Relationships

Relationship

I think , it starts with what people have to do with each other- be they knit to you by blood like your siblings ,familial cousins ,elders in the family , friends ,acquaintances or casually met persons.

Unless you relate to a person, relationship cannot progress . Love and trust are the two sides in any  relationship ..

Love and trust are build over a period of time. They are never instantaneous .The bond grows stronger . However it can sustain the wrath of time , only when there is a give and take . You give love and exchange it with trust . This kind of exchange over a prolonged period ,can grow into a bond and  be termed as relationship .

Familiarity breeds contempt .Over dependency on one another, leads to expectations. When expectations go unnoticed , a sort of resentment sets in .Comparisons to how much you have sacrificed in the relationship and the returns start upsetting the balance and thus lead to the third angle

.The automatically formed third angle  is denoted as hate- when betrayal of expectations takes place . This again is circumstantial or may be a point of view.

Just as they say- one person's poison is other person's food. Similarly what may sound as betrayal of love and trust may itself be the manifestation of imaginary thoughts .And when the mind starts wandering and wondering, nothing can stop it. You see demons where none exists .You start guessing all kinds of weird and uncannily thought scenarios. You start building defences , where none are required .

This can lead to disastrous consequences ,not only among people but even nations. Although it may start with people. at the grassroots , religion and politics may invite national contours .

What plays a major role in fomenting such kind of extreme behavioral pattern is - EGO . The hurt , pain ,  agony over a minor incidence is enough ammunition to raise the ante.

No rational explanation , logical thinking , mediation can satiate this monster. It just grows and grows, till it engulfs you with the thought of revenge . Nothing short of that will broker peace of mind

And Revenge leads to disaster .

Dilip Apte

September 1 , 2014

Rumblings

Have been awake since 2 a m . No reason for that ,but sleep eluding me .

And as usual ,when you lie awake , mind wanders , then wonderful thoughts start playing all sorts of drama in your brain- thereby driving away ,even the reason to be in bed.

 Here they are

During the ancient times , I feel people had the fighting spirit to stand up for the right causes and fight for them.

Look at Ram and Laxaman. Do you remember , Rishi Vishwamitra , coming to the court of King Dashrath and asking him to lend his sons for some time ,to fight the demons , who were causing a lot of trouble by continuously interrupting and disturbing the religious Yagnas, the Rishis were undertaking . King Dashrath readily agreed to this and Ram  / Laxaman accompanied Rishi Vishwamitra to destroy the demons successfully.

Later ShriKrishna did the same by killing Kauns and the Pandavas ,during their self-imposed exile after the Khandav-van fire followed suit, when Bhim killed Bakasur , who was causing immense misery to the people . Jarasandh too was similarly disposed off ,with tactical help of Shrikrishna .

The destruction and annihilation of evil forces trying to disrupt the society , has thus been going on and on .

Mohammad Gazni , Mohammad Ghori , Ghengis Khan  and other marauders invaded and looted the Country ,but except for Porus ,who successfully protected the Country against Alexander , there was little resistance from the laity or the rulers of that time.

The Moghuls invaded the Country and changed the entire scenario .Except for Akbar, who was truly a great ruler, his descendants led the anarchy and destructed the social fabric of the Country

The scenario changed for a few decades when Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj successfully defended and established a rule of law in the Country .

Vasco de Gama , came and established , his own fiefdom and so did the British under the guise of traders .The British went on to overthrow the already weak Moghuls and govern the whole Country.

This is not a lesson in history- have patience.

Then came the Congress misrule of almost 60 years . The divide and rule policy of the British combined with the inherited qualities of deceit and duplicity combined with avarice and corruption ,served well for the Congress to firmly conquer the imagination of the Country.

Over the centuries the fighting spirit of the people waned , until it totally disappeared and there remained no difference between the laity and a herd of cows. Whatever is left today is the will to fight each other- rather than the evil in the World.

Christians and Muslims and Sikhs etc. are not aliens . Not even 0.1 percent of them are original Christians or Muslims ,but descendants of people locally born and or who adopted  the religion of their choice . This Country belongs as well to them as to Hindus .

The practice of wearing your religion on your sleeves and establishing or brandishing it in public is absurd and wrong .Religion is a personal choice and should be confined to the threshold of the house . Any public display of the same is pure hypocrisy and serves no purpose except fanning animosity.

