The moment of goodbye

Have you ever felt the heaviness, not just in your heart but inside your mind, when you realise that a person you are meeting at the instant, is the last time you will meet them? I have felt it so mant times, it happens with persons I form a sort of a bond a connection deeper than the normal transactional relationships one has.

The feeling is more profound when you "know" that this is the last time, and maybe you will never again meet the person in life. The entire world at that moment seems so big, so full of probabilities  even in today's world of instant communication. You may even exchange contact information and promise to be connected, but in your heart you (and the person) knows that these are just formalities. Your heart is sombre not wanting to let go the moment, but then time never runs slow when you want it to. 

There is also a classical twist in the tale. If you do ever, bump into the person after many years, the situation could be so different then, that the past memories hold no value in the current context. 

But unless that happens we keep the probability of meeting again, "just in case"! "Shaayad"

Which brings me to Ahmed Faraz:

फिर उसी रहगुज़ार पर शायद,

हम कभी मिल सकें मगर शायद।

And of course, JS makes it heavenly, especially when he mixes Waris Shah's "Heer".

The ghazal by Faraz, is a short syllable marvel at 10 syllables.

The beher (meter) of the ghazal is: 2122-1212-22 (often used with 2122-1212-112)

Winter, Rain, Evening and Night

 Today, it rained in the evening. These winter rains bring down the alarming pollution levels of this metropolis. I hear that the emergency level restrictions are therefore revoked from today.

Though the air around the environment might have cleared up, this rain again triggers something melancholic within me. I do not know what, but there is something. Also it makes me feel cold and lazy.

Also, in these situations suddenly a JS/CS mood triggers in. It is said that music binds with one's memory. When the music is played back, the memories also playback. This is amazing feeling. We feel nostalgic, yet the memories are most of the time sweet and soothing.

Today, it is, Jigar Moradabadi.

आँखों का था क़ुसूर न दिल का क़ुसूर था,

आया जो मेरे सामने मेरा ग़ुरूर था.

जिस दिल को तुम ने लुत्फ़ से अपना बना लिया,

उस दिल में इक छुपा हुआ नश्तर ज़रूर था.

The ghazal is a 14 syllable meter, named: muzaari musamman akhrab makfuuf mahzuuf, syllable pattern: = = - / = - = - / - = = - / = - =

1706 Days

 I am posting a new blog after 1706 days here!

So many things have happened during these years! We have COVID and waves of them one after another. Then we had the AI boom. important elections, wars and what not. This blog could have been witness to all that in real time. I chose not to write, not because I did not have content, but because of my laziness. 

The days of reading and writing blogs are on the downhill for sure. People have moved to social media and contents are generated in multimedia format, esp. videos. Writing text and the art of evoking emotions from text alone, is a restricted to books. 

Let me see, if I can (re)start this blog again. Maybe I will take it to a different location, where I can save all my previous blogs and publish newer ones.

तुम आओ तो सही...

This blog of mine, would be saying to me the same thing...
एक वादा करो अब हमसे ना बिछड़ोगे कभी,
नाज़ हम सारे उठा लेंगे, तुम आओ तो सही।
And I am like that unfaithful lover that returns, only when my mind is restless, down and out, looking for love and comfort.

Just now, as this ghazal plays in the background, it has again broken all the walls of my barriers that I use as a check-dam of my emotions. Now there is a deluge not only from my eyes but also inside the heart and rushing down the veins, I am drowning helplessly. Time will heal, not the pain, but the walls of the dam, and again I would be up and running, until the next deluge. The music of JS and CS does this often. I don't know what or why it is. Maybe it is a combination of memories, melody and melancholy. Maybe something it is something else. I don't know. I don't care now.

This particular gem from Chitra ji, is a superb rendition. Starting from her ulta-short alaap, the matla of the ghazal and to each of the three couplets. The interlude of the flute and the tabla is just awesome, and so is the santoor.

This is Mumtaz Mirza's ghazal. This ghazal is written in the meter "ramal musamman mahzuf", with the syllabic pattern, 2122-2122-2122-212. The तुम आओ तो सही is scanned as तु माओ तो सही (122 212).

