GIVING AWAY MEMORIES

After retirement we moved into a small two-bedroom flat in a far suburb of Mumbai; this is as big as the one that I could afford after being an officer in the Navy for close to 37 years. In my last house whilst still in the Navy, my wife and I took months to sort out things and pack. We knew that we had to give away lot of stuff that we had accumulated. This invariably used to happen with our frequent postings in the Navy.

I saw this 1957 Hindi movie with my parents; one of the earliest ones that I saw with them. The movie was named ‘Bhabhi‘ (brother’s wife) starring Balraj Sahni and Nanda. Rajinder Krishan wrote these most appropriate verses:

[lineate]Toone tinaka tinaka chun kar nagri ek basaai,[/lineate][lineate]Baarish mein teri bheegi palken dhoop mein garmi khaai,[/lineate]Gum na kar jo teri mehnat tere kaam na aayi[lineate]Achha hai kuchh le jaane se dekar hi kuchh jaana[/lineate][lineate]Chal udja re panchhi ke ab ye des hua begana[/lineate]

[lineate](O’ bird, twig by twig you picked a complete nest of a world[/lineate][lineate]Rain wet your brow, and sun made you sweat[/lineate][lineate]Don’t rue that you couldn’t enjoy the fruit of your labour.[/lineate][lineate]It is better to give and go then to take and leave[/lineate][lineate]Fly away bird, now this place is not yours anymore)[/lineate]

So, as we move house, what do we finally end up giving away? Most often we give away junk that was only gathering moss, mildew and dirt. This would include all those notes and dockets from the Staff College that I’d assumed I couldn’t ever do without and which, I had never cared to read even once after leaving the Staff College. Then there would be those mementoes of “love and affection” given to me at farewells without any particular emotion other than the relief at seeing me go. However, like the Master Card ad, there would still be a lot of things that we’d wince if we had to give them away; those things that money can’t buy; because there are so many memories attached to them.

It is not my intention to bore you with a list of such things. I know each one of us has a list of such dear and precious things. However, I shall give you some examples of what it means. I gave away the first vehicle that I ever owned: a Yezdi 250 cc mobike. I still remember the number: KEE 438. I bought the mobike in the year 1980 when, as a lieutenant in the Navy, I was undergoing my specialisation course in communications and electronic warfare at Navy’s Signal School in Cochin (now Kochi). My would-be-wife was at Coimbatore and I made many a trip up and down between Cochin and Coimbatore on this bike during its (my?) running-in period. Once, on a long weekend, we went to Coonoor together.

When she visited Bombay where I got posted, we decided to go to Goa on – we called it – our donkey. One officer had named his bike ‘kilometer eater’; but, we were quite happy about calling it donkey for not only carrying our weights but many other things (for example, at one time we carried a complete cooking gas cylinder on it since waiting for the delivery boy would have been too much). What a trip it turned out to be. We returned from the Navy Ball at about 1 AM and suddenly, without any plan, I asked Lyn if she wanted to visit Goa. Knowing my capricious moods, she was fearful of asking me “when” but, I solved that problem for her by saying, “Tomorrow morning”. We got up at 5 AM, hurriedly packed up a rucksack and off we went “for a few days”, which finally turned out to be almost a month.

Oh, to be young again. Love teaches you togetherness and we were not in any hurry to reach anywhere. We clicked pics, admired the scenery and I even tried to teach her driving. Together with our donkey, we owned the world. Here is Lyn on the Bombay-Goa highway as it used to look in 1980 (not that it is better 32 years later):

We reached Belgaum at about 10 PM and that’s the time Lyn asked me if we should finally find a shelter for the night. At about midnight we found the Military Engineering Services Inspection Bungalow (MES IB). The Major-in-Charge saw our blackened faces (with the soot from the lorries), gave us a room and had only one request: “Please have breakfast with us before leaving tomorrow morning.” We were wondering why; but, the mystery was solved over breakfast. Apparently, just before they turned in for the night, the Major’s wife had a debate with her husband that the spirit of adventure was dying down in the armed forces. Just then we landed up.

The three of us: Lyn, donkey and I, had a most adventurous Bombay-to-Goa trip and stay in Goa. On the way back, we loaded our donkey on a ship (for 90 bucks) and returned to Bombay.

Our donkey instinctively understood us and never gave us any anxious moments. When Arjun, our elder son was born in 1984, that was the first vehicle he rode, perched up between Lyn and me. For one year after Arun was born in end 1986, we still managed on donkey with Arun held in her arms by Lyn and Arjun sitting on the fuel tank. God always gave us enough; in the year 1988 I was sent to Spain on duty and I returned with enough money to buy a car. Good bye, donkey. He went for 3500 rupees. All of us were saddened to see him go and the children even cried. I took solace in Sahir Ludhianvi’s lyrics:

[lineate]Jiyo to aise jiyo jaise sab tumhaara hai;[/lineate] [lineate]maro to aise ke jaise tumhaara kuchh bhi nahin.[/lineate]

(Live in such a way as if everything belongs to you; but die as with nothing belonging to you)

