How big or long a Life should be?
Should one be able to live forever?
Who knows what couldn’t or could be,
If on this earth one were to die never?
The easy answer, my friends, to remember,
Is that Life doesn’t consist of days and years;
If Life could be just from January to December,
Who would remember all the joys and tears?
Life is measured by smiles, joys and cheers,
That you bring on the faces of those you assist;
Life is gauged when all the pain disappears,
Of those whose wounds that you’ve kissed.
Life consists of all those beautiful occasions,
When you thanked God for what you’ve got;
When you didn’t think of those mental equations,
In which others have infinity and you’ve naught.
Life is there when you think of here and now,
Without thinking of the elusive there and then;
Life is found when you have sweat on your brow,
And still you say: give it to me again and again.
Life is in those times when you say with surety: I have lived every moment that was, to me, given; With the thoughts of self-doubt and insecurity, I was never never never never never never driven.
People ask what is the life’s purpose or aim,
As if they’d live better if they knew precisely.
I think it is an excuse that is totally lame,
For not doing what you have to do nicely.
Life has as much meaning as we put in it,
It is a clean canvas on which we have to paint.
For this God has given us the complete kit,
And even given us an idea, however faint.
It is for us to follow this rather faint light,
And go with confidence wherever it takes us;
Those who do, turn out to be bold and bright,
Others would have simply missed the bus.
We have to do the best in what our hands find,
Don’t look for lofty aims and even results;
You live well if you have this right in your mind,
Others would only exchange excuses and insults.
Here is an example, that makes it very clear,
If you are a cobbler, aim to be best in your trade.
At what you are required to do, don’t ever sneer,
Everyone is not born for a king to be made.
A bad king is much worse than a good farmer,
Who doesn’t waste his time thinking about things;
The king, in words and appearance, may be a charmer,
But it’s the farmer’s grit and resolve that gives him wings.
Raaga Based Song of the Day:Dil se re…. Raag Jog, Tal Kaherava
Today, we turn to living-legend and genius AR Rahman, the winner of more Filmfare Awards (Ten) than any other Music Director in history. Even though I have posted a song by him Tu hi re in my other songs series (Please see: ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions #22‘) I haven’t given you any of his songs in the present series on Raaga Based Songs.
After this post, I have just two to go before I finish a hundred posts in the present series before Diwali.
If the earlier AR Rahman song was from a Mani Ratnam movie Bombay, thissong is from another Mani Ratnam film: the 1998 movie Dil Se in which for the production Ram Gopal Verma and Shekhar Kapur joined hands with Mani Ratnam. It was penned by Gulzar, composed by AR Rahman and sung by AR Rahman, Anuradha Sriram, Anupama & Febi Mani. Pink Floyd bass guitarist Guy Pratt played bass in this song.
This is the first time I am taking up a song in this raaga.
We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge. It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.
Our ninety-seventh post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #97‘ and the song was a Yesudas and Hemlata song from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le. It is also in Raag Pilu Tal Kaherava.
In the last ninety-seven days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand and Mian Ki Malhar; making it a total of 61 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am giving you a new Raag Jog for the first time.
(Poster courtesy: IMDb)
Today’s song is from the 1998 film Dil Se that was produced (together with Ram Gopal Verma and Shekhar Kapur) and directed by Mani Ratnam and also written by him together with Tigmanshu Dhulia. The film starred Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta.
The movie won AR Rahman one of his ten Filmfare Awards and Gulzar one of his twenty Filmfare Awards (of course for the song Chaiya Chaiya (for which Sukhwinder Singh won the Best Male Playback Singer Award. The movie won two National Awards and Six Filmfare Awards including one for Preity Zinta for Best Female Debut.
Lets understand the story-line to see where the song fits in the movie:
Shahrukh Khan plays Amarkant Varma, a programme executive for All India Radio. Whilst covering festivities in Assam, Amar has a chance encounter with Meghna (Manisha Koirala) at Haflong railway station. He doesn’t know her name but she keeps appearing in his life (for example in Lumding where she denies having met him earlier). He is of course much fascinated by her and describes his encounter with her on the radio. She hears this and next he sees her at the Post Office.
And now she intervenes telling him to leave her alone but he stalks her and tells her that he is in love with her. She tells him she is married and gets him beaten up by two men. He comes to know later that she feigned marriage and the men are probably her brothers.
Once again she does the vanishing trick and he searches for her. He learns from a Public Call Office owner that she used to make calls to Ladakh. Amar travels to Leh to find her. Here a suicide bomber is chased to death by the army and Amar spots her again. This time she feigns to be his wife when a search is going on for suspected terrorists in the bus by which they travel.
For the first time he learns her name: Meghna. She again vanishes. It is later revealed that Meghna is part of a Liberationists group which plans multiple suicide attacks in New Delhi at the upcoming Republic Day celebrations).
Amar returns to his home in Delhi, where his family has found Preeti Nair (Preity Zinta) from Kerala as a potential bride for him. Amar agrees to marry Preeti because he has no hope that he will ever meet Meghna again.
On a date with Preeti, Amar spots one of Meghna’s associates, Kim. Amar chases him down to Connaught Place, where the man kills himself with a cyanide pill after being stopped by local police. The case is handed over to CBI.
Amar is a prime suspect. This time Meghna visits Delhi to get a job at All India Radio and stay with him to escape scrutiny by security forces. He learns that her real name is Moina and she is a rape victim of the army. Her mission, with her associates, is to target the Republic Day Parade and the President of India.
He tries to prevent all this claiming that his only motive is that he is in love with her. He embraces her whilst she is armed as a suicide bomber and they are both blown to smithereens.
He was in love with her Dil Se and she was seeking revenge with government of India Dil Se for being a rape victim as a child.
That’s the significance of this song in the movie. It is the title song and tells the story of the movie in a flash.
The song has been penned by Gulzar. Lets talk a bit about Gulzar, the most versatile Lyricist that we have had in Hindi films: He has been poet, lyricist, director, dialogue, story and screen-play writer. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award — the highest award in Indian cinema. He has won several Indian National Film Awards, 20 Filmfare Awards, one Academy Award and one Grammy Award.
He was born as Sampooran Singh Kalra on 18 Aug 1943 in Dina, Jhelum District (now in Pakistan). After Partition Sampooran’s family shifted to Bombay. In his early boyhood and manhood days, he eked out a living by taking up various odd jobs including as a mechanic at a garage. He was fond of writing poetry and assumed the name of Gulzar Deenvi and later Gulzar.
He started his career as a songwriter with the music director Sachin Dev Burman for the Bimal Roy movie Bandini (1963) penning just one song: Mora gora rang layle whilst Shailendra penned the rest.
From that day on wards there has never been any looking back.
Gulzar has won the Filmfare Awards the maximum number of times: twenty; eleven of these have been for Best Lyricist. The next in the line is AR Rahman who has one fifteen Filmfare Awards including ten as Best Music Director.
The song belongs to its composer Allah Rakha Rahman more than to anyone else. Just as, the other day, we took up Surbahar player Annapurna Devi (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #88‘) who became a Hindu after having been born a Muslim as Roshana Khan, AR Rahman was born a Hindu, Dileep Shekhar, on 06 Jan 1967 and converted to Islam in 1989, at the age of 22. In recent past, no other composer and music director has occupied space in our hearts and minds more than Rahman. Rahman’s films career started with the 1992 Tamil movie Roja, also a Mani Ratnam movie and also starring Arvind Swamy, though with Madhoo and not Monisha Koirala. Roja not just won the National Award for Best Film on National Integration but was later dubbed in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Malyalam. In 2009, when AR Rahman won two Oscars (for Best Song (Jai ho)) and Best Original Score (together with Gulzar)(Slumdog Millionaire) many of us felt that the Roja songs and music were better than the Slumdog Millionaire. His first film Roja won him the National Award for Best Music Director. One of the songs from the movie is a favourite: Bharat hamako jaan se bhi pyaara hai. As of 2016, Rahman has garnered four National Film Awards, 15 Filmfare Awards and 16 Filmfare Awards South, a record for an Indian composer.
