PAISA FAINKO, TAMASHA DEKHO

क्या अजब है मेरे देश में ये पैसे का खेल?
अमीर की बद-अमली ग़रीब रहा है झेल I

आज़ादी के वक़्त से वह खड़ा है कतार में,
कोई तो होगा कभी किसी भी सरकार में,
जो उसके दिन भी वैसे ही बदल डाले,
जैसे नेताओं के बदलते हैं एक ही चुनाव में I
क्या अजब है मेरे देश में ये पैसे का खेल?
बद उनवान को नहीं, ईमानदार को मिली है जेल I

यह वोटों और नोटों वाले आम आदमी को पूजते हैं,
पर अकेले में तो यह भगवान् को भी लूटते हैं,
कहो इनसे कभी यह भी ख़ुदा के ही बन्दे हैं,
इनके महल बनाने में जिनके हाथ पैर सूजते हैं I
क्या अजब है मेरे देश में ये पैसे का खेल?
इनसानियत ओ इख्लाकियत की जैसे लगी हुई है ‘सेल’ I

“ग़रीबी हटाओ” “जम्होरीअत बचाओ” के नारे बहुत सुन लिए,
जागते सोते इन्साफ-ओ-खुशहाली के ख्वाब बहुत बुन लिए,
अब इंक़लाब आने का माहौल बना जाता है,
इन्तेख़ाब आते गए और हर दफा खुदगर्ज़ ही चुन लिए I
क्या अजब है मेरे देश में ये पैसे का खेल?
अमीर की बद-अमली ग़रीब रहा है झेल I

atm2
(Pic courtesy: news18.com)

Kya ajab hai mere desh mein ye paise ka khel?
Ameer ki bad-amli gareeb raha hai jhel.

Azaadi ke waqt se woh khada hai qataar main,
Koi to hoga kabhi kisi bhi sarkaar mein,
Jo uske din bhi waise hi badal daale,
Jaise netaayon ke badlate hain ek hi chunaav mein,
Kya ajab hai mere desh mein ye paise ka khel?
Bad unwaan ko nahin, imaandaar ko mili hai jail.

Yeh voton aur noton waale aam aadmi ko poojte hain,
Par akele mein to yeh bhagwaan ko bhi lootte hain,
Kaho inse kabhi yeh bhi khuda ke hi bande hain,
Inke mahal banane mein jinke haath pair soojte hain.
Kyaa ajab hai mere desh mein ye paise ka khel?
Insaaniyat o ikhlaqiyat ki jaise lagi hui hai ‘sale’.

“Gareebi hataao” “Jamhoriyat bachaao” ke naare bahut sun liye,
jaagte sote insaaf-o-khushaali ke khwaab bahut bun liye;
Ab inqlaab aane ka mahaul bana jaata hai,
Intekhaab aate gaye aur har dafaa khudgarz hi chun liye.
Kyaa ajab hai mere desh mein ye paise ka khel?
Ameer ki bad-amli gareeb raha hai jhel.

HIMACHAL THE BEAUTIFUL STATE, PART IV – RENUKA LAKE

My Fantasy Place

It is within three hours of drive from my place in Kandaghat (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills’) and yet, I hadn’t been there except with my parents when I was small.

It is my fantasy place. My fantasy is all about a boat in a lake on a moonlit night with a partner. So what if this time the boat happened to be not a rowing boat but a paddle-boat with a dragon face and so what if the moon was out in the forenoon itself? It was still my fantasy place.

The Journey to and from Renuka

My wife and I were on return passage to Kandaghat from Haridwar. We spent the night at the Special Forces Training School Mess at Nahan and started from there after breakfast. The distance of 38 Kms from Nahan was spent looking at the beautiful scenery:

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On the way back from Renuka to Kandaghat via Kumhar Hatti, we realised that even if we had gone straight from Kandaghat, we would have been blessed with equally beautiful sights:

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Largest Natural Lake in Himachal

Renuka Lake is the largest natural lake in Himachal (the Gobind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur being the largest man-made reservoir in Himachal). We took a Golf Kart to go on the track around the lake and the driver told us that it is about 3.5 Kms (the actual circumference of the lake being 3.214 Kms). Many people feel that the Khajiar Lake near Dalhousie is most serene and isolated. Well, you have to be at Renuka to experience the quiet. You can hear the birds, the fish (the lake is house to large Mahseer fish), and even the dry leaves fall from the trees. You can whisper to your inner self; it is so quiet.

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Religious Significance

Renuka Lake is not just a tourist spot of outstanding and enchanting beauty, it is a place of great religious significance. The lake is named after the goddess Renuka or Renu who is the avatar of goddess Parvati or Shakti, the wife of Lord Shiva. Indeed when we went boating, we had to do so bare feet as the lake is considered the abode of Renuka ji (the name literally meaning Mother of the Universe).

The temple of Lord Parshuram stands on the bank of the lake. Lord Parshuram was the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Bhagwati Renuka Ji, Lord Parshuram’s mother and her husband Maharishi Jamdagni performed deep meditation (known in Hindi as Tapa or तप, from the Hindi word Tapsaya और तपस्या) at a place appropriately called Tape Ka Tibba (Meditation Hillock). Lord Vishnu was pleased with their meditation and took birth as their son. He was named Ram by his parents but came to be known as Parshuram because he in turn pleased Lord Shiva with his meditation (Tapa) and received the divine weapon Parshu from him.