During our days there used to be a song by Trini Lopez with the title: ‘What have I got of my own?’ In the end, life and particularly life in the navy with its frequent transfers has taught me how true are these words:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ICeHLkaolyI%3Ffs%3D1

Then there was this playpen we got for Arjun. He was never alone there; he was there with his cat and toys. It was large, painted lavender and Lyn even made a mosquito-net for it. The front side could be slid down for helping the baby in and out and, though large, it even had wheels to move it around. Arjun used to love being inside it; the problem was that Lyn and I hadn’t made peace about not having him with us on our own bed. The Friday movies on the doordarshan and Benjamin Spock had prompted us to spend Rupees 1000 in getting this cot cum playpen. Arjun, in the vein of most babies who won’t be neglected, knew when exactly to wail endlessly during our watching the movie on doordarshan that used to start at 7:30 PM. Once evening, when a repeat of Rajesh Khanna’s Anand was to be aired, we planned to play with him in the afternoons so much so that at the appointed hour, Arjun would be fast asleep in the cot-cum-playpen. The movie began and we watched about 30 minutes of it without any interruptions from Arjun. However, both of us knew that our minds were elsewhere. Finally, I uttered what Lyn wanted to hear all the while, “Go and get Arjun; it is no fun watching the movie without him keeping us from watching it.” We moved to Delhi in 1987 and the cot went with us. Arun couldn’t use it initially because we didn’t have a house; we lived in one room with all our baggage lying around us in unopened boxes. When we finally got a big enough house to open the cot-cum-playpen for Arun, it was time for posting; this time for undergoing Staff Course in Coonoor (Nilgiris). We finally had to give it away without Arun using it much. However, we still wistfully remember the fun it used to be to put first Arjun and then Arun there in the first world that was entirely their own:

In the meantime, when it wasn’t possible to open the cot, we had to buy a smaller one for the smaller one. Lo and behold, even the elder one used to like me taking them for a ride in this cot-cum-pram-cum-swing (it had a stand from where it could be hung and the baby rocked to sleep). This was even greater fun for them than the playpen since they could put their toys in it and push it around the house. It was sad to see it go. But, then the relief was that the children didn’t require it anymore.

What a lot of fun they had on this cycle for a few years. Arjun felt like a big boy taking his younger brother around and telling him reassuringly, “Don’t worry; I am a safe driver”.

It was nice to see Arjun grow into a boy on this cycle from an infant. But, our heart was in our mouths when we had to give it away:

I remember giving away my complete collection of Hemant Kumar’s songs on audio cassettes, my PG Wodehouse Books, my collection of Readers Digests, flower pots that had started looking deliciously verdant just when the transfer orders came, photo frames and even paintings each one of those had a story to tell. Would the new owner have guessed how much we paid in terms of minutes of our lives (and not money) in maintaining them, cherishing them and looking after them?

Curiously, there were also things that we didn’t feel a thing about losing; electronic stuff, eg, music systems, televisions, fridges, clothes, shoes and the like. This only goes to prove that things acquire life of their own because of priceless memories attached to them and not because of their money-value. I still miss our first telly: Dyanora 14″ B&W portable, though.

The other day I read a story by a fellow blogger Anupam Patra who writes very imaginatively. In the story a man gave away his eyes to his killer’s son. That got me thinking how can giving away anything inanimate be so hard or difficult?

As Elton John sang in ‘Talking Old Soldiers’:

[lineate]Just ignore all the others;[/lineate] [lineate]you got your memories….[/lineate]

Finally, the pictures – both in the sepia and on the mind’s screen – are still with me; the memories are never given away. I can still relive even my own childhood without any of the material things associated with it let alone that of my children.

Mujhe ab bhi yaad hai kitana ameer tha main…..jab paani mein mere jahaz chalte the (I still remember how rich I was then….when my ships used to ply in the waters):

GODS MUST BE CRAZY

[lineate]
She was black
And fast and feline
“Stop” I screamed,
“Don’t cross and spoil my day”.
She heard me
Looked at me innocently
And stopped as if rooted.
“Now what?” her shining eyes seemed to ask.
“Don’t you remember”, I asked her,
“The first time you cast your spell,
It augured ill for me
I nearly failed in my exam.”
[/lineate]
 
[lineate]
She cooed sweetly,
They always do.
‘Practised innocence’ I thought.
“And the second time”
I continued, and in response she only sweetly purred,
“I nearly got me killed.”
Her eyes shone
She looked lovely.
[/lineate]
 
[lineate]

Just then a huge dog came
And looked at her menacingly.
She gave me a look
And made a dash
Without sharing any more of her
Looks and thoughts with me.
The dog went after her
In determined chase.
[/lineate]
 
[lineate]
But, what she shared
Was enough for me.
Each one of us have
Survival instinct against all threats
If you ain’t clever, cunning, deceiving
Against the larger dog in your life
You are finished.
[/lineate]
 
[lineate]

A snake is born out of an egg
And left to fend for itself
Without the parents nurturing it even once.
Poison is all that it has to survive.
It is limbless
No hands to ward off danger
No legs to kick and run.
Human beings are born differently,
But, are we really so different?
It is a cat and mouse game:
The survival of the fittest.
[/lineate]
 
P.S. Three days back, a man in Nepal bit a snake to death; angry at having been bitten by the snake.