Gulzar and AR Rahman started together with this movie. They have worked together in twelve movies as Lyricist and Music Director.
Some of the popular songs of Gulzar with AR Rahman are: Chaiya chaiya, Jiya jale, Ai ajnabee and Satrangi re (Dil Se, 1998); Saathiya, Chupke se, Mera yaar mila de, and Chori pe chori (Saathiya, 2002); Jiya jale and Dil se re used again in 7 1/2 Phere (2005); Barso re megha megha, Jaage hain der tak, Maiyya and Aye hairati aashqi jaga mat (Guru, 2007); Main hoon yuvraaj, Shanno shanno, Tu meri dost hai, Mastam mastam and Dil ka rishta (Yuvraaj, 2008); Jai ho (Slumdog Millionaire, 2009 Both of them won Oscar); Ranjha Ranjha kardi ve, Behne de mujhe behne de and Thok de killi (Raavan, 2010); Saans mein teri saans mili to, Heer Heer na aakho adiyo, Saans, Jiya jaiya re jiya, and Jab taq hai jaan (Jab Tak Hai Jaan, 2012).
AR Rahman is so well versed with raagas that he has tried songs in raagas that were hitherto untried. Some of his most memorable numbers are: Taal se taal mila (Bhairavi), Piya Haji Ali (Maand), Columbus (Madhyamaavathi), Karite na (Maru Bihag/Hemant), Hai Rama (Puria Dhanashree) (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #40‘), Deem tadare dhani (Megh Malhar), Anjali Anjali (Maand), Jiya jale (Misra Bhairavi), Boondon se baaten (Misra Kirwani), Ni main samajh gayi (Ahir Bhairavi), Mitwa (Bhupeshree or Vasanthi), Radha kaise na jale (Bhimpalasi), Chalo chalo (Chala Nathai), Mujhe rang de (Charukeshi), Chhodo meri bainyan (Patdeep), Jhoola bahon ka (Peelu), Ruth aa gayi re (Puria Dhanashree), Monalisa (Gawati), and Ghanan ghanan (Kafi).
This song, as I told you, is in Raag Jog, Tal Kaherava.
Raag Jog belongs to the Kafi thaat. Its Jati is Audhav – Audhav, which means it is pentatonic (five notes or swar) in Aaroha (ascending) and in Avroha (descending). The swar that are vrajay (missing) are Re (Rishab) and Dha (Dhaivat). Rishab is Komal and both (Shuddha in Aaroha and Komal in Avroha) Gandhars are used. Rest all swar are Shuddha. The dominant note (Vadi) is Ma or Madhyam. The raaga is a straightforward and melodious raaga. Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman have tried to contrast the soft melody against the harsh violence of terrorism. In that manner only it is somewhat similar to Louis Armstrong’s It’s A Wonderful World being used against the harsh reality of war in Barry Levinson’s 1987 movie Good Morning Vietnam starring Robin Williams. The raaga is well suited for the second prahar of the night (9 PM to Midnight).
Very few Hindi films songs have been composed in this raaga, Besides the present song, Hansraj Behl composed Naina dwar se for the 1959 movie Sawan.
I have, at various places earlier, told you about the Kaherava Tal and hence don’t feel the need to repeat it here.
Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last fifteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan,thefinest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked aboutAli Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took upPandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took upthe greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about theShehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.Then, we learnt aboutAnnapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music.Thereafter, we took upPandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country.Then we learnt a little more aboutUstaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain.Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion:Anand Shankar.Thenwe learnt about aVeena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro.Then we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar.And then we covered vocalist Pandit Jasraj in the last post. Finally we covered violinist L Subramaniam.
(Pic courtesy: thedailystar.net)
Tonight, we shall take up the great sitarist: Ustaad Vilayat Khan. He turned down all awards conferred on him by the government of India: the second, third and fourth highest; ie, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri on the ground that others less deserving Sitarists have been given these awards before him. His family, he rightly claimed, had originated gayaki ang of Sitar (attempt to mimic vocal music on Sitar) and it was not recognised for this. On the same grounds he turned down Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. This makes him a unique artiste who has turned down all awards conferred on him. The only titles he accepted were the special decorations of “Bharat Sitar Samrat” by the Artistes Association of India and “Aftab-e-Sitar” (Sun of the Sitar) from President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.
Vilayat was born on 28 Aug 1928 in Gouripur, Mymensingh in then East Bengal in British India and current Bangladesh. His father Enayat Khan was recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar (bass sitar) player of his time, as had been his grandfather, Imdad Khan, before him. He was taught in the family style, known as the Imdadkhani gharana or Etawah Gharana, after a small city close to Agra where Imdad Khan lived.
He recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8, and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75. Vilayat Khan performed at All Bengal Music Conference, as his first concert, organized by Bhupen Ghosh in Kolkata with Ahmed Jan Thirakwa on tabla. His performance at the concert organized by Vikramaditya Sangeet Parishad, Mumbai in 1944 drew the headline “Electrifying Sitar”.
Vilayat composed and conducted the score for three feature films – Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar (1958) in Bengali, Merchant-Ivory Productions’ The Guru (1969) in English, and Madhusudan Kumar’s Kadambari (1976) in Hindi.
(Pic courtesy: behindwoods.com)
Returning to the song now. The song, as I told you, is from the 1998 Mani Ratnam movie Dil Se. Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman have had an abiding relationship that started with the 1992 movie Roja that was later remade into Hindi, Telugu, Malyalam and Marathi. When AR Rahman was conferred the Oscar for Jai Ho in 2009 movie Slumdog Millionaire, critics felt that the music of Roja was much better. As far as Hindi movies are concerned, both of them were together in Bombay (1995), Dil Se (1998), Guru (2007) and Raavan (2010).
Mani Ratnam directed the movie and the song very well. In the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival he won a special mention in Netpac Awards for this movie. This song was a chart topper of the year 1998 and this song’s lyrics in Urdu are said to be the finest. Its picturisation too got noticed. Santosh Sivan received Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography for the movie. The song has now achieved a cult status.
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Jog Tal Kaherava, AR Rahman, Anuradha Sriram, Anupama & Febi Mani sing a composition of AR Rahman on the lyrics of Gulzar in the 1998 Mani Ratnam movie Dil Se starring Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta: Dil se re…..