There are other verses that are unsung in this recording.
यूँ तो जिस सिम्त नज़र उठती है तारीकी(darkeness) है,
प्यार के दीप जला लेंगे, तुम आओ तो सही।

इख़्तलाफ़ात(disagreement) भी मिट जाएँगे रफ़ता(slowly) रफ़ता,
जिस तरह होगा निभा लेंगे, तुम आओ तो सही।

दिल की वीरानी से घबराके ना मुँह को मोड़ो,
बज़्म ये फिर से सज़ा लेंगे, तुम आओ तो सही।

Happy Friendship Day

Today "was" friendship day!
Nowadays it takes a dedicated day of the year to mark important relationships, like mother, father, sister & brother (okay we had Rakhi and bhayia dooj even before), wife, husband and even anti-terrorism. I remember as a kid, the fashion of celebrating "Valentine's day" started in our school. That was probably the trend-setter. Now social networking has thrust upon us, these. We must have some post tagging our immediate members on the day. If you don't, then you are a social network outcast. By the way, who determines these days? Mr. Zuckerberg?

Sticking to friendship, I think a great example was set by Mr. Duryodhan and Mr. Karn of the Mahabharat fame. Duryodhan on his part came to the rescue of Karn during the "show of strength" ceremony when the latter was being forbidden to compete with Arjun to establish the supremacy in the art of archery by the learned men of the Hastinapur court. Of course Duryodhan had ulterior motives, but then which relationship does not have that in kaliyug. In return, Karn was a steadfast friend of Duryodhan. Legend has it that when Kunti met Karn before his epic battle with Arjun and told him about his lineage, he refused to shift his loyalty from Duryodhan. I don't know if Duryodhan ever came to know of Karn's real background.

Most of such friends in today's world, would easily chose to reveal the secret. Mr. Karn could call for a meeting between Mr Yudhishthir and Mr. Duryodhan and say to them, "Hey dudes! Look I am the elder brother of all of you all. So I should be the king of Hastinapur. You guys, just chill." Of course one section of the media would try to project Mr. Karn has a "greedy and opportunist" brother. They could also question the authenticity of Ms. Kunit's and Mr. Karn's claims. They would have to eventually undertake a DNA test on the orders of the honourable SC of India.

What I find surprising is, Krishn never once hinted in his ~575 shloks in the Bhagwad Gita to Arjun that you would actually be killing your own elder brother in the battle. Had he, I think it would have been very difficult for him to persuade Arjun to fight. Even after Karn was slain and Arjun came to know about the reality of Karn, he never showed anger or complaint towards Krishn as to why he did not tell him this before, considering they were friends too. There goes, another example of friendship of the ancient times!

Friends, happy friendshiping!!

Bhishm Pitamah

My 4 year old son categorises the entire world as "good" or "bad". "Chingum Sir" is good. "Veer" is good. His friends are all good. "No Baal", "Mad Max" and  all type of virus and germs are bad. So as I was reading a kid's version of Mahabharat to him, I was least surprised by his queries on helping him put the characters of Mahabharat in his "good" and "bad" basket.

He pointed towards a drawing of Duryodhan and Karn and asked, "Are they good or bad?". I said, "They are good, but some of their actions were not good." To add to his confusion, I further said, "Nobody is good or bad. Their actions are. Like when you don't listen to Mummy when she asks you to brush your teeth at night. You are being bad at that time. But when you practise your lines for your show-and-tell, then you are being good". It was too much for his little mind to master. Most probably he also wanted to put the topic of brushing quickly off the table. So he ignored, (I don't know which basket he has put them in) and went on to point towards Bhishm's drawing and repeated the same question.

This was confusing even for me. Legend and tradition puts him on the good side. A loving great grand-grand father towards the Pandavs, who had to take side of the "bad" because he was so truthful towards his oath and promise. He pledged to protect the throne and never set eyes on it irrespective of the circumstances. He had no riders in his pledge. He was so bound, that he could not even raise his mighty skills as a warrior to protect the dignity of a woman that was being vandalised by his grand-grand-children. If not as a warrior he could have definitely tried to advise strongly to the throne (that he had pledged to protect) that the events being unfolded in the dice game were utterly wrong and would bring immense harm to the kingdom and throne. But no, he chose to play the mute spectator. Thus, it is not a pity that he had to lie on a bed of arrows from the 10th day of the war.