INDIBLOGGER AND I – REALITY CHECK

I joined Indiblogger about two years back; indeed soon after I started blogging. It, willy-nilly got me in the habit of worrying about the popularity of my site: Alexa rank, Moz rank and ranks higher and better than those in the armed forces (Read ‘Blogging – Race or Stampede’). Today, after I finished 75000 pageviews, I wanted to do a reality check of how much Indiblogger has helped me to stay afloat. I was stunned when I got the results:

  • I put up 145 posts on Indivine.
  • I got 2288 pageviews. This makes it an average of 15.7 pageviews per post.
  • Indibloggers, therefore, accounted for merely 3.05 percent of my total pageviews.

The sober inference that I drew from this confirmed my earlier suspicion that Indiblogger is all about ‘You scratch my back, I scratch yours’. For al practical purposes it is a popularity contest, an election, in which others vote for you with the hope that you’d vote for them too. If, for some reason, you omit to vote for them, that’s the end of their interest in your posts. Imagining and saying that all 2288 pageviews from my fellow bloggers would be for the purpose of reading my posts would really be too much. Just like the Indian democracy, one is happy that others voted; but, whether they voted on issues or otherwise is a moot question.

Courtesy: gillettsggg.blogspot.com

Having said that, I agree with a fellow blogger Jayashree that I discovered some great bloggers through the portal of indiblogger and not many of them were actually having very high on the Indi Rank. Without the indiblogger directory, I won’t have even known that these bloggers existed.

I have this deep desire to connect with the younger writers; to know what ideas they have, their emotions, expressions, aspirations, critiques, likes, dislikes. Here is what my ‘Reality Check’ has brought home to me: most younger people have values, love India, have very fine expression (many times better than mine) and are passionate about writing. As Jayashree predicted, I like their comments even on someone else’s posts. I have to be profoundly thankful to Indiblogger for discovering there are others who like to discover play of words and search for newer ideas.

On the subject of new ides; I must acknowledge that Indiblogger helped me to get interesting ideas from other blogs, some of which were very practical and appealing.

Therefore, I’d still keep posting, still keep searching for newer, better, more ineresting blogs and shall be grateful to Indiblogger that voting or no voting, it is fun being a part of it.

I like Indiblogger motto: I blog; therefore I am. But, the more befitting would be:

I blog; therefore, I discover other blogs and people.

Blogging is a great discovery of not only what lies within me but within other bloggers too.

Congratulations Jayshree for your having got another award: The Liebster Award. Thank you also for passing it on to me. However, as I wrote earlier, I am not into this sort of thing. Since, you asked me to repeat on my blog (what I wrote as a comment on yours in response to your Liebster query about 11 things that I feel would make a happy and fulfilling life), I am doing it now. For the other readers, let me tell you that as soon as the question was put to me by her, I wrote it down (in about ten minutes) as it came and I am reproducing here without any editing:

I don’t know what to say since it is not something that I am used to. Thanks for thinking so high of my blog. I am going to respond to your ‘Eleven things required for a happy and fulfilling life’ without too much of thinking. Here it goes:

#1. Good health. Without this, all others are but impracticable.

#2. Enough. All the money in the world cannot buy it. I have copied this from Joseph Heller’s response to Kurt Vonnegut, when the latter brought out the opulence in a billionaire’s party they were attending. Joseph said, “But, I have something that the b doesn’t have. I have enough.”

#3. Friends. If you are happy without friends, you must be abnormal. A man was nearing hundred and he boasted, “I don’t drink, womanise, smoke, don’t like music and friends….and in a few months time I shall be celebrating my 100th birthday.” At this, one reporter had a simple thing to ask, “How?”

#4. Simplicity. A complicated or complex life is not worth having even if you have tons of it…it weighs on you.

#5. Music. A life without music is…..well, life without music. Music is simply the soul of life.

#6. Imagination. An idiot is the happiest. However, if you can see and perceive beauty in God’s world, in the simplest of things that He or She or even It made, life can e suddenly most enriching, most satisfying.

#7. Ability to Listen. There is no point in having music if you can’t listen, can’t feel. Remember Wordsworth?

“The stars of midnight shall be so dear
For her and she shall lean her ear
In many a secret place:
Where rivulets dance their wayward round,
And beauty born of murmuring sound,
Shall pass into her face.”

#8 Gratefulness. God, (or whosoever you want to thank), thank you for giving me the gift of yet another day, for eyes to see, for ears to listen and for heart to feel.

#9 Love. This is not listed low. It is the essence of all the points above. Life can NEVER be fulfilling if one goes through life without loving. As they say, it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.

#10 Work. You have to find something that your hands can do: write, row, dig, paint, cook, anything. However, if you are work less, you are sans happiness.

#11 Outreach. If you can’t reach out to people who have less than you, you cannot be happy. There is great happiness in giving. It lessens your burden. As the Bible says, “I lamented I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.”