I N D I A - Independent Nation Declared In August , was I believe how India came to be known by that name. Pakistan chose their name ,while our so called pseudo- secular forefathers accepted what the British thought to give them .

 India is still referred to as Hindustan by Pakistan , Bangladesh and Afghanistan . Whatever you may call a nation by name ,the status of the people does not change .

I believe , a referendum should be held in the Country  and the name finally once for all be decided .

We should fight the enemy within and  the known enemy outside unanimously , instead of fighting with  each other .

No religion advocates War and we should respect all religions .

Maybe just maybe ,I make no sense , but so be it

Dilip Apte

Anarkali (1953)

1 November 2013

Anarkali (1953)

Anarkali Poster

Let us talk about the film - Anarkali - released in 1953.

The star-cast comprised of Pradeep Kumar as the young Jahangir [Salim] and Beena Rai as his beloved 'Anarkali' [Nadira].

The film was a Musical Hit and went on to celebrate Golden Jubilee. It was the highest grossing film of 1953 and again ranks 2nd in the top 25 Best Musical Films of all times according to IMDb.

The story is well-known and we need not go into it again.

The Music was composed by C Ramchandra [though initially Basant Prakash - brother of famous Music director Khemchand Prakash was entrusted with the Musical score.He had also recorded a song in Geeta Dutt's voice]. When C Ramchandra took over, he insisted upon the Filmistan people [the producers] that all songs would be sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This was agreed upon, although in the final cut, a song of Geeta Dutt was retained and that is the famous song - "Aa jaane wafa".




The film had total 12 songs, with 11 composed by C Ramchandra and 1 by Basant Prakash.

Anarkali (1953) Poster

This film was a musical hit. The first ever 'Binaca Geetmala' Annual Program of 1953 - saw  "Ye Zindagi usiki hai" catapulted to  the No. 1 position. This song came in parts in the film. The first two stanzas were when the lovers happy in each others company. The 3 rd stanza - jo dil yahan na mil sake signalled their despair and separation, while the last 2 were of unrequited love, when Anarkali was being cemented into a wall on all sides. Lata Mangeshkar gave her soul in singing this song.

There were other beautiful songs too other than the above  viz. 1. Jaag dard isk jaag [Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar];  2. Aaja ab to aaja [Lata Mangeshkar- lyricist  Shaillendra]; 3. Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai [Lata Mangeshkar] 4. Muzse mat puch mere ishq mein kya rakkha hai [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 5. Muhabbat mein aise kadam dagmagaye [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 6. Dua kar ghame dil khuda se dua kar [Lata Mangeshkar].

It was not for nothing that C Ramchandra insisted on Lata Mangeshkar for the songs. The results bear testimony of his belief in her

Altogether 4 lyricist were involved in writing the songs - with Shailendra, Hasrat and Jan Nissar Akhtar penning 1 each, while the rest were written by Rajinder Krishan.

This Filmistan produced film, went on to establish 'Filmistan' as a leading production house of repute.

Binaca Geetmala - in 1952

24 October 2013

Binaca Geetmala - in 1952

Friends, for this new blog, we have decided to talk about songs from Binaca Geetmala for a few inaugural posts. Let us start from the very first program of Binaca Geetmala, which was broadcast for the first time on 3^rd December, 1952.  There were 5 programs during the 5 Wednesdays and the final program was broadcast on 31^st December, 1952

Radio in those days

Binaca Geetmala Program, was sponsored by Ciba Geigy Ltd., the makers of toothpaste and toothbrush in India in addition to other products.  The program was a novelty - never before was such a sponsored program broadcast. The generation of today may not be able to gauge the impact this had on the minds of people then, but suffice to say that there are generations and generations of people in India who hold it dearly to their heart.

A Young Amin Sayani

A young 21 year old man was entrusted the job of presenting this novel idea to the Radio Listeners in India on an experimental basis. He had to write the program, produce it and broadcast it in his own voice. 

Exactly at 8 pm on 3^rd December, 1952 - Radio Ceylon [as it was called then] reverberated with the baritone of Amin Sayani's voice - "Bhaiyo aur Behno”. [HMV company which released a cassette later contains these very words said by Amin Sayani himself - where he further states that it was a program which entered the hearts of people right from its maiden broadcast.]

It cant exactly be coined as Annual Program, though on the basis of letters received from listeners, 9 most popular songs were short-listed and broadcast.