But then, look at his life! His mother took him away from his father as a new born. When he returned to the materialistic world as a young prince, he was stuck with his father's mis-adventures. He took an oath and his father gave him a boon that became a curse. He could not die unless he could know that the borders of the kingdom were safe and secure. He was a learned and wise man. He could differentiate between "good" and "bad", but his "karm yog" was to support the bad. He paid the price, both by flesh and by mind. He knew he was on the wrong (and weak) side, yet his "karm" forced him to be on the weak side.

I think Bhishm's good versus bad tally matched and that he was relieved from the cycle at the end. But then, next up is Karn. Did his tally match?
This epic is a gem.

Double Roti and Maggi

This was my dinner today. 

Since we have been having "heavy" meals from yesterday, I decided to go "light" for dinner today. Every Indian would agree that the above combination of bread and a pack of Maggi is the best choice. After all, what is "junk" in this food?

Double Roti: A strange name we have given to breads in our country, particularly the North. "एक डबल रोटी देना", when asked by a customer to a groceries shopkeeper means he or she wants to buy a loaf of bread. Not buy a single slice of bread. I tried to reason why we may have started to call it "double". It maybe because of the thickness. It is lot thicker than our rotis. And roti, because it is after all the next staple "bread" after roti here. In Bengali, we call it, "পাউরুটি" (Pauruti), which literally translates to "Pau-(legs)-ruti-(roti)". Now this is logical. In the olden days, people would jump over the batter in the bakeries to ensure that the mass quantities of flour mixed throughly with the yeast. We didn't have batter mixing machines in those days, so no need to say, yuck! It would be interesting to know what this is called in other parts of the country.

Maggi: Every Indian will swear by their heart and soul that this instant noodles launched by Nestlé India in 1983, has saved the hunger pangs of millions of people across the country in so many years. Not withstanding the ingredients and the banning and unbanning of this product time and again, this instant noodles is one that anyone who can lit a gas stove in India can cook. Boil the water, crack the noodles and sprinkle the "masala". Let it boil for 2 minutes. Done. The "Masala" flavour is the one and only that tastes best. Nestlé could very well stop doing those crazy, schezwan and chicken experiments. The best part is that you can use it as a sandwich filling, a dough for "pakodas" and what not. In those stalls near the busy office areas, you get butter Maggi topped with fried onions and butter and dressed with green peppers and "chaat masala". Then you have the egg Maggi, where the scrambled eggs are mixed with the noodles. One can have it plain, veggie loaded and what not. The sky is the limit.

Ten years of companionship

This year we are celebrating our 10 year's of companionship. We first met in the fall of 2008. It was love at first sight. In the initial days, he was not well versed in driving our relationship. He was nervous and innocent. He would try to get me rolling along and I had to show a lot of patience. His lack of experience led me to be hurt a lot at times, scars of which are present even today.

Gradually, thinks started to work. He would take me out on Sunday mornings and tried to "impress" me. Though for short runs, I was content that he was showing dedication and inclination towards me. Gradually, our relationship was fostering, it seemed. However, this was only temporary. He left me in the month of June of 2009. I was disheartened, that he left me in the company of his relatives for two years. The relatives were kind to me. They took good care and even today we have a fond relationship.

It was only in the year of 2011 that he was back and I returned to him. From then on it has been a steady but solid relationship. I may have failed him a couple of times, but very rarely during our outings. I have a problem that I am down and out when he leaves me wanting for few months. Not even touching me. He says he has to go abroad for few months, so he cannot attend to me. Sad! And when he returns, I make him pay to get all charged up and (re) start our relationship.

It has been a great journey so far. But he says that I am getting old. He is thinking of replacing me this year. He says this is the right time to get a new one. I am so afraid and sad, but what can I do?

Whatever happens, I know I have given him a good service and fulfilled my part of the relationship. In fact, today he took me for the most memorable service. It was my 10 years service day. They worked on my oil filter, engine oil, distilled water, spark plug, wheel balancing and what not. He splashed a lot on me today.

I would like to serve him more, but I am getting old. I do not have the same pick-up more so when the AC is switched on. He complains that he has to switch off the AC during the ascent on flyovers. I feel pained at heart. But we cars are not supposed to have emotions. Who cares?

Labour's Day

Today was labour day for me. Middle of the week holidays are sometimes dangerous. Suddenly a lot of "TODO" items come alive from nowhere. Okay, weekends too have similar traits, but the mind is more than prepared to handle.