Jayashree, when I started writing about ten minutes ago, I didn’t even know if I could finish eleven. I am not going to edit or even read back….since the most fulfilling life is one without regrets…I have no regrets that I have missed out many seemingly impressive things from my list.

Unsaid response from Jayashree: Thank you, sunbyanyname; I am glad after all these months you got the spellings of my first name right.

“GIVE THEM MOBILE”

There is hardly anyone who is not familiar with the infamous utterance of Marie Antionette during a famine in France whilst her husband Louis XVI was the monarch. When it was brought to her notice that people didn’t have bread to eat, she responded, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” (Let them eat cake).

It is said that this story of the princess is apocryphal and that she didn’t say so. It is said Jean Jacques Rousseau is the one who attributed these words to her in his autobiography ‘Confessions’. However, Queen Sonia Gandhi actually used these words for the poor rural people, knowing pretty well that they don’t have food to eat, “Give them mobile phones”. I am reproducing Kureel Manoj’s cartoon on the subject, which says more than any words:

Courtesy: Kureel Manoj

Here are the facts that I picked up from Wikipedia:

“A study by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found that there were 650 million people (53.7% of population) living in poverty in India, of which 340 million people (28.6% of the population) were living in severe poverty, and that a further 198 million people (16.4% of the population) were vulnerable to poverty. A startling 421 million of the poor are concentrated in eight North Indian and East Indian states of Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. This number is higher than the 410 million poor living in the 26 poorest African nations.”

Source: Wikipedia

What’s he use that the UPA wants to put these mobiles to? It is said that giving mobiles to the poor will make government policies to be easily disseminated to them through mass sms. Once again I am reminded of a man trying to sell a transistor radio to a Soviet farmer. The farmer kept resisting it. Finally, the man said, “Look at it this way comrade; with this you can be in any part of USSR and still be able to hear Moscow.” The farmer responded, “No I don’t want it; but do you have something by which Moscow can hear us?”

Why is there so much of disconnect between the people and the government that they choose? I brought it ou in an article on the 2011 Republic Day ‘How Proud Should We Be Of Indian Republic at 62?‘ that we ain’t really a functional democracy. That’s the reason why the above figures from UN 2009 report doesn’t compare well with our “stupendous GDP growth”? Just consider that the richest 10 Indians have 10 percent of GDP between themselves; and the richest 50 Indians have 30 percent of GDP. Politicians are known to have multiplied their income 1100 times in 5 years of their “rule” and decide on ridiculous figures such as Rs. 22 per day to decide whether or not a person is Below Poverty Line. This is a huge challenge. Many government policies such as ‘subsidy’ are meant for the BPL. However, such policies don’t reach their intended targets and funds are siphoned off elsewhere.

Here is an eye-opener about the value of an Indian life:

Infant Mortality Rate is the number of deaths of infants up to one year of age per 1000 live births. Singapore has only 2.60 deaths (average of five years of data released by UN last year) per 1000 whereas India has 60.82. So whilst Singapore is #1 in the world, India at 150 (out of 194 countries) is tucked in between Bangladesh and Ghana ahead of it and Eritrea and Zimbabwe below us. Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate is trying to make us aware of the real problems that are our challenges as opposed to politicians and vested interests telling us that we are nearly there as a super power and hence our people require mobile phones so hat they can be educated about the “glorious achievements” of the governments in India since independence.

As the elections draw closer, such doles from the “rulers” in exercise of their “powers” shall become more and more frequent. I don’t suppose following would then be beyond the scope of the government and the other parties.

Party A Man: Sir, Sonia ji is thinking of giving mobile phones to the rural population. This would be of great disadvantage to us because hey would be smsing the government campaign in the garb of educating people all the while.

Party A Boss: If I were you I won worry about that too much. Phones need to be charged periodically. Fortunately there is no electricity in the villages and hence people won’t be able to use them.

Party A Man: But Sir, we should have a Plan ready of our own. People are fed up of receiving blankets, sarees, TV sets and bicycles jus before the elections. We must promise them something different. Chandarbabu Naidu even distributed the CDs of his government’s glorious achievements.

Party A Boss: Let me think; how about giving them one year free subscription to our latest magazine ‘Hoodwinking People All The Time’; or two free tickets to Canary Islands or Isle of Man?

Party A Man: Brilliant Sir; to a select few, eg, the Panchayats etc we can even give cars. They won’t be able to use them like UPA’s mobiles because hey don’t have roads and buying even a litre of fuel would make them jump above the Poverty Line and hence ineligible for retaining the cars.

Elsewhere:

Party B Boss: Have you come up with a suitable counter to UPA’s mobile policy.

Party B Worker: Yes saar; we intend to promise the people Induction Cookers and Neon Signs to put in each village announcing our party’s new policies.

Party B Boss: You will have to give them gensets too to run these on.

Truly, it is going to be a challenge to win the elections by average candidates in view of high-tech gizmos being offered to the common man by the “rich” parties. One party is even thinking of offering people downloadable video on ‘Exotic Recipes for the Common Man’.

The people’s goose is almost cooked.