The temple of Lord Parshuram stands at the bank of Renuka Lake
The temple of Lord Parshuram stands at the bank of Renuka Lake

On the opposite side of the temple, across the lake is the holy spot where there is an icon of Renuka ji:

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Renuka ji resides permanently in the lake after she took Jal Samadhi (meditative absorption in water) after King Sahastrabahu killed Maharishi Jamdagni for the latter’s refusal to hand over the Kamdhenu cow as the Maharishi explained that it was the property of Lord Indra given to him in trust. Renuka ji promised her son Lord Parshuram that every year on the occasion of Devprabodhini Ekadashi she would emerge from the lake to meet him. A five day international festival is held in Renuka on this occasion every year. This is immediately after Diwali and my wife and I missed it by a few days. A visit to the temple of Lord Parshuram is a must. You would be served with free Langar (community kitchen) whilst you are there:

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Tourist Interest

There is a HPTDC hotel and restaurant at the entrance itself. Both the rooms and food are available at reasonable prices (Rooms ranging from Rupees 2500 to 3500 per day and night).

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To go around the lake, one can hire boats and these are reasonably priced too (A four seater paddle boat costs Rs.250 and six seater Rs.350). There is a Security or Guard Boat on duty to help in case of distress.

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Boating in the lake is an unforgettable experience. My wife and I did it starting 11 AM to noon on 22 Nov. The sky was totally blue, the sun shone pleasantly and as its rays shimmered on the surface of the lake, these were reflected into the branches of the trees around. Whilst boating, if you keep hearing the words: “this is heaven on earth“, chances are that you yourself are saying them as a litany as you go from one enchanting sight to another:

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One can go on the 3.5 Kms track around the lake in the HPTDC provided Golf-Kart. They charge Rs. 50 per head. My wife and I took the trip by ourselves. There are pens of a mini-zoo all along this track:

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Parshuram Sarovar and Renuka Temple

Both are right next to the lake. Indeed, the way to the lake is through the Sarovar on the bank of which is the temple and a Forest Rest House:

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Memories Forever

Renuka Lake is definitely the place to spend a day and night and make precious memories that will last you a lifetime. In the end, here are some that we made:

Sunbyanyname brings you personalised experiences of travel. Please await my next destination.

THE SUPER COOL SUBMARINERS’ SUPER COOL WAYS

Submariners are a class apart. They are cooler than the arctic ice that you saw in the movie Ice Station Zebra in which Rock Hudson played Commander James Ferraday, Captain of the US attack submarine USS Tigerfish. Some of you who saw the movie would recall that the movie was ostensibly about rescuing British personnel on a drifting ice weather station in the arctic but actually about a classified intelligence mission. There was this scene in the movie when Commander Ferraday welcomes ‘Mr. Jones‘, the British intelligence agent on board by telling him, “Here on this boat, we are very informal. Everyone is known by his first name. My first name is ‘Captain’.”  How cool that sounded. Well, submariners are like that.

Before they join the branch, there is a special psychology and psychiatrist test for them to qualify; for, if they ain’t the cool type, amongst other attributes, they can commit fatal mistakes in the closed confines of a submarine (In the F class of submarines, for example, the sailor on watch in the DG compartment didn’t have space enough to stand erect). Our famous tall submariner is Admiral VS Shekhawat. His bunk was extended by more than a foot on the submarine so that he could at least sleep properly. He was my CO on a ship and he was cooler than any cucumber.

Anyway, I hope you got the point about the submariners being the coolest of the cats.

What do all of us in the Navy do when we are not at sea? You would expect us to be enjoying life (“Coolex” as the navy men say it; the suffix ‘ex’ is used for exercises. Hence, TACEX would be a tactical exercise. In the same manner, ‘Coolex‘ would mean an exercise in cooling one’s heels!) or twiddling our thumbs. Far from it. Half of us are busy writing reports of the exercises done at sea (most of us return ashore bleary-eyed since the naval authorities are convinced that the time at sea is very costly for the nation and every minute must be made use of). The other half is given to such tasks as the ones ashore should have been doing but being overworked, they have to reluctantly pass it on to the people on the ships after they have enjoyed themselves doing nothing at sea.

One of the tasks given to me when I was commanding my boat Vipul was to conduct a Board of Inquiry into circumstances leading to an Assistant Logistic Officer (ALO) by the name of Lieutenant Devgun having walked away with Rupees 33 Lakhs from the accounts of the Submarine Base in Mumbai (COMCOS (West)). I was one of the members (a BoI normally has three members including the President). Our President was then Captain (later Rear Admiral) Kochhar, CO of the carrier Vikrant. And then we had a Logistic Officer, Commander Anand, who had all rules and regulations concerning accounts at the back of his hand.

To complete the background, I must mention that the rear wall of any BoI and Court Martial room has to have a picture of the President of India in his capacity as the Supreme Commander of the armed forces.

As we commenced the BoI, we realised that the cool submariners had left everything to the super cool Devgun. The Logistic Officer, Devgun’s immediate boss, for example, had become an expert at solving crosswords since he totally trusted his assistant Devgun to handle accounts, cash, money warrant, ledgers, and locking unlocking of the money safe held in his personal custody. All the others in the Base were equally cool about trusting Devgun with even surprise muster of accounts. He not just maintained Imprest Account but others, busy as they were, coolly disposed off even the handling of their Non-Public Fund accounts to him. The more we went into their coolness, the more we realised that anything and everything had been left to the man with a gun and the Hindi name for god in his name.

Indeed, the President of the BoI mentioned during one of the tea-breaks conjectured as to why couldn’t they have madee him the COMCOS (Commodore Commanding Submarines) since Devgun virtually did everything as a Lieutenant; and, he had risen to this rank from being a sailor?

More and more skeletons came out of the submariners’ cupboards as we took up one thread or the other. As an example, lets say there was a party at the Submarine Base. Who do you think did the local purchase of things required for the party? Well, you have easily guessed it; the cool submariners’ most trusted officer Devgun did it and made underhand money there too (as if 33 Lakh rupees (a huge sum during those days) wasn’t enough). Finally, we decided that we would have to restrict the scope of the BoI since it was otherwise becoming gargantuan with no end in sight. We informed the command headquarters accordingly.

