Ahimsa Parmo Dharma!!

Ironical it is…..that just few weeks back…in the wake of Kasab’s hanging….there was debate and the human rights activists, various intellectuals and media as well were talking about doing away with capital punishment. Some often repeated statements to vindicate their demand were: Hate the crime, and not the criminal. The society, the system is responsible for the person who becomes criminal, so just killing the convict does not solve the problem, hence don’t kill them. Every convict must be given a chance to repent & reform him/herself in order to be brought back to the civil society. Many developed countries in Europe and other parts of the world have already banned capital punishment, so should India.…etc..etc.

Now today, no matter which channel I watch on TV, I only hear one demand from one and all…..be it politicians, activists, celebrities or general public, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT for all those rapists who committed this heinous crime in a school bus in our country’s capital! In-fact many of them have demanded even much harsher, more severe form of punishment…such as, keeping them alive but ostracize them socially, not giving them any job, any social status, any respect, or rotting them up in kala pani styled jail for the whole life, some have gone even further talking about making them impotent, or piercing them similarly with rod as they did to the girl and so on.


After observing these two opposite views coming up within last few weeks, from the same set of people, certain questions did come up in my mind:


What is the difference between an act of rape against a woman of my country and an act of terrorism against my country that only the act of rape should attract capital punishment and those terrorists should be given a chance to reform?


If terrorists deserve a chance to reform on the basis of the above mentioned reasoning which was so prevalent in media at the time of Kasab’s hanging, then based on the same reasoning why not a rapist be given a chance? After all….they too are human beings….though their acts suggest otherwise!


Now let me explain what’s my opinion about this – I think, capital punishment has to be there and if enacted swiftly in a proper way, it can surely act as a deterrent. And especially in these two particular cases, it is more important and in-fact a duty of the state, to send a strong message to all evil minds….their very bones should be shaken by the fear and terror of possible consequences of committing such crimes! I consider the act of terrorism against our country by a foreign aggressor, equally serious and heinous crime if not more, than rape and in both cases the capital punishment to the convict, will surely make others think twice before committing similar crimes.


Of-course, this is not the solution in any case, but it is only a small part of the solution. Of-course lot of work needs to be done in other areas – mentality, social, political, law and administrative reforms and so on. And also, just like any other law or rule, there will be exceptions in case of capital punishment too and of-course, regard has to be given to time, place and person while meeting out such punishment by our courts. But the double standards by the so called human rights activists, intellectuals and some selfish politicians when it comes to punishing these criminals, is frustrating!!


The Hindu tradition, Yoga and spirituality talks about God’s presence in each and every human being irrespective of cast, creed, color  religion…that everyone can find that God and every man must try to find God within himself and so on. It’s really a very noble and liberating thought, we have given to the world, and we can safely and surely claim that we were the pioneers in the world of this philosophy. Also the ideal of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence is championed by Indians like nobody else on this planet (Who can forget Gandhi ji). But lets keep all this aside and lets not confuse ourselves when it comes to dealing with such evil!

Because the same tradition, has given us a very clear message that what needs to be done with such demons….Annihilate the devil with the sword of ‘Dharma’ (Justice)…just like a Rama, a Krishna or Arjuna did…pages after pages in our holy books it has been declared as man’s sacred duty! But due to too much of a dose of Ahimsa in recent history, it seems as if we have lost our martial spirit to resist aggression! When such lofty ideals are adopted without any regard to the time, place and person, then those ideals become corrupted, rotten and harmful to the very followers of those ideals.  

History re-written!

‘Six glorious epochs of Indian History’ (Originally written in Marathi as ‘Saha soneri Pane’ by Veer Savarkar) – A commentary and not exactly a history…on some important & significant chosen events from our history…to tell the wonderful story of the survival & growth of the Hindu race….amidst the invasion after invasion of foreign powers for centuries together!

Amazing work by Veer Savarkar. History is so full of dry events, dates, chronology, deaths, births and cold numbers….but he wrote in such a way that those very events started playing like a movie in front of eyes.

Throughout the book, his deepest faith in the ever-existence of a ‘Hindu Nation’ can be seen prominently.

He has tried to showcase based on the historical events and on his ‘circumstantial’ evidence & logic, that Hindus were not just a race of people fighting with each other without any sense of being a cohesive community or a united nation as has been portrayed by most of the foreign & even by Indian historians….but they always were a nation and their history is not a history of only defeats…. But it is full of valor, sacrifices and wins!

