I would like to thank my readers for their candid feedback on my yesterday’s poem Monsoon magic that varied from outstanding to outstandingly gloomy! I had no option but to rework on my poem for one of the main objectives of mine taking to active blogging is to spread happiness and hope and not darkness and despair, which my poem unfortunately ended up doing! But I must be honest that this Covid pandemic has taken toll on my verve and enthusiasm and I actually wrote the aforesaid poem under gloom and despair. To change it into luminous and shining hope, I could think of no one but my young, highly erudite, compassionate and rooted to the ground friend Shyamashree Rudra, who in fact affectionately calls me Dada, elder brother in Bengali. And I would be doing a great disservice to her spontaneity and talent by claiming the credit for the last 4 stanzas of the poem, which she has composed on my request. What’s highly praiseworthy is the fact that she has used the same metre, genre and mood, as used in the first part composed by me, to make it look like a single work by a single author.

One stanza on a sister nursing her ailing brother has especially touched me as Shyama has dedicated it to my wife, who has been tending to her elder brother, a terminal stage cancer patient, with great dedication and devotion, keeping his and everyone else’s morale high under the twin devils – Covid and cancer.

Shyama is currently on a sabbatical-fulfilling her familial obligations. I wish her an active return to public life, for this world bereft of hope, happiness and humour needs likes of her to spread the shining light that they reflect through their attitude towards life and sheer knowledge gained from close interactions with humans.

Monsoon magic 1 was like black magic – dark, rueful and eerie. Monsoon magic 2 is reverse of it – cheerful, chirpy and cock a hoop! It says:

When the rain fell on the tin roof,
Pitter patter was so melodious;
Children played in water poodles,
Splashing sound was so mellifluous.

Bathing in the rain was so refreshing,
First shower had curative power so was said;
Neither it caused cold or cough,
Everything was joyful and so perfect.

Wet weather caused hunger pangs,
But ordinary food would simply not do;
Hot pakoras and hot cup of tea,
Were the must without any hullabaloo.

Come monsoon and heat would abate,
So first showers were eagerly awaited;
After sweaty and sweltering summers,
Rain brought happiness making everyone elated!

Where are those rains?
It’s either drought or disaster;
Gone is that sweet pitter patter,
Children avoid poodles as if monster!

Rains were welcomed as gift of god,
Flooding was rare and seldom;
There was no fear or panic,
For it was just a natural phenomenon!

This year is turning out to be special,
Transition from season to season seems seamless;
Covid has pushed us inside since winters,
Rains will lead to new winter, yet we shall still be hopeless!

Are things really that hopeless,
Is there still hope, I wonder;
Yes – if only we were to look for it,
In a sister tending to her ailing brother.

In a neighbor helping a neighbor,
In the chirping of the birds and the morning dew;
In the rains that washed away the dust,
And left the leaves sparkling anew.

In the fireflies sparkling at night,
And the sparrow tap-tapping on your window;
In the garbage collector who never misses his duty,
And the doctors and nurses saving lives in every way they know.

So as we travel these dark and dreary months,
Let us all hold hands through this pain;
Like the sun that rises every morning,
Hope too will rise once again.

Salute to human spirit, Corona warriors, resilience of nature and above all Shyamashree Rudra!

When the rain fell on the tin roof,

Pitter patter was so melodious;

Children played in water poodles,

Splashing sound was so mellifluous.

Bathing in the rain was so refreshing,

First shower had curative power so was said;

Neither it caused cold or cough,

Everything was joyful and so perfect.

Wet weather caused hunger pangs,

But ordinary food would simply not do;

Hot pakoras and hot cup of tea,

Were the must without any hullabaloo.

Come monsoon and heat would abate,

So first showers were eagerly awaited;

After sweaty and sweltering summers,

Rain brought happiness making everyone elated!

Where are those rains?

It’s either drought or disaster;

Gone is that sweet pitter patter,

Children avoid poodles as if monster!