इक सूरज निकला था, कुछ तारा पिघला था
इक आँधी आयी थी, जब दिल से आह निकली थी
दिल से रे
दिल तो आखिर दिल है न, मीठी सी मुशकिल है न
पिया पिया, जिया जिया, पिया पिया
दिल से रे …
दो पत्ते पतझड़ के, पेड़ों से उतरे थे
पेड़ों की शाखों से, उतरे थे
फिर इतने मौसम गुज़रे, वो पत्ते दो बेचारे
फिर उगने की चाहत में, वो सहरों से गुज़रे
वो पत्तेए दिल दिल दिल थे, वो दिल थे दिल थे दिल दिल थे
दिल है तो फिर दर्द होगा, दर्द है तो दिल भी होगा
मौसम गुज़रते रहते हैं
दिल से दिल से दिल दिल से, दिल से रे
दिल तो आखिर दिल है न …
बन्धन है रिश्तों में, काँटों की तारें हैं
पत्थर के दरवाज़े, दीवारे.ब
बेलें फिर भी उगती हैं, और गुँचे भी खिलते हैं
और चलते है.ब अफ़साने
किरदार भी मिलते हैं
वो रिश्ते दिल दिल दिल थे, वो दिल थे दिल थे दिल दिल थे
ग़म दिल के बस चुलबुले हैं, पानी के ये बुलबुले हैं
बुझते हैं बनते रहते हैं
दिल से दिल से दिल दिल से, दिल से रे
दिल तो आखिर दिल है न …
We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:
On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
On thesixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer:Anoushka Shankar.
On the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
Onthe ninety-seventh day, we learnt about the great violinist L Subramaniam.
And today, on the ninety-eighth day, we learnt about one of the greatest sitarists: Ustaad Vilayat Khan.
There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.
They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away,
I can assure everyone so does a poem a day.
You can think about it today, being a Sunday,
When yet another poem by me comes your way.
That Songs and Raagas have curative powers,
Is already known to us all without any doubt;
It is like we have the aroma of many flowers,
That is actually healthier than eating sprouts.
Poems are like Songs with a certain cadence,
Recite them melodiously with all your heart;
You can feel around you the healthy fragrance,
That gives your day a most positive start.
(Image courtesy: www.thehealingpoems.com
If you trust me, look at Indian religious text,
That has been penned in verses with a flow;
So my suggestion to you is really in this context,
Don’t out of the window my GM Messages throw.
How much health benefits you gain by these,
Is actually placed by God in your own hand;
Just go with the tempo at your comfort and ease;
And start the day with health at your command.
When I say health, I mean physical and mental,
Even emotional health by these is guaranteed;
These messages have rhythm is not coincidental,
When I started these, I thought of this very need.
Should you shower love on people who hate?
Or should you match their hatred with your own?
I think it would really let them, to you, dictate,
If the seeds of their strong point in you are sown.
Shouldn’t you at least try that you win,
With your best trait against that of your rival.
Hatred only adds to all round chagrin,
Whereas Love is essential for world’s survival.
Let them practise negativity if they want,
You should spread positivity and compassion;
Don’t return their spite with your taunt,
Don’t let kindness go out of fashion.
An ear for an ear and an eye for an eye,
Will make the world become deaf and blind;
Instead of being a hawk be a dove in the sky,
Turn even the demons to best in humankind.
Wear a bright smile rather than a frown,
And see how you turn people to your trait;
Don’t try to show the other person down,
It’s better to love than to stoop to hate.
The keyword in gentlemen is to be gentle,
It is never a sign of weakness and defeat;
You’ve lost if you’re forever temperamental,
Don’t ever let chivalry become obsolete.
Lo and behold, you would soon find,
It’s not as cold as it initially seemed;
There is warmth in being loving and kind,
As if the summer sun actually beamed.
Sharing friendship and love around,
Also adds to feeling of being snug;
This is really a statement most profound:
There is nothing like a friendly warm hug.
Warmth lends as much fun in giving,
As one’d get in receiving from others,
You really have learnt the art of living,
By exchanging warmth with sisters & brothers.
Go ahead try it; the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Raaga Based Song of the Day:Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le…. Raag Pilu, Tal Kaherava
After this post, I have another three to go before I finish a hundred posts in the present series before Diwali.
If you look at the image of this post you would notice the full-moon in it. Chand (Moon) is my favourite theme in songs. One of my first post on songs was ‘Hindi Songs And The Importance Of Chand (Moon)‘. Similarly, on my first Facebook group ‘Dil Ki Nazar Se’, the very first monthly music Fest was on the theme of Chand. On my second group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ too I have had a Fest on Chand with the difference that Chand would be actually there in the video of the song.
For the month of November 2018, I have announced a Fest on Preludes, Interludes and Codas in Chand and Chandni songs.
In the cover picture of this song, the lyrics that appear are:
Chandni raaton mein, haath liye haathon mein;
Doobe rahen ek doosre ki ras bhari baaton mein.
The song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor. It was composed by Ravindra Jain on his own lyrics and sung by Yesudas and Hemlata.
Even though it is a very popular raaga in Hindi movies, particularly for OP Nayyar, today is the second time that I give you a song in this raaga. The first time I gave you a song in this raag was on the tenth day: Dhadakte dil ki tamanna ho mera pyaar ho tu, (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #10‘). It is a beautiful composition of Ghulam Mohammad (of Pakeezah fame) on the lyrics of Kaifi Azmi in the 1961 movie Shama starring Suraiya, Nimmi and Vijay Dutt.
We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge. It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.
Our ninety-sixth post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #96‘ and the song was a Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1965 Raj Khosla movie Chirag starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh: Teri aankhon ke siwa. It is also in Raag Jhinjhoti but Tal is Dadra.
In the last ninety-six days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand and Mian Ki Malhar; making it a total of 61 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am repeating Raag Pilu for the second time.
Today’s song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra. The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, Chittachakor by Subodh Ghosh.
Lets understand the story-line to see where the song fits in the movie:
Geeta’s (Zarina Wahab) Mumbai based sister Meera sends a letter to Geeta’s father Pitamber (AK Hangal) that an engineer would be arriving at their village and he is a possible match for Geeta. The family dutifully receives Vinod (Amol Palekar) at the railway station. He takes an instant liking to the family, especially Geeta and even tries to teach her music and singing. The two fall in love. All seems to be going well until another letter is received from Meera informing the family that the engineer Sunil (Vijayendra) was earlier delayed and would be arriving soon. Vinod (Amol Palekar) was merely the overseer.
He was nevertheless the Heart-stealer (Chitchor) for the naive village belle Geeta. There is a happy ending for the two.
The song is lip-synced by Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab when Vijayendra arrives from Mumbai and the family is in the process of telling Zarina Wahab to switch her attention from Amol Palekar to Vijayendra.
The lyricist of the song was Ravindra Jain and he composed the song too.
(Pic courtesy: www.radiocity.in)
This is the first time I am taking up a song by Ravindra Jain either in this series or in ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions’ series.
Ravindra Jain was born on 28 Feb 1944 in Aligarh. He was born blind to Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedacharya, Pandit Indramani Jain and mother Kiran Jain.
He started singing at a very early age singing bhajans. His parents gave him music training fairly early. Ravindra Jain received basic training under Pandit GL Jain, Pandit Janardhan Sharma, and Pandit Nathu Ram. His entry into the films world was at the age of 16 in Calcutta. Ten years later he moved to Bombay wherein he made his debut as a composer for Prathibhushan Bhattacharya’s movie Kranthi. In 1972 he became a full fledged Music Director when Mohammad Rafi recorded a song composed by him that was never released.
Jain progressed his career in the early 1970s, composing for films such as Saudagar (1973 film), Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976), Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye (1977), Paheli (1977) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978) and Nadiya ke paar (1982). Along with composing music, he also wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. Ravindra Jain’s father died during the recording sessions of the film Saudagar. However, Jain did not leave the studio until the recordings were finalised giving utmost importance to his work.
As far as his association with Yesudas is concerned, Jain is credited for bringing this great South Indian vocalist to Hindi movies, in singing in many of his movies in the 1970s and 1980s.