Infact whatever little I remember of the school text-books on history, those books never talked about India as a home of Hindus…infact India has not even been recognized as a country, rather they preferred to call it ‘Indian subcontinent’! Hindu religion as well….has been portrayed as weak and divided into many sects fighting with each other...! Chapters after chapters have only talked about the invasions and the dominance of various foreign powers over Hindus….as if Hindus have always lived like slaves throughout centuries…!

But Savarkar brought those pages out in light from the history, which other historians have neglected either intentionally or due to sheer ignorance. The details about Chandragupta, Chanakya or Vikramaditya, are known at-least to some extent to people, but I doubt if anybody from the young generation is aware of other greats like Pushyamitra, Yashodharma, Harihar & Bukka, Hemu, Guru Teg Bahadur, Raghunathrao Peshwa, and their heroics and their importance in our Indian history?

Savarkar brought to light some important historical facts to showcase the Hindu military strength of those times and the valor and indomitable fighting spirit of the Hindu race:

How may of us know that Alexander ‘the great’, who is considered as a conqueror of the world…and the greatest military genius of all time…could not even cross over the river Vyas (or Beas in the northern Part of India) and had to retreat back to Greece…as his army totally refused to march further…they were tired of fighting continuously with Indians and moreover had a fear of other massive Indian armies of Magadha empire! After managing to win over some of the frontier territories of India after many exhaustive battles, he & his army had to leave India for good and they say he was a conqueror of the world!!

And not to talk about, what happened after he left Indian shores….Did the Greeks rule forever in those parts? Not at all….within 3 years of his departure from India…all lost territories were won back by Indian kingdoms and no trace of his rule was left anywhere in India!  And guess…who were the leaders of this great political conspiracy….none other than Acharya Chanakya & his young & brave disciple Chandragupta (The future ‘Samraat’)!

Does anybody know this fact, that Saka-Kushan & Hun – those barbarous central Asian tribes, that had terrorized, plundered and demolished even the great Chinese empire to many European nations, were totally crushed by the Indian military might and whosoever of these tribes remained alive, accepted Hinduism…and got dissolved in the vast ocean of Hindu dharma….?

Does anybody know this fact, that after crushing the Huns successfully in around 530-550 AD, India practically enjoyed the immunity from any foreign invasion for almost 4-5 centuries?

Does anybody know this fact, that after the first Muslim invasion by Mohammad Bin Kasim, of Sindh in around 720 AD, India did not allow Muslims to attack and move further into India, for almost 300 years? During these same 300 years, Muslims had simply destroyed the powerful European nations of Spain & Portugal and they had run over the north African coast up to Gibraltar!  Why no history book talks about these 300 years…? Why these books give us the feel as if Muslims simply came and ran over whole of India and established the Delhi sultanate within a couple of years?

How many of us know about the once grand empire of Vijaynagar in southern India that was founded by the Hindu warriors Harihar & Bukka in around 1336 AD, when almost the whole of India had come under Muslim rule? This great independent Hindu Kingdom of Vijaynagar prospered almost for 200 years in south, fighting and defeating all the southern Muslim sultanates (The 5 ‘shahis’ created from splitting of the Bahamani kingdom)!

Even the Maratha history, which can be called recent and probably with much more recorded/written evidence….in comparison with the events mentioned above, has not been taught to Indian students with the due attention it deserves and definitely not from the national point of view.

Marathas emerged as a national force in India…which gave the final deadly blow to all the muslim powers and Marathas were the de-facto ruling force in practically through out the India. Not sure why can’t I remember of reading about Raghunathrao Peshwa’s successful wins allover the country starting from Pune upto the river Sindhu in the north! Why there was no mention of complete Maratha rule practically over whole of the India, in any of my school text-books on History? The books talk at great length about Akbar ‘the great’ and even other small Mughal, Turk, Pathan kings but hardly few pages are given to the great Hindu warriors & kings such as Rana Pratap, Rana Sanga, Great Shivaji, Guru Govind Singh, Veer Banda Bairagi and Peshwas?

This work of Savarkar, revealed to me that there was much more to the Indian history than just the Mughal dynasty & dominance of the western powers (English, Portuguese, Dutch, French) and splitting of Hindu religion into different sects due to the various perverse religious concepts of Hindus ex. Caste system etc. That’s all..what has been there in our history books!

