HAPPY MUSICAL NEW YEAR...

Every year that is past, has 2 dimensions to it. 1) One year is gone from our life  2) and the next year is of hope. What is gone can never come back but what can travel with us is the experience that we gained and rich moments that we cherished. It is all up to us on what and how much we make out from the year that is passed. Many a learning happened to know and understand life better. So much richer was the experience that i could perceive failure in success as nothing is permanent , and also success in failure as everything changes for the good. Even if the obvious is stated, the experience of wisdom is always new, good and useful.

The best personal joy in the year 2011 was listening to Rock star music and watching the movie twice. The music is something which is indescribable as every time i heard to the rock star music,  it took me to a very personal and reverential experience. The voices, the sounds, the orchestration, the feel, the texture , the tone, the  mood and just about everything was so perfect, so different and so ahead of times that, if someone liked it, then it can only be maddening and extremely fulfilling. The one song that can be talked, detailed and every music lover has to listen without fail from the movie is HAWA HAWA... This is a brilliant piece and perfectly justifies the belief and adage that music has no boundaries.

The beauty about this song comes from the deadly combination of  Rehman, Irshad kamil and Mohit chauhan. An out of the world amalgamation of Music , Lyrics, singing and orchestration.  It’s simply an extremely brilliant piece of music that will rest in your soul and makes the soul reverberate with joy and dance. The song seems to have the European flavour of instrumentation and back vocals but gently reminds us of the beautiful era of Raj kapoor songs,  with doses of Shanker jaikishan’s touch. It does not stop there. It also seems like having the traces of Naushad, that near to heart beat sounds of O.P. nayyar, subtleties of R.D. Burman and S. Rajeshwar Rao use of violins and Meastro Ilayaraja’s oriental mix. In one expression, its the best of most music that we heard. There is pain, there is joy, there is celebration and there is life perse in the song.

I think hundreds of times as how this song could have be thought of, developed, how did the lyrics fit in? How was the singing? How was the initial mix and what processes it went thru for the final mix. Just can’t stop wondering on the making of the song. Wish the making of the song was shot. It will not be an exaggeration to state that, if one were there from the beginning of the song, till the end, it would be like a great education on music for them. Every single member associated with the song has to be saluted as every time i listen to the song, i discover either the new sound, new expression or the new meaning.

Undoubtedly listening to this song has been the greatest moments this year, and watching the movie too matched this happiness and excitement. Apart from this, there were regular doses of all that life has to offer.. ...Success, failure, happiness, pain, learning, unlearning, surprises, shocks, disappointments, and heart burns etc. But the experience of listening to thi song will remain unique forever. No Doubt Rehman is the manifestation of god’s greatest creativity and so he is the messiah, he is the gods special child. All numbers from Rock star are special for its unique special quality but this Hawa Hawa need to be experienced. Not in a hurry, not to pass judgements but with a serene mind in a tranquil place where the only activity has be listening to music and 3 times in a row at least.

One such experience is enough for the year and expecting many more such in the coming year. Happy new year to all, especially music lovers as what else can be a best food, medicine, companion, soul mate than the music especially the one that Rehman creates.. He has a knack and the gift to bring the best from all that is best and gives us the final product. Rehman i salute you million times.

TELEPHONE DHWANILA NAVVE DAANA

This title comes from the very popular song from Bharateeyudu and a very awesome composition from musical god. Just this morning, i was happy to see one GHMC sweeper lady pulling out mobile from her saree pallu and answering the call. My happiness was short lived as it was not the smile but the wrinkle on the face and worry that caught my attention when she received the call. I did not want to imagine that there is some problem with her life as too much empathy all the time can be extremely killing especially on a Sunday morning. Instead i kept thinking again about Graham bell invention and how that is next only to the breath we take in life.

Just went little down the memory lane when the mohan and ravi photo studio (prestigious) in koti , Hyderabad had the dummy telephone and it was a great kick and pleasure to hold them , pretend to talk and get the photo taken. Telephone in 70’s was like what BMW is now and probably BMW is more easily gettable for many these days. In our entire class of about 300 students ( all sections included) there was just one phone at home. One had to take a permission to call from home to school. It was mandatory for parents to come however rich or famous they may be. The people who had the key for any telephone in any office were the most powerful guys. Or else one had to go to post offices to make a call or trunk call ( do we remember this) . The postman would act like one very powerful person there and we obviously had to wait till he finished his work. Then one day, i walked up to one sweet cum chat place called Agra in Koti and took money of about 2 rupees( could watch movie easily in so much money those days in 1978) and went and called my dad to his office. His first reaction was why did i call and second reaction was.. put down the phone and don’t waste the money.

