Star Trek - The Naked Time - Season 1 Episode 5

Watched this episode on Netflix just now. This entire original series of Star Trek brings back old memories of childhood when these were used to be aired on Doordarshan on Sundays. I remember going up to our neighbours place (we did not have television in our house until 1991), to watch these. It was so exciting for me and my sister.

Thinking of those times, would it have ever occurred to me that one day I would be watching these sitting in the house, but now on a MacBook and a thick broadband connection. I didn't even know about computers then and to acquire one was certainly out of question. Owning a landline phone connection from MTNL used to be a very big deal in those times. I remember we got our landline phone in 1997. Some couple of years ago, we got that phone disconnected since that was becoming pretty redundant and most of the time unusable. We don't care about linemen these days.

Apart from the financial angle of owning such devices, technology has become affordable too. Technology has really come in and played a very big role in our lives. Nowadays not being able to contact your near ones after trying for 10 minutes  is a big cause of concern. Why is he/she not answering my call? Why no response to my Whatsapp pings? Earlier the expectation of people reaching home would be on approximate time based on daily routine. Nowadays it is a text message, "Stuck in traffic near Chattarpur", or better still just share your location along with the traffic layer on, as a whatsapp message. Also I remember that my father would make sure to go to the bank and withdraw money, so that we had sufficient cash for the shopping to do during Durga puja. No cash meant deferring the shopping until next time. And look at it now. I just sit on my bed and touch a few areas of my phone with my fingertips and order a sari for my mother or a cycle for my son!

So much is the power of ones fingertips that we in India even decide our governments by pressing a button. Our generation is very fortunate to have witnessed these revolutions first hand. So we have the experience of the "old way" and also the "new way" now. It would really be good if I get a change to observe the next revolution in technology. God know from where it will come.

Ye Zindagii

As I look at the books on my shelf, I start to have a strange feeling. I never met either Nida Fazli or Jagjit Singh personally, but their works have been very close to my heart from a tender age. I have so many unaccountable memories, images and made-up situations associated with each of their work, be it dohes, ghazals, nazms, geets, books and what not. Even the TV interviews, live shows, and radio programmes! It is a huge collection that I carry in my tiny overworked brain, but boy! is it etched into my memory or what?

My first encounter with Nida was with Sajda, and the "Har taraf har jagah" number in it. That ghazal is the most "catchy number" of the double album and a trademark composition of JS. Then, I did not understand half of the stuff, but you know how it happens with JS and his music and his composition, it compels you to ponder on the lyric that he is singing. Ah! and Sajda has two compositions of Nida in it, the only poet to have so. "Dhoop mein niklo" still remains one of my favourite ghazal.

Then I heard Hope, and that too featured two ghazals of Nida. JS seemed to have a unique way to get it right always with Nida's philosophical works. Insight could not have come at a better time. I remember walking up to the store within days of the album release! The lyric booklet in it was a new thing and I loved it. It was on a simple white paper with black ink and the difficult words explained. Dohes were wonderful and JS did absolute justice to each of the compositions. Public at large of course remember "Mooh ki baat" number as it featured also as the title track of "Neem ka ped" that was aired on Doordarshan at that time.

As time went by, I purchased most of the books by Nida. I got to know a lot more about his childhood, why he has "ghar" and "bacche" as his favourite topics. His struggle during the partition and his struggle in Mumbai so that he could say, "Humne bhi is shahar mein rahkar thoda naam kamaaya hai".

There are many recordings of live shows that show the mutual affection between the two artists. Some of them are available now on popular video streaming sites and some are still are guarded as prized possessions of the respective owners. But the stuffs are definitely gem from an appreciator's perspective.

When I started this blog, Nida features almost instantly. Second post!.

It is no coincidence that Nida was "beckoned" by JS on the latter's birthday, this year. What is more strange is the JS passed away 2 days before Nida's birthday 5 years ago!

May both souls rest in peace.  I can only offer my thanks for their work and the mark they have made on my life.