Rains were welcomed as gift of god,

Flooding was rare and seldom;

There was no fear or panic,

For it was just a natural phenomenon!

This year is turning out to be special,

Transition from season to season seems seamless;

Covid has pushed us inside since winters,

Rains will lead to new winter, yet we shall still be hopeless!

It’s not for nothing that experts are increasingly realising the importance of Bhagvad Geeta in modern management learning techniques. In fact, several management colleges of repute have included this immortal classic tome in their curricula.

Came across the above episode from Mahabharat that encapsulates the Great fight between two great warriors – Karna and Arjuna. Arjuna charioted by Lord Krishna himself and with other protections as highlighted in the episode is the ultimate winner, but he’s crestfallen for the Lord, instead of appreciating his efforts, is seen repeatedly applauding Karan’s effort. This was hurting Arjuna’s ego, a victor and a leader ! But Lord’s explanation was very subtle ! He explained what all was available to Arjuna that catapulted him to victory, privileges that Karna was bereft of and yet he fought so valiantly! Lord explains that behind our achievements , there’s a divine will. Divine intervention puts us in right place at the right opportunity , paving the way for our achievement and success!

The above message is also contrarian to Bhagvad’s message of doing Karma or making efforts to achieve something! If indeed everything is attributable to divine will and divine intervention then whatever is in one’s Bhagya or destiny should be his for which he should not be expected to be doing Karmas. These seemingly contrarian and contradictory views in fact lend an insurmountable depth to Bhagvad’s learning that are required to be understood, imbibed and practiced and not just skimmed through for half baked inferences!

We would have come across several successful people claiming to be self made, attributing their success to sheer hard work, planning and strategy. But behind one’s hard work, planing and strategy also there’s divine will and no body should claim the success of any venture solely by himself. It’s not just by chance but divine will that one gets a viable idea, financial assistance and a great team that helps one realise his or her dreams! On the face, it’s all our efforts, karmas or purusharth, whatever you may call it, but behind it there’s an unseen, unheard, unfelt ( only experienced) divine will and intervention and one must be grateful and gratuitous for all this success!

I had earlier also written a blog on Mr Malik. Today as he celebrates his 75th birthday, I am tempted to say a few more things about his unique personality.

He belongs to that fast vanishing rare breed of people, who likes to go out of his way to help people, without expecting anything in return. If at all, he gets admonishment from his wife and daughters for needlessly getting into the matters of others. But that’s how he is! He just loves if two people to whom he is trying to help or introduce benefit from each other’s acquaintanceship!

He never keeps anything is in his heart and says it on your face. This has two effects – it puts off a set of people who do not like straight talk, especially if it concerns them and it also helps Mr Malik build life long relationships based on mutual trust and love once the person understands that plain speaking is in that person’s interest and done without any malice in his heart! In today’s time of tact and diplomacy where are such straightforward, honest and truthful persons calling a spade a spade!

You can like him, love him, adore him or dislike him, but you cannot repress him and his thoughts. He says what he feels and there’s no duality in what he says and does!

He worked hard for more than three decades and earned every penny and every position that he got! He never begged anyone for favours and this high self esteem distinguishes Mr Malik from ordinary mortals, who may not minding to bend a little to achieve something. He has never bent but stood erect staring at every challenge in its face and this quality of his makes his achievements all the more precious.

And yes all that matters to him is relationship and it’s importance. He is not the one to shy away from responsibilities that relationship bestows on a person.

As said before, where do you find such selfless, simple and straightforward people! Having one such in one’s close contact is the most cherished possession for anyone and for me it’s a blessing to be acquainted with him and to be counted amongst his friends! To end this piece of obeisance on his platinum jubilee, I will say:

Where’s the mould and the clay

That the almighty used to craft him, a pure silk; , a pure silk

Seems these got discarded as God stopped;

Making V K Maliks and persons of their ilk !