It is said that Jain was so enthralled by Yesudas’s voice, if he ever received his vision, Yesudas would be the first person he would want to see. Jain has worked on songs after his liaison with Yesudas, but he has failed to attain the pinnacle of glory he achieved with the master singer during the 1970s. Jain has described Yesudas as the ‘Voice of India’.
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas was born on 10th January 1940 in Fort Kochi (Kerala) in a Latin-rite Roman Catholic Christian family to late Augustine Joseph and late Elizabeth Joseph. His father, a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor, was his first guru (teacher). Yesudas recorded his first popular song Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: MB Sreenivasan) on 14th November 1961. He got a break in Hindi movies with the 1971 movie Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Therefore, in 2011 Yesudas completed 50 years as a playback singer. However, it was the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie, with songs composed by Salil Chowdhury that really made him popular. The song he sang in the movie was: Jaaneman jaaneman tere do nayan. Yesudas has recorded over 70,000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (2002), Padma Vibhushan (2017) and a record seven National Awards for Best Playback Singer.On 2 Oct 2014, Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, where he stated that “Women should not wear jeans and trouble others. You should dress modestly and do not behave like men”. This resulted in a number of protests from Women’s Rights and Political organizations, who asked him to withdraw the comment, which he never did.
Some of the popular songs of Ravindra Jain that have been sung by Yesudas are: Aaj se pehle, Gori tera gaanv badha pyara and Jab deep jale aana (Chitchor, 1976); Shikari raja aaye re and Utho he laal (Safed Haathi; 1977); Khushiyan hi khushiyan ho daaman mein jiske (Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye, 1977); Laal gulabi phool se bhari (Hamra Sansaar, 1978); Sabko chhuti mili mujhako mili kyun nahin and Tere honthon ke pyaale se jo chhalke (Mera Rakshak, 1978); Sunayana aaj in nazaron ko tum dekho and Aansu bhi hain khushiyan bhi hain (Sunayana, 1979); O goriyaa re, Oonchi neechi lehron ke kandhon par and Teara kuchh khoya ho to dhoond de (Naiyya, 1979); Neer bharan ka karke bahana (Gopal Krishna, 1979); Kaun hai aisa jise phoolon se (Raadha Aur Seeta, 1979); Ai mere udaas man and Ik but se mohabbat karke (Maan Abimaan, 1980); Sun sun gaon ki gori (Sasural, 1984); and Saambh sada shiv (Abodh, 1984).
O goriya re from Naiyya is a popular number sung by Yesudas on lyrics and composition by Ravindra Jain
The female singer of this song is Hemlata. Whilst Yesudas won the National Award for this song, she won the Filmfare Award for it (she has won five such awards so far). Having been born on 16 Aug 1954 in Hyderabad, when she was only 12 years old her family moved to Bombay. She had early influence by Ustad Allarakha and Ustad Rais Khan; the latter taught her ghazals. But, the one person who really took her up as a singer in the movies was Naushad Ali (is there no end to how many artistes Naushad helped become good and great including the playback singer Mukesh?) Later, she worked with Roshan and Khaiyyam.
Her association with Ravindra Jain was the most lasting. He used her voice for his debut movie in 1972: Kaanch Aur Heera. She thereafter sang in many of his movies such as Raakh Aur Chingari (1974), Geeta Gaata Chal (1975), Salakhen (1975), Tapasaya (1975), and Fakira (1976). Her singing for him in Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se made her very popular.
In the year 1977, when I was posted to Indian Navy’s Leadership School INS Agrani, we had the occasion to host a concert featuring both Yesudas and Hemlata. Chitchor had just been released and this song was on everyone’s lips.
My posing with Yesudas and Hemlata in the year 1977 in Coimbatore when they gave a concert for the Navy Week which included their best: Tu jo mere sur mein. She was 22 years old and Yesudas was 36.
Ravindra Jain composed many memorable songs based on Raagas. One of his most memorable numbers is in Raag Kalyan, Tal Kaherava from the same movie Chitchor: Jab deep jale aana.This song, as I told you, is in Raag Pilu, Tal Kaherava.
Raag Pilu belongs to the Kafi thaat. Its Jati is Audhav – Sampoorna, which means it is pentatonic (five notes or swar) in Aaroha (ascending) and heptatonic (all seven notes or sawr) in Avroha (descending). The swar that are vrajay (missing) in Aaroha are Re (Rishab) and Dha (Dhaivat). The dominant note (Vadi) is Dhaivat that lends to this raaga a light and tranquil touch. The raaga is full of devotion and piety and as both Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab lip-sync it you can notice these in the eyes and mannerisms of the protagonists. The raag is well suited for the third prahar of the day; that is, early evening and that’s precisely when it is played in the movie too.
One composer who used Raag Pilu extensively was Omkar Prasad Nayyar or OP Nayyar. Some of his songs (conveying the mood) of Pilu are: Jayiye aap kahan jayenge, Kabhi aar kabhi paar laaga teere nazar, Kaisa jadoo balam tune daala (my favourite Waheeda Rehman song from Guru Dutt movie 12 O’ Clock), Main soya akhiyan meeche, and Piya piya piya na laage mora jiya. But, I am not giving you any of these.
I am also not giving you Naushad’s jhule se pawan mein aayi bahaar (literally spring time) or SD Barman’s Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul or that beautiful Sujata number Kali ghata chhaye mora jiya tarsaaye.
I have, at various places earlier, told you about the Kaherava Tal and hence don’t feel the need to repeat it here.
Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last fourteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan,thefinest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked aboutAli Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took upPandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took upthe greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about theShehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.Then, we learnt aboutAnnapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music.Thereafter, we took upPandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country.Then we learnt a little more aboutUstaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain.Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion:Anand Shankar.Thenwe learnt about aVeena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro.Then we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar. And finally we covered vocalist Pandit Jasraj in the last post.
(Pic courtesy: http://rollingstoneindia.com)
Tonight, we shall take up the great violinist: L Subramaniam. Talking about him takes me back to attending those musical concerts in the nights at St Xavier’s College, Bombay (now Mumbai). We used to sit spell bound listening to his art. Pandit Dr. Lakshminarayana Subramaniamin Madras Presidency, British India, just 22 days before India became independent.
L Subramaniam began training in violin under the tutelage of his father, Professor V Lakshminarayana. Mani, as he is fondly known by fellow musicians and his family, gave his first public performance at the age of only six.
L Subramaniam is also an MBBS from Madras Medical College and that explains the Dr in his name. He also has a Master’s degree in Western classical music, which he acquired at the California Institute of the Arts.
He is thus a unique violinist trained both in Carnatic tradition as well as Western classical tradition. Since 1973, Subramaniam has amassed over 200 recordings to his credit, releasing several solo albums, recording collaborations with musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Stéphane Grappelli, Ruggiero Ricci and Jean-Pierre Rampal, further to making albums and performing with Ruggiero Ricci, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke John Handy, and George Harrison.
Amongst the awards that he has won are: President’s Award for Best Violinist on All India Radio (1963), Grammy nomination for the album Indian Classical Music (1981), Padma Shri (1988), Padma Bhushan (2001), and Lifetime Achievement Award, Limca Book of Record (2012).
Returning to the song now. The song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor. The movie was a Rajshri Production film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. Ravindra Jain has had a long association with Rajshri Production. It started with their 1975 movie Geet Gaata Chal starring Sachin and Sarika. Besides Chitchor, Ravindra Jain was Music Director for their Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978), Tapasya (1976), Abodh (1984), Jaana Pehchana (2011). All these have very melodious numbers.