Though I am not very sure to what extent the claim can be justified or verified…that all the above mentioned kings and warriors of Hindus were always fighting for the national cause and not just for the selfish reason of safeguarding the regions under their rule….and yes I felt Savarkar’s writings a little biased at some places in the book….but as explained above…most of other historians’ views….be foreign or Indian….have been one-sided, neglecting conveniently some very significant periods & events of our history from the Hindu point of view, that  Savarkar was left with no option but to be biased for Hindus! But even his ‘biased’ view has been backed by evidence. For every event or the fact, there is a sound reference mentioned in the appendix of the book! So he has not made simply some air castles based on some hearsay….but all his writings are backed by evidence…ofcourse the interpretation of the events & facts….has been his own…like any other historian.

The Passport story

Today I want to share a true experience of an Indian citizen with an establishment of the government. It’s a true account by Mr. Bholanath Hansmukh about the pathetic level of services, the insensitive and rude behavior and total lack of accountability he experienced at the hands of the government officials. Mr. Bholanath just like his name, is a calm and straight forward person with usually a smiling face...who worked in an IT company since almost 8-9 years, been at onshore locations outside India for couple of years. One fine day, when he was back to Ramgarh, India after finishing up his UK work assignment...he realized his passport is due to expire after 10 odd months. 

So he checked out the official passport website, and found that for the reissue application of an expired passport or to be expiring within next 1 year, one needs to provide the old passport and the address proofs of all the places where he stayed in last 1 year. Now it was only 2-3 months, since he had returned from UK, so he was concerned that what will happen if he mentions his UK address in the application form? He tried the passport office contact numbers, but nobody picked up! So he called up few passport agents, and was told, that in that case, it will take quite a long time and his file shall be sent to UK for address verification, but if he can spend Rs. 10-12000, then the agent can get his work done in 3-4 months by bribing some officials!

He was not ready to spend that much money and probably somewhere inside he was hopeful that he can get his passport reissued without bribing anybody - though he was not a person in love with lofty ideals and all....yet he was hopeful of an improved system in India, specially after seeing the online website and the facility of online application etc. Since he had no plans to go for any onshore assignments in near future and was planning to make Belapur his base, he decided to wait till he completes one year in India, and apply for the reissue after that.  But he was told by the agents, that if he changes his location from Ramgarh to Belapur within 1 year, then again his passport application will be in rounds from Belapur to Ramgarh back & forth. So he put his plans to move to Belapur on hold for the time being and waited till 1 year was over, but in the meantime, after renting a flat in Ramgarh, for around 6 months, he shifted to Junagarh as he was paying a very high rent, he wanted to save on some rent. So eventually he had 2 different addresses in the last one year of stay in India. Still he had thought that ...it will not create a big problem, as both addresses are within Ramgarh-Junagarh regions which are very close by. He didn't know that time, that he had committed a big mistake by shifting his home from Ramgarh to Junagarh!!

So after 1 year in India, Bholanath checked out on the website, and found that he has to fill an online application form and 2 sets of PP forms (Personal particulars), for the 2 different addresses he stayed at. So he submitted the form, and took the print out, on which an appointment date and a time was mentioned when he was supposed to submit his application with all necessary documents at the passport office. He was impressed by all this online stuff and he went to Junagarh passport office 15 min before the allotted date/time, only to find a long queue of almost 150-200 people ahead of him! All of them had the same date and the same time mentioned in their application forms too!  He was given a token number there, the number was 182 or something...and there he was standing in the queue waiting for his turn!! He thought.....what's the use of online application submission then??

After standing for almost 3 hours or so, when his token number was about to be displayed at one of the windows, the lunch time struck!! He would have to wait for another 30-40 min or so now….for the lunch time to be over and the officials to be back at their desk again. What a luck he had.....he thought! But he decided to wait and finish this passport business today! But while standing in the queue, he came to know that he needs to have 2 sets of copies of documents instead of 1, as per the website guidelines! Why don't they update the same on the website or why don’t they follow what’s there on the website?? Just to harass the applicant later?? What the hell! Thinking all this he ran downstairs to the photocopy shop to get the 2nd copy of all documents. At last, when it was his turn, his application form was thrown back from the window, and this time it was his mistake and not bad luck! He was supposed to mention name, address and contact number of 2 persons of the locality where he stayed in the PP forms and he ended-up writing Junagarh contact names in Ramgarh PP form as well. It was his mistake, and the official at the other side of the window was totally rude and was in no mood to cope-up with these mistakes. He was asked to print new sets of PP forms, and fill again with correct details. He was getting late for his office, and to make it worse...he didn't have additional set of photos too, he was frustrated to the core now...but at the end of the day it was his mistake and hence he was cursing himself and nobody else. The only relief was to know the fact that the online application remains valid for 5 days, from the appointment date. So you can come on any of these 5 days and submit your application. So he decided to leave and come again the next day with full preparations.

