Let me try to search in my heart,
What you meant to me;
Though cruel death did us apart,
You live through your memories.
Thirty-five years since that day in May,
I haven’t really seen a better man,
It all seems it was just yesterday,
When you could do which no one can.
I think of you as a lighthouse,
I could steer my life’s ship by;
Though for others fear you’d arouse,
Your deep love often made me cry.
You’re the one whose death I bemoan
You could stand tall and proud;
It didn’t matter to you if you’re alone,
You were never part of the crowd.
You were a terror, but I knew for sure,
You had a heart of gold;
Your intentions were forever pure,
Your courage made me bold.
You often called a spade a spade,
Consequences never caused you worry,;
No one ever saw you afraid,
You were always in a flaming hurry.
Our lives were forever affected,
When you met with sudden death;
For your unfinished work I was selected,
From the time of your last breath.
Now that mom has reached you above,
I can see on your face your signature glee;
There is someone who lived in your love,
Alone in this world she could never be.
Mona, JP and I am still here,
To carry forward your legacy;
To see you no one needs look anywhere,
In us, with us, our dad, anyone can see.
Our dad died of a jeep accident, just nine kilometres from our place: Whispering Winds in Kandaghat (Shimla Hills) (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Hear Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills’) on the 1st of May 1984. Tomorrow, would be the thirty-fifth anniversary of that fateful day, a Monday, when he was on his way to Shimla to receive his promotion orders as Additional Director of Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh. On the same evening, he and our mom were to travel by train from Kalka to Shimla to be with us at Bombay for my wife’s first delivery.
When the phone-call came about his demise, I thought it would be dad telling us (for the nth time) about their programme (as was his habit). Our world was totally shaken.
The place whereat his jeep went down the hill at Kiarighat is the unlikeliest of the places for an accident: broad and level road with proper parapets. It was rumoured that he was put to death because of a number of reasons; the chief one being that he was fighting it out with the government against discrimination.
Racial, religious and regional discriminations are rampant in India even though, ostensibly, we portray ourselves as being proud of our pluralism. When I was small, in the Himachal town of Mandi, because of my long-hair (as a Sikh) I was subjected to constant jeering by my school mates. Some of it was just annoying whereas at times it was vulgar (“Jatta, O jatta, teri bhen da tatta” (O Jatt, balls to your sister) and dangerous (they tried to bury me alive once and I was saved at the last-minute when my father crossed the burial spot).
Dad too had to face similar wrath by those who feel that Punjabi speaking should stay in Punjab, Bengalis in Bengal and so on.
Our mom died last year on the ninth of August; she having outlived dad by nearly three decades. She used to have the Bhog (Completion of the entire reading) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib on the First of May every year. She would start reading a few months before. This time, it was left to me to do a Sadharan Paath (Daily reading of SGGS for about ten days) in his memory. It was five to six hours of reading at my speed. What kept me going was the fact that dad, just a few years before his demise, did an Akhand Paath (Non-stop reading of the SGGS until completion) on his own with my mom and I providing him short breaks only for ablutions:
Paath was not the only thing that we learnt from our dad. Here are a few of those things (not in any particular order):
1. You Are As Rich As You Think You Are. Dad was a self-made man and hence never had too much of money. He was also a very proud man; he would rather give than take from others. Even at that, he gave the impression of being many times richer than what he was. He told me that his father had given him this blessing when he was still in college, “Mani, tu bahut paise kharchen” (Mani, you should spend a lot of money). My dad told me that he thought of his dad crazier than what I would have ever thought of my dad. It was because with his meagre resources, his father was giving him blessing to spend even more. It is only in later life that my dad understood his dad’s blessing: that he could spend only if he had and he could spend as long as he had. Grandad was an intellectual and a God-fearing man. What a brilliant blessing he gave my father and to credit to the latter, he followed it in toto. Here is on the tenth page of my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji (Raag Goojri Mehla 5):
kaahay ray man chitvahi udam jaa aahar har jee-o pari-aa. Why, O mind, do you plot and plan, when the Dear Lord Himself provides for your care?
sail pathar meh jant upaa-ay taa kaa rijak aagai kar Dhari-aa. ||1|| From rocks and stones He created living beings; He places their nourishment before them. ||1||
When dad died, we had next to nothing and yet we never forgot dad’s example of being rich.
