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.