Next morning, he left for the passport office to reach 1 hour in advance from the opening hour, this time the queue was only a bit shorter than the day before....it was shorter….only for him to reach to the window just before lunch time...he still had to stand for 2-3 hours! This time he came prepared with all documents. So at his turn, the lady at the window verified his documents, and quickly submitted his application - till that time he was nervous and was praying for no mistakes to be found this time in the form or the documents!! Why there was such fear...?? Why the nervousness??  Had he committed any crime by applying for passport reissue...?? Was he submitting any false documents…??  Anyways....he was told to make the cash payment at the cash counter and get the receipt. The person at the counter was totally ignorant, took the cash and threw the receipt in disdain towards the window as if it was some trash he was throwing in a dustbin!!  Bholanath took the receipt and kissed it.....and came out of the passport office with a satisfaction of winning some sort of a battle! 

But when he looked at the receipt, he was not able to read a thing there….as if the letters were printed with some invisible ink!! Hahaha.....now he wondered how would he be able to check the status of his passport application on the website if he can't see the application number on the receipt??  Another struggle had started - now he was guessing numbers and letters by whatever little he could read on the receipt and keying in the application number on the website to check the status. After a lot of trial and error effort, he managed to decode his application number and he wrote it down in big font on the receipt and emailed to himself so as to not to loose it!  Again he had won the battle! Why there are so many battles to fight in India....when it comes to dealing with government offices/officials???

But he still had many battles to fight..........it was not as easy as he had thought to get his expired passport reissued.... he was not a Pakistani or a Bangladeshi.....it is easier for them to get a fake passport and visa in India than for a normal law abiding Indian citizen....like the protagonist of my blog!! Probably I am exaggerating here....but couldn’t help it after hearing out Bhola’s frustration with the system! 

So here was he....in hope of getting his new Passport soon now...he was waiting for the police verification call. He got a piece of paper at his flat almost one and a half months after applying for the reissue, which said he needs to report to the Junagarh police station within 2 days for the police verification between 4 to 6 pm. He went to the police station next morning to request if he could visit on coming weekend, as his office timings were 2 to 11 pm. They agreed, so he was happy thinking the ball had started rolling in right direction. On that Saturday, he had to wait in the police station for around 3-4 hours, as the queue was long there as well. But eventually his verification was done successfully and he was told that his file will go to Ramgarh police station and he should expect a call from there. Now please don't think that it was free.......I think I forgot to mention here that he had to pay Rs. 200 to police for a successful verification!

Now, he was waiting for another similar notice from Ramgarh police station....and it was more than 1 month since the Junagarh verification was over, and there was no call. In the meanwhile, the status on the website consistently showed as, 'police report not received'. He wondered how much more time will it take...so he went to Junagarh police station to inquire....there he was told that they send the cleared files immediately next day to the passport office, so he should check either with passport office or Ramgarh police station! 

So he thought first to check at Ramgarh police station.......and there he was told that they haven't received his file yet and it might be with CID! Now he was wondering what CID was doing with his file?? 

He was about to plan a visit to CID office or to passport office to inquire.....and suddenly one day he got another piece of paper at his flat...which was an exact copy of the earlier one he received from Junagarh police station! At the same time, the status on the website had changed to 'police report is adverse, show cause notice sent by post'!! He was frustrated but was trying to remain calm reminding himself that it’s India and things move at their own pace here and he should be patient. Next day he went to the police station asking why again he received the same notice, when he had already gone through the whole verification process? They expressed surprise...and asked whether he had filled the reissue form again? He told them that they had already done the verification 1 and half months back........then they checked the file again, and said that 'oh...it has come to us by mistake...it needs to go to Ramgarh police station'!! He was feeling so helpless and frustrated......but he couldn't say anything to them...apart from asking what next now? They told that they shall send his file back to passport office in 2 days and from there it shall go to Ramgarh police station. ‘Okay’....he said and left the police station with only one thought.....what wrong has he done ......is it not his right to get his expiring passport reissued??

Now Bholanath decided to go to passport office and inquire about all this....he wanted an answer.... just because of this passport issue....all his future plans about his career….his life.....were on hold....!!