Then one or two people would have phone connections in the entire colony and the waiting for the connection of phone was like 7 years and needed central minister recommendation for emergency lines. Oops... can’t believe. Public phones came only during late 80’s and became rampant in early 90’s. It was not an in thing to share the phone numbers also. It was a huge effort to go on cycle for 2 kilometres and choose some shop which will allow making calls for huge expenditure if we had to talk to any of our girl class mates. We could not talk for more than 5 minutes as we were not allowed to and the cost also was high. I can’t forget the time in 1984 when there was some curfew and my brother was stuck in a hotel as he was working over there. We had to go to my friend’s place, explain the situation and with great difficulty, were allowed to talk to my brother. It was a huge favour of the month for us.

The coming of the public booths was a big revolution and privacy found a new meaning, communication saw a new dimension, and employment opportunities, business opportunities came about.  We can keep talking so much about what that happened after the coming of public booths.. STD calls became cheaper and slowly written communication started taking a beating. Then came the pager, around 1993-95 and it died the fastest death among all technologies because of the shortest gap between pager and cellular phone launch. By then cordless phones and slick phones became the trend.

The charges for incoming discouraged people from buying cell phones and the coming of reliance revolution and free incoming just threw open the technology to the winds. And the changes kept happening every month and in every service provider. Now the changes happen by the hour and cell phone is no more a communication device but is a life style and most dependable companion for multiple and varied needs. Applications, i phones, BBM’s , Androids, 3 G’s etc etc has seeped into the cultural context and psyche’s of human beings.

For the generation born in the late 60’s and early 70’s, we will never stop wondering about this graham bell invention which is the key for so much more allied and far fetching technological revolutions in the world. IF someone does not the device, service,.affordability will be the last of the reasons for that. It will either be having a choice not to have it or too important a person that he or she can afford not to have it. For grusha’s sake, don’t want to get into gyan or sentimentality or cynicism but most often, i don’t see people enjoying talking on the phone.. There is a tension or a fight or a deal or a miss.. This can’t happen. Technology is respected when its put to positive use only. Fight in person and not on mobile. Sms positive things and settle scores when we meet. Even the bad and good news with little effort can be said in person. Let me at least have the wishful thinking.

Thanks sweeper lady for provoking me with so much of thinking.  And yes, we should all laugh like the telephone dhwani mentioned in that song from bharateeyudu.. inanimate can have such dhwani and why not us??? ha ha ha

PAID TO SMILE

                                            

                                             PAID TO SMILE

We have all heard and known the positive impact of a smile on our health. Some 60 odd muscles is said to be relaxing every time we smile. Hence it has to be understood that, our body is designed to be relaxed or else we invite illness or disease. So what stops us from doing what the body needs and can be done easily? The building of habit has to be inculcated by the active involvement of the mind. So the next question is what stops our mind from making this a habit? We condition our mind to do several things which are both negative and positive and mind acts on our training from what we learn and these are called our traits, mindsets, behaviour, attitude etc.  So we learn and acquire habits and make our mind reflect this. So, the key is what inputs we keep giving our mind? In other words, we consciously tell our mind not to smile, not to relax, and instead we ask our prime organ and entity to feel sad, depressed, tense, worry etc. It’s not anything or anybody that causes pain, but we ourselves are doing this damage and not anyone else. For all the pain or pleasure, tension or happiness, we are alone responsible for ourselves.

I remember a song composed by biddu, the music director for a movie called Star in which Kumar gaurav son of Rajendra kumar made a debut. The songs goes like this..  Teri zindagi mein yoo tho kabhi dard aayenge tho muskuraayeja.. It was wow for those times and it’s an amazing philosophy for any time. All it says is , only the smile can chase away the pain. I also recollect , the song “it’s gonna be easy now by Dan Seals , where he says, the problems will never go away and it only manifests in various forms as long as the mind is active. But we need to rationalize and tell ourselves that the earlier problem was worse or someone else is suffering more than us. Obviously i can’t feel deprived looking at film stars or big businessmen houses. I need to look at the push cart vendors, watchmen, servant maids and majority of the deprived sections and feel happy that i have at least a shelter to sleep and protect me from varying climates. Smile is all that is positive, it’s an acknowledgment, it’s the recognition, it’s the affirmation, it’s the symbol and it’s everything that makes our health and being very well and good.