Morning 8'o clock, 2 hours, was all the "extra sleep" I had the luxury. Then it was time for my son to go to school. My wife does all the hard work but since I was on leave, I had to accompany them to the school. Not that I mind. I love seeing the tiny-toddlers holding their guardian's hands tugging along and going to the school. My son's school is 450 meters from our house, a casual walk is all it takes. I feel pity for those kids who have to get ready and wait for their school buses (or school vans, those pathetically overloaded, utterly unsafe, rash driven vehicles) at 10 minutes to 7 in the morning. Things have not improved since my days. In fact they have become worse.

My son's school building reminds me of my own. Red bricked outer walls, the school name displayed with huge letters painted in blue and airy classrooms (yes, it is a non-AC school). The playground is much larger and it has these new fancy pools and skating areas. Thankfully there is no horse riding yet. I recently had a chance to pass-by my school. It has expanded. It must have taken the buildings on one side. Now it has a huge gate with a huge banner, a huge new building alongside the older building and possibly a larger playground.  During the nursery admissions this year, I heard that it is now considered one of the best schools in this district of the capital city. I have some memories buried deep inside that place. Sometimes, when they break open my flood-gates of emotions, in the ensuing deluge, the image of the building sometimes finds it way floating along. The present building looks an unfamiliar burial ground.

After the see-off, my wife went for her usual work-out session. I returned home to start the "installing of the overhead tank overflow system project". Climbed up the stairs of our roof only to find that the lid of our tank was blown over in the recent storm. Fixed and that and installed the new wireless level sensors. These are cool. You drop the sensor wires in the tank and the level of the tank is transmitted wirelessly down to the ground. The receiver in the room below picks up these signals and displays the water level on the display panel.

My wife joined me on the roof by the time I was giving the final touches to the installation. It was very windy today, so the effect of the summer heat was somewhat compensated. Once back at the house, I had to take my mother to the dispensary. Her medicines had been indented and she received the SMS on Saturday. It is never a pleasure to drive in the pathetic peak hour traffic in Delhi. More so if you are staying in an area where another flyover is being constructed in parallel to an existing operational one because our so called city planners could not estimate that we would require a bigger one in the first place!

After I returned home, I decided to clean the air-conditioner in our room. It has picked up a lot of dust in the filter and the guys who serviced the AC this time did not do a good job. This is a painful job. To use a toothbrush to clean the filters!!

It was almost getting time for my son to return. So I made a quick dash to buy few "cornettoes" for him. I had to take the car again, but thankfully I could drive this one inside the lanes and avoid the wretched outer ring road.  My son was very happy to see me at the school gate. He agreed to carry the umbrella and his school bag by himself.

It was after this that I had nothing else to do. I tried to invent work by checking my office emails on my mobile. There was nothing interesting there. Then I took lunch and had a siesta. In the evening, took my son for cycling so that he starts to get accustomed to our ways of driving early in his days.

To cap off the day, we decided to order the "Maharaja Thali" from Karnataka Food Center for dinner. These mobile food ordering and delivery apps surely help. Oh! and it was the most delicious present to gift oneself after a days hard work.

Return to my blog

I am plugged in with this music in the background. That is how I want to restart the blogging.
This is a 1978 recording, 40 years old and as old as me.

This man's muisc never fails to give me goosebumps, even after 26 years.

Helpless

Sometimes you feel so helpless:
दोस्त बनकर उसको चाहा ये कभी सोचा ना था,
दोस्ती ही दोस्ती में वो ख़ुदा हो जाएगा। - 'रुस्तम सहगल वफ़ा'

Indian Train Simulator

Awesome game! I have played MSTS earlier it was a great game. But this one is super on mobile devices. Totally customised for Indian environment it has so many versions of gameplay options to chose from. I used to think that I am part of a very small minority who like to drive trains. Apparently I was wrong. The gameplay is not much, just drive the train from source to destination and maintain the correct speed. Enjoy the scenes as you travel around. The announcements at the stations are very authentic giving a real feel of the Indian Railways.

A must try game if you love games that do not require you to demonstrate reflexes of your fingers! It is available on both Andriod and iOS App Store. The Android one is the primary development environment. The iOS gets its updates following the Android release.

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.

The lazy blogger

It is after long long time that I pick up my pen to write. (Okay, not the pen and all that but you get the idea). There had been a lot of things happening, which I can pass of to claim that I was busy but the fact is that I have been lazy on this blog. So this post is going to be a rough sketch of what I have been doing and the experiences experienced during this time. This is going to be a long one.