The songs broadcast were:

Amin Sayani with CD on Binaca Geetmala

No. 9 - Main pagal mora manwa pagal – Film - Ashiana, Talat Mehmood - Madan Mohan - Rajinder Krishan

No. 8- Tasveer banata hoon teri- Film-Deewana- Mohd. Rafi-Naushad- Shakeel Badayuni

No. 7- Dekho Jaadu bhare more nain- Film-Asmaan-Geeta Dutt-O P Nayyar-Prem Dhavan

No. 6- Mohabbat hi na samjhe wo zalim-Film- Parchhai-Talat Mehmood- C Ramchandra-Noor Lakhnavi.

No. 5- Main dil hoon ek arman bhara- Film- Anhonee- Talat Mehmood-Roshan-Satyendra Atthaiya.

No. 4- Ye hawa ye raat ye chandani- FilmSangdil- Talat Mehmood-Sajjad Hussain-Rajinder Krishan

And then the top 3 popular songs [as we know them today] were presented

No. 3- Dil mein chupakepyar ka- Film- Aan- Mohd. Rafi-Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni

No. 2- Aye mere dil kahi aur chal- Film-Daag-Talat Mehmood-shankar-Jaikishen-shailendra

Then came the most popular song of 1952 according to the listeners letters

No. 1- Tu ganga ki mauj main- Film Baiju Bawra- Mohd. Rafi/Lata Mangeshkar- Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni.

During the 4 preceding weeks 2 songs from Aan, 2 songs from Baiju Bawra,1 each from Daag, Naubahar, Shin shina ke bublaboo and Poonam also made their way into the programs in addition to the above mentioned.

We will now discuss the songs which made the cut in the first ever annual program in the later posts.

A Tribute to Manna Dey

24 October 2013

A Tribute to Manna Dey

Manna Dey receiving Dadasaheb 
Phalke award

The day dawned normally today, but seemed gloomier.

After the morning ablutions, booted my computer and understood the reason for my melancholy immediately. My friend Rohan Joshi from Bangalore had sent some bad news -- "Manna Dey no more".

I immediately rushed to the T V with the forlorn hope that the news may be false. But this rarely happens. The News channel confirmed the news.

The mind went into a turmoil. All the images of this gentleman of gentlemen flashed through the mind.

Manna Dey aka Prabodhchandra Dey, who made his début as a playback singer in 'Tamanna' in 1942, was a worthy nephew of a great singer Kishen Chandra Dey (more popularly known as K C Dey).

Manna Dey with his uncle K. C. Dey

A graduate and sports-lover, Mannada as he was fondly called recorded his first song under the aegis of his Uncle K C Dey - a duet with Suraiya - Jago ayee usha pochey boley jago. It was an instant hit and there was no turning back.

He sang with Meena Kapoor, Suraiya, Umadevi (Tun Tun), Rajkumari and many others, including many solo songs. He sang for Anil Biswas, Jaffer Khurshid, Pandit Indra and others. Then in 1950, he sang for 'Mashaal', under the tutelage of Sachin Dev Burman, the famous "Upar gagan vishal". This made him a household name all over India.

There was no looking back after that. Manna Dey was sought after by all composers - Anil Biswas, Khemchand Prakash, S K Pal, Shankarro Vyas, S D Burman, and others.

In 1952 he sang for a Marathi and Bengali movie by the same name - 'Amar Bhupali' which again became an instant hit.

Manna Dey with Salil Choudhary

In 1953, Salil Choudhary made him even more popular - with the songs from 'Do bigha zameen’. Both the songs with Lata Mangeshkar 1-' Hariyala sawan dhol bajata aaya' and 2- 'Dharti kahe pukar ke..... mausam beeta jay' turned out to be chartbusters. Dharti kahe pukar ke was also a part of the first annual Binaca Geetmala program of 1953.

However his association with Raj Kapoor and Shankar-Jaikishen which began during 'Awara' [remember-'Tere bina aag ye chandani'] took him to another level with 'Boot Polish' in 1954. Thereafter Shankar-Jaikishen / Raj Kapoor / Manna Dey worked together in many films, Shree 420, Chori Chori to name a few.

Manna Dey

His most productive years in Hindi were from 1954 to 1959, wherein he recorded more than 200 songs. Music Directors sought him out - Naushad, K.Dutta, Vasant Pawar & Ram Kadam, Vasant Desai, Ravi, S.K.Pal, Avinash Vyas, S. N. Tripathi, C Ramchandra, Husanlal Bhagatram, , O. P. Nayyar, G.Ramanathan, S D Burman,Shankar Jaikishen, Ghulam Mohhammed, Bipin Dutta, Rabin Banerjee, Roshan, Sapan Jagmohan from 1954 to 1968.