Basu Chatterjee directed the movie and the song very well. There are people at Pitamber’s house to see the engineer (Vijayendra). Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab are putting up a song for the guest (a likely match for her). And true to the lyrics of the song as well as the bhaav of the raaga, for the loving couple there are only two people in the room: themselves.
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Pilu Tal Kaherava, Yesudas and Hemlata sing a composition of Ravindra Jain on his own lyrics in the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le…..
ये: तू जो मेरे सुर में -२
सुर मिला ले, संग गा ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
हे: तू जो मेरे मन का -२
घर बना ले, मन लगा ले
तो बंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
दोनों: तू जो मेरे सुर में
ये: चाँदनी रातों में, हाथ लिए हाथों में
हे: चाँदनी रातों में, हाथ लिए हाथों में
दोनों: डूबे रहें एक दूसरे की, रस भरी बातों में
ये: तू जो मेरे संग में -२
मुस्कुरा ले, गुनगुना ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
हे: तू जो मेरे मन का…
दोनों: तू जो मेरे सुर में…
हे: क्यों हम बहारों से, खुशियाँ उधार लें
ये: क्यों हम बहारों से, खुशियाँ उधार लें
दोनों: क्यों न मिलके हम खुद ही अपना जीवन सुधार लें
हे: तू जो मेरे पथ में -२
दीप गा ले ओ उजाले
तो बंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
ये: तू जो मेरे सुर में -२
सुर मिला ले, संग गा ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:
On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
On thesixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer:Anoushka Shankar.
On the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
And today, on the ninety-seventh day, we learnt about the great violinist L Subramaniam.
There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.
Don’t wait to say ‘I love you’ until it is too late.
From the first of June, 2018, I started writing Good Morning messages in the form of poems (Please read: ‘Good Morning Message #1‘).
The last such message was:‘Good Morning Message #126‘. And then I broke off. Today, after a gap of three weeks I am back again. Here goes:
Good morning Friends,
Why do we miss people when they’re gone?
Why can’t we love them when they’re there?
Is there a prize for being withdrawn?
Why can’t we come out with: “I care”?
Every morning when we wake up,
Can’t we pledge to love a little more?
There is wisdom in ‘kiss-and-make-up’,
It’s not a contest to keep the score.
If you love someone it’s better to say so,
Before fate decides not to give you a chance;
Whilst one can still hear it, let one know,
You may actually see the person dance.
It may just be your friend, son or mother,
Everyone can do with a dash of Love;
Open up and and don’t look for another,
Inspiration to come to you from above.
This message of love comes to you today,
Make use of it now and don’t just wait;
Let me sum up what it is trying to convey:
Tell people you love them before it’s too late.
Good Morning friends, it is good to be back,
And wish you all a lovely day in rhyme;
Let each one of you cultivate the knack,
Of saying ‘I love you’ whilst there is still time.
सपनो का राही हूँ,
सपने ही तो मेरे हैं।
जब सपनो से आगे बढ़ा,
वो दिन फिर क्या तेरे हैं?
सपने ही तो उजाले हैं,
बाकी सब अंधेरे हैं।
तुझे रातों के साये पसंद हैं,
मेरे लिए सपने ही सबेरे हैं।
चंद दिन की यहां खुशियां हैं,
जाने कहाँ फिर डेरे हैं?
ज़िन्दगी के क्या माईने हैं?
दो चार रोज़ के फेरे हैं।
जी लेने दे अपनी ज़ुल्फ़ों तले,
जब तक इनके साये घनेरे हैं।
जब तुम भूल जाओ हमें तो हमें भी बता देना,
क्या करेंगे हम भी तुम्हें फ़िर याद करके?
प्यार लौटा देते हैं जहां उसका हमें भी पता देना,
हमें भी खबर हो कहाँ बसते हैं औरों को बर्बाद करके।
सारी जिंदगी तेरी इबादत में ही गुज़ारी है,
ना जाने किस उम्मीद में रहे रोज़ फरियाद करके।
क्या कहें कैसी अब यह हालत हमारी है,
गमों और आँसुयों की दुनिया आबाद करके।
कितने वादे किए थे कितनी कसमें खाई थी,
दिल हलका कर लिया तूने इस बोझ से आज़ाद करके,
जाने क्यों मेरी ज़िंदगी में तूं आयी थी,
क्या मिल गया तुझे मुझको नाशाद करके?
This song is from the 1963 Babubhai Mistri movie Parasmani (Gold making stone). The movie starred Mahipal and Geetanjali. The story of the movie was written by Pandit Madhur (a lyricist in his own right, he wrote lyrics for Banphool (1945), Tulsidas (1954), Prabhu Ki Maya (1955), Lalkar (1956), Harishchandra (1958) and Chandrasena (1959) and Vishwanath Pande. Asad Bhopali penned four of the six songs in the movie. All were composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.
Before we take up anything else about the movie, we should take up the music duo of Laxmikant Pyarelal who ruled the Hindi films music world from 1963 to 1998. Even though they had worked with several music directors earlier both separately and together, Parasmani was the debut movie of Laxmikant Pyarelal as Music Directror.
Laxmikant Pyarelal started off with 1963 movie Parasmani and they made such popular songs for their very first movie that these are fondly remembered even today:
1.
“Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra”
Asad Bhopali
Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Barot
3:40
2.
“Mere Dil Mein Halki Si”
Asad Bhopali
Lata Mangeshkar
4:56
3.
“Ooi Maa Ooi Maa Yeh Kya Ho Gaya”
Asad Bhopali
Lata Mangeshkar
3:24
4.
“Salamat Raho Salamat Raho”
Indeevar
Mohammad Rafi
5:57
5.
“Woh Jab Yaad Aaye”
Asad Bhopali
Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
4:43
6.
“Chori Chori Jo Tumse Mili”
Faruk Kaiser
Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar
4:01
The duo that started off so outstandingly well in their very first movie had indeed great future ahead for them. They received their first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti.Dosti was only their sixth movie (they did a total of 635 movies between 1963 to 1998) after Parasmani (1963), Harishchandra Taramati (1963), Sati Savitri (1964), Sant Gyaneshwar (1964) and Mr X in Bombay (1964). All these movies too had excellent and memorable songs; eg, Main ek nanha sa main ek chhota sa bachcha hoon and Suraj re jalte rehna from Harishchandra Taramati; Tum gagan ke chandrama ho main dhara ki dhool hoon, Jeevan dor tumhi sang bandhi, Sakhi ri pi ka naam naam na poochho, and Itni jaldi kya hai gori saajan ke sang jaane ki from Sati Savitri; Jaago re prabhat aaya, Jyot se jyot jalaate chalo, and Ek do teen chaar bhaiya bano hoshiyar from Sant Gyaneshwar; Mere mehboob qyaamat hogi, Khoobsurat haseena jaan-e-jaan jaan-e-mann, Chali re chali re gori paniya bharan ko, and Julmi hamaare saanwariya ho Raam from Mr X In Bombay.
Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar was born on the day of Laxmi Pujan, Dipawali on 3 November 1937. Probably, because of the day of his birth, his parents named him Laxmikant, after the goddess Laxmi.
Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 3 September 1940) is the son of a renowned trumpeter Pandit Ramprasad Sharma (popularly known as Babaji), who taught him the basics of music. He started learning violin at the age of 8 and practised it 8 to 12 hours daily. He learnt to play violin from a Goan musician named Anthony Gonsalves. The song “My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves” from the movie Amar Akbar Anthony is regarded as a tribute to Mr. Gonsalves (the movie had music by Laxmikant–Pyarelal). Presently, he is amongst the leading violinists in the country. The violin notes that he played for Ek pyar ka nagma hai are amongst his memorable renditions.
