Me-myself

Aadmi aadmi ko kya dega...
Jo bhi dega...wahi khuda dega..

Gazal from the album Someone Somewhere.....the last from the duo of Jagjit & Chitra....after this Chitra just retired into seclusion....after the shocking death of their only son Vivek..in a tragic road accident.!!

Each & every gazal from this album is a gem....you will find a new sound...a new wave in every gazal!

Mere dukh ki koi dava na karo....
Mujhko mujhse abhi juda na karo..

Another gem of a gazal....a solo from Chitra...different sounds...interesting sounds...in every stenza.....I can feel the pain of a lover..who wants to be in a solitude!!

Pain can be sweet....if you are able to appreciate the talent of Jagjit & Chitra...!!!

Dekha to mera saya bhi....mujhse juda mila...
Socha to har kisi se....mera silsila mila...

Last from the album ....a solo by Jagjit...the masetro himself....typical deep voice..and small harkatein...which are trademark of Jagjit's gayaki...!! You want to listen it...again & again...that's the magic of Jagjit.

I often wonder...is this something...only I feel...or there are others as well...in this world...who do feel the sameway...?? God knows....who cares...!!!

Expressions...?? what are they..?? Can feelings be expressed in words?? May or may not be..!! But then why there are few songs/poems ..which directly touch your soul & heart... definitely words can express feelings..to such an extent..that a dead heart can feel the beats again!!!

Then words woven with music....make it more expressive...more easily absorbable...more touching!
So when the magician of words and the maestro of gazal singing come together...it becomes a treat to listeners..gazal lovers...!!! Yes...Gulzar and Jagjit Singh..the duo need no introduction...marasim is an album by them...gift for people like us.
"Haath choote bhi to...rishte nahi chora karte...
waqt ki shaakh se..lamhe...nahi toda karte..."

That's the 1st gazal...of the album...beautiful words..rendered beautifully by jagjit singh in his velvet voice.
The pain in his voice..can be felt...I don't know from where he brings that! Such a deep and effective voice takes you in a superficial world...they call it 'shoonya' !! I think heaven is not any where else..but on this very earth...!!

Who is a good manager?? What is that quality which is a must...in a manager? I think..above all he should have a respect for his subordinates, he should be sensitive to his subordinates.
I don't care about anything else...whether he has got the business acumen or not, whether he has good communication skills or not...whether he is hardworking or not... all these qualities are of no use, if the manager is insensitive, doesn't respect his subordinates, and treats them as resources, instead of human beings!!!
Resources ...who are to be used to gain profits, who are to be put on fire to light the corporate house... that's it they are...in the eyes of such managers...they forget that their subordinates are not just resources...they are alive human beings...!

I have seen such insensitive managers in my career till now...which makes me feel sometimes that I could have done better than those...and I don't think they can do any good to the company they work for. It is due to such managers, that many good resources ..bright talent leaves the organization...as talent is always in demand in the market...and only those..who are useless..who have got no qualifications...remain in the organization..because they are ready to lick their manager's ass..!!! I could not find any other words to express..!

But again...management is something...I never ever fancied...I have never led anywhere..in my life..I have always been a team member... be it in school...college..be it within friends...in cricket team..or in my career till now..!! I have never led a group...I have always been doing my job..in any team..and..I have always been happy doing that.
My brother always encouraged me to do MBA...get into management..since I was in 3rd year of my Engineering...infact I took coaching for CAT..wrote CAT in final year...but probably..deep in my heart I was never ready for that..!

But again...things are changing so fast in the world...I don't know..what will happen in future..with so many engineers graduating every year..compitition is throat cutting...in India...what is the future of a software engineer..that too in old mainframe technologies?

Moreover...I am not an ambitious person....I have small dreams..I want to go back to my city..I don't want to live in Metros...I would be a happy person..if I can lead a comfortable life in my own city with my family..parents..my friends!
I don't know what's there in future for me... but I have never ever planned things in my life..took it as it came to me...that's how I am ..that's how I am made..and I can't change!