Was watching an old programme on the unique music maestro, also known as “ King of ghazals”, Madan Mohan and came to know that he died on 14/7/1975, exactly 45 years ago!

His life would make an interesting study and can be a theme for a Bollywood biopic on him. He was a child prodigy, who never had any formal training of Indian classical music, had a strict and domineering father who sent him to army, but he came back to what he loved- music! His father took offence to his son’s defiance and though he was by that time a big name in film industry, being a 50% partner in Bombay Talkies, he challenged his son to prove his mettle on his own and threw him out of his house. A young Madan struggled for three years by sleeping on the pavements and going without food on several occasions, yet his passion and love for music saw him through this period of extreme adversity. Sachin Dev Burman, who knew Madan and who hired him as his assistant, advised Madan, who at that time was trying his hand at several disciplines like acting and singing, to focus on composing music. How he got his first break and went on to score some iconic music that has stood the test of time and how his father acknowledged his son’s talent just before breathing his last are the stuff that can make Madan’s biopic a blockbuster.

He simply adored Lata, whom he treated as his younger sister. In a way, Lata was his muse, his inspiration. Whether it’s Aar Paar, Adalat, Anpadh, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya, Haqeeqat, Laila Majnu, Dastak or Mausam, seldom a music director is born who based most of his music on Hindustani classical ragas and raginis and folk and that too without any formal training! Much before Jagjeet, Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota brought ghazals closer to common man, there was Madan Mohan, who composed pure pearls such as Unko yeh shikayat hai, yun hasraton ke daag, aapki nazron ne samjha, hum hai mata-e-kucha, Zara si aahat – it’s an endless list. He could also compose highly popular folk based numbers such as Jhumka Gira re. Much before fusion music caught fancy of the listeners, Madan experimented with it in his rare ditty from Hanste Zakhm, “ tum jo mil gaye ho”.

Bit of trivia. He was very firm headed. When Talat had almost gone into oblivion and Rafi ruled the roost, he revived Talat’s career by making him sing the songs of Jaha Ara. Unfortunately, the film bombed or Talat might have made a great comeback. This he repeated during Laila Majnu when it was Kishore all the way, but he insisted that only Rafi could do justice to Majnu!

In spite of creating some of the finest music, he received very few honours and awards. In fact, National award for Dastak came his way only in 1971, some 20 years after he started as an independent composer. He was totally a jilted and crestfallen person by then at the lack of recognition of his work! Excessive drinking and depression led to his death by heart attack at a raw age of 51. More sadly, he didn’t live to see the blockbuster success of his swan song, Laila Majnu.

When Lata was away, he’d wait for her return and advise film director to go ahead and picturise the song based on the version recorded in his voice, which would then be dubbed by Lata upon her return. Some of these recordings can be occasionally heard. His rendition of Mai ri main kaase kahun from Dastak captures pathos in his voice that in a way surpasses the timeless beauty sung by Lata.

Politics around awards, recognition, groupism in Bollywood can be heart breaking for some, though some of more intelligent and evolved stars of this generation, Aamir Khan being more pronounced, have called the bluff of these awards by conspicuously avoiding such ceremonies. If purity of Madam’s music and his emotional heart could understand this bluff, we could have had more of his timeless melodies, a few of which were revived by his son Sanjeev Kohli in Veer Zaara, the songs of which were based on unused compositions of the Maestro.

Knowing about Madan’s life, though sad in parts, paved way for celebrating something – his music, in these dark times of Corona when even Mahanayak of this century along with several of his family members have been infected by this contagious and never ending malaise. Let’s wish speedy recovery to India’s megastar and pay obeisance to great Madan Mohan on his 45th death anniversary on Tuesday.

Which was the last movie you watched at multiplex?

When did you last dine at your favourite multi cuisine restaurant?

When was your last visit to shopping mall for shopping and fun?

When did you last eat a vada pav from your favourite road side vendor?

When did you last go out for a long drive with your family?

When did you last fly out of your city for official or personal work?