Laxmikant was a great fan of Shankar Jaikishan and initially L-P’s music sounded like that of S-J. However, their meteoric rise spelt the end of not just S-J Era but the era of so many other MDs such as Naushad, Madan Mohan, SD Burman, Roshan, C Ramchandra and OP Nayyar. Of course, some of the credit was shared by RD Burman and Kalyanji Anandji.
L-P have won seven Filmfare Awards, two short of Shankar Jaikishan and three short of AR Rehman who has won it a record ten times. They are, of course, nominated for a record 25 times.
The lyricist who worked with Laxmikant Pyarelal the most was Anand Bakshi whose songs featured in as many as 220 of their movies.
Asad Bhopali, the lyricist of this song was born as Asadullah Khan on 10 Jul 1921 in Bhopal.
Asad Bhopali wrote two songs for Fazli Brothers’ Duniya (1949): Rona hai to chupke chupke (sung by Mohammad Rafi) and Armaan lute, dil toot gaya (sung by Suraiyya). The next year, he wrote songs for a couple of films; these songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Shamshad Begum. Bhopali’s big break was BR Chopra’s Afsana (1951), for which he wrote 5 songs.
He received his only Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist very late for the 1989 movie Maine Pyar Kiya’s song: Dil deewana bin sajna ke maane na.
The song Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye made him very popular. After Parasmani, L-P and Asad Bhopali were together for another ten movies:Mr. X In Bombay (1964; with such delightful songs as: Mere mehboob qayamat hogi, Zulmi hamare saanwariya ho Ram, Chali re chali re gori paniya bharan ko, and Khubsoorat hasina); Aaya Toofan (1964; Hum pyaar kiye jaayenge koi rok sake to rok le); Shreeman Funtoosh (1965; he wrote only one song. The others were penned by Anand Bakshi); Lootera (1965); Hum Sab Ustaad Hain (1965; Ajnabi tum jaane pehchane se lagte ho, Pyar bantate chalo); Boxer (1965; Khudaya khudaya mohabbat na hoti); Naag Mandir (1966; Ek manzil ek safar hai hamara aap ka); Chhaila Babu (1967; Tre pyar ne mujhe gham diya); Nirdosh(1973; Tujhe khanjar se kya maru ek nazar hai kafi); and Ranbhoomi (1991; Pee ke Shankar ji ki booti).
This song from 1964 movie Mr X In Bombay was another super-hit number from Asad Bhopali and Laxmikant Pyarelal.(Poster courtesy: Wikipedia)
As I said in the beginning, this song is from the 1963 Babubhai Mistri movie Parasmani. Lets look at the story penned by Pandit Madhur and Babubhai Mistri to see how this song came about in the movie:
The actor Mahipal plays Paras in the movie from whom the title is derived. Son of a Senapati, he is lost at sea when his ship passes through a cyclone. He is found and brought up by a villager and because of his genes becomes an accomplished swordsman and singer.
One day, he encounters the princess ( Rajkumari played by Gitanjali) and falls in love with her. His fame as a singer soon reaches the palace, and the Emperor summons him to sing for him. Pleased with his singing, the Emperor asks him for a wish, and Paras asks for the hand of his daughter. Enraged, the Emperor decides to punish Paras, but Paras escapes.
Appearing defeated, the Emperor asks Paras to seek a rare gem called a Parasmani, because he is under a curse that as soon as his daughter marries, it will be the last day for the Emperor. If Paras can find the Parasmani, the life of the Emperor can be saved. Only then can Paras marry the princess. Paras agrees to this and leaves on the search with his sister and brother.
Paras receives clues from various places and is directed to a cave. From this point, the film that is black and white earlier becomes Eastman Color. Fighting various magical creatures and volcanic lava, Paras meets the Sorceress Mayanagri (Jeevan Kala), who falls in love with the brave Paras. Taking him in confidence, she shows him her real self, which is an old woman. The Sorceress shows him the Parasmani, which Paras gains after killing a giant spider-like creature. Soon the old sorceress also meets her end. Paras and his siblings fly back to their kingdom where, after some crucial fights, he meets his father, Senapati, and is married to the princess.
The song comes about when the lovers are separated.
Laxmikant Pyarelal composed the song in Raag Kalyan, Tal Kaherava.
Raag Kalyan is the basic raag of Kalyan thaat, which is also known as Raag Yaman (from the Mughal period onwards). It is a Sampooran (all seven swars; ie, heptatonic) raaga with Madhyam being teevra and rest all swar being shuddha, which is normally to be played during the first prahar of the night (6 PM to 9 PM).
Raag Kalyan or Yaman is a fundamental raag and often the first raag taught to students of classical music.
Kalyan or Yaman is a very popular raag for composing Hindi movies’ songs. Following songs, as examples, have been composed in this raag:
Khuda Nigahbaan Ho
Main Kya Jaanu Kya
Aansoo Bhari Hai
Man Re Tu
Ang Ang Rang
Re Man Sur Mein Ga
Aapke Anorodh Par
Is Mod Se Jate
Jo Tum Todo Piya
Hamari Thodi Si Bewafai
Aaj Hum Apni
Nav Kalpana Nav Roop
Na Jao Saeeyan
Mithe Bol Bole
Mitwa Bole Meethe
Jane Kya Sochkar
Tarana
Mohe Maro Na Kanha
Dekho Ri Koi
Ehsaan Tera Hoga
Chale Ja Rahe Hain
Yahi Hai Tamanna
Gahar Se Nikalte
Saras Raat Man Bhaye
Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein
Nigahein Milane Ko
Paan Khayo Saiyan Hamaro
Sabere Ka Suraj
Tera Chhehera
Woh Shaam Kuchh
Maangne Se Jo Maut
Mausam Hai Aashiqana
Sapna ban Saajan
Chhupalo Yun Dil
Woh Jab Yaad Aaye
Jhamela Jhoote Jag Ka
Diya Jalao Jagmag
Nukta Chi Hain
Salaam-e-Hasrat
Mughal-E-Azam
Zindagi
Parvarish
Chitralekha
Sandhya
Lal Pathar
Anurodh
Aandhi
Meera
Thodi Si Bewafai
Pakeezah
Mrigtrishna
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
Kinara
Parichaye
Kinara
Pakeezah
Manavta
Ganga Ki Leherein
Junglee
Kinare Kinare
Aapki Parchhaiyan
Papa Kehte Hain
Suwarn SundariKabhi Kabhi
Dil Hi To Hai
Teesri Kasam
Ek Baar Muskura Do
Aapas Ki Baat
Khamoshi
Sunehere Kadam
Pakeezah
Shokhiyan
Mamta
Parasmani
Bhajan
Tansen
Mirza Galib
Babar
Lata
K L Saigal
Mukesh
Rafi
Sulakshana
Asha, Manna Dey
Kishore
Lata, Kishore
Vani Jayram
Kishore, Lata
Lata
Rafi
Geeta Dutt
Bhupendra, Lata
Bhupendra
Kishore
Lata
Lata
Asha
Rafi
Manna Dey
Rafi
Udit Narayan
Rafi, LataMukesh, Lata
Asha
Asha
Kishore
Kishore
Kishore
Lata
Lata
Lata
Lata, Hemant
Lata, Rafi
Mukesh
K L Saigal
Suraiya
Sudha Malhotra
Please enjoy a composition of Laxmikant Pyarelal in Raag Kalyan or Yaman, Tal Kaherava on the lyrics of Asad Bhopali this unforgettable song sung by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar for Mahipal and Gitanjali in the 1963 Babubhai Mistri movie Parasmani: Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye…..