Wow...now, if I read this blog from start...great deviation from the subject I started with!! :-)
Is it about me...or a good manager? :-)

Sochte aur jagte.... sanso ka ik dariya hoon main..
apne gumdashta...kinaro ke liye bahta hoon mai...

Gulam Ali sings this gazal and I keep on listening it agian and again!
Although not everything is easy to understand, due to the use of difficult urdu words in the poetry, but the melody is beautiful...the very inimmitable style of Ghulam Ali..free flow of voice...and classical touch...makes me to say... 'wah wah wah' .. :-)

Sometimes I feel that Gulam Ali is even more talented than many other classical singers.
His improvisations, and imaginations are really a treat to listeners.
If I can immitate atleast 1 gazal of him...then I will consider myself a singer...of good musical acumen.

Aapko dekhkar dekhta rah gaya...
kya kahoon..aur kahne ko kya rah gaya...

aise bichde sabhi raat ke mod par....
akhri humsafar raasta rah gaya....

when I listen this gazal sung by Jagjit Singh with my headphones ..full volume..it takes me to a different world...a world of emotions and imagination.... Jagjit Singh and his Gazals have always had a deep impact on me.... what a deep and sensitive voice he has got... gives his rendering of gazals a different edge... although not that technically complicated as compared to the other gazal maestro..Ghulam Ali.... but very effective.

I am not an emotional man...very little at emotions... so sometimes when I feel totally bereft of emotions....it is at this very hour....when Gazals.. and especially Jagjit's gazals help me... they charge me with emotions and sensitivity. I once again start to feel...feel for life.

Since I have been listening his Gazals for nearly 7-8 years now.... with each and every gazal I associate some or other memories from my childhood, from my college life...so a particular gazal of Jagjit takes me back in that time.

Sometimes I feel that I like to dwell in past much more than being in present...or imagining about future....!! probably that's the reason why I like to read about history related topics.
But people say that dwelling in past is a waste... but I cant help it...and I dont care about what others think about it.

duniya parai hui....mera thikana gaya...
ansoo hain sathi mere...ab muskurana gaya....

That's the song I am listenning to..right now... Hariharan's album 'Halka Nasha'.
What a wonderful singer he too..is.... great control over the fluent voice...and such a meticulus classical training...you can see in his songs.. he is one of the 3 great gazal singers I like.

The 3rd one is not to mention..one of the toughest to mimic..or copy...or immitate... the one and only..Ghulam Ali..! His rendition of gazal...thumri..or any other light classical forms..is such a master piece that no one can sing exactly with the same perfection.
His voice is not that sweet or deep as Jagjit's voice.... but still his style is unparallel to anyone.

I still remember those school and college days.... when me and my brother..who is also a gazal fan like me.... used to discuss for hours..on gazals... comparing these 3 maestros..trying to immitate their styles..and fighting over..as who is great out of the 3.
Similarly I got a great friend in my intial 2-3 months training in Trivandrum in TCS....he was also a music lover... specially gazals... and incidently we had to share the same room in the hotel...so here that room became like a recording studio..:-)

We used to sing...immitate...discuss over music...for hours...late night...now I really crave for such a musical company...especially the music that I like.... but alas..!!! no-one is here with that taste.. so sometimes I feel frustrated.
Anyways.... that's the way it goes...it depends on an individual...if he can find the company he wants...or if he becomes like the company he has got.
wow...!!.. that sounds poetic statement..!! :-)

Yesterday I watched one program on BBC channel4, about 1972 Munich Olympic where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by the Palestinian terrorists and after that massacre Israel decided to take revenge with those who were the master minds behind this attack.
'Mossad', Israel’s intelligence agency, took up this task to eliminate all those leaders of Palestine who had some or the other connection with this massacre.
It was really surprising and awe striking to see a government run agency targeting it's enemy as professional killers. More over they assassinated their enemies not in their own country, but across Europe and Middle East. Their enemies were living or hiding in countries as Lebanon, France, Rome, Greece etc.. But they succeeded to kill all of them.