It all started after I had just published my last blog somewhere in December last year. I was merrily about to post the next edition of the Indian Classical Music explanation, when at work I was called upon to look for a fresh project to work on. The catch of course being that I needed to travel for about  "3 to 4 months". As I am experienced "Khiladi" I immediately placed my "deal". My kid being just 6 months old, I could not leave them back here. So I was allowed to take them along, of course the expenses borne by me. This was acceptable, as I was more interested having them with me than the costs associated.

Having "done that deal" I set out to cross the first hurdle of getting a passport issued for my 6 month old. I booked for a tatkal slot and was expecting the first hiccup at the passport centre at R K Puram. To our utter shock and disblieve, we were out of the office within 30 minutes! The passport got issued within 3 working days and delivered to our address on the 5th day!! Now we are not used to such  ways of working. This was clearly unacceptable. Well, then what was left was applying for work permits and visiting the Swedish embassy at New Delhi gives a first glance of the "crowd and rush" that you expect when you visit that country. When I went to collect the permits on a February afternoon, I had only one another guy in front of me in the queue! Just near to the Swedish embassy is the embassy of the dreamland of many Indians, and you could see the size of the population of entire Karol Bagh flocking the area.

Next, my wife and I were worried about travelling such a long distance with the kid. We tried our best to get a bassinet seat booked on Austrian Airlines, but it never went through. After boarding the flight we were located in the middle row and with our son in our laps. It was being very tough. The air hostess tried to persuade the middle aged lady next to us to shift to a different seat so that we could have some more space, but she rebutted back saying something about being not comfortable. But the air hostess did not give up, she finally managed to persuade an old lady who needed more leg room to shift to our seat, whereas we moved to the bulk head seat with the bassinet free of charge!! We will always remain indebted to that kind and dutiful air-hostess.

Landing at Copenhagen airport was not new for me nor was the 3 hours train journey to our final destination at Karlskrona. But really after 15 hours of flight the last 3 hours on train just "kills you". Karlskrona is what you would expect of a small Scandinavian city. My wife and I will have lots of pleasant memories of our stay, especially watching our son grow up step-by-step in his development. Of course we were a little sad about not being able to share this with our parents, but nowadays with voice and video chats over the internet the effect of the separation is reduced.

My work was splendid too. I met a lot of people and colleagues and made very good friends. I was apprehensive at first, because the product I am working is a very famous one in the telecom billing area around the world. So naturally they were sort of "very good guys"of that domain out there. However I've seen and felt that it is more easy to work with people who have sorted out the complex equation of keeping their ego out of their work. I found more such people here and naturally got along nicely.

So after 5 months of stay and experiencing a fine Swedish summer we were back to India. Towards the end we were a little desperate to come back as we missed celebrating our son's first birthday with our folks back here. I have now this firm belief, that wherever in the world you may be, the pleasure of being with ones own is more precious than anything else in the world.  There was a long standing visit of my wife pending to visit her parent's place that was executed in the last two months. I had to travel twice, back and forth Delhi and Durgapur in almost 3 weeks time.

It was a pleasure this time to file the income tax totally paperless. Even not that stupidity of enclosing a printed copy of ITR V and dispatching it to CPC Bangalore and then again sending it when you would not get a receipt even after 2 months. Also this time I got back my IT refund in 2-3 working days of filing the return. Bang comes a SMS that your bank account is credited with the refund! Impressed!

I have also embraced the digital route for reading. Powered by Kindle, this technology saves a lot of space and book shelf juggling and keeping track of which book is given to which person and its current status of return. It is an amazing way to read/borrow/buy books and much smarter in today's way of life.

Also on return, I found that though our water bill is now zero for the last two times (and that helped us save 400 bucks), we still have not got the free Wifi at our homes that we were promised. Neither the so called pathbreaking law called "Janlokpal" which was so important to have that we had to vote again for Delhi in 49 days time. It seems now it is not that important to have.

A new way Sherlock Holmes could detect your political alignment is the way how "Swach" you keep yourselves. And if you do yoga. Also people have become a bit jumpy about consuming the meat of a particular animal.