All of us have read, thought, understood, and known the effects of smile and what it means to smile and how we can live on this medicine, this nectar of life and most importantly we all know it costs nothing. But some people are paid to smile and they have the toughest job. Have you ever looked at the watchman who opens the door in a restaurant? Have you ever seen several women working in so many hospitality industries? They are all paid to smile for 8 hours or more for their life time.. I feel this is the toughest job, as they need to keep aside all that is their own and keep smiling. Imagine, having to keep aside the cranky call from spouse, or ill health of dear one, or some financial issue and still smile several times as the job demands. They may not even be able to eat the good food that you ate, good flight you have had or a good party or time with someone. Or the deal that you struck or the agreement you signed. Some time it is not even the tip that you pay or the smile you don’t return.. Still they smile and most often it is the most genuine smile and if you are paying attention to the smile, will actually make you feel good. The next time, you walk into a hotel, or a flight or any place where someone welcomes you or bids goodbye with a smile, please look into their eyes and acknowledge. This act not only makes them feel that they are also humans but will get you small but treasured pleasure. Do this if you not already doing this consciously. More than telling anyone but i am telling myself now, even i knew before and been practising.

Once again the small people, the ordinary persons, the less ambitious make me learn and make me touch. It’s the open eyed open hearted life experiences that teach us and makes us happy. Being aware and being present in every moment and ability to smile all the time will heal, will help and will us healthy, wealthy and wise. And listen to the star song and dan seals song. Of course, there are several such times and quotes one can wish to listen and read but living and living simple is the key.. like the cliché goes.. it costs nothing to smile but instead can make you rich and enrich others lives.

GURUJI.. LIFE AND DEATH

                                        GURUJII.... LIFE AND DEATH...

Knowing is only a minute aspect of life and what happens and how one experiences life is very different from the knowledge of it, most of the times. Life springs huge amount of surprises and totally unexpected situations surface, giving all of us experiences which seem common, but will always be unique. Just like how the DNA determines the characters and traits unique to each human, even the pain and pleasure though seem known will hit each individual differently.

There was (unfortunate to put him in the past tense) a guruji whom i had met while i was working for FM in Nizamabad. The first thing that appeals to anyone about him is that, despite being blind there is so much of radiance in the face and his positive attitude and energetic talk would attract people to him. He was full of life and always talked positive and would be so subtle in everything he talked and did that, it would need an attentive and caring human to understand him. Something about what and how he said would encourage me and scores of other people. Be it about my cooking, my behaviour or just about anything. He would never crib or sulk that he became blind ( he was not born blind, making it more difficult to cope up)  nor did he ever talk or behave in a way that made anyone to sympathize with his state. He was fond of music and radio was his best friend and he would know all matters of the world more than what people know by surfing the net.

He had a tremendous discipline in food matters, sleep patterns, exercise, body fitness and never gave any chance or reason to skip any of these. His memory was something that would bewilder anyone who knew him. He was rational and would never be particularistic about anything that would cause any harm or inconvenience to anyone. He kept losing everything but would never lose the self. He would always wish well for all and kept cool even if people ignored him. His unconditional love was most apparently experienced by all. There are quite a few things that i learnt from him, most of all is the ability to be strong and composed irrespective of what the situation is.

I could not take his call few weeks ago and did not call him back. Today i feel very guilty. It is a strong lesson that we should never postpone to call someone or visit someone if we feel like. The last Sunday, 4^th Dec 2011, my mom suddenly asked me how was he? I said i need to call him and as usual i did not call him. The next day morning at around 10.30 am, one of his disciples called me and informed me of his death. I did not know how to react. The people who were with him and spoke to him on Sunday kept saying that, Guruji expressed that he is getting a call from heavens and that he is going to go. He actually said the same few minutes before he passed away and asked his son not to worry after his death. When i was just trying to assimilate this information, i was in the office and i had to face nearly 4 different situations and respond and be there mentally. I wanted to go to Nizamabad and i was reluctant to postpone the Monday evening meeting. By the time i made up my mind in next hour and dispensed matters and people, i knew i will be late for the last rites ritual as i would not be able to reach on time. So i did not go to attend his last rites.

Life is very ironical. Death is inevitable and yes i was in office and no one could connect ( understandably) the importance of this guruji in my life and i was expected may be to be normal and continue the work as obviously they were time sensitive and had to be done. I feel guilty and i also justify for not starting on an impulse as guruji’s rationality would not allow me to suddenly jump and start going there. But its all so strange. When we know the person is alive and we do not meet or contact , we are fine with that and suddenly when we realize that , this person is no more and he cannot be contacted,  is a very vague and difficult feeling to digest and suddenly we feel the loss. Is this all human life all about that death takes away everything in a jiffy? When this is inevitable why is all the negative emotions and feelings dominate us most of the times.. Inevitability of death should all keep us guarded of all that is negative. But it hits us only when someone dear passes away and lesson learnt won’t last long.