One day, one of the witnesses (a woman) brought out that Devgun was also running a Chit Fund with the promise of making everyone rich. Whilst her evidence was being recorded, we had a tea-break. During the tea-break, the President enquired from the lady stenographer given to us to record the proceedings (in shorthand) (she was a steno at the submarine base itself) about this Chit Fund. She mentioned that many women employees of the Base had given him money for the Chit Fund so as to become rich. She also shyly suggested that many had even illicit relations with him.

On an impulse, the President BoI asked her if she too had lent money to him for the Chit Fund. She lowered her eyes and nodded.

After she went out, the President asked if we should remove the President’s picture from the rear wall and put up that of Devgun because he was the only one who had succeeded in even making women to pay for the fun he had.

Aftermath

After months of the BoI, once, by sheer accident, Devgun was caught and they put him in custody in a cell whilst awaiting court-martial. It is customary to put the personnel from the same unit as guards as well as officers to keep a watch and so the cool submariners guarded Devgun in sharp contrast to how he used to guard their interests in the past.

After being in the cell for a day or two, he mentioned to the cool officer on duty that both he and the officer could take a break and paint the town red. His I-Card and wallet were hence given back to him by this cool officer and as promised, Devgun took him to the apartment of a woman of ill repute. She lived on a higher floor in a multi-story building. Devgun handed over his I-Card, wallet and gold-chain etc to the officer waiting down there in his jeep whilst he went to have fun (as John Milton famously said: They also serve who sit in the jeep and wait). After 30 minutes or so Devgun emerged and told the officer that she was waiting for him. So now it was the turn of the officer to give him his I-Card, wallet etc whilst he (the officer) too went to taste the paradise.

That was the last that was seen of Devgun!

Kya Cool Hain Hum?!

“I Hate Your Blog, I Don’t Know Why”

Some of your friends who don’t exactly say it but mean it nevertheless remind you of people who are quite at home with stray dogs but cannot stand your pet-dogs. Why this strange-sounding simile? Well, on social-media discussions, the same people, would quote from little known, pedestrian authors and indeed from recirculated internet stuff that goes by the misnomer of ‘knowledge’, but readily ignore your well researched essay. There must be some psychology, some reasons behind this secret hatred for blogs. Let me examine some of these.

1. Mujhe Bhi Kuchh Kehna Hai (I too have something to say). In an essay titled ‘All Photographers And Writers, No Viewers And Readers’, I brought out that the biggest two techno-social changes that have affected our lives in the last decade or so are that everyone is a photographer and everyone can write and instantly publish. Hence, there is nothing unique or extraordinary about anyone who writes or clicks pictures. Lets take the latter first; if someone puts up pictures of his family trip to London, you can put up pictures of your trip to Rio. “London is really a destination where people used to go in the last century; it is time that these commoners now learn to go to more exotic locales. But, frankly, they don’t have it in them; for them, London is still abroad“. Now, let’s get to writing blogs: “What’s so special about what he has written? I don’t have time, else, I could have written ten such articles and with better English and humour”. If you ever visit largest Indian Blogging site Indiblogger, you will discover that they maintain a ranking of blogs dependant upon people voting for blog posts. And who are the people who vote? Well, other bloggers. Everyone, therefore, follows the tenet: ‘You scratch my back, I scratch yours‘.

2. Ghar Ki Murgi Dal Barabar (Home-grown chicken is worth (lowly) dal (cereal) only). Ah, the time when we used to read the brilliant stuff of really intelligent men and women in newspapers and magazines. Somehow the stuff that the boy or the girl next door writes does not sound that erudite or good. It is almost like discovering your son paints as good as Picasso or Rembrandt! How can that be? Yes, we want social media revolution to change governance in the country, our surroundings, world politics and community religion. However, our next door blogger doesn’t have the calibre to take on anything even close to it. In any case, having heard and read him a few times, we already have good knowledge of what he/she is going to say.

(Carton courtesy: allthingslearning.wordpress.com)
(Carton courtesy: allthingslearning.wordpress.com)

3. Quantity Has Made Quality Suffer. You can gather all kinds of arguments to support your theory. One of them is that delightful cuisine cannot be made for millions. Yes, blue jeans was an invention that changed the way masses dressed and really well to do people spent their lifetime. thereafter, in Levis. However, you cannot go to a gourmet dinner dressed in blue jeans, can you? Naturally, as seen by you since you make all the arguments to suit your bias, quality has certainly suffered now that everyone who has Internet can publish. In the words of the Urdu poet:

Barbad gulistaan karne ko to ek hi ullu kaafi tha,
Yahan..har shaakh pe ullu baitha hai anjam-e-gulistan kya hoga?

(For destroying the wonderful garden, even one owl is sufficient,
Here there is an owl on each branch, wonder what would happen to the garden?)

4. I Know The Author Well; He/She Can’t Write For Nuts. Whilst with the author in a novel, newspaper or periodical there was no personal linkages, more often than not, with a blogger, you are one to one. Hence, your mind works overtime to remember how he was a nincompoop when you were with him in school or college or elsewhere. He couldn’t make a sentence in English properly. Then there is another bigger problem, which is, that one reads so that one can quote in good company. People are taken aback when you suddenly quote a verse of Coleridge or some other quote of say, Tolstoy. But, imagine trying to impress a company by saying that your friend, the blogger wrote it. Naturally, you can’t even impress people by quoting him/her. Perhaps, if it makes a lot of sense, you can say Vikram Seth said it! In any case, who would have read all that Seth wrote?

5. Who Has The Time? The race for time is similar to Mumbai traffic or for that matter traffic in any other Indian city. Once, when a motorist overtook me in very slow moving traffic, by hook or crook, and I came parallel to him at the next traffic lights, I lowered my window and asked him, “भाई साहिब, मान लो आप मुझसे दो तीन मिनट पहले अपने ठिकाने पर पहुँच जाओगे; पर उस दो तीन मिनट में आप करने क्या वाले हैं?” (Brother, supposing that you reach your destination two or three minutes ahead of me; but, what exactly are you going to do in those two or three minutes). He laughed and laughed and said, “क्या करें? आदत पढ़ गयी है?” (What to do? It has become a habit). The same people who complain about lack of time spend hours solving the Sudoku.