So he went, the next day to passport office only to find himself again standing in a long queue.....he was surprised to see that even the inquiry queue was as big as the queue for application submission!! Once again after spending around 2 hours, his name was called and he entered along with around 4 other people into the assistant passport officer's cabin. He thought here he is going to ask the questions and seek the answers from this guy. But he was out of his mind....when he saw it was the other way round.......the officer who was supposed to answer to the questions of the applicants....was instead interrogating the applicants and was asking them whether they have brought this doc and that doc and the other!! The applicants were showing the documents as if they are applying for the passport yet again...!! Why the hell in the world they were being asked to furnish various documents when they had already submitted all the documents at the time of the application and their application was submitted only after verifying all those documents by the very same officials???  The officer was again a picture of rudeness and insensitivity.....he ill-treated an elderly man who just wanted to know when he would receive his passport as the status on the website was showing as 'passport will be sent soon' or something like that for him! At this time of point, Bholanath knew what's going to happen with his inquiry. At his turn, the officer told his police verification was pending....Bholanath told him that it was already done at Junagarh police station long back...and still his file was sent again to Junagarh.......the officer checked his file and said “oh...you have stayed in Ramgarh also......so you should have gone to Ramgarh police station.....when he told that he had visited Ramgarh police station without any success....then the officer says to him that he should have gone to Jhumri Talaiya Police station...and not Ramgarh!!  He was angry....and told that nobody informed him that he needs to go there...he was expecting to receive some sort of intimation. At this, the officer said...he can't help with that...and you need to check with Ramgarh police station why they didn't send any notification. Moreover he said...your report is showing as adverse...Bholanath asked...what's the problem. The officer said in a hurry....we need to check out the report in detail and we will let you know later!  

Bhola was totally frustrated and he decided that he can’t take it anymore now and he should ask for his passport back.....now he should not wait for any more notifications & investigations! He said to the officer...that his company is going to transfer him to Belapur by end of next month, hence if possible could they please return his old passport.

The officer said okay....write a letter mentioning all this and submit, and then we shall close your file and the old passport shall be sent to you later by post. On asking by when he shall receive his old passport...the officer got angry...and told him that he needs to entertain many other inquires...and he doesn't have time to keep answering to only one person...he asked to wait!  Bholanath couldn’t say anything…he wanted his passport back.......what a pity!  He wrote a letter in a haste and came back in the cabin…waited till the officer finished all other applicant's inquiries....then officer checked about the cancellation process with somebody over the phone and finally asked Bhola to sign at few places and gave his passport back in his hands after stamping it with a 'cancelled by passport office' stamp!!

So here was Mr Bholanath Hansmukh....with his old expired passport in his hands....it was more than 3 months since he had applied for the reissue of passport....and what he got in his hands after all this time....?? Not a new passport but the old expired one....with a cancelled stamp on it.......and yet after all this.....he had to thank the officials for giving him back his passport and closing the file!

After listening to Bholanath’s account I thought that probably he lacked the fighting spirit and the perseverance…but then I think…..what the hell……..it was just a matter of a reissue of a goddamn passport and not a freedom struggle of a country…not a warfront….not even a game of sport! Why the hell it was made so difficult for him and for many other Indians…by these government officials…why it is so difficult in India to exercise our basic rights….and the worst thing is the attitude and behavior of these officials starting from the police to the passport office………why they are so rude….why aren’t they polite…they are not even performing their duty…and they act as if they are doing a favor to us….when they submit our application or clear a verification!  Bhola had told me once…that in UK…even in a small office like a post-office, the employees did their job honestly…and treated all the customer’s with respect, politeness and courtesy! No wonder why educated people who go abroad don’t like to come back to India!

Still………Satyamev Jayate.....long live India.................India....I love you...........!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: All characters and places appearing in this write-up are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. But the write-up is inspired by real life events.

MadanMohan - Master of Melody

The 1st antara (Stanza) goes like this...


Chhup ke seene me...koi jaise sada deta hai (little and crisp alaap after the 1st time of chhup ke seene me...and she enters into the soul @ jaise sada...!)
Shaam se pahle diya dil ka jala deta hai...
hai usi ki ye sada........hai usi ki ye ada... (Uff mar dala..@sada...and ada..!)
kahin ye wo to nahi............kahin ye wo to nahi....


Zara si aahat hoti hai...to dil sochta hai... Kahin ye wo to nahi....


Aahhh...what melody....Lata ji...pierced through my heart...and I am dead!!!!