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY

दोस्ती सिर्फ तब ही नहीं जब फूल हैं
दोस्ती सिर्फ तब ही नहीं जब गले में  हार है
दोस्ती सीखने का कोई advanced स्कूल नहीं है
दोस्ती तो सिर्फ मोहब्बत है और प्यार है
दोस्ती में हम चाहे कुच्छ भी ना बोलें
दोस्ती में गुफ्तगू के ज़रिये हज़ार हैं
दोस्ती के गरम रहते हैं हरदम शोले
दोस्तों  को तो बस अपनी दोस्ती का खुमार है
आज Friendship Day का भी क्या हसीन  दिन है यारो
बारिश का दिन है और आज रविवार है
यानी  जैसे दोनों चंद्रमुखी और पारो
देवदास   पे  मर मिटने  को तैयार हैं
सब मेरे दोस्तों के लिए  लिखता हूँ अभिवादन
ये  sunbyanyname का अहम् इकरार है
सूरज के निकलने  का ना भी बने साधन
रवि  तो तुम पे जाने निसार है
हमारी दोस्ती रहे सलामत आज भी और हमेशा
दोस्तों के बिना जीना दुश्वार है
आज के दिन मेरे सब दोस्तों के नाम ये संदेशा:
आप हैं तो रौशन मेरा संसार है
खुदा  तुम्हें देदे अपनी सारी खुदाई
आपकी दोस्ती पर मुझे ऐतबार है
काश दोस्ती में ना लिखी हो कभी भी जुदाई
जब तक जान पे अपना इख्तियार है
Happy Friendship Day सब दोस्तों और यारो
आज के दिन तो दोस्ती की बहार है
इक नज़र हम पे दोस्ती की मारो
जहाँ तुम हो वहां ही करार है

HINDI SONGS AND THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

Recently, when Rajesh Khanna died, after a long illness, we reminisced about his being a super-star during the Era or Age of Innocence in the Hindi movies. What exactly can be age or era of innocence? One thing is clear that it was an era different from the present era.I am not chronicling the life and movies of Rajesh Khanna. Paeans have been and would be written and sung about his overpowering image in the movies. During the height of his popularity, in 1970, when the movie Aan Milo Sajna was released, there was a duet he sang with Asha Parekh: the duet starts with she (playback by Lata Mangeshkar) declaring, “Achha to hum chalte hain” (Okay, I shall take your leave now) and he (playback by Kishore Kumar) asking: “Phir kab miloge?” (When will I meet you again?). Eligible girls in the movie hall would sing back in unison: “Jab tum kahoge” (Whenever you say). Such was the popularity of Rajesh Khanna.Kaka, as he was affectionately called, is no more and as he seems to sing: ‘Achha to hum chate hain’; we ask him again and again, “Phir kab miloge?”
The article is about the Age of Innocence in the Hindi movies and I shall try to concentrate on three really good actors that we lost in a span of less than one year: Shammi Kapoor just one day prior to the last Independence Day at the age of nearly 80: Dev Anand who left us on 3rd Dec last year, still young at the age of 88; and Rajesh Khanna who left us a fortnight back at the age of 69.Take Rajesh Khanna’s Amar Prem (Immortal Love), for example. It is a 1972 movie directed by Shakti Samant. If it has resonance with eternal love between two ideal lovers, you are wrong; the love depicted in the movie was the innocent love of a man (Rajesh Khanna) for a courtesan (Sharmila Tagore). The movie brings out how our society thrives on pretensions and deception and being judgmental of those who don’t overtly show such pretensions (and covertly embrace decadence).
Anand Bakshi’s lyrics were extremely apt and subtly hard-hitting, eg, “Tu kaun hai tera naam hai kya Sita bhi yahan badnaam hui.”. Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore both underacted superbly.

The movie had some excellent songs which surprisingly (because these were serious and not lilting) became quite popular. For example, Raina beeti jaaye, shyam na aaye; Ye kya hua, kaise hua, kab hua: Chingaari koi bhadake; and this one which I have selected for you portraying the theme of the movie: Kuchh to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna(People will find something to say; they always do). The music is by Rahul Dev Burman.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=95UdAo4JdJI%3Ffs%3D1

AGE OF INNOCENCE in the Hindi movies is nostalgically remembered by all of us. At one time in the Hindi movies (before we bastardised them by calling them Bollywood movies) it wasn’t the done thing to be direct about such emotions as Love. Do you remember a very young Sharmila Tagore singing in 1964 movie Kashmir Ki Kali: ‘Muhabbat jo karte hain vo, muhabbat jatate nahin; dhadakane apne dil ki kahin kisi ko sunaate nahin. Maza ka raha jab ke khud kar diya ho muhabbat ka izehaar apni zubaan se?”