6. He Is Only Promoting His Blog. In a way, unless you believe in literary masturbation, you write so that people would read. You don’t make any money writing your blog; however, they make it look like as if blogs are similar to prostitution in which you woo your clients by selling your body and soul. Recently, I had this experience when a friend used these exact words to win an argument that he was otherwise trying to win through profanity.

(Cartoon courtesy: paintermommy.com)
(Cartoon courtesy: paintermommy.com)

7. I Can’t Be Forced Into Reading Anything; I Choose To Read What I Want To. For heavens sake, our choices over a period of time are dwindling. With the onslaught of advertisements, we don’t ever have a choice of what we buy and use; we don’t have a choice in government making even though we vote election after election: many of us don’t have a choice of partner for life,and so on. At least, let me exercise choice in reading what I want to read rather than being forced to read something sent by a friend.

8. Why Can’t He Write ‘Short-and-Sweet’? Most highly popular blogs have just a picture or two or a quote or a paragraph of recirculated stuff. People immediately identify with such stuff. Such stuff also meets the demands of some of the reasons that I have given above, especially lack of time. A few years ago I started a number of groups on Facebook on various themes ranging from ‘Laugh With The Punjabis‘ and ‘Humour In And Out Of Uniform‘ to ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ (a group for sharing music) and ‘Main Shayar To Nahin‘ (a group for sharing poetry). I insisted that people would write as per the theme of the group, write original, and steer clear of posting greetings, religious messages, political messages, and other such nonsense. I wrote my experiences in an essay titled: ‘Want To Start A Facebook Group? Have A Reality Check‘. Soon, all groups on Facebook become Friends Circles wherein everything and anything is posted. No one reads serious poetry either written by friends or by recognised poets, for example. People are happy to write, like and comment on such gibberish as:

जब तुम्हारी याद आती है तो बहुत दर्द होता है,
जब दर्द होता है तो तुम्हारी याद आती हैI

This is short and sweet. I accessed this site and found this s & s piece had 453 likes and 117 comments.

There you are: I have tried to find reasons as to why blogs are hated and disliked. If you are a blogger and you have some other reasons to add, please go ahead and share in the comments.

'It's so refreshing to meet someone who doesn't blog.' (Cartoon courtesy: jantoo.com)
(Cartoon courtesy: jantoo.com)

MOHAMMAD RAFI, DID HE SING OR CRY?

Blasphemy sells and sells big time. Karan Johar, the producer (alongwith Apoorva Mehta and Hiroo Yash Johar), director, story-writer and with dialogue writer (Niranjan Iyengar) of the movie Ai Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM) is laughing all the way to the bank in having made yet another hit movie. However, a dialogue in the movie when the actress Anushka Sharma, playing the role of Alizeh, tells Ranbir Kapoor as Ayan Sanger about the god of songs (as held by millions of his fans) Mohammad Rafi that ‘Woh gaate kam, rotey zyada the’ has angered his fans. They protested and demanded an apology. However, Karan Johar with an eye on the box office (the more controversy a film gathers, the better it does at box office) has declined to tender apology or to blot out the offending dialogue. This confirms that unlike what the Censor Board people feel about it, this dialogue didn’t appear there accidentally but was a deliberate move to profit from such cheap, despicable and highly offensive stunt.

I am one of the affected fans of Mohammad Rafi. With his seemingly limitless range of singing encompassing romantic numbers, enchanting duets, comic songs, children’s songs, bhajans, ghazals, happy and lighthearted songs, songs in the vernacular, songs for the elderly, poor, men and women on the street, patriotic songs, rebellious songs and sorrowful songs, wedding and bidai songs, party songs and even pop songs (in each one of these he being the best), I am at a loss as to how this dialogue makes any sense.

Here, it is not my intention to give examples of songs that were not the so called crying songs, or to bring out what a wonderful person in real life our most beloved singer was. This piece has limited purpose. It is to prove to Karan Johar (I shall never again see any of his movies or television appearances) that he wasn’t right even in the essence of the most ridiculous lament: ‘Woh gaate kam, rotey zyada the’.

An artiste’s work speaks for itself and here I present to you some of my most revered idol’s so called crying songs just to bring home one small point to Karan Johar: Mohammad Rafi’s singing wasn’t crying but on those rare occasions when he cried, it was singing of outstanding excellence. It is fashionable these days to make the movie titles as the titles of old and popular songs and Karan Johar has his share of movies with such titles. He chose the title of a peppy and popular song sung by Mohammad Rafi himself as the title of his movie and then went about denigrating the singer.

Shame!

Song #1
O duniya ke rakhwaale, sun dard bhare mere naale…

Mister Karan Johar should know that, in this song, Mohammad Rafi actually cried so beautifully that it is one of the best ever bhajans ever made. Even today, 64 years after the 1952 movie Baiju Bawra was made, we cry not just at the emotions of the song (I maintain that the best Hindi songs ever have been made by Shakeel Badayuni as lyricist, Naushad Ali as Music Director, Mohammad Rafi as singer and Dilip Kumar as actor.  Though in Baiju Bawra, Bharat Bhushan was the actor but the other three proved their magic. Please read: ‘The Best Of Hindi Songs – Rafi, Shakeel, Naushad And Dilip Kumar Together’) but also for the fact that we shall never have this voice again. I can imagine not just people crying with the song but perhaps even God doing so. In the finale of the song when the throat bleeding pitch reaches a crescendo, you feel drained out listening to it but Rafi ji did it with his customary ease.

The makers of best songs in Hindi movies: Mohammad Rafi with Naushad Ali and Shakeel Badayuni
The makers of best songs in Hindi movies: Mohammad Rafi with Naushad Ali and Shakeel Badayuni

The song was composed by Naushad in Raag Darbari, Tal Kaherava (Naushad is credited with having brought Raaga based compositions in Hindi movies and each one of the Baiju Bawra’s thirteen songs (including Sargam) was based on a Raaga. Rafiji’s genre’ of singing included Raaga based songs and he did an outstanding job of singing them all.