Some confusion has also risen in the literary world, suddenly, that they can no longer bear the present central government's atrocities and thus they no longer deem it fit to hold the award that they have been conferred. Some have declared that they are returning the award, some have gone to news channel studios to dump their trophies. No mention of the award money being returned though. Also I find it strange that only recipients of only one award are having the self realisation, no other "sukh anwars" are sharing the same feeling.

Anyways, that is what I had to say in this post. I skipped plenty, but will post in the coming ones. Promise!

Hindustani Classical Music - My little understanding - Part 7 (Raag)

In the previous article on this topic we looked into some basic concepts that can be used to define a Raag. In this article let us further learn some important aspects around Raags.

The 10 Thaats (Raag Taxonomy)
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was a great scholar of music in the early 20th century. He is probably the first to document the Raags of Hindustani Classical music in a systematic form. Out of the many books, he produced two very important treatises on modern Indian classical music. "Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati" (4-Volumes, It has explanation of 100+ Raags and related theory) and "Kramik  Pustak Malika" (6-Volumes, It has a brief explanation of Raags followed by detailed notations of songs based on a particular Raag. It will easily have 1000+ songs).

Pandit ji devised a system of  ten "Thaats" to classify the raags under it. They are:

1. Bilawal: S R G m P D N S.  Examples of raags in this group: Ahilya Bilawal, Deshkar etc.
2. Kafi: S R g m P D n S. Examples of raags in this group: Dhanashree, Bheempalasi etc.
3. Bhairavi: S r g m P d n S. Examples of raags in this group: Malkauns, Kausi Kanada etc.
4. Kalyan: S R G M P D N S. Examples of raags in this group: Yaman, Bhupali, Kedar etc.
5. Khamaj: S R G m P D n S. Examples of raags in this group: Rageshree, Tilak Kamod etc.
6. Asavari: S R g m P d n S. Examples of raags in this group: Darbari, Jaunpuri etc.
7. Bhairav: S r G m P d N S. Examples of raags in this group: Ramkali, Jogiya etc.
8. Marva: S r G M P D N S. Examples of raags in this group: Marwa, Bhatiyaar etc.
9. Purvi: S r G M P d N S. Examples of raags in this group: Shree, Puriya Dhanashree etc.
10. Todi: S r g M P d N S. Examples of raags in this group: Madhuwanti, Miyan ki Todi etc.

[R, G, m, D, N = shudha swars, M = Teevra madhyam, r, g, d, n = Komal swars]

There are certain rules that have to be fulfilled while defining a thaat. We will not go into those. However, it is important to note that he theorised that all the raags can be said to be "born out of" these ten thaats. Some musicologists do differ with this theory, but the essence is that this system provides a good method of classification of the raags. It is also true that is widely accepted and the de-facto standard in the modern times. When a raag is defined, it is almost mandatory to define the thaat that it belongs to.

It is important to note the following points. A thaat is not to be sung independently. It is a set of notes that can be used to create permutations to create raags under it. Also most of the thaats have a raag with the same name. For example Bilaawal thaat has a raag with the name "Bilaawal", Kalyan has a raag by the name "Kalyaan", Marwa has one too and so on. This sometimes leads to confusion among starters.

Sampooran, Shaudav & Audav (Jaati of a Raag)
One will often hear about Raags in terms of combination of above terms. Like, Asawari belongs to  Audav / Sampooran jaati. The basic concept behind this is the fact that all raags will have atleast 5 notes in its Aaroh and Avroh. So when there are 5 notes in an Aaroh or Avroh it is called "Audav". With six notes it is called "Shaudav". With 7 notes it is called "Sampooran". So Asawari has 5 notes in Aaroh (S R M P d) and 7 notes (n d P M g R S) in Avroh. Note the jaati does not tell us which notes, it tells us the count of notes only.

Raag "Ras" Emotion of a Raag
Probably this aspect gives the most distinguishable aspect to a Raag. Each raag is supposed to elucidate some emotion when rendered. As per theory, the notes playable in the raag are the key to bringing out this emotion. Theory defines the following "Ras":

• Shringaar
• Veer
• Hassya
• Karuna
• Roudra
• Bhayanak
• Bibastha
• Adbhut
• Navras

Time of a Raag
There is a time theory for raags. Based on the Vaadi and the Samvaadi notes in a Raag, a Raag has a specific time of the day when it can be performed. For instance some early morning raags are Bhairavi, Raamkali etc. Late evening raags include Kedar, Desh, Durga etc. I have read and heard interviews of contemporary masters of Indian Classical Music holding different views on this aspect of Raag. Some are very rigid even going to the extent of not singing raags during concerts that do not agree with the time theory of the raag. Some are flexible saying that the theory is not so significant in modern times of performance.