Kashmir Ki Kali too was a Shakti Samant movie. Lyrics were by SH Bihari and music by OP Nayyar. A young Shammi Kapoor (son of a rich father) acts opposite a younger Sharmila Tagore (who sells flowers for a living). Hats off to Omkar Prasad Nayyar, born in Lahore on 16 Jan 1926 when Lahore was in undivided India. He started his career in Hindi movies  in 1949 by composing background score for the movie Kaneez. He must be having a record for the highest number of hit songs for any movie that he composed music for, eg, Aar Paar, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, CID, Mr and Mrs 55, Naya Daur, Howrah Bridge,Phagun, Jaali Note, Mere Sanam and Dus Lakh. Meanwhile, enjoy this hit number from Kashmir Ki Kali: Isharon isharon se dil lene waale bata yeh hunr tune seekha kahan se? None of OP Nayyar’s songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This one is a duet between Mohammad Rafi and Lata’s sister Asha Bhosle:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=HxZyRkqo0r0%3Ffs%3D1

Shammi Kapoor was the middle one of the three sons born to Prithviraj Kapoor, the elder one being Raj Kapoor and younger one being Shashi Kapoor. Prithviraj was a leading light of theatre in Calcutta and Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor) had his early education in Calcutta, later moving to Bombay. His playboyish image got honed in movies like Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Dil Deke Dekho. However, he always wanted to do serious roles. His most memorable serious role came in 1970 movie Pagla Kahin Ka where he played a mentally deranged person who by his innocence brought home the contrast that others in society were even more deranged than him. His song in the movie ‘Tum mujhe youn bhula na payoge’ is simply ungorgettable. However, I am presenting to you songs representative of Age of Innocence and I can’t find a better song for Sahmmi Kapoor on this theme than this one from the 1964 movie Brahmachari for which he got his first Filmfare Best Actor award. Of course, two years before his death Shammi Kapoor got the coveted Phalke Legend Actor Award by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy but Brahmachari award must have been close to his heart. Brahmachari song is representative of the theme of the movie: Shammi Kapoor being an orphan looking after umpteen orphan children against all odds. The great Shailendra got the Best Lyricist award for this song and the incomparable duo of Shankar Jaikishan the best music director for the film. Mohammad Rafi got Filmfare award for another song ‘Dil ke jharokhe se’ but, undoubtedly, the best song in the movie was Main gaaoon tum so jaao:

Lets shift to the great and the ‘youngest’ actor in the Hindi movies Dev Anand. His death at the age of 88 came as a great shock to all of us for the simple reason that we were first expecting him to grow and look old and then only die. Who can ever forget that toothy smile and the becoming way of shaking and tilting one side of his torso whilst looking at you with twinkling eyes? Dev Anand got his first filmfare award for the 1958 movie Kalapani that he produced. This song that Dev Anand enacted opposite the effervescent Madhubala is so innocent both in lyrics and in acting that it really is an anthem for the Age of Innocence. Lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri and music by Sachin Dev Burman; the pair was together in many of Dev Anand movies. Here it is then: Achha ji main haari chalo maan jaayo na:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=g2rFmmdUIbQ%3Ffs%3D1

The 1969 movie Aradhana (worship) presents two roles of Rajesh Khanna, one as Arun in love with Vandana (Sharmila Tagore); he sings a song to her from the adjoining road when she is in a train to Darjeeling reading an Alistair MacLean novel. The song became a superhit song ‘mere sapno ki rani kab aayegi tu’. It was rated as the amongst the ten most songs of Hindi movies. They don’t get married but as a result of their having taken shelter in rain where he seduces her with the song ‘Roop tera mastana’, she becomes pregnant. He is an IAF pilot just like Raj Kapoor in Sangam. However, unlike Raj Kapoor, he is actually killed.

Vandana’s family abandons her and she is forces to work as a nanny for her own son Suraj who is adopted by a childless couple. Vandana is stalked by Shyam (Manmohan) and is nearly raped but her own son Suraj arrives and stabs his uncle to death in order to save her. When the police arrives, Vandana takes the blame upon herself and spends time in the jail whilst Suraj grows into the likeness of his dad Arun (Rajesh Khanna).

What a story it was. Suraj too becomes an IAF officer (weren’t they obsessed with IAF pilots at that time, the ultimate macho man with Ray Ban glasses?) and falls in love with Renu (Farida Jalal).

During those days, as I brought out in the Kashmir Ki Kali song earlier, acknowledgement of love was not direct and in-your-face like these days. Here is Suraj asking Renu a series of questions so that somehow she’d acknowledge being in love with him. Anand Bakshi wrote the lyrics with music by SD Burman. Rafi and Lata have sung for Suraj and Renu respectively: Baagon mein bahar hai?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=78JhA_TJvBI%3Ffs%3D1

Before I turn to songs by other actors and actresses and singers on the Age of Innocence, lets have just one more song of Dev Anand, one of the three great and inimitable actors that we lost during the course of last one year.

Look at and hear this duet and tell me where all do you see innocence: is it in the mischievous smile of Dev Anand? Is it in the shy enthusiasm of Kalpana Kartik or is it all over there in the loving atmosphere or is it in all these things? This duet should be representative of that era; the era which can only be called the golden era or the age of innocence.