This gazal was composed by one of my most favorite composer MadanMohan. Till now...his whichever composition I have listened to......it has made a mark....it stands out distinctively from others.
Combination of MadanMohan with Lata...is a deadly one....and strikes the heart and mind both at the same time....immediately! That is the beauty of MadanMohan's compositions....he succeeds almost every-time in giving totally a new colour....able to see a different perspective of the raga...which others don't see..can't see..or fail to see! Most of the songs he got to compose, had beautiful and sensitive lyrics....his music appeals to the mind....and at the same time the emotional content of the composition appeals to the heart....and to add on...Lata ji's rendition puts icing on the cake!


Aaj socha...to aansu bhar aaye.....
Muddatein ho gaeen....muskuraye....


Another melodious song by MadanMohan....mixing of different ragas...not sure..probably Kafi and Jaunpuri..because Ga -komal, Dha -komal and Shudhha both, and Ni - Komal and Shuddha both have been used. Also, Ma - Teevra and Shuddha both have been used. - Bit complex composition but sounds so melodious and mysterious!!


I often wonder...how his mind worked while composing....how he was able to find such beautiful combination of swaras (notes), to create the melody?? All his songs mark a nice blend of western & Indian instruments....many of his songs contain beautiful pieces on Sitar...Sitar itself having such sweet sound...suits perfectly to his musical temperament I guess!


Tu jaha jaha chalega...mera saya sath hoga.... I am damn sure nobody could dislike this composition of MadanMohan...the song is immortal! Moving melody.....Lataji's voice coming from the vaccum...filling the inner vaccum....with sweet pain I should say..!


Kabhi mujhko yaad karke...jo bahenge tere aansoo... (See how she sings Mujhko 2nd time...I always fail to copy that!!)
To wahin pe rok lenge...unhe aake mere aansoo... (Goddamn...I cant hold now..!!)
Tu jidhar ka rukh karega....mera saya...sath hoga..


Mai agar bichhad bhi jaun....kabhi mera gum na karna..
Mera pyar yaad karke....kabhi aankh num na karna... (Kaise num na karu Lataji...aapne gaya hi aisa hai!! )
Tu jo mud ke dekh lega...mera saya sath hoga....


Mera gum raha hai shamil...tere dukh me tere gum me..
Mere pyar ne diya hai....tera sath har janam me...
Tu koi janam bhi lega....mera saya sath hoga...


Don't know why...every-time this song brings my mom in front of me..! Aai...God bless u!


MadanMohan sir...hats off to you.

Who created bollywood??

When first I grasped this fact that the credit for the very birth of this huge Indian film industry....goes...not to a certain Kapoor, or Chopra....or a Singh.....but to a Maharashtrian!!..... I was a bit surprised... I couldn't believe that...because being a marathi....whatever little idea I do have about the community's tendencies and the history...marathi community has more or less been a salaried class one...with very few entrepreners to name!  But once I watched this movie 'Harishchandra chi factory'..which was India's official entry for 2009 Oscars under 'Best Foreign Language Film'..... it occurred to me that this was not unbelievable...but it was only natural that this craft was brought forward to the popular culture by a marathi man! Yes...the guy's name was 'Dhundiraj Govind Phalke' (Later famously known as 'Dadasaheb Phalke'....'Father of Indian Cinema'). I had heard his name few times...for the award they give to film veterans in his honor...otherwise I had no idea who this man was...and what his achievements were.


It's a very interesting movie...it tells the story of Phalke, who was a creative at heart. Those were the days, when nobody knew about a motion picture in India...nobody could believe that one can show....alive people moving around...trees..rocks..mountains...everything what we see around us, on a curtain screen...a 'Parda'...! Only the theatre plays, nautanki or tamashas (Kind of Street plays) were the known things. It all started when Phalke in Mumbai, once saw a silent movie about life of Jesus Christ in the movie-tent(They used to show films in tents rather than a hall..that's what they showed in this film)...and immediately fell in love with this art....he envisioned to make similar motion pictures depicting Indian Gods on the screen!  He started learning about film making from all possible means...he used to stay late in those movie tents..learning from the man who rolled the reel...he read books on this subject...all this learning required money...and he had to sell almost everything which was there in his house...his wife and children always supported him in his endevour. All this learning and effort took a toll on his eyes...and he had become partially blind for sometime...though later he recovered his eyesight. Such was his dedication and love for film-making...that his friends, neighbors and all started thinking he has gone mad or become mentally ill! (Well....we know that all the great achievers of this world have been framed as 'mad' at some point or the other in their lives!)
He even managed to get some funding from a friend...for a London trip where he learned this art from the English and also bought the Camera and other equipment in order to make his own film in India. He knew nobody in London....going abroad, crossing the sea meant you become an outcast...and yet he went there to chase his dream...that's some courage!
After coming back from London..he started his film 'Raja Harishchandra'...and faced a lot of difficulties in finding the cast for his film..in making the film....in marketing the film...But overcoming all hurdles one by one...he eventually released the first ever Indian motion picture in Mumbai in 1913! And this marked the beginning of one of the world's biggest film industries!!