वो जब याद आए बहुत याद आए
ग़म-ए-ज़िंदगी के अंधेरे में हमने
चिराग-ए-मुहब्बत जलाए बुझाए
आहटें जाग उठीं रास्ते हंस दिये
थामकर दिल उठे हम किसी के लिये
कई बार ऐसा भी धोखा हुआ है
चले आ रहे हैं वो नज़रें झुकाए
दिल सुलगने लगा अश्क़ बहने लगे
जाने क्या-क्या हमें लोग कहने लगे
मगर रोते-रोते हंसी आ गई है
ख़यालों में आके वो जब मुस्कुराए
वो जुदा क्या हुए ज़िंदगी खो गई
शम्मा जलती रही रोशनी खो गई
बहुत कोशिशें कीं मगर दिल न बहला
कई साज़ छेड़े कई गीत गाए
Laxmikant Pyarelal’s song for their debut movie is not counted merely among their good songs; it is considered one of their great numbers and here is what makes it so memorable:
Firstly, their composition and music arrangement is so good that you feel the pain of the separated lovers. It starts with an alaap from Lata Mangeshkar followed by silence when Rajkumari imagines Paras and vice-versa and then the music hits you like waves breaking against shore rocks. And then you hear the deep sonorous voice of Mohammad Rafi singing Woh jab yaad aaye…
At this stage, I must also bring out that there are many people (including me) who praise the duets of Mukesh with Lata or Hemant Kumar with Lata. However, if you recall the duets of Rafi with Lata (such as Mere Mehboob number Yaad mein teri jaag jaag ke ham, and this number) you would find sheer magic.
The lyrics and notes match perfectly and even though the song is in three stanzas, the strong tugs at your own emotions never cease. It must easily be the most liked Yaad song of all times.
The song has some compelling interludes and the silences before the music takes over (for example after Rafi sings the mukhada) add to its overall appeal.
Being in Raag Kalyan it is also relatively easy to sing; as easy as another great number in the same raag composed by Duttaram, penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and sung by Mukesh: Aansu bhari hain ye jeevan ki raahen.
Raaga Based Song of the Day:Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai…. Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Dadra
The legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote a nazm (poem) with the opening words: Mujh se pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang. Malika-e-Tarannum (Queen of Melody) Noorjehan composed the nazm into an immortal ghazal in a gathering that was celebrating his release from prison (he was imprisoned for supporting Communist ideology). It became so popular because of her composition that she started being credited for having penned it in almost the same manner as Begum Akhtar owns Ai mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aaya and not the poet Shakeel Badayuni.
The mukhada of that ghazal ended in the title of this song:
Mujh se pehli si muhabbat mere mehboob na maang
Maine samjhaa tha ke tu hai to darakhshaan hai hayaat
Tera gham hai to gham-e-dehar ka jhagdaa kyaa hai
Teri surat se hai aalam mein bahaaron ko sabaat Teri aankhon ke siwaa duniyaa mein rakhkhaa kya hai
Raj Khosla, the director of the 1969 movie Chirag called the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri and asked him to use this line as the title of the song. Due permission was taken to do so. This is how this great song was born.
This song was first sung byMohammad Rafi for Sunil Dutt in the movie. He addressed it to Asha Parekh.Later, Asha Parekh lip-synced it to Sunil Dutt in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar. This is the second song in succession in which I am giving you both the versions.
Today is the second time that I give you a song in this raaga. The first time I gave you a song in this raag was on the very first day: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1‘).
I couldn’t have given you the best song ever composed in this raaga: Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam and hence I gave you what I thought was the second best. Coincidentally, that song, penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan had two versions: first sung by Mohammad Rafi for Shammi Kapoor and then sung by Lata Mangeshkar for Asha Parikh. Ninety-five songs later we have come back to where we started from.
We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge. It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.
Our ninety-fifth post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #95‘ and the song was a Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1965 Kalidas movie Bheegi Raat starring Meena Kumari, Pradeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar: Dil jo na keh saka. It is in Raag Maru Bihag, Tal Kaherava.
In the last ninety-five days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand and Mian Ki Malhar; making it a total of 61 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am repeating Raag Jhinjhoti for the second time.
(Poster courtesy: Lyricsia.com)
Today’s song is from the 1969 Raj Khosla movie Chirag starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh. Lets understand the story-line to see where the two versions of the song fit in the movie:
Ajay Singh (Sunil Dutt) meets Asha Chibber (Asha Parekh) and is led to believe that she belongs to a wealthy family. After a few misunderstandings, he does find out that she is a simple girl living a poor lifestyle. Both do fall in love, and Ajay goes to meet with Asha’s brother, Dr. O.P. Chibber (Om Prakash), and his wife, Shanti (Sulochana Latkar). They are pleased to meet him, and Ajay’s mother, Gayetridevi (Lalita Pawar) visits them and approves of Asha. Ajay and Asha get married and settle down. After marriage Asha is expected to conceive, but she is unable to do so. After a certain incident she also loses her eyesight and becomes dependent on Ajay. Frustrated Gayetridevi decides to ask Asha to leave the house, and arranges a second marriage for Ajay.
The first time the song is sung is the happy occasion when they are in love and he finds in her eyes the world that is waiting for him after marriage. She sings the last stanza of the song indicating that for her too his eyes were the whole world.
The second time this song is sung is when she loses her eyesight. She begins with the stanza that she had sung earlier with him and now every word has a new meaning. She concludes with the second stanza saying that as long as his eyes were hers too, she would live by that support.
Clearly, the movie’s story revolves around this song. And that’s why Raj Khosla wanted to get it right by borrowing a line from Faiz’s famous nazm.
The lyricist of the song was, once again, Majrooh Sultanpuri and the composer was Madan Mohan. On my Facebook page Lyrical I have, in the last few months, put up over a hundred of my favourite songs penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Majrooh Sultanpuri was born on 01 Oct 1919 as Asrar ul Hassan Khan in a Tarin Pashtun family, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father was an officer in the police department, but, preferred to send his son for traditional madrasa (Urdu school) rather than provide him with English schooling.
He tried his hand at being a quack until he was noticed in a mushaira in Sultanpur.
He was a disciple of the great Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi. When he visited Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, the director Abdul Rashid Kardar noticed him and invited him to write for the movies. Majrooh turned it down as he looked down upon movies. He was persuaded through his mentor Jigar Moradabadi and then there was no turning back.
Many traditionalists of the Urdu literature, however, felt that Majrooh sold his soul to the Hindi films and that he could have emerged a great poet in the likeness of Ghalib and Jigar.
The takhalus Majrooh means “injured” or “wounded”.
Majrooh was awarded, in 1993, the highest award – Dadasaheb Phalke award – for his lifetime contribution towards lyrics and poetry. He was the first lyricist ever to be given that award. For the film Dosti, that made Laxmikant Pyarelal famous, he was awarded the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere.
For someone who didn’t want to join Hindi movies, Majrooh emerged as a natural lyricist, very popular, very romantic and one who kept pace with the changing times.
Madan Mohan was born on 25 June 1924, at Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, where his father Rai Bahadur Chunilal was working as an Accountant General with the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces. In the later part of his life Madan Mohan, frustrated at not finding enough assignments, took to heavy drinking and finally he died of liver cirrhosis on 14 July 1975, in Mumbai.