2. You Should Fear No One Except God. How could dad do it even though he often had people and circumstances ranged against him? It is because he maintained a clear conscience. He was in the horticulture department and we had a lot of fruits and fruit products coming home. I used to think that these were probably perks of the profession. After my dad died I found, amongst his papers a file in which he had been billed for everything that came home and receipts of having paid. He was a terror when he dealt with people (rigid on his principles) and yet other than being harsh whilst demanding standards and efficiency, he never did any harm to anyone. He had the same way of dealing with his superiors as with his juniors and I have seen and heard his superiors fearing him. Dad stood alone combating all his problems. It was only just before his death that I was saddened to know what he was going through. He never gave the impression that he had any problems. He often sang and I know that he fervently believed in this hymn:
Jis ke sir upar tu swami,
So dukh kaisa paave?
O Lord, one who is under Your protection (one who considers You to be above himself),
How can he experience any suffering (in life)?
Coincidentally, in the Yaad Kiya Dil Ne (my Music Group on Facebook) Group’s Annual Meet at Kandaghat, on 14th April this year, Pammi sang my dad’s favourite hymn that was penned by Sri Gobind Singh ji when he was in Machhivara Forest, alone and separated from everyone, whilst fighting against Aurangzeb:
Tell the beloved friend (the Lord) the plight of his disciples.
Without You, rich blankets are a disease and the comfort of the house is like living with snakes.
3. Nothing Is Impossible. It has been 35 years after his demise and yet I have never come across a man who believed in this more. If his heart was set on doing a thing, no one could stop my dad. When he constructed the house at Whispering Winds, Kandaghat, the local Panchayat declined to provide water connection so far away from the main town of Kandaghat (we are exactly one and half kilometres away and that’s why our village is called Ded). Undeterred, dad went about laying a pipe from the village Bawri (a water resource in the hills) and next day we had all the water we wanted. This connection is our main source of water even 39 years later. Following our example, the other houses have made similar connections. Fortunately the Bawri has enough for everyone.Two of the very good examples of following in the footsteps of our dad were provided by my younger brother JP. In Shimla, he had just finished learning roller skating when next he broke the world-record of non-stop skating. Later, he had just learnt bicycling when he bicycled all the way from his school (Lawrence School Sanawar) to Kanyakumari.
Dad won’t take No for an answer and always found a way out.
4. Family And Friends Are Important. Dad invariably took us along with him for picnics, get-togethers, visits etc. Even when he was hard on us, we knew he never planned anything without us. Similarly, he made friends easily and stood by them in their hour of need. He was a great party man and offered the best hospitality to all who visited us irrespective of their status in society. I recall that mom would be publicly embarrassed by him in case she wouldn’t have offered the best available at home to the guests. His sincerity and loyalty towards the larger family and towards his friends often saw him through situations that could be messy.
5. Never Lose Your Sense Of Humour. Dad had a sense of humour that never lift him. He would make fun of serious situations and consciously made them smaller than they were. He would often laugh out loudly and include everyone around him in the lighter side of the situation. Conversely, he would make some very insignificant (to us) things look very big. For example, whilst travelling with him, we had learnt after several shocks, that if he would suddenly say, “Oh, eh ki hogeya?” (Oh, what has happened now); we should know that he hadn’t run over something or that the vehicle had developed serious defect, but that we had suddenly crossed a milk-bar without stopping.