The movie also gives an idea of the Indian society of that time ......when women were not allowed to go to school...forget about acting in theatre/movies!....when men used to play the part of women as well in plays...when going abroad meant...loosing your religion....!....when India was under British rule...and 'Lokmanya' Tilak had been leading the nation's struggle for 'Swaraj'..!


The reason why I felt it was natural to a marathi man...to achieve this kind of a feat...is the then India's social and cultural situation where the maharashtrians were leading from the front in almost all the facets of national life. As I mentioned before...while the Lokmanya was the leading icon of India's cause of  Swaraj... Gopal Kirshna Gokhale was the face of 'moderates' in Congress. Veer Savarkar had captured the imagination of young indian revolutionaries who believed in armed resistance against the British. Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar were leading the social reform movements... such as widow remarriage, eradication of untouchability...Education to women etc. The maharashtrian society as a whole...just like the then Bengali community... was welcome to new ideas and modern education...an awakening was taking place...a transformation sorts of thing!  Hence under such a social and cultural backdrop....taking up the craft of film making....which was a new phenomena for Indians...which involved...craft...creativity....came naturally to this courageous marathi man....Phalke! Mind you...I mentioned only the 'craft' part of film making...which came natural to a marathi.....and not the 'industry' part...that's still the stronghold of Kapoors and Chopras!  :-)

Ghalib

Jagjitji as Mirza Ghalib's voice....:
 
Har ek baat pe kahte ho tum... ke tu kya hai....
Tum hi kaho ke ye.... andaz-a-guftagu kya hai..

Arz kiya hai... :
Rago me daudte firne ke hum nahi kayal...
Jab aankh hi se na... tapka to fir lahoo kya hai...

Chipak raha hai...badan par lahoo se pairahan..
Humari jeb ko...ab hajat-a-rafu kya hai...

Chitraji starts...
Jala hai jism jahan dil bhi jal gaya hoga....
Kuredte ho...jo ab raakh...justaju kya hai...

This is the 'Ibteda' of the album Mirza Ghalib...which starts with a prologue from Gulzar sahab. One of my most favourite albums of Jagjitji!

Ghalib has always intrigued me...and because he is probably the most known Shayar (Urdu Poet) in India & Pakistan...I have always wondered what's the specialty of his poetry. But yeah...I know that it's impossible for me to comment about his poetry..as I am such a novice in this field...and moreover I am so poor in Urdu that I have a tough time trying to understand his shers!
But one thing which I noticed was....his placing of words in a couplet or a sher...which is quite typical....I think I will not be able to explain that....but it creates a certain effect...I don't know...if everyone feels that effect the way I feel...but that's the difference I see in his shayari!

I would really like to improve my Urdu..so that I can appreciate the works of these great poets and also Jagjit singh sahab! 

Agneepath....Path of Fire!

They said, don't compare with the original one...watch this movie without a predetermined state of mind. So I tried that today...though I admit I didn't go to the theater but watched it on my laptop..which might have reduced the overall effect & impact of the film...yet I don't think there is anything in this movie worth going to theater for!


Yes...Sanjay Dutt is looking really fearsome and a fierce demon in real sense...and Hritik has portrayed the anger and rage of the revengeful Vijay...through his calm yet intense eyes wonderfully...and of course Rishi Kapoor as 'Rauf Lala' has done a great job...all of them are real good actors....but where were the powerful dialogues...those are not even catchy....whenever these characters and others opened their mouth...I felt....what the hell in the world they are talking about...?


I don't think I can call this a crime & underworld movie...infact I would say it's more a fantasy/fiction type. This movie made me appreciate the original 'Agneepath' of Amitabh much more than ever before...I had watched it many times but it was not in my list of all time favorites due to its being full of unrealistic heroism & melodramatic sequences. But now when I compare the new version with old one...I feel the original was much closer to the reality...the underworld, mafia, and overall plot felt much more real!