Please enjoy a tour de force of a song and help revise Karan Johar’s views about Rafi ji’s singing and crying: O duniya ke rakhwaale, sun dard bhare mere naale …

Bhagavaan, bhagavaan … bhagavaan
O duniyaa ke rakhavaale, sun dard bhare mere naale
Sun dard bhare mere naale
Aas niraash ke do ra.ngo.n se, duniyaa tuune sajaaI
Nayyaa sa.ng tuufaan banaayaa, milan ke saath judaaI
Jaa dekh liyaa harajaaI
O… luT gaI mere pyaar kii nagarii, ab to niir bahaa le
ab to niir bahaa le
O… ab to niir bahaa le, o duniyaa ke rakhavaale …

Aag banii saavan kii barasaa, phuul bane a.ngaare
Naagan ban ga_ii raat suhaanii, patthar ban gae taare
Sab TuuT chuke hai.n sahaare, o … jiivan apanaa vaapas le le
Jiivan dene vaale, o duniyaa ke rakhavaale …

Chaa.nd ko Dhuu.NDhe paagal suuraj, shaam ko Dhuu.NDhe saveraa
Mai.n bhii Dhuu.NDhuu.N us priitam ko, ho naa sakaa jo meraa
Bhagavaan bhalaa ho teraa, o … qismat phuuTii aas na TuuTii
Paa.nv me.n pa.D gae chhaale, o duniyaa ke rakhavaale …

Mahal udaas aur galiyaa.n suunii, chup-chup hai.n diivaare.n
Dil kyaa uja.Daa duniyaa uja.Dii, ruuTh gaI hai.n bahaare.n
Ham jiivan kaise guzaare.n, o … ma.ndir girataa phir ban jaataa
Dil ko kaun sambhaale, o duniyaa ke rakhavaale …

O duniyaa ke rakhavaale
Rakhavaale
Rakhavaale
Rakhavaale …  (throat bleeding pitch)

Song #2
Ye aansu mere dil ki zubaan hain….

Here is another one of those rare occasions when Mohammad Rafi expressed his emotions throught the medium of tears. Hasrat Jaipuri, the great lyricist who worked with the best music duo ever: Shankar Jaikishan, called these tears as the language of the heart (Dil ki zubaan). If Anushka Sharma or Karan Johar would pay attention to the lyrics and their superb rendition by Mohammad Rafi, they would instantly feel ashamed about passing off Rafi’s singing as crying. Each word in the song assumes greater meaning with the effect of his singing.

Mohammad Rafi with Hasrat Jaipuri, Shashi Kapoor and Jaikishan
Mohammad Rafi with Hasrat Jaipuri, Shashi Kapoor and Jaikishan (the song is picturised on Rajendra Kumar and Jamuna)

Pleaase enjoy: Ye aansu mere dil ki zubaan hain….

Ye aa.Nsuu mere dil kii zubaan hai.n -2
Mai.n ro_uu.N to ro de.n aa.Nsuu
Mai.n ha.Ns duu.N to ha.Ns de.n aa.Nsuu
Ye aa.Nsuu mere dil kii zubaan hai.n -2

Aa.Nkh se Tapakii jo chi.ngaarii, har aa.Nsuu me.n chhabii tumhaarii
Chiir ke mere dil ko dekho, bahate lahuu me.n priit tumhaarii
Ye jiivan jaise sulagaa tuufaan hai
Ye aa.Nsuu mere dil ki zubaan hai.n -2
Mai.n ro_uu.N to ro de.n aa.Nsuu
Mai.n ha.Ns duu.N to ha.Ns de.n aa.Nsuu
Ye aa.Nsuu mere dil kii zubaan hai.n -2

Jiivan-path par jiivan saathii, saath chale ho mu.Nh na mo.Do
Dard-o-Gam ke doraahe par, mujhako ta.Dapataa yuu.N na chho.Do
Ye naGamaa mere Gam kaa bayaan hai
Ye aa.Nsuu mere dil kii zubaan hai.n -2
Mai.n ro_uu.N to ro de.n aa.Nsuu
Mai.n ha.Ns duu.N to ha.Ns de.n aa.Nsuu
Ye aa.Nsuu mere dil kii zubaan hai.n -2

Song #3
Kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aaya…

Mister Karan Johar, after you have made your millions blaspheming our most revered singer ever, please give it a thought that the song that I am giving you now is amongst the best of one of the best lyricists ever: Sahir Ludhianvi. Music Director Jaidev composed it in Raag Gara, Tal Dadra and after both of them did their bit to make this song great, finally it was the extraordinary rendition by Mohammad Rafi that made the emotions of Dev Anand on celluloid come alive.

Mohammad Rafi with Dev Anand
Mohammad Rafi with Dev Anand

Please enjoy: Kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aaya…

Kabhii Kud pe, kabhii haalaat pe ronaa aayaa
Baat nikalii, to har ik baat pe ronaa aayaa

Ham to samajhe the ki ham bhuul gae hai.n unako
Kyaa huaa aaj, ye kis baat pe ronaa aayaa

Kis liye jiite hai.n ham kisake liye jiite hai.n
Baarahaa aise savaalaat pe ronaa aayaa

Kaun rotaa hai kisii aur kii Kaatir ai dost
Sabako apanii hii kisii baat pe ronaa aayaa

Song #4
Ye hanste hue phool…

The 1957 movie Pyaasa has the most crying songs of Mohammad Rafi in a single movie and the songs are as much classic as the movie is. Time magazine ranked it in 2005 as one of the Top 100 movies of all times and the same magazine, in 2011, ranked it as one of the Ten Most Romantic movies in the world. And guess what? Guru Dutt plays a poet Vijay in the movie (Sahir Ludhianvi‘s poetry) whose poetry is considered pedestrian by people until later they realise that it is poetry of the highest excellence. Similarly, Karan Johar and Anushka would think it is mere crying when the rest of the world thinks of it as singing of great skill and brilliance. He sang those songs because the story demanded it and each one is a masterpiece composed by SD Burman.