That is all for today. In the next article, I will describe the concepts of "Purvaang" and "Uttaraang", "Raagaang" and "Swar Vistaar". These are important concepts we need to understand, before we take one raag as an example and study it in great detail.

Hindustani Classical Music - My little understanding - Part 6 (Raag)

In the previous article and ones before that on this topic, I have defined some basic  knowledge of terms and definitions used in Indian Classical Music. In this post and subsequent posts I will try to define what we understand by "Raag" and explain a few concepts around it.

What is a Raag?
It is difficult to define in one or two sentences. In an interview with Pandit Nikhil Banerjee and some westerner, when Ustad Amir Khan was asked this question he replied, "It is a combination of notes...". He gave  this definition because I think this the most simple definition that can be given to anyone not associated or familiar with our kind of music. (As was the case during the interview)
Raag is definitely a combination of notes. But there is much much more that should be said before the definition is complete.

Combination of notes
Each Raag has a defined set of notes that are 'allowed' and 'prohibited' to be used in the Raag. The quotes in the sentence above indicates that no one stops you from going out of the way and break this rule but most probably your composition or rendering will get altered to another Raag than what you set out to present at first or worst sound jarring to the listeners including yourselves.

The Raag notes structure is defined as ascending and descending structures.
The ascending (rising pitch) structure is called 'Aarohi' and the descending (descending pitch) structure is known as 'Avrohi'.

(Symbols: Re, Ga, Dha, Ni are shudh swars. Ma is Teevra. A dot (.) after a note indicates higher octave and a dot (.) before a note indicates the lower octave. Refer to earlier posts explaining the saptak)

If we take Raag Yaman as an example then:
Aarohi: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa.
Avrohi: Sa. Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa

Few things to point out here. This Aarohi starts with Sa and ends with the Sa in the next octave. All the notes are 'Shudh' except the 'Madhyam' which is Teevra. It employs all the 7 notes.

Some questions arise immediately:

Q1.Does the descending structure always have to be the reverse of the ascending structure?
Answer: No.

Q2. Do the "number of notes" have to same in ascending and descending structures?
Answer: No. They can be  different.

Q3. Can two Raags have same Aarohi and Avrohi structures?
Answer: Yes there are Raags that have the same Aarohi & Avrohi structures. Example Raag Bhoopali and Deshkar have the same Aarohi and Avrohi. But both sound totally different. Why? Read on.

'Vaadi', 'Samvaadi' and 'Vivaadi' notes of a Raag

After defining the Aarohi and Avrohi of a Raag, we define the 'Vaadi' and 'Samvaadi' swars.
Vaadi swar is the most emphasized note in the Raag and Samvaadi is the next most emphasized note. For example in Raag Yaman the Vaadi note is Ga (Shudh Gandhaar) and the Samvaadi note is Ni (Shudh Nishaad). When we say that a particular note is 'most emphasized' it means that the performer will make it a point to stress on that note the maximum and it will be the 'most heard' note. It does not mean that you need to take a stopwatch and calculate the timings of the notes during the entire Raag performance!! I have read books, (mainly by non-Indians) who did such a methodical analysis and came out with contrary conclusions on the 'most heard note' part of it. Indian music does not work that way!

Vivaadi notes are prohibited notes of a Raag. Experts say, that when such notes are added to a Raag they spoil the structure, construct and mood of the Raag. On the other hand, great musicians and vocalists have used such notes in their performances and produced real classics. But remember these are great artists of the field I am talking about. Generally, beginners should avoid using the Vivaadi notes.

Effect of Vaadi & Samvaadi notes

Why are the Vaadi and Samvaadi notes important? They are important because they form a crucial part in establishing a Raag. Remember that two Raags can have the same Aaroh and Avroh? But then they will invariably have different Vaadi and Samvaadi notes. This difference will in turn have an effect on the entire movement of the notes in the Raag, and the way the notes are grouped, making them sound totally different. For example Raag Bhoopali has Ga (Gandhar) as the Vaadi swar whereas Raag Deshkar has Dha (Dhaivat) as the Vaadi swar.
I will come up with many examples in audio and annotated audio gradually. But we need to understand some more theory before we appreciate these aspects in real time audio.