I can't help but compare few sequences of the two films..such as when Vijay comes to Commissioner Gaytondey to persuade him not to go after Kancha. The performances of Vikram Gokhle and Amitabh are just outstanding...and the dialogues awesome! Now just see how the same sequence was filmed on Hritik and Om Puri.....weak dialogues and no time and attention given to this sequence!


I couldn't connect to the characters...I could not feel for them...not sure if it's only me...may be I am left bereft of emotions and sensitivity nowadays...hence I failed to capture the mood of the movie, the director had tried to set-in! But I don't know why....some scenes of the old Agneepath flashed up in my mind..and I found myself quite moved by those......such as the scene when the child Vijay pulls his father's dead body on a cart to the cemetery...when the old drunkard Tinu Anand welcomes Vijay at Mandwa...and many more! Also Mithun's character comes in mind which was one of his best performances.


Overall I found the new version quite weak and not appealing at all...at best the best makeup award can go to this movie...for Kancha's character...Sanju baba really looked wicked...mythological demon sorts of thing! :-)

Random thoughts...

They say...I am slow....I am lagging behind the world... I think they'll be better off worrying about themselves. I think it's time we respect each and every individual on this earth...for every human being has something or other unique quality or ability. We need to appreciate this, that every person shall catch up eventually with the truths of the world.....with his/her own speed...his/her own sensitivity. Let's not put unnecessary pressure on our children....our sub-ordinates...our partners....to perform as per our expectations...to cope with our expectations...Lets give everybody the breathing air they deserve...! Nobody is perfect in this world...and everybody has got his own strengths and weaknesses...the idea is to live the life out of my own conception and own imagination....rather than being constantly under pressure to live up-to the expectations of others...of the so called society...of family...of spouse...and so on..!! Of-course...we humans..are social animals...and our own independence in thought and action should not become a roadblock for other fellow human beings to enjoy their respective independence...and I am sure that would come naturally to the man who has a respect for the humanity...who is independent not only in material sense...but who is completely free from within!


I am writing whatever is coming in my mind today....I don't know why I am writing about this! Yet...writing down my thoughts...irrespective of whether they are clear or vague...makes me feel relaxed and sometimes a genius..and a fool at other times..when I read them after a long time! :-)

Sholay - Title Theme

It won't be an exaggeration on my part, if I state that almost all middle class Indians of my age or more, must have seen or atleast heard about this Bollywood blockbuster of 70s, 'Sholay'!  I got to know that the film was considered a flop after it received poor response in the first few weeks of its release and critics too rejected it as a poor imitation of 'Western' films of Hollywood. But gradually it picked up on word of mouth and went on to become a record braking hit! The characters, the dialogues, the songs from this movie....all became legend of sorts in the popular culture. I still remember when I got a chance to see the movie in a re-screening in the theater on 70mm big screen in my hometown Jabalpur ( My jabalpuria friends will know about 'Vineet Talkies'!)...I must have been 10-12 year old then...I was accompanied by my two Mamajis, and two brothers, and I do remember how sad and teary I was..when Amitabh succumbed to death after being shot by the dacoits in the climax! :-)


Few days back when I switched on my iPOD for the title theme of Sholay....composed by one of our great music directors of old...RD Burman (Also known as Pancham da...they say that as a child whenever he cried it sounded as the 5th note...'Pa' of Indian classical music scale..hence he was named Pancham!), thought came to my mind that how he managed to compose this theme...which so perfectly conveys the mood..the plot...the style..and the cult of the movie! Or should I say...it sets up the rhythm of the movie..??


If you watch the video...the Title theme starts when the police inspector from another town comes to Ramgarh with Thakur's servant 'Ramlal' (The good old Satyen Kappu...a frequenter in Amitabh's films) to see the 'Thakur', riding horses...the theme music starts with the horse trot and guitar...and fuses-in there the drum (Not sure if it's Bongo or one of the drums of the drums kit or some other drum type...you must have noticed similar drum beats in many other RD Burman numbers)...and there enters the main piece on Saxophone by Manohari Singh (A permanent Saxophonist in RD's team of musicians)...and when the drums are full on....the whole theme is set....and then it goes all 'Indian'...with Indian drums and I guess some folk instruments...and at the end again comes back to the main piece but this time as a 'whistle' along with guitar base....a distant whistle sounding in a rocky barren valley where all those ruthless Dacoits have their abode!.....A really great blend of Western and Indian instruments to get the desired effect.....and when you watch the video they have shown the fearsome hard rock valleys and  the village of Ramgarh with titles coming in 'Red'...with this theme in background...it creates a wonderful effect. Truely RDB was something different!