Guruji would chase people like me on phone to talk, never gave up and would try to be in touch, shower love and blessings and all unconditionally. I did not bother about him as much as he did about me. This guilt is going to be there all my life. But i will convert the guilt into learning and not commit the same mistake. Will be in touch with all the people i know irrespective of the past, as life is so short and we take nothing from this life except leave so much good like guruji. I miss you a lot Guruji alias Ramachandrananda.

Life never ceases to teach and we should only be ready to learn every minute and move on.

PUBLIC GARDEN.. HYDERABAD'S FIRST BIG GARDEN/ PARK

Yesterday, 26th november 2011, my dearest friend kumar was going to listen to swamy paripurnananda at lalitha kala thoranam. I was not keen and ready to listen to spiritual discourse and preferred being with my spirit. Luckily it stuck to me that i can drop him there and spend time at public gardens walking and sitting all by myself.I loved my decision. The walking was a pleasure particularly because there was not much crowd and i could see the same trees which were there since 1975.. The walking was a pleasure and fortunately it is still being maintained well. I didnt beleive that i was so near to the crowded place outside.

The museum, jubilee hall, the lake, the big park with in the garden and the masjid were all intact.just went down the memory lane and remembered all those nice innocent things that we did as children. Going to public garden was very special and it would happen only once every 2 months.We would get ready with all excitement and wait for the bus. The food and water would be packed. Water in that solid glass bottle and food in steel dabbas.

We children would play hide and seek, chinamchaani, meaning chase and catch the thief. And ofcourse, dastee round round.. gather in a circle and the player would place the handkerchief on someone's behind and that person has to identify and chase the player and catch before he finishes one circle and sits in his place. Very rarely we would  buy baloons and play orelse it was all the running around, and not getting tired. No Tv to run back hometo watch favorites and yes we would take the radio and listen to Vividh Bharathi. ( transistor was just getting popular replacing big fat Status symbol radios) 

The only money spent if any was on the desi bhel puri( dont remember what was it called then) from a guy who would never cut tomatoes and put lemon for us. But that was rare and home special food was there for eating. We would never get tired of being there and hated going back home.

Adults would say, let us watch the train and then go home. there was one train which would come at 8 pm and its engine would set off  to set right the coaches ,and it was called shunting. We would love to see engine brings coaches and run up and down.

just cannot reproduce the excitement of watching the train and the engine and the shunting process. I also vividly remember the sad feeling when we had to go home. Such raw innocent happiness is not experienced these days at all.

After Grusha and other kids were born in the family, we would all go to Public gardens in 1998 to 2000 and try to relive the same. We were partly successful but now we had to buy several things including cool drinks and toys. The only 2 things which were common were the desi bhelpuri and Sugar cane juice.  manualSugar cane bandi was replaced with automated bandi. This is a relief as i would always feel misreable when they were extracting sugar cane juice manually.

i relived all the good of the childhood in public gardens and very happy to notice that not much has changed inside and that good feeling and clamness is still there. That lake is still maintained decently and the extension of the park is also very decent.

Thank all the people who are responsible to keep the PURITY intact.

ALEXANDER HAIR CUTTING SALON

One guy suddenly got up after his shave and started shouting at the person who did the shaving for him. I was startled and confused as he threatened the hair salon worker with police complaint and said he will get him arrested and take severe action. I mean how can anyone talk such extreme and drastic? Admitted the boy mustn’t have done the shave to his satisfaction but such reaction and walk away? This boy got so demoralized that i wondered if ever he will regain his confidence and work properly. Despite being cut on shave on my neck region by the owner himself (seriously truthful and no exaggeration at all) i pacified that boy and asked him to take it easy by giving several examples of success failure dynamics and people’s attitudes hoping it will help him.

This incident made me recollect my child hood and the hair cutting salons. The owners always seemed confidence personified and knowledgeable. They would talk authoritatively on anything from cricket to cinema to politics. Most of their knowledge was based on newspaper, Radio and commonsense. All the customers would seek the owner’s opinions on issues and he would exude total confidence as if he is going to decide the future of the country. It was all cute and everyone would listen to them. This was not pertained to one shop and this was the pattern of all owners. I always wondered at their confidence and the place seemed like power centre. They would order tea only to the elite and senior people and that was a privilege. I can’t forget the day when i was in intermediate when the tea was ordered for me and i was excited and volunteered to pay but was denied. Such was the time spent with importance there in such places.

