stopped at the gates for trying to bring water into the hall. Great! I see people having coffee, and other beverages in their hands and snacking away to glory inside the hall and they stopped for trying to smuggle in water. Rushed out walked into the hall with the bottles of water after expressing the attitude we have and emerged victorious. The show started in a few minutes.

Gunjan the host for the day walked on to the stage for the crowd’s solace who have been waiting since 7:00 pm when the gates opened. He cracked a few silly jokes and paved way to the excitement. A joke on those who were in the hall with complimentary passes. Sadly we also fell into the group. He went on to invite Anita Shah, CEO of Cyclops Entertainment. Bad start to a good day. She was reading out the prepared speech with the resource person who drafted the speech who was not interested in checking when Ashatai performed in Dubai previously. I remember seeing her with Dr. KJ Yesudas and SPB on January 25, 2008. So far so good, waiting for the performance to start any minute now.

Gunjan went on to invite His Excellency Shri Sanjay Verma, Counsel General of India for a few words. The twist in the speech where he mentioned though he would be far from singing, someday he can say to son that he shared the stage with Ashatai. A man who really knows to use the right words at the right time. Recently during a function where a television channel was being launched, as the anchor mentioned rightly he is a man of few words but the words pointed rightly at the right person. CG went on to mention that just as we remember the quotes of Shakespeare than the whole volumes of his work, Indian Film songs are well remembered by music loves than the movie themselves. Film songs can be compared with "islands of excellence". CG concluded with an anecdote by Javed Akthar about Ashatai, comparing her to Menaka, who broke the 'tapas' of Vishwamithra. He did not leave out to mention Ashatai's feat of even singing with Bret lee, she being the Living Legend and about the Mangeshkars. Before making way for the show to start, HE. CGI Sanjayji mentioned that the God of appreciation is angry with desis as they don't clap much and at those words giving a cue to those who might forget to applaud to the great performance, claps thundered in Sheikh Rashid hall.

And finally the show started with the invite of Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan to perform on stage. He is a Pakistani classical singer belonging to Patiala Gharana lineage. He is the youngest brother of the late Asad Amanat Ali Khan. He was the lead vocalist of the Pakistani pop band Fuzön. He was awarded the President's Pride of Performance civil award on August 14, 2007.Shafkath Amanat Ali khan is also known as "The Rock Ustad".

He started with a usual and popular number - "dil ye bhula nahin paaye" and got the crowd to rock with "Aankhon ke sagar" one of his popular numbers. The audience were taken to a world of rock and classical with the song Khamaj from his Album Sagar - Saawan bhi kho jaaye piharwa mora sainyya moh se bole na. From classical to movie numbers he went on to a song from the movie Patiala house - Kyun main jaagoon. It’s the magic of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy with the rock Ustad - pure musical magic. More magic was rendered to take the audience to a trance with "Kuch ajab khel kartar ke" a bandish performed in the true rock genre. The words keep ringing in my mind as I am writing them down.

Kuch ajab khel kartar ke, more sai ghareeb nawaaz ke.

Ek ko deen-o-mulk khazaane, ek bhikaari anaaj ke.

Kuch ajab khail kartar ke ...

After a close to heart rendition of Na Maye Na Bhej Mujhe Main Nai Jaana Pardes, rock ustaad made it rain with Jhoom jhoom badal barse in Raag Malhar. He brought a tear to the eyes with "ye hausla kaise jhuke ye arzoo" from the movie Dor. Then went on to perform "Bin tere koi khalish" from I hate love stories. No show is complete without the audience participation. Dubai stood proud with members of the audience singing in tandem with the Rock Ustad on mora saiyya moh se bole na. A few more rocking numbers followed

Aaj jaane ki zid na karo, which was again sung by ladies in the crowd who wanted the ustaad to stay back and sing more. He brought the house down with "Tere naina tere naina" which had to be sung again on popular demand. With the hand touching the heart and faith moving our soul forward, the crowd rocked to Duma dum mast kalandar. The band was introduced before he sang his last number "Man ye batha de tu ..mitwaa" from Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna.

Just like a monsoon comes in parts the show slowed down before the son of the Legend Kishoreda Amit Kumar was introduced. I really felt he needed a grander introduction for being a singer since the 70's. Rocking the floor with "bachna ye haseeno" from Hum kisi se kum nahin, he sang "Ye zameen ga rahi hai" from Teesri Kasam and "Ye jawani ye diwani" from Jawani Diwani. RDB - "the boss" rocks. When Amit Kumar introduced Ashatai, the crowd was in frenzy. Clad in a yellow saree she would pass on for a young singer in her 30's with her voice. The ravages of time and weather has not taken the charm out of her voice. 