Let us keep this much for today. We are far from over with this and I will write on this in subsequent posts.

Mangalyaan vs Maven

On the 24th of September our esteemed space research organisation ISRO made history. It successfully placed "Mangalyan" into the Mars orbit. The entire sequence to slow down the vehicle and get itself "captured" into the martian gravity was autonomous. The commands to fire the rocket were uploaded much earlier as the orbiter was eclipsed by Mars itself and the ground control stations on Earth had no access to the orbiter's communication system during this time.

Our Prime Minister on this occasion spoke. As always he spoke brilliantly. He also made a point about the cost of the project being less than the movie "Gravity". Now, that set the stage for the social media to go abuzz with all sorts of comparisons.  People started comparing the NASA's MAVEN mission and the cost that it incurred. Some of my friends commented that the mission was 11 times more costlier than that by ISRO. Impression was made that ISRO was "one-up" against NASA in this.

We Indians have a habit of exaggerating things we feel proud of (as a nation or community) especially if the thing appears to be comparable to something from the West. We go over the board swelling our chest with pride and brag about our achievement. We often at these times ignore the facts of the case.

Precisely, what we have done in this case. First and foremost, ISRO has/had no plans to go "one-up" against NASA in anyway with this mission. The honourable chairman has himself stated that ISRO is in race with no one but itself. Secondly, "Mangalyaan" weighs around 4.3 times lighter than MAVEN. Anybody with a basic knowledge of rocket science knows that with each gram increase in weight of the payload the cost of the launch (and the carrier) goes up. Thirdly, "Mangalyaan" is just like a "Hello World" programme by ISRO to test out their capability of carrying out an interplanetary mission. The scientific instruments "Mangalyaan" carries are very basic unlike those in MAVEN. It is true that NASA has asked for co-operation with ISRO for the use of the methane gas sensor that "Mangalyaan" carries with itself.

Yes we have made a huge achievement in our own might. We are sure that ISRO will bring us even more reasons to smile (esp. with the upcoming PSLV C26 launch and our own IRNSS navigation system and the much awaited GSLV MKIII launch) in the coming years. But please do not demean other space programmes or nations. The fact of the matter is that as of date we are the "youngest" nation in space exploration.

So I request fellow compatriots to keep calm.

Ai Giri Nandini

This  stotra known as "Mahisasur Mardini" is said to be very powerful. Each year on Durga-Ashtami, we visit the Ramakrishna Mission in New Delhi and they perform this stotra  during the aarti. I have to admit, it does have a very powerful impact. I remember playing this stotra and the Hanuman Chalisa in a loop on Winamp during the days and nights when I used to work on my MCA project and studies.

It is again that time of the year, when I start to feel better. The weather is being pleasant, at least in the mornings and there is that feeling of "Durga Pujo" round the corner. Life from here on till March-April beginning is cool with one festival after another following in quick succession. The weather as I said earlier too supports the festive fervor to the fullest.

Speaking of goddess, I am privileged to have acquaintance with two of them. One is of course my mother. I have never come across an individual so selfless and sacrificing as her in my life. Even till date, I see that she is so forthcoming to sacrifice pretty little things for someone else's cause. I have seen her as the workhorse of housework for years and I am ashamed to admit that I may not have given the credit she deserved for this work during my younger days. I have taken her for granted so many a times in the past and yet her interface towards me never changed. This lifetime and many more, I will not be able to repay the dues.

The other one is my wife. She has been an awesome companion to me for all these years. I have a friend with whom I can talk and behave carefree. She is always forthcoming with constructive discussions on important matters and decisions we need to make. I am not sure if I have been able to reciprocate the same towards her, but again her interface has never changed. In the past couple of months, she has shown tremendous dedication towards her duty as a mother, which frankly if I were in her place, I would have freaked out by now.

Maybe that is why god did not make me a woman.

May god bless both of them always.

Out of nowhere

Just now heard this short clip from JS. And I have probably heard this 50 times by now! My mind  has started to extrapolate the rest of the ghazal of this rendition as the lyrics and the tune of this ghazal is very well known to any JS fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KjzUKavX_c

This happens with me always. Out of nowhere JS comes  with a rendition that smashes every bit of my emotional barrier walls.