However, during the peak of his career, some of the most memorable songs of Mohammad Rafi (for example for Dev Anand starrer Sharabi; viz, Sawan ke mahine mein, Mujhe le chalo phir aaj us gali, and Kabhi na kabhi kahin na kahin koi na koi to aayega) and Lata Mangeshkar were composed by him. He was the composer of choice for Raj Khosla in that for his triology on Sadhana, Raj Khosla took Madan Mohan for two of the three movies: Woh Kaun Thi and Mera Saya. Some of his best songs are to be found in Haqeeqat, Aap Ki Parchhayiyan, Anpadh, Jahan Ara and Dekh Kabira Roya.
He earned the reputation of being the best composer of ghazals in the movies and these became very memorable; eg, for the movie Adaalat: Unako yeh shikayat hai ke ham kuchh nahin kehte, and Youn hasraton ke daag.
As far as Lata Mangeshkar is concerned, some of her most memorable songs have been composed by Madan Mohan either on the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan or Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. These include Lag jaa gale se phir, and Aapki nazaron ne samajha.
Madan Mohan and Majrooh Sultanpuri worked together in seven movies: Night Club (1958), Ek Shola (1958), Aakhri Dao (1958), Jagir (1959), Akeli Mat Jaiyo (1963), Chirag (1969) and Dastak (1970).
These films had some very beautiful songs. Some of these are: Nigaahon ka ishara hai bahon ka sahaara hai (Night Club, 1958); Kahin chal na de raat ka kya thikana (Ek Shola, 1958); Tujhe kya sunayun main dilruba, and Hamsafar saath apna chhod chale (Aakhri Dao, 1958); Maane na haay baalam pardesiya (Jagir, 1959); Ye to kaho kaun ho tum, Thodi der ke liye mere ho jayo, and Woh jo milate the kabhi (Akeli Mat Jaiyo, 1963); Teri aankhon ke siwa and Chirag dil ka jalao (Chirag, 1969); Baiyan na dharo, Ham hain mata-e-koocha-o bazaar ki tarah, Mai ri main kaise kahun, and Tumse kahoon ek baat (Dastak, 1970).
Dastak’s Baiyan na dharo O balma is one of the most memorable songs put together by Majrooh Sultanpuri and Madan Mohan. It starred Sanjeev Kumar and Rehana Sultan.
Madan Mohan also made many memorable songs based on Raagas. One of his most memorable numbers is in Raag Pahadi, Tal Dadra, which was penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan: Lag jaa gale ke phir.
This song, as I told you, is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Dadra.
Raag Jhinjhoti, as I told you on the first day itself (Please go through ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1‘) is a raag named after an apsara. It belongs to Khammaj or Khamaj thaat. Its Jati is Shadhav-Sampoorna (Vakra) (Nishad is Varjya in Aaroh, Nishad is Komal in Avroh. Rest all Shuddha Swaras). It is normally to be sung in the second prahar of the night (9 PM to midnight).
Hindi songs composed in this raag have an element of self-pity about them; eg, Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge, Badli badli duniya hai meri, Mose chhal kiye jaaye, Chhup gaya koi re door se pukaar ke, Ghungroo ki tarah bajta hi raha hoon main, Jaayun kahan bata ai dil, and Koi hamdam na raha koi sahara na raha.
I have, at various places earlier, told you about the Dadra Tal and hence don’t feel the need to repeat it here (For example, the latest being in ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #93‘).
Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last fourteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan,thefinest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked aboutAli Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took upPandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took upthe greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about theShehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.Then, we learnt aboutAnnapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music.Thereafter, we took upPandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country.Then we learnt a little more aboutUstaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain.Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion:Anand Shankar.Thenwe learnt about aVeena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro.Finally, we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar.
(Pic courtesy: The Hindu)
Tonight, we shall take up the great living vocalist: Pandit Jasraj of the Mewati gharana. He was born on 28 Jan 1930 in Village Pili Mandori in Hisar (now Fatehabad) district of Haryana. His father Motilal was a classical singer. He died when Jasraj was only 4 years old. Jasraj’s elder brother, Pratap Narain, was also an accomplished musician and was the father of music composer duo Jatin-Lalit, of singer-actress Sulakshana Pandit and of actress Vijeta Pandit.
Jasraj was initiated into vocal music by his father, but initially trained as an accompanist, playing the tabla at vocal performances by his brother, the singer Maniram. He credits the vocalist, Begum Akhtar, as inspiring him to take up classical music. Jasraj began training as a vocalist at the age of 15, and performed his first stage concert as a vocalist at the age of 22. Before becoming a stage performer, Jasraj worked as a performing artist on radio for several years.
Pandit Jasraj is a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibushan (the third and second highest civilain honours in India). Jasraj has tutored several students who have gone on to perform as classical musicians including Sanjeev Abhyankar, Kala Ramnath,Tripti Mukherjee, Suman Ghosh, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Anuradha Paudwal, Sadhana Sargam, Shankar Mahadevan, and Ramesh Narayan.
Pandit Jasraj is married to Madhura Shantaram, the daughter of film director V Shantaram.
Returning to the song now. For a great song by both Majrooh and Madan Mohan, neither the direction nor cinematography is actually great. Even the acting by the lead actors is average. However, that doesn’t take away from the song superb lyrics, outstanding composition and remarkable singing by both Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangehskar.
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Jhinjhoti Tal Dadra, first Mohammad Rafi and Lata (one stanza) and later in the movie Lata sing a composition of Madan Mohan on the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri in the 1969 Raj Khosla movie Chirag starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh: Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai…..
Mohammad Rafi and Lata First:
तेरी आँखों के सिवा दुनिया में रक्खा क्या है
ये उठें सुबह चले, ये झुकें शाम ढले
मेरा जीना मेरा मरना इन्हीं पलकों के तले
तेरी आँखों के सिवा …
Rafi
पलकों की गलियों में चेहरे बहारों के हँसते हुए
हैं मेरे ख़ाबों के क्या-क्या नगर इनमें बसते हुए
ये उठें सुबह चले …
इनमें मेरे आनेवाले ज़माने की तस्वीर है
चाहत के काजल से लिखी हुई मेरी तक़दीर है
ये उठें सुबह चले …
Lata
ये हों कहीं इनका साया मेरे दिल से जाता नहीं
इनके सिवा अब तो कुछ भी नज़र मुझको आता नहीं
ये उठें सुबह चले …
Lata Now: Asha Parekh is blinded and the words have a different meaning. She is looking forward to seeing the world through his eyes. Majrooh has done outstandingly well with the lyrics especially इनके सिवा अब तो कुछ भी नज़र मुझको आता नहीं:
तेरी आँखों के सिवा दुनिया में रक्खा क्या है
ये उठें सुबह चले, ये झुकें शाम ढले
मेरा जीना मेरा मरना इन्हीं पलकों के तले
तेरी आँखों के सिवा …
ये हों कहीं इनका साया मेरे दिल से जाता नहीं
इनके सिवा अब तो कुछ भी नज़र मुझको आता नहीं
ये उठें सुबह चले …
ठोकर जहाँ मैने खाई इन्होंने पुकारा मुझे
ये हमसफ़र हैं तो काफ़ी है इनका सहारा मुझे
ये उठें सुबह चले …
We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:
On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
On thesixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer:Anoushka Shankar.
And today, on the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.
The song has been penned by 
The song belongs to its composer 
Today’s song is from the 
Before we take up anything else about the movie, we should take up the music duo of 
Asad Bhopali,
Raag Kalyan is the basic raag of Kalyan thaat, which is also known as Raag Yaman (from the Mughal period onwards).
Majrooh Sultanpuri