Mohammad Rafi with Guru Dutt and SD Burman
Mohammad Rafi with Guru Dutt and SD Burman

For your information, Mister Karan Johar and Ms Anushka, when Mohammad Rafi through Vijay (Guru Dutt) sang in an audience in early stages of his poetry-writing in the movie: Tang aa chuke hain qash-ma-qash-e-zindagii se ham, thukaraa na dein jahaan ko kahiin bedilii se ham, one of the men in the audience, as ill-informed as you both are about real value of Rafi’s singing, used a variation of your blasphemous dialogue: “Aji janaab, khushii ke mauke par kyaa bedili kaa raag chhedaa huaa hai? Koi khushii kaa giit sunaaiye“, he replied in his singing voice: Ham gam-zadaa hain laayen kahaan se khushi ke geet, denge wohi jo paayenge is zindagii se ham. It was a brilliant reply as good in its lyrical value as in singing eminence.

And for irreverant people like you, Rafi had a beautiful reply in another song: Gam is qadar badhe, ke main ghabaraa ke pii gayaa; is dil kii bebasii pe
taras khaa ke pii gayaa. And a female voice commented: Achchhaa to ye shaayar bhii hain, in the same mocking way that you feel he was less a singer than a crier, Rafi, once again through Vijay (Guru Dutt) responded brilliantly in the end: Thukaraa rahaa thaa mujhako badi der se jahaan, main aaj sab jahaan ko thukra ke pi gaya!

Rafi would have had something to say, in his singing voice to you too, Mister Karan Johar except that he had already concluded in the movie that he was above all this: Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kyaa hai?

Pyaasa was the last time when the pair of Sahir Ludhianvi and SD Burman were together and this is what they made Rafi sing. Please enjoy: Ye hanste hue phool…

Ye ha.Nsate huye phuul
Ye mahakaa hu_aa gulashan
( Ye ra.ng me.n aur nuur me.n
Duubii hu_ii raahe.n ) -2

(Ye phuulo.n kaa ras pii ke
machalate huye bha.Nware ) -2

Mai.n duu.N bhii to kyaa duu.N tumhe.n
Ai shoK nazaaro.n
Le de ke mere pass
Kuchh aa.Nsuu hai.n kuchh aahe.n

All I can say is that happy songs are much easier to sing. The sad songs of Pyaasa are amongst the most difficult songs that he sang.

Song #5
Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye….

On a rough count, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh would have sung many more cryingly sad songs than Mohammad Rafi. However, in case of Lata, Karan Johar would have been politically correct never to compare her singing with her crying. He would have known that his film would have been forced to be banned rather than his making millions by mocking her. Also, the fact is that Mohammad Rafi put his heart and soul into any type of songs including sad ones and his songs are the ones that are remembered most for their heart rending quality. In many of these, that were duets, Lata ji matched him ably just as she did with romantic and peppy duets.

Amongst Rafi and Lata’s most popular duets of all times is this crying song, in which she rightly says: Magar rote rote hansi aa gayi hai, khyaalon mein aake woh jab muskaraye.

This also happens to be one of the best remembered songs in Raag Kalyan, Tal Kaherava, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal on the excellent lyrics of Asad Bhopali. One of Rafi’s qualities was that even if the actors were of lesser calibre, he covered up for them by the depth of his singing. In the 1963 movie Parasmani, for example, he sang for Mahipal whilst Lata sang for Geetanjali.

Mohammad Rafi with Laxmikant Pyarelal
Mohammad Rafi with Laxmikant Pyarelal

Please enjoy: Woh jab yaad aaye, bahut yaad aaye….

Wo jab yaad aae bahut yaad aae
Gam-e-zi.ndagii ke a.ndhere me.n hamane
Chiraag-e-muhabbat jalaae bujhaae

AahaTe.n jaag uThii.n raaste ha.ns diye
Thaamakar dil uThe ham kisii ke liye
Ka_ii baar aisaa bhii dhokhaa huaa hai
Chale aa rahe hai.n vo nazare.n jhukaae

Dil sulagane lagaa ashq bahane lage
Jaane kyaa-kyaa hame.n log kahane lage
Magar rote-rote ha.nsii aa ga_ii hai
Khayaalo.n me.n aake vo jab muskuraae

Wo judaa kyaa hue zi.ndagii kho ga_ii
Shammaa jalatii rahii roshanii kho ga_ii
Bahut koshishe.n kii.n magar dil na bahalaa
Ka_ii saaz chhe.De ka_ii giit gaae

Song #6
Hum tumse judaa ho ke mar jaayenge ro ro ke…

Talking about Asad Bhopali, two years after Parasmani he repeated the magic of his lyrics in the 1965 movie Ek Sapera Ek Lutera with Feroze Khan playing both the title roles. This time the music director was Usha Khanna, the only female music director of contemporary fame (though earlier there were two others too: Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi) in a male dominated Hindi films music scene. She composed the song in Raag Darbari Kanada, Tal Kaherava. I was not yet in my teens when I saw the movie with my parents and I do remember that this was the most popular song of the movie at that time.

rafi-with-usha-khanna-and-kishore-kumar

Please enjoy: Hum tumse judaa ho ke mar jaayenge ro ro ke….