It was in 1970’s that the movies like bobby, deewar, sholay , zanjeer got released and not in this order. All of us had so much information and trivia on movies that it surprises me sometimes as to how?  No net, no websites, no television and only screen and film fare were available. And these salons were the centres to read them. Homes were not allowed for such reading and we could not afford to buy them or take on a rent. Every fate of a politician and movie and cricket was decided at such places. Hence the wait and queue in the salon was not only felt worth but was exciting. There was also some camaraderie among people visiting. No impatience and no arrogance. There was hardly dettol and wonder if they ever used fresh blades or towels. There is no suggestion that this is preferable but that total fearlessness was the order in the absence of viruses.

Styles would be based on bollywood movies and that manual machine was a culprit as parents would insist on running the same for all children for short hair. It was a freedom and fun when we were allowed to go on our own but we could not go for more than an hour and definitely not other than morning.

When i was very young, they would put a plank in the wooden chair and then do the hair cutting. They day they stopped using that was the indication of growth. Another yardstick was when they would listen to us and stop using the machine and only use the scissors. Then of course, using of razor to get the finish beneath years and back of neck. Then shaving and the rest as they say is hair story. Hence the evolution was also indicated from that place. In that sense it was so much part of the cultural context and the growing up.

These centres were the places of informal research centres, opinionated knowledge based places and discussion platforms and more objective and healthy than the ones that happens on the news channels in the name of experts. Gone are those times and salons of such culture is rare. Now we have hugely hygiene centres, expensive and very impersonal. The tip paid to the performer is part of this new culture and nothing wrong. Earlier that smile and a warm thank you after a deadly no extra penny hair massage was the order. Times change, tempers change and hence the warmth of the people.. lage raho , and everything as they say is for the good.

How can i forget the dream of going to Alexander hair cutting next to AIR opp assembly.. My god, it had AC and chairs had the recliner and probably get to see film stars. By the time i could fulfil the desire life had changed so much and the gap between Alexander and all salons became small. But i indeed went to that place for a special hair cut and shave 2 days before my marriage. Still remember with what pride and satisfaction i walked out.. indeed times change and so do people.

WHO IS A FAN????

Mallesh, 18 years,  is a labourer working in karimnagar in a small hotel, earning about 20 to 30 rupees a day and gets to eat some food free from his hotel. He comes from a small village . vamsi, 20 years  is working in rajamundry with a coconut vendor earning 15 to 20 rupees a day, his living and eating taken care of. Saidulu , 21 years working for a mechanic shed for 50 odd rupees in cuddapah is also from a small town. Seenu is working in a hair cut saloon in Hyderabad and is from nalgonda .

All of these people have the same religion, the ardent indescribable admiration, craze, life sacrificing liking for telugu movies and telugu stars. The names of the stars do not matter for us, but the reality of these people does. Someone is making a movie for some star and there is all the business that is involved in the whole process. The entire business module success rests primarily on these kind of vulnerable people who make the movie hit by putting all the savings for their stars. Most of them do not have the 2 square meal to eat, can’t support their families, they have no clue how their next will be.. But their unstinted support, following, loyalty is undying and very touching.

The stars are gods for them.. they come for the audio launches, success meets, celebrations from faraway places and did not ever understand how they manage to reach the venue and be there to cheer and set the hall on fire with their positive vibrations and only one thing on their mind.. to see their star speak, smile and be happy. Can there be any unconditional love than this? Most of the times, the fans won’t even get to have a second glance as they are seated so far away. The feeling that they are part of this is enough to sustain them till the next function and they just survive.. The stars give them energies, the hope and just about everything.. Not material things like money etc..  In that sense, the stars are so blessed.

There are endless stories on how some of them do not eat food properly for several days to be able to spend the money for high ticketed premier show early in the morning or how the fans keep watching the same movie dozen times. In some cases they even watch the same movie endlessly to figure out why the movie did not do well. The blame can never be on the hero but all others and various factors and the hit can only happen because of the Hero. Being a fan is not madness as being mad also some rationality. Being a fan is not being emotional as emotions can also hurt. Being a fan is not a achievement as achievement have limits, and fan is fan is a fan who lives his life on the star. Hence there can never be a retirement for the star.

One has to know, interact and understand a typical fan to know what it means to be so. One should never make any judgement or belittle them. They are an amazingly innocent and honest people who live by their single formula goal, to see their stars succeed. Such unconditional love is the reality. The stars know every bit of this and also feel helpless on the repayment angle. But as they already do, they need to give more hits and that is how it can be repaid. Success is not easy but is less when compared to the perseverance and religiosity of these wonderful fans. Every star who has a fan is a blessed soul and that’s the property on which they can feel secured and assured. Can they? They should as the way it comes is only divine and is a blessing.