He also sang for New Music Directors of the 60's Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and R D Burman  [who made him sing westernised tune songs - AaoTwist kare and Pyar karta ja].

Can we  ever forget Manna Dey songs  like "Lapak Jhapak Tu Aa Re" from Boot Polish(1954),  Tu Pyar Ka Sagar Hai" from Seema(1955), "Yeh Kahani Hai Diye Aur Toofan Ki" from Toofan Aur Diya (1956) composed by Vasant Desai, "Humdum Se Gaye" from Manzil (1960), "Aye Mere Pyare Watan" from Kabuliwala (1961), "Laga Chunari Mein Daag" from Dil Hi Toh Hai (1963), classical songs like "Sur Na Saje" from Basant Bahar (1956), "Kaun Aya Mere Mann" from Dekh Kabira Roya (1957), "Pucho Na Kaise Maine Rain" from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen (1963), "Jhanak Jhanak Tore Baje Payalia" from Mere Huzoor (1965); folk based songs like "Kisi Chilman Se" from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962), "Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen" from Waqt (1965), "Chalat Musafir Moh Liya" from Teesri Kasam (1967), "Aao Aao Sawariya", and duets with Lata like "Masti Bhara Yeh Sama" from Parvarish(1958), "Nain Mile Chain Kahan" from Basant Bahar (1956), "Kehdoji Kehdo Chupaona Pyar" from Kismat Ka Khel (1956), "Tum Gagan Ke Chandrama" from Sati Savitri (1964), "Dil Ki Girah" from Raat Aur Din (1966), "Chunari Sambhal Gori" from Baharon Ke Sapne in 1967, were chartbusters in their respective year of release. Manna Dey must be given credit  for popularising classical based solo and duet songs to the masses like the duet with Lata – "Pritam Daras Dikhao" from Chacha Zindabad . His rendition of "Kasame Vaade Pyar" from Upkar (1967) pictured on Pran and composed by Kalyanji Anandji won accolades for Dey. It was also significant in Pran’s career as he began to do positive roles after Upkaar.

Manna Dey with his wife
Sulochona Dey

Manna Dey recorded many duets with Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, Lata, Suman Kalyanpur etc.

Manna Dey got a fresh lease of life when Rajesh Khanna asked music composers to record some songs in his voice to be picturized on him- Anand, Bawarchi are examples of this.

He received the Dadasaheb Phalke award from President Pratibha Patil. He was also the recepient of Padmashri and Padmabhushan awards earlier

This is not an attempt to cover the entire life of Mannada. It is beyond my capacity. I have just tried to highlight a few of his many achievements.

Down South

Down South

2 nd August 2014 , dawned a bit early it seemed , as had to get up around 3 am , to catch the 6 a m flight to Bangalore .

The flight was uneventful, though crowded . Landed at the Airport right on time at 7.40 a m . 

The hired car was ready to whisk us away to Mysore , through the early morning traffic jam of Bangalore city .

For film aficionados , a surprise awaits on the way- in the form of a town called Ramnagaram , which did not even exist in 1975 . As you enter the town, while going to Mysore and look to your right- you see Gabbar Singh's den and imagine Samba sitting atop the hill . This setting remains unchanged even after almost 40 years . Yes this is where an entire non-existing village materialized to make the film realistic.

Mysore is a laid-back city , reminding one of Pune of the sixties- roads resembling Ferguson Road , Junglee Maharaj Road ,Deccan Gymkhana type bungalows , etc. The hospitality of Karnataka State Tourism Hotel, was truly admirable.

The evening was devoted to visit the famous Vrindawan Gardens , near the Krishnasagar dam , on the river Cauvery and a bone of contention between the 2 states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu . Oh how I wished had skipped this outing. Vrindawan Gardens was a total disappointment. Neither was there a Garden , nor were the Musical fountains functioning. The gardens are encroached upon by eateries selling everything . A quagmire of filth and dirt . Imagine on the day I visited , there were ,more than 5000 cars and 100 buses bringing visitors to witness the marvel of Vrindawan Gardens as depicted in - Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje- 1955=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBjSqI21mE

Totally disappointed with the apathy of the Karnataka government and the lack of security there.

Next morning- The Mysore Palace- Gigantic- huge beyond imagination- clinging to the glory of the past .