The duet has all the bests in it. First of all the movie Nau Do Gyaraah was produced by Dev Anand and was the directorial debut of his brother Vijay Anand (do you remember Kala Bazaar, Guide, Johnny Mera Naam, Jewel Thief, Haqeeqat, Kora Kagaz and Teesri Manzil?). Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote some of his best lyrics for the movie such as Hum hain rahi pyaar ke, dhalti jaaye chunariya, Kali ke roop mein. SD Burman gave music for most Dev Anand movies and gave superb music for this movie too. Finally, that was the era of the duets and there is nothing to beat Asha Bhosle pairing with Kishore Kumar. Enjoy Aankhon mein kya ji:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=edqh8JLnV7s%3Ffs%3D1

Age of innocence wasn’t just about Love only; it was about good conduct, good manners, trusting, lack of cunning and deceit except in the villain. A number of songs (thousands) came up during that era celebrating innocence. I give you just a few of them.

What can be more innocent than this song I have selected for you? The name of the movie is Anari (Naive). It came during an era when Innocence and Naivete were desirable virtues and not looked down upon. Indeed, cleverness and cunning were not considered smart as these are today. Anari is a 1959 Bollywood film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film stars Raj Kapoor, Nutan, Motilal and Lalita Pawar. The music was by Shankar Jaikishan and the lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri (just one song, ie, Ban ke panchhi gaaye pyaar ka taraana) as well as Shailendra (both lyricists and music directors being regular in Raj Kapoor films). Among the few movies that Lalita Pawar played a positive role and Motilal a role with shades of grey. Raj Kapoor is the innocent hero of the movie who falls in love with a maidservant played by Nutan. Little did he know that she is the daughter of the person who gave him employment when he couldn’t make a living through trading and painting. His landlady played by Lalita Pawar dies of poisoning and now Raj must prove his innocence – not his Chaplinesque innocence but real one. Just see in this song how Nutan chides Raj Kapoor for being so naive as not to understand the atmosphere or the aura of love. The title of the song is: Vo chand khila vo taare hanse, ye raat ajab matvaali hai; samajhane vaale samajh gaye hain, naa samajhe vo anari hain:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OvtU5FYxK-c%3Ffs%3D1

Anari was a 1959 movie directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Raj Kapoor and Nutan look so fresh and – you guessed it – innocent that one misses that era when it didn’t pay to be clever and cunning. Another song from the movie is the anthem of innocence and Shailendra got the Best Lyricist award for this song just as Raj Kapoor got the Best Actor award for the movie. Mukesh, who has sung most of Raj Kapoor’s songs, got the best singer award for this movie. Also, the best ever music duo of Shanker Jaikishan got the Best Music Director award for the movie. The song is also my facebook profile song. Enjoy this anthem of innocence; the answer to Nutan asking Raj Kapoor why is he so naive. The song says: sab kuchh seekha humne na seekhi hoshiyari:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=d1BIf0PN5x4%3Ffs%3D1

Balika Badhu (The Girl Wife) is a 1976 Hindi film produced by Shakti Samanta and directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film is based on the Bengali novel by the same name by Bimal Kar, about a young girl who is married before she is old enough to understand what marriage is all about, against the backdrop of Indian freedom struggle. Gradually she and her school-going husband grow as a couple and begin to love one another. The film was previously made into a Bengali film, Balika Badhu (1967), starring Moushumi Chatterjee, by Tarun Majumdar himself. This romantic comedy drama stars Sachin with Rajni Sharma, Asrani, A. K. Hangal, Asit Sen, Paintal and Om Shivpuri. The music is by R. D. Burman and lyrics by Anand Bakshi, who penned several hits in the film including “Bade Achchhe Lagte Hain…”, which was singer Amit Kumar’s first hit and featured on the Binaca Geetmala annual list 1977. Enjoy:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3pN7sITXVyk%3Ffs%3D1

The one is really dear to me. It is by my favourite lyricist Shakeel Badayuni with my favourite singer/music director Hemant Kumar. The song is from the 1962 movie Bees Saal Baad. The movie was Hemant all the way: it was produced by him and he sang some of the best songs in the movie such as Bekraar karke humen youn na jaayiye and Zara nazron se keh do ji. Here is the plot: After a lusty Thakur rapes a young girl, she kills herself. Thereafter, the Thakur is killed by what the local people call the girl’s vengeful spirit. Then the Thakur’s son is also killed in a similar way. Thereafter the brother of the Thakur is also killed. The grandson of the Thakur, Kumar Vijay Singh (Biswajeet) returns from abroad to claim his ill-fated legacy. He is warned to stay away from the grounds that have killed his ancestors, but he intends to find out who or what is behind the killings, and hires a private detective, Gopichand Jasoos (Asit Sen). Kumar meets with Radha (Waheeda Rehman), the daughter of the local doctor, Ramlal Vaid (Manmohan Krishan), and both eventually fall in love. Then a man is found dead wearing the clothes of Kumar Vijay, and Kumar Vijay must now decide to stay away from his new residence, or continue to live there, and fear for his life everyday until death. With such a plot, where does innocence enter here? Well, listen to a young Waheeda Rehman singing this number. Going with the mystery of the plot, Lata Mangeshkar got the Filmfare award for ‘Kain deep jale kahin dil’. However, I would go for this number anytime: sapne suhaane ladakpan ke:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=AReakaj_bW8%3Ffs%3D1

Here is a very young Saira Bano in 1961 movie Junglee made famous by Shammi Kapoor with his wild yaahoo chahe koi mujhe koi junglee kahe. This girl is touched by love for the first time and she is stepping from girlhood to womanhood. Hasrat Jaipuri has captured her feelings so well in his lyrics and the best ever music duo Shanker Jai Kishan have given the kind of music that speaks excitedly of her transition. Innocence indeed: ja ja ja mere bachpan, kahin jaa ke chhup nadaan:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OnBJLHyQxxs%3Ffs%3D1

Before I end, just one last song from the Age of Innocence. Teesri Kasam (Third Oath) is a 1966 film based on a short story, ‘Mare Gaye Gulfam’ by Phanishwarnath Renu. The film stars Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman. Music of the film was by the famed duo of Shankar – Jaikishan.