Whether it was right act or wrong… is a matter of debate….but this definitely shows what is an Israeli’s commitment to his task and the determination. Israelis showed that they value their countryman’s life, and if their 1 man is killed they kill 10, a tit for tat policy.

Whether it resolved Israel’s problems…. whether it helped to curb terrorism in Israel… a big NO…. but even if Israel wouldn’t have taken this revenge…terrorism wouldn’t have stopped…..at least this revenge sent a strong message to terrorists that they will also meet the same fate of those innocents whom they kill ……..at least it terrified the terrorists!!!

Just imagine if India can adopt such a policy with regards to terrorism…no way…are you mad…..we believe in gandhiyan way…which is a way of non violence…a way of love…, there is no place for such a revenge and bloodshed…. That’s why we see everyday some or other terrorist or naxalite or Maoist or whatever you call them, killing innocent citizens and soldiers …..but we are holding the peace talks with those, so called freedom fighters.. because we believe that we got our freedom through non violent methods…we have full faith in our tried and tested non violent formula….so we will definitely be able to win hearts of terrorists…!!!!!

Those who kill innocent children, rape women, and kill man with utmost cruelty, can they have a heart to win..??? ..and winning hearts at the cost of whom…. ??Not at the cost of those leaders….but at the cost of lives of common men..!!
This policy can never stop terrorism… if this was the case, then why Punjab needed a man like KPS Gil, to convert it to a terror free state from a terror zone…..was he preaching love and non violence there on the streets of Punjab..??

Today I watched it second time and immediately have decided to watch it once again.That's the charisma of this movie called 'SWADES',a film by an Indian,about an Indian, for Indians.

A very daring efforrt by Ashutosh Gowarikar in times when there is a flood of senseless and rubbish films, full of item numbers, item girls,sex and double meaning comedies!!
As long as direcotrs like Ashutosh Gowarikar and Farhan Akhtar are there in the film industry,some class and quality will always be there in Hindi film industry.

Every single actor has performed brilliently,and each and every character is well defined.It is easily Shahrukh's best performence because I am going to watch this movie 3rd time(Before this I was the member of 'Shahrukh sucks' gang..)!!
Gayatri Joshi, the new face has never looked like a new comer and gave a fine performence.Each and every song of this film, infact each and every stanza of each and every song has very prominent message which has been communicated with very fresh and melodious music by Rehman.All songs are totally connected with the main theme of the film and don't come out of the blue as the item numbers in other so called hit movies.

The film is about an Indian who is living a satisfying and comfortable life in US with a great job as a project manager in NASA.But he comes back to India as he wanted his beloved kaveri amma to come with him to US, as he missedher a lot.
Then he sees the real India in a small village.He sees there, the abject povery,castsism,lack
of infrastructure,illiterecy,corruption prevailing all over the country even after 50 years of its independence.
It's about how he realizes that he has some responsibility to work for his own country which badly needs people like him.
The film tries to convey the message that just complaining about all these problems and blaming government and politicians for this,is not the end of our resposibility.Infact it is not even a start,it is useless.Today we hear people saying that India can never improve...I ask who has the responsibility,only government?It is very easy to blame others but are we doing anything to improve the conditions?The movie makes viewer to think about all this and that's where it's success lies.Some moments in the film are very touching and very inspiring.

The movie is good, but I am not very hopeful that it will be a huge hit!
Well...it is true that people go to watch a movie for entertainment....but I found that this movie too had healthy entertainment..along with something to think about... now it's a different matter if we don't want to think at all about something real.
'The film is a flop', told one of my friends,I know it's not going to do huge business,but such films not doing good, shows the current mental status of our generation.It shows that who are the ideals of our generation, when it goes mad about shahrukh as a lover boy whose only aim in the life seems to win the heart of his girlfriend and finally to marry her and when it doesn't accept the same shahrukh as Mohan Bhargava who leaves all comforts to work at the grassroots for his country.

But we don't loose hope as the whole world lives on hope.India is changing, the film itself is a proof of it and we,the people of India will change it.