Ham tumase judaa ho ke mar jaa_e.Nge ro-ro ke -2
Mar jaa_e.Nge ro-ro ke

Duniyaa ba.Dii zaalim hai dil to.D ke ha.Nsatii hai -2
Ik mauj kinaare se milane ko tarasatii hai
Kah do na ko_ii roke -2
Ham tumase judaa …

Vaade nahii.n bhuule.nge kasame.n nahii.n to.De.nge -2
Ye tay hai ki ham dono.n milanaa nahii.n chho.De.nge
Jo rok sake roke -2
Ham tumase judaa …

Sochaa thaa kabhii do dil milakar na judaa ho.nge
Maaluum na thaa ham yuu.N naaqaam-e-vafaa ho.nge
Qismat ne.n di_e dhokhe
Ham tumase judaa …

Song #7
Tere bin soone nayan hamaare….

Jag mein rahaa main jagase paraayaa
Saayaa bhii meraa mere saath na aayaa
Hansane ke din bhi roke guzaare
Haay! tere bin suune …

One of the greatest lyricists of all times – Shailendra (Please read: ‘The Best Songs Of Shailendra, The Lyricist Beyond Compare – Part I’ and ‘Part II’) penned those lyrics for the 1963 RK Rakhan movie Meri Soorat Teri Aankhen, which had Ashok Kumar in the most challenging role of his life (No successful actor of Karan Johar movies would ever take up such a role in which he is to be shown as dark and ugly; which only goes to prove that Karan Johar and his ilk are as devoid of reality around them as they are of respect for the finest singer on earth: Mohammad Rafi). These lyrics tell the story of some of the unfortunate people of India before (suddenly) everyone started moving in their cloistered and make believe world of riches, splashes of colour, skirts, jeans and fornication created by Karan Johar and the like. And, Mohammad Rafi was there to sing those emotions of the poor, the deprived and the victimised.

The great composer Sachin Dev Burman composed these lyrics in Raag Pilu (the favourite raaga of his contemporary OP Nayyar) and Tal Dadra. The last stanza has been sung by Lata Mangeshkar for Asha Parekh who was visiting that hilly and isolated locale with her lover Pradeep Kumar and who was visibly affected by the beauty of the singing.

Mohammad Rafi with Ashok Kumar
Mohammad Rafi with Ashok Kumar

Please enjoy: Tere bin soone nayan hamare….

Tere bin suunii, nain hamaare
Haay! tere bin suunii
BaaT takat gaye saa.Njh sakhaare
Haay! tere bin suunii

Raat jo aaye Dhal jaaye pyaasii
Din kaa hai duujaa naam udaasii
Nindiyaa na aaye ab mere dvaare
Haay! tere bin suunii …

Jag me.n rahaa mai.n jagase paraayaa
Saayaa bhii meraa mere saath na aayaa
Ha.Nsane ke din bhii roke guzaare
Haay! tere bin suunii …

O anadekhe, o anajaane
Chhup ke na gaa ye prem taraane
Kaun hai tuu mohe ab to bataa re
Haay! tere bin suunii …

Song #8
Tum mujhe youn bhula na paaoge…

Finally, Mister Karan Johar, Anushka Sharma and party, this is as if directly sung by Mohammad Rafi for you. However much you try, you cannot forget Mohammad Rafi. Whenever you hear his songs, you too hum and will continue humming! Rafi ji had that quality. Even those who, for reasons known best to them, mock him, love Mohammad Rafi’s songs; there is no getting away from this reality.

This has been composed by my favourite music duo Shankar Jaikishan in my favourite Raag Jhinjhoti. Why is Jhinjhoti my favourite? Simple, because what I consider as the greatest song ever made in Hindi movies was sung in this Raag: Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam that was put together by the fabulous trio of Shakeel-Naushad-Rafi. Of course, S-J composed this song in Tal Dadra whereas Naushad’s song is in Tal Kaherava.

Mohammad Rafi sang it for Shammi Kapoor who admitted that this was the most challenging role of his career as Pagla Kahin Ka (the title of the 1970 movie).

Crying, Mister Karan Johar? Crying isn’t how you jeeringly put it in the movie; crying is empathising, crying is emotions melted into hot liquid, and in the case of Mohammad Rafi, crying is melody of the most outstanding refrain.

Once again Hasrat Jaipuri penned these powerful lyrics that have raw emotions hanging from hooks of despondency.

Mohammad Rafi with Shammi Kapoor, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan (Pic courtesy: mohdrafi.com)
Mohammad Rafi with Shammi Kapoor, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan (Pic courtesy: mohdrafi.com)

Please enjoy: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paaoge…

Tum mujhe yU.N bhulaa naa paaoge
Haa.N tum mujhe yU.N bhulaa naa paaoge
Jab kabhii bhii sunoge giit mere
Sa.ng sa.ng tum bhii gunagunAoge
Haa.N tum mujhe yU.N bhulaa naa paaoge
Ho tum mujhe yU.N …

(Wo bahaare.n vo chaa.ndanii raate.n
Hamane kii thii jo pyAr kii baate.n ) – 2
Un nazaaro.n kii yaad aaegii
Jab khayaalo.n me.n mujhako laaoge
Haa.N tum mujhe yU.N bhulaa naa paaoge
Ho tum mujhe yU.N …

(Mere haatho.n me.n teraa cheharaa thaa
Jaise koI gulaab hotaa hai ) – 2
Aur sahaaraa liyaa thaa baaho.n kaa
Wo shaam kis tarah bhulaaoge
Haa.N tum mujhe yU.N bhulaa naa paaoge
Ho tum mujhe yU.N …

(Mujhako dekhe binaa qaraar naa thaa
Ek aisaa bhii daur guzaraa hai ) – 2
JhUTh maanU.N to pUchhalo dil se
Mai.n kahU.ngaa to rUTh jaaoge
Haa.N tum mujhe yU.n bhulaa naa paaoge

Jab kabhii bhii …

Perhaps now Mister Karan Johar, you would realise that all you did with that cheap and jeering dialogue of yours was akin to a man spitting at the moon.

How does it feel now, Mister Karan Johar, that the gooey stuff has landed on your own face? Apologise and help remove the blot from your own face and make millions of Mohammad Rafi fans happy. We pray that good sense would visit you soon and be your guest, even if for limited time.