The film was so much ahead of its time that it flopped at box office. Directed by Basu Bhattacharya, Teesri Kasam is an unconventional film that portrays the society of the rural India and simplicity of villagers. The whole film was shot in Araria, Bihar. Hiraman (Raj Kapoor) is a bullock cart driver with conservative traditional values. While smuggling illegal goods on his bullock cart and close escape from police, Hiraman takes vow (first Kasam) to never carry illegal goods again in his cart. While transporting bamboo for timber trader on his bullock cart, he is beaten by two men when their horses are upset by bamboos of Hiraman’s cart. After that incident, Hiraman takes another vow (second Kasam) to never carry bamboo again in his cart. One night, Hiraman is asked to carry Hirabai (Waheeda Rehman), a nautanki dancer as a passenger to the 40 miles distance to the village fair. As they travel together Hiraman sings to pass time and tells her the story of the legend of Mahua. As the journey progresses, Hirabai is mesmerized by Hiraman’s innocence and his simple philosophy of life. Hiraman in return sees her as an angel of purity. Once they reach the village fair, Hiraman joins with his band of bullock cart drivers and Hirabai joins the nautanki company. Hirabai asks Hiraman to stay at village fair for a few days to see her dance. Hirabai arranges free passes for Hiraman and his friends to see nautanki on every night as long as village fair runs. As Hiraman attends nautanki, he becomes aware that other people see her as a prostitute and it disturbs him. He tries to shield and protect her from society. The bond between two grows stronger as the days pass at the fair. He gets involved in fights with local people who speak badly about her and her profession. Hirabai tries to make him understand the harsh reality of her life. Hiraman asks her to leave her profession and start living a respectable life. Hirabai refuses to leave her acting career. Depressed, Hiraman leaves village fair and returns to his village. In the mean time, Hirabai understands Hiraman’s unselfish love. Hirabai meets Hiraman and reveals her past secret that she had been already sold and she was no longer a virgin beauty. Hirabai returns to her hometown. After seeing Hirabai going away from his life, Hiraman takes third vow (teesri Kasam) to never carry a nautanki company dancer again in his cart This song written by Shailendra Singh depicts the innocence of Hiraman: sajan re jhoot mat bolo khuda ke paas jaana hai:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tY50kphA4-k%3Ffs%3D1

Finally, lets have a look at what Age of Innocence meant for the western people. It is the name of Edith Wharton’s novel published in 1920, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Award. The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple’s impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. In 1993 it was made into a Hollywood movie by Columbia Pictures.

Taste the first three stanzas of this song titled ‘Age of Innocence’ and try to think where Innocence has gone:

I can’t be compromising in my thoughts no more
I can’t prevent the times my anger fills my heart
I can’t be sympathizing with a new lost cause
I feel I’ve lost my patience with the world and all

And all the politicians and their hollow promises
And all the lies, deceit and shame that goes with it
The working man pays everything for their mistakes
And with his life too if there was to be a war

So we can only get one chance, can we take it?
And we only got one life, can’t exchange it
Can we hold on to what we have, don’t replace it
The age of innocence is fading like an old dream

Don’t we all miss the Age of Innocence?

LOVE AND A THREE LETTERED WORD

It sprang through woods and grass
Lively and playful
Now here, now there;
Through rains and clouds
Through sun and moon.
It braved rivulets and torrents
Birds and feral animals.
Everyone said:
How lovely it is
Like a new sprout
Like a young deer;
It looks so beautiful,
It looks so tender;
Lets call it Love.
She saw it too
In my eyes.
She heard it,
In my breathing.
Her eyes whispered to me:
“Love is all I wanted,
Thank you for giving it to me.”
We floated on clouds,
We swam in the sky
We walked on petals
And etched our names on the breeze.
We made melodies
We vowed, we cooed,
We laughed, we danced.Then one day
Just as unexpectedly as Love

A three lettered word came between us
And ruined our lives and us.
She was the first to utter it
She got obsessed with it
And I still rue its origin.
Courtesy: sat.collegeboard.org
I should have seen
The look in her eyes
When, through pouted lips
She uttered it for the first time
It hung between us
And I knew she’d want it more and more
She just relished its sound.I still remember the time

When she whispered it;
It was demanding, it was urgent
She couldn’t have waited.
How I long for our love before it,
Before she murmured it with a sigh
The three lettered word called, “Why?”
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