6. Never Mix Work With Pleasure. Dad’s full energies and time were utilised on whatever he was engaged in. If he was working, there was no way he could be expected to give less than his best. Conversely, when enjoying, work was farthest from his mind. I remember after I became a commissioned officer in the Indian Navy, I came home on my first leave unannounced, hoping to give him a pleasant surprise. Mom wasn’t at home. I kept my baggage with the neighbours and walked to dad’s office some five kms away. Dad was happy to see me, hugged me, and offered me a glass of fruit-juice. The time was about 2 PM and dad said we would go back together at the end of the day. Within about ten minutes, he was so busy in his work that he had forgotten all about me. It was only when we were going back home that he exchanged pleasantries.
7. Always Be Kind To The Lower Staff. Dad was large-hearted and invariably forgave his staff for even their worst lapses as long as these were honest mistakes. He would slang them until cows came home but I had seen this for myself that the staff had no doubts in their minds that he loved them. On the day that he died, rather than the driver picking him up from our home, dad was to pick up the driver since his house was between our house and Shimla where dad was headed. He was killed just a km short of the driver’s house.
Right now, even after thirty-five years of his demise, we still feel discrimination in our place. Someone who has flagrantly encroached on our land appears to be favoured by the authorities in the garb of being a local. However, with our dad’s principles that we inherited, we bat on regardless and fear no one but God.
Tomorrow, when we have the Bhog of the Sri Gur Granth Sahib, exactly how our mom used to do it for so many years after dad went away, we shall pray that we never falter on those principles that made dad what he was.
Dad, we still miss you but you are still alive with us.
(On 23rd April 18, on my Facebook group ‘Main Shayar To Nahin’, I started a new series. Here is the third one of the series)
मेरे जेब का नोट और तेरे हाथ के वोट का,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं – 2
“नहीं, कभी नहीं”
कितने चुनाव लड़ चुका हूँ इस गद्दी को पाने में,
हर बार डिपाजिट लूज़ किया है इस सपने सुहाने में,
बैंक का बढ़ता लोन कभी कम होगा के नहीं,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं….
“जा, जा”
दो नदियों का मेल अगर इतना पावन कहलाता है,
क्यों न जहां राजनीतिक दल मिलते हैं, स्वर्ग वहां बस जाता है,
नोट से काम न चला तो व्हिस्की रम होगा के नहीं,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं..
“ऊंह”
एक बार मुझको मौका दो पावर में आ जाने का,
फिर देखो मैं टूर करूँगा सारे ही ज़माने का,
इस से आपकी प्रॉब्लम का हल होगा के नहीं,
बोल वोटर बोल संगम होगा के नहीं…
“जाओ न, क्यों सताते हो, होगा, होगा, होगा”
I have this Facebook group called ‘Main Shayar To Nahin‘. Unlike many other groups on Shair-o-Shayari with members running into tens of thousands, I am very cautious about adding members. Following is the description:
“A group for Nazams, Ghazals and Shayari (but not songs). You can either upload your own or of a poet/writer. This is indeed a group for earnest fans of good and serious poetry. YOU SHOULDN’T BE JOINING IT IF YOU ARE ONLY INTO FRIVOLOUS, COPY-PASTE, FAST-FOOD EQUIVALENT IN SHAIR – O – SHAYARI.
Please avoid:
1. Greetings except in poetry.
2. Religious posts including pictures of gods and goddesses.
3. Pornographic, obscene or vulgar stuff.
4. Irrelevant stuff such as sharing phone numbers and ‘Hi, anyone from Pahargang?'”
On the 19 Jan 18, I started with a regular ‘Sher Of The Day’ penned by me. I shall be doing a weekly compilation of those too on this blog. Three days later, on 22 Jan 18, I started with another series ‘Hasya Panktiyan of the Day’. I am doing a weekly compilation of those that are not long enough to stand as separate posts. This is the fourth one:
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #39
शादी के बाद पड़ गया उनको भी रोना,
जिन्हें बीवी नज़र आती थी चांदी या सोना,
बर्तन और कपड़े धोने में वह माहिर हैं अब,
जिन्हे कभी हाथ तक भी आता न था धोना।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #40
रात ख्यालों में वह आयी सांस रुक गयी,
कांपते लबों की प्यास बुझ गयी;
भारी भरकम बदन पेड़ पर जब बैठा,
हर शाख पेड़ की खुद बा खुद झुक गयी।
(Clipart courtesy: pngtreee)
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #41
काश उन्हें रोक लेता आने से पहले,
और सोच लेता तसवीर बनाने से पहले;
लेकिन क्या करूँ मेरी किस्मत ही ऐसी थी,
देख लिया उनको मैने नहाने से पहले।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #42
ज़ालिम तूने मुझे कर दिया है तबाह,
रात से अब हौले हौले हो गयी है सुबह;
तेरे पैर दबाते दबाते थक गए हैं हाथ,
और यह करने की तू देती नही कोई तनख्वाह।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #43
बहुत अरसे से वह आये नहीं इधर,
जो ले गए थे मुझसे उधार,
रह रह के मैं देखता हूँ उधर,
पैसे ले के जहां हुए थे वो फरार।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #44
खुदा के बाद उनका ही नाम आता था लब पे,
पर एक दिन उनकी बहन को देख जो लिया;
अब भी बीवी दूसरे नंबर पर ही है,
और साली को कहते हैं: या खुदा, या खुदा।
Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #45
आखिर उसने दे ही दिया नज़राना,
सिखा दिया शौहर को रोटी बनाना;
लेकिन पूरा हुनर उसने फिर भी न दिया,
अपने हाथ में रखा बेलन चलाना।
Today I can share with you as to why I selected Waltzing numbers as the theme of the Live Fest in Kandaghat this year.
The day of the Fest, Saturday, 14th April, coincides with the Festival of Baisakhi or Vaisakhi. On this day, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji founded the Khalsa Panth. This day also coincides with the harvesting of crops in Punjab and the famous lines: Kanka di muk gayi raakhi, o jatta aayi baisakhi (We have finished looking after the wheat plants; now, baisakhi (harvesting) is there).
Now, you are bound to interject as to what Baisakhi has to do with Waltz. Well, the joy of the jatt(farmer) on harvesting is translated in the men and women getting together and performing the bhangra and the gidda. Both are peasant dances. So is Waltz! Next you are bound to ask me that Waltz is now a sophisticated ballroom dance and how come its origin is peasant dance? It is a fact. The noble of that era in Europe used to dance the minuet but found the close, vigorous, rhythmic dance of the peasants more inviting. Thus the dance called Walzer (German) of the farmers in Bavarai, Tyrol and Styria actually went into the ballrooms of the noble and delighted them. We have many equivalents in India of the elite following in the footsteps of the commoners.
(Pic courtesy: The United German Hungarian Club)
Fests So Far
Our journey of Music Fests is FIVE AND A HALF YEARS old TODAY! Here is a list of Music Fests that we have hosted so far on the group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne’:
1.Dec 2012 – Chand Songs 2.Jan 2013 – ShaamKeGeet 3.Feb 2013 – Dil Ki AwaazBhi Sun 4.Mar 2013 – Boat Scene Songs 5.Mar 2013 – Piano Scene Songs 6.Jun 2013 – Songs of Rain 7.Jul 2013 – Bhajans in Hindi Movies 8.Aug 2013 – Funny, Comical and Anglicized Hindi Songs 9.Sep 2013 – Sadhana Songs 10.Nov 2013 – Mala Sinha Songs 11.Nov 2013 – Story Telling, Kahani, Katha Songs 12.Dec 2013 – Mohammad Rafi Songs 13.Jan 2014 – Complementary Songs (same number repeated by Hero/heroine later in the movie) 14.Feb 2014 – Qawwali Songs 15.Feb 2014 – Nutan Songs 16.Mar 2014 – Bicycle Scene Songs 17.Apr 2014 – Flute Scene Songs 18.May 2014 – Sapna, Khwaab, Dream Songs 19.Jun 2014 – Maa, Maiyya, Mata, Maan Songs 20.Jul 2014 – Raahi or Mussafir Songs 21.Aug 2014 – Patriotic Songs 22.Sep 2014 – Train Scene Songs 23.Sep 2014 – Jeep, Car, Bus, Truck Scene Songs 24.Oct 2014 – Deewana or Paagal Songs 25.Nov 2014 – Hindi Flavour Songs 26.Dec 2014 – Guitar Scene Songs 27.Jan 2015 – Songs With Whistle 28.Jan 2015 II- Zindagi (Happy or Sad) Songs 29.Feb 2015 – Horse (Mule and Donkey too) Scene Songs 30.Feb 2015 II- Flash Rain Scene Songs 31.Mar 2015 – Neend Songs 32.Mar 2015 II- Zamana or Duniya Songs 33.Apr 2015 – Indoor Party Scene Songs 34.May 2015 – ChamanBaagBagiya Songs 35.May 2015 II- ZulfGesu Baal Songs 36.Jun 2015 – BaadalBadra Songs 37.Jun 2015 II- Mujra Songs 38.Jul 2015 – Hawa Songs 39.Aug 2015 – Shraabi Songs 40.Aug 2015 II- Na or Nahin Songs 41.Sep 2015 – ChalChaliChalo Songs 42.Oct 2015 – Kabhi Songs 43.Nov 2015 – Dance Scene Songs 44.Dec 2015 – Mil Milan Songs 45.Jan 2016 – KhushiHansiMuskaan Songs 46.Feb 2016 – GeetGaanaNagmaTaraana Songs 47.Mar 2016 – Bahaar Songs 48.Apr 2016 – Funny Songs 49.May 2016 – Hill Scene Songs 50.Jun 2016 – Ghar Songs 51.Jul 2016 – KahinKahan Songs 52.Aug 2016 – Yellow Dress Songs 53.Sep 2016 – DostDosti Songs 54.Oct 2016 – MeraApnaHamara Songs 55.Nov 2016 – Songs in Headgear 56.Dec 2016 – Ajanabee Songs 57.Jan 2017 – Krishna Songs 58.Feb 2017 – Husn Songs 59.Feb 2017 II- Hot Songs of LataMangeshkar 60.Mar 2017 – Rang, Rangeen Songs 61.Apr 2017 – Raat or Din Songs Live Fest at Kandaghat 62.May 2017 – Aansu Songs 63.Jun 2017 – Koi Songs 64.Jul 2017 – Combination Songs 65.Aug 2017 – Not Held 66.Sep 2017 – Maa Songs 67.Oct 2017 – Chand & Chand Scene Songs 68.Nov 2017 – Bada, Badi, Bade Songs 69.Dec 2017 – Sajan, Sajani Songs 70.Jan 2018 – Drunken Scene Songs 71.Feb 2018 – Ek, Ik, One Songs 72.Mar 2018 – Sridevi Songs
Counting that in the month of August 2017 no Fest was held, the Fest on Waltzing numbers is going to be our 72nd Fest.
Waltz
Waltz is defined as a ‘A gliding dance done to music having three beats to the measure’ or ‘the kind of music suitable for Waltzing’.
The basic Waltz is a box movement as given below:
(Pic courtesy: Dancing for Beginners)
With a couple, another way to look at the Waltz is:
(Graphic courtesy: Wikihow.com)
One last look at Waltz Box before we move on:
For the beginners any number of online classes are available to learn Waltz. Here is one Demo Waltz for the beginners by Michael Thomas:
Waltz in Hollywood Movies and Music
Waltz has been a popular theme of music (and dance) for English movies. One of the most popular has been Lara’s Theme for the David Lean 1966 movie Doctor Zhivago with Omar Sharif in the title role and Julie Christie as Lara Antipova. The leitmotif was later adapted as the number Somewhere My Love and it was very popular indeed:
Another popular number has been Engelbert Humperdinck’s The Last Waltz:
Waltzing Numbers in Hindi Movies (Thanks Anand Desai for helping me with this):
“The Waltz a 3/4 beat or the Time Signature has been a very popular beat among Indian Music directors. The beat is divided into 2 Vibhags or
Cycles of 3 beats each i.e. 3 beats make 1 Bar.. Now since its played in a tempo cycle we call it 3/4 coz you would play it fully twice so have 4 bars.”
Ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the Waltz Box pictures that I provided, you will understand it better.
It is similar to Tal Dadra since that too is a 3 beat Tal divided into 2 Vibhags.
“The Hinch / Khemta or Udaliyo that one hears in Raas Garbas has 6 beats each of two cycles and thus sounds similar but is not the same. Its a variation of the Dadra … Dha tin tin Na dhin dhin again 6 beats make a Bar However one plays the total cycle twice so we have four bars.”
The first known appearance of waltz in a Hindi song is in “Hum Aur Tum AurYehKhushi” from Ali Baba (1940) composed by the legendary Anil Biswas.
Music director Naushad, known for his brilliant Hindustani classical compositions, helped usher the waltz rhythm into Bollywood mainstream as early as with the tragic “Tod Diya DilMera” from Andaz (1949), “Ab Raat Milan Ki” from Jadoo (1951), and “Tara RiYaraRi” from Dastan (1952).
Hats off to Naushad to come up with Waltzing on a very sad number!
Anand Desai and his friends came up with a list of songs in Hindi movies based on the Waltzing beat:
1.Aaja panchhiakelahai
2.Aapkehaseenrukhpeaajnayanoor
3.Agar mujhsemohhobathai
4.Ai dilhaimushkiljeenayahan
5.Bedardibalamatujhkomeramaanyaadkarta
6.Bhanwrekigunjan
7.Chuphaidhartichuphaichandsitare
8.Dilkejharaokomeintujhkobithakar
9.Dilkigirah kholdo chuppnabaitho
10.Dilkinazar se
11.Dilmeinsamagayesaajan
12.Dilbarmere kabtakmujhe
13.Hum aapkiaankhonmein
14.Humnetohdilkoaapkekadmonmein
15.Jeenayahanmarnayahan
16.Jeevan kedin chhotesahi hum bhibade dilwale
17.Kuchh nakaho
18.Lag jaagale kephiryehhaseenraat
19.Mai shayartohnahi
20.Meri neendonmein tum
21.Mud mudkenadekhmud mud ke
22.Na yehchandhoganataarerahenge
23.Pyarkiyehkahanisuno
24.Suniyekahiye
25.Tarariarariarari
26.Tera merapyaramar
27.Tera mujhsehaipehelekanaata
28.Tum jo hue mere humsafar
29.Udhar tum haseenho
30.Yehdil tum bin kahinlagtanahi
31.Yehraateinnayipurani
32.Yehraateinyehmausam
33.Zulfonkohatalechehere se
My own favourite is Bhanwre ki gunjan that I shall be singing during the Fest (even though I hardly know how to sing). I am giving you the movie version of the song. After the Fest, I shall replace it with my own singing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aMH-zOmTh8
And now, friends, with this curtain-raiser for the Fest tomorrow, I must rush as my sister from Nagpur Manik will be arriving at the Kandaghat Railway Station shortly with her husband Sreehari and during the evening Vipan Kohli, Jaswant Lagwal and Kavita will arrive from Hamirpur.
I hope you know now as to why I selected this theme (I always have a reason!)
These poems are for my close friend Maj Vishwas Mandloi’s delightful group of tipplers called i-peg. One has to raise a toast to the committed lot for their single-minded aim of spreading cheers!
You Are As Rich As You Think You Are
2. You Should Fear No One Except God
3. Nothing Is Impossible. 
4. Family And Friends Are Important
5. Never Lose Your Sense Of Humour. 
6. Never Mix Work With Pleasure. 