NO ‘GOOD LADIES’ IN THE NAVY!

It is surprising that those who start on a common platform with a common vocabulary, culture and manners (say NDA or National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla, near Pune in Maharashtra) soon get absorbed in their service ethos as soon as they join their individual services: Army, Navy and the Air Force.

The expression or phrase: Good Lady or Lady Wife is typically Indian Army officers’ (males) way of addressing their wives. Now of course I am used to it but there was a time when I first heard it and decided that it was the equivalent of the expression “I have a bad headache” since even that expression suggests that there must be some people who have good headache too. Likewise, I am yet to meet a person who introduces his wife as a Bad Woman or Coarse Wife. One would, therefore, conclude that Good Lady or Lady Wife is an overkill as much as the overkill in the expression: bad headache. When you say you have a headache (without suffixing it with good or bad), I am sure people don’t automatically assume that you are having a rollicking time and that a headache is something worth having. Coming from the army wherein they have a penchant for abbreviating even short words like Night into Ni and Enemy into En (Please read: Bikini Speech, a piece I wrote when I was undergoing my Higher Command Course with the army)), it is certainly an exaggeration.

In the Navy, a ship is normally referred to as She. Here is a ready-made explanation from Glossophilia:

“A ship is called a she because there is always a great deal of bustle around her; there is usually a gang of men about; she has a waist and stays; it takes a lot of paint to keep her good-looking; it is not the initial expense that breaks you, it is the upkeep; she can be all decked out; it takes an experienced man to handle her correctly; and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable. She shows her topsides, hides her bottom and, when coming into port, always heads for the buoys.”

Of course, that is the explanation that is often to be found in the folk-lore with the navies around the world and no one cares to remember that the Latin and the Sanskrit words for ship are similar: Navis and Naav and that both these are feminine. Nautical slang is not just folk-lore; we use it extensively on board as much as authors like Joseph Conrad did. Hence, a Lady’s Hole was a dainty niche in the stern of the ship wherein a light used to be kept for ships astern of her to steer by. Many others referred to Lady’s Hole as the place wherein a gun ammunition used to be kept.

However, be as it may, in the Navy, a ship is a lady and it requires Good Men to keep her looking comely and fighting-fit. We have so much respect for the ladies that we salute with palm inwards so as not to show our dirty palms to them as a result of keeping the lady clean and proper (the custom having originated in the Royal Navy when, during the Queen’s visit aboard a ship, a deck-hand engaged in manning the tarred lines of the ship, saluted her with his dirty palm facing away from the Queen, as a token of respect).

What about the ceremony of launching a ship by a lady breaking a bottle of wine on the bows of the ship? This practice originated from the religious ceremony of baptism of infants and by late 18th century, this custom of  breaking a bottle of wine on the ships bows as she was launched became a standard practice.

A Princess of the House of Hanover, then the ruling House of England, was  asked to sponsor one of the ships of the Navy. This became the equivalent of the Royal Army’s tradition of patronage for their regiments. Unfortunately, the Princess threw the bottle with more energy than accuracy and it struck one of the spectators, causing severe injuries to him who subsequently claimed damages from the Admiralty. To avoid a repetition, the Admiralty instituted the protocol of attaching a cord to the bottle.

We, in the Indian Navy, did away with the bottle of wine and introduced the tradition of breaking a coconut on the bows by a lady to launch a ship.

INS Sudarshini, the second of Sail Training Ships (first being INS Tarangini) being launched by Smt Letha Sushil wife of Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command at Goa Shipyard
INS Sudarshini, the second of Sail Training Ships (first being INS Tarangini) being launched by Smt Letha Sushil wife of Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command at Goa Shipyard

Thus, in naval traditions, ladies are associated with the ships from their launch onwards. When a lady joins the naval family as a wife, a coffee-table book is presented to her with the title: Welcome Young Lady. In the opening paragraph of the book, she is reminded of the fact that for a navy man, his ship (a she at that) happens to be his first love and the Young Lady ought to keep that in mind. Indeed, many of the naval wives, jokingly complain that their husbands spend more time with the lady (she) at sea than the lady at home.

Even at that no naval lady is prepared for the gaffe that was unwittingly cracked by one of the officers (not well versed in the nuances of the English language) thanking his host thus: I thank you from the bottom of my heart (at this stage he suddenly remembered his wife beside him and added) and from my wife’s bottom too.

Another one, stepping off the brow (gangplank) on to the ship, on an evening, introduced the Officer of the Day to his wife and vice-versa by just pointing to the two in turns and saying: “The OOD, the wife”.

It used to be a male world for months and years at sea, away from the land where the ladies and women abound. Irrespective of the saying that a sailor has a girl or a woman in every port, the poor guy was by himself and with his male counterparts at sea. Hence, calling a ship a “she” was not just endearing but also signified the dependent relationship that he had with the ship that sustained him in many different ways. It was thus a common practice of crafting female figureheads for a ship’s prow, for example, in the picture below:

(Pic courtesy: Pinterest)
(Pic courtesy: Pinterest)

Hence, whilst the army man proudly shows off his Good Lady or Lady Wife, a navy man is most likely to sing with Mohammad Rafi, a song praising the beauty of a woman, the lyrics for which were written by poet laureate Harindranath Chattopadhyay (brother of Sarojini Naidu). The laughter and spoken lines in the opening and closing sections of the song were performed by Harindranath Chattopadhyay. The song was released in 1969 as a parody to another of Shankar Jaikishan’s compositions for the 1965 movie Gumnaam (four years before this song was released): Hum kaale hain to kya hua dilwaale hain. You will enjoy the lyrics given in the following video except for the fact that the navy man would be singing it for his ship!

If I were to call my wife Good Lady or Lady Wife, she would make me see the stars that I won’t otherwise be seeing at sea.

Sujata or Savitri, Sharda or Sumitra, Jyoti, Ganga or Jamuna, a navy man thinks of best names for his first lady-love: his ship.

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