Off to Medikeri [ Coorg as it is known to us ]- the land of our first Army Chief- Gen. Carriappa, who stands tall in the form of a statue at the main square .

The welcome at the Karnataka Tourism hotel here was unimaginably friendly. We got our booking dates mixed up and landed in Coorg, when we were supposed to be in Ooty. A dicey situation. However the manager Mr. R T Ramesh- not only accommodated us, but even managed to convince the Ooty hotel to adjust our dates accordingly . Truly admirable hospitality . Coorg was very cold- rainy and cloudy.

On the way to Coorg visited a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Kushalnagar. Impressed with the Temple of peace and the monks conducting prayer. Imagine about 2500 miles away, the Lamas have come to spread peace in their own way

Highway on my Plate [ H O M P ]- is a program I avidly watch on N D T V -Good Times- not for the outlandish shenanigans of the hosts -Rocky and Mayur- but for the places they visit and the food . Being a foodie- I like to visit and taste foods at different places. Went to Coorg Cuisine- a restaurant they visited- Well not much to write about - the food was o k.

Could not visit any Coffee plantations due to the incessant rain and the heavy slush in them.

Off to Ooty the next day- And what a revealing journey it was- through Bandipur /Madumalai forest, encountering a near fatal encounter with a baby elephant, who suddenly had issues with our car and started nudging it, while the mother watched from a distance- ready to intervene if needed to protect the child. The driver panicked and started honking, which agitated the baby more. Other cars which had stopped and were merrily clicking pictures, asked us to take our car back. The short episode ended after we reversed our car and the baby elephant lost interest and left the road to join the mother . Scary for sure.

The drive to Ooty was simply beautiful- dense forests ,Bandipur in Karnataka and across the human made boundary- Madumalai belonging to Tamilnadu .The sandalwood smuggler Veerrappan had surely made this part notorious for some time . The boundary was surely for humans as animals wandered from one state to another merrily, unmindful of the barriers the humans had erected for themselves .What an equalizer these animals are. Will we humans every learn from them.

The winding roads and sharp hair-bend turns ushered in cold piercing weather, cloudy rain-filled sky erupting in torrents- making the journey more memorable but surely making us wonder about our fate in reaching safely.

The purpose of my visit to Ooty was to ride the World Heritage Toy train and to meet Mansoor Khan [ son of the illustrious Producer Director Nasir Hussain of the fifties-sixties and seventies] Producer Director- of successful hits like- Qayamat se Qayamat tak [aamir Khan-Juhi chawla] and Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar [ aamir Khan / Ayesha Jhulka] . Had heard a lot about his 'Acres Wild " farm- where he has devoted his energy .Was glad I could do both

Meeting Mansoor Khan was a revelation , his concern for environment and the destruction humans have caused has come out pretty strongly in his book - "The Third Curve " is contagious. He shuttles between cities giving lectures at I I M 's and other institutions making people aware of what needs to be done to postpone the inevitable destruction of Earth.Charity begins at home they say and he practices - what he preaches at his farm. [ by the way his wife Tina, makes international standard Cheese too] .

A day's halt in Mysore- again a visit to a memorable down to earth eatery - Gayatri Tiffin Rooms [G T R as it is popularly known ] which came to my attention by way of H O M P. Marvelous cuisine- a must visit ,when in Mysore

Back to Bangalore- an hour with Anmol- Sanjivani's apple of the eye and rightly so. The trip to Bangalore cannot be said to be successful and complete without meeting Lax KV and Lalita Laxminarayan 's grandson .Oh how fast the boy is growing- simply amazing to connect with him

Dinner at Visalakshy & Sreenivasan's place. The gracious hosts trying to make us comfortable and welcome to their abode . A few hours among friends to rejuvenate . Her son Varun teaching me some unknown things about my phone [ which I have already forgotten again Visalakshy ].

Lunch date next day with the most gracious host Rohan Joshi, who found time to regale with anecdotes and host us at one of the old and prestigious clubs in Bangalore- The Bangalore Club- which ostensibly was started by the British in the nineteenth century . The list of past Presidents was impressive, with a citation from Winston Churchill himself . Am sure Rohan will not stop here and continue to initiate us with Bangalore of yore

Meeting my friend Surya Prasad , the next day ,after visiting my absent friend Lax KV's house and having a cuppa kappi.

!2 th August dawned and back to Mumbai ,after 10 days of tiring bliss.

Need an encore