"Aaj ki raat koi anne" from RD for the movie "Anamika", got the audience to see Helen on stage even when she was not present physically. Ashatai enthralled the audience with the tale of how the song "poocho na yar kya hua" was made. The trip to Nepal and RD asking a Nepalese village girl "Kanchi tum kya gaa rahi thi" and the song went on to inspire the song "Poocho Na Yaar Kya Hua" for the movie Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai. Ashatai is still amazed at the ways the songs are distorted these days. Elucidating the same she demonstrated how these days Hotel California, performed by the team mate Arjun with his guitar moved to "chura liya". The crowd went romantic with her next number "tu tu hai wohi..." from the movie Yeh Vaada Raha.

Ashatai went on to narrate the difficulty of being a playback singer when she had to practice 8 days before she could sing a song for RDB, as he had said that if you can’t sing it, we can change it. Which Tai feels is insulting to a singer. And the song was "aaja aaja..", which the boss lost to Tai as the version she snag turned out to be more popular than the version by Mohammed Rafi Saheb. Singing with Amit Kumar was an experience to Tai as she had seen Kishoreda getting married to Ruma Guha Thakurta and when Amit Kumar was born. She sang the next number with him "jab andhera hota hai" (the full song). To the shock of all present there the smoke machine hurt Ashatai and she went inside asking a relevant question "aap dhuvan dekhne aathe hai ya gaana sunne". Breaking the silence Amit sang "jaane jaa" and the line tum kahan prompted Ashatai to come back saying "main yahan". When "We will we will rock you" moved to "O haseena zulfon wali" by Amit Kumar joined by Ashatai, the crowd was transformed to a house full of Shammi Kapoor rocking their heads in his style. Amit Kumar stole the hearts of the gathering with his father's antics and voice passed on in a legacy with his songs. Kishore da and Pancham together was remembered with Mahmood Bhai the King of Comedy with the "Dole dole dole" punch for the following song picked from how Kishoreda petted his son Amit Kumar. The result of which was the "Boss's" number for Amithab Bachan for the movie Bombay to Goa "Dekha na hai re soc ha na" & on popular demand a repeat of the same and "Saamne ye kaun aaya" made everyone enjoy the evening. The only sadness for all Amithab Bachchan Fans was that till then there were no AB songs. To thier hearts content Amitkumar rendered the song "Jahan teri ye nazar hai" from Kalia in the inimitable style of his father and the AB Fans cheered him like never before.

After singing the duet "Ek main aur ek tu" with Amitji, Ashatai went on to crack two jokes after seeking permission, just proving how naive such a living legend could be and her saying that during live singing there could be mistakes and apologizing for it, just teaches how simple and humble a person should be. The jokes were also interesting about a compounder, doctor and the patient, where the patient has a problem of seeing two for one and the same is the case with the compounder, breaking into which the doc exclaims why a crowd is there in his clinic. Tai also narrated how Ramlal was sad about the child being born small in spite of being born after 20 years.

Then was the time for demonstrations. After singing "Do lafzon ki hai dil ki kahani" for us, AB fans delight Ashatai started with how varied were RDB's songs with "mera pyaar shalimar"; african song patterns in "bhali bhali ek soorat"; Jazz in "aa dekho mujhe dekho"; rap in "mera nam hai shabnam" and went on to sing the song composed in 15 minutes which he never wanted to and got Ashatai to sing it - "Mera kuch saamaan". Opening yet another page in her life, she narrated how RDB had come to her for an autograph hearing her sing the semi classical song composed by her father Dinanath Mangeshkar "Yuvathi mana darun". She sang the song without the tabla playing the beats on congo drums. The excitement reached the pinnacle with "O mere sona re sona re" and "dum maro dum"

The naughty side of Tai prompted her to lighten the minds of the audience by mimicking "thora man darpan" as sung by Noorjehan aappa in the age old singing style of yester years, her sister Latha Mangeshkar with the trade marked "Jai Shree Krishna", Pandit Bhimsen joshi with the classical touch, an 8 yr old boy with the antics and Helenji with her sensuousness.

All good things have to come to an end and so did the show. The team members were introduced and she sang "piya tu" for the finale. She came forward with Amitkumar and bowed the audience thanking them for the support. The Orchestra ended it with a grand crescendo and audience went rushing towards the stage to get a glimpse of Tai. She sang a few lines from the song "Dil cheez kya hai aap mere...maan lee jiye" and said "Ab mera kehna maano aur ghar chale jao, raat bohoth ho chuki hai". Then we realised it was almost 2:00 in the morning. What a night. With Boss's songs and Tai's voice everyone would have felt the same - Rahul and I.

- vaazhka bhaaratham -