How long it has been since you last had your hair cut?

When was your last visit to gym?

When was it that you last watched a live concert or a sporting event?

How long have you been enduring your toothache ?

I think the question of all the above will be running into months, the only hope being that this figure of months should not convert into year(s). But given some heartache here and there, we have all managed to survive the answers to the above questions, but there are certain more sensitive and emotional questions, answers to which we are all seeking –

When will I meet my daughter or son living abroad or my aged parents if I am living abroad?

When shall I breath freely in open air with no masks, no distancing and no fear?

When will that life that I used to call “routine” return and the things will be normal?

Never come across a malady that keeps us away from our nears and dears, doesn’t allow us to do things that we love to do and aims at changing the basic trait of being social that human beings are all about!

Can’t go out, can’t do a stuff !

Is this a reality or has nature called a bluff?

Even the strongest are feeling the impact of covid

No one can face it endlessly as no one is so tough!

Hoping against hope for a cure and a vaccine – come on Patanjali, Glenmark, Pfizer or anyone else! Save the mankind!

Social media is not all junk. Some posts, messages and videos can have such a deep impact on you that these can actually be life transforming experiences.

A friend just sent me a 3 minutes clip where a speaker is speaking about Krishna. It’s not a usual discourse on Bhagvad Gita, but a slightly different take on the lord. He says that your doorbell rings and when you open door , you encounter a well dressed, handsome, soft spoken and very suave person standing there. On being asked who is he, he replies, “ I am Krishna.” You ask him, “ Krishna who?” He replies, “ Vasudeva Krishna, whom you’re worship daily. I have come to be with you 24X7.”

The speaker then goes on to say something very interesting. He dares audience to now tell their customer at their business place that they have not sold this commodity to any one else at a lower price or that if they now go below the price they are quoting, they will end up making a loss, reckoning that Krishna is standing next to them! He also wonders what would be their response to the wives’ query on reaching home late as to why are they late? He says that because truth and reality are so difficult to speak and face, we like to keep the God immobile within photographs and statues for if he comes to live with us, our lives will undergo a transformation, apparently uncomfortable to begin with given our existing milieu, but so straight, peaceful, fearless and happy ultimately. As per the speaker this is the awareness and or more precisely consciousness of Krishna that’s a life changing experience.

He concludes by saying that if you are running late and are not able to stop at your neighbourhood temple to pay your daily obeisance to Krishna, you need not worry that your day will get spoilt if your are conscious of the fact that Krishna is with you 24X7. He says having consciousness of being with Krishna will repel all fears, worries, apprehensions, vices and doubts. It will be like being in Lord’s company perpetually.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

If I mention the name Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed Jaffrey, the birth name of the famous actor comedian Jagdeep, it may not ring a bell. However, if the name Soorma Bhopali is mentioned, those not familiar with the name Jagdeep even would also readily recall! In another blog on Mac Mohan, the actor who played Gabbar’s sidekick Sambha in the iconic movie Sholay, I had mentioned that seldom a movie got made that immortalised not only its lead actors but many peripheral actors too! Jagdeep had two scenes in the movie, their running time not even adding up to 5 minutes in all! But the veteran actor stole his moment by etching a permanent memory in the minds of Bollywood fans.

Jagdeep started early as a child actor in early 50s and got some lead roles too; but he had to struggle to make an enduring place for himself in Bollywood that happened post Shammi Kapoor starrer Brahmachari that was a blockbuster hit and Jagdeep’s character in the movie was remembered by viewers. Purists can argue about his acting style to be loud and his comedy, at times, to be crass and vulgar. But audience simply loved it – be it his buffoonery of his special dialogue delivery. His presence came as a whiff of fresh air.

Married thrice and having Javed and Naved Jaffrey, whose dance show Boogey Woogie , the first reality dance show that ruled the roost for several years, among his 5 children, the sons, especially Javed, has demonstrated the comic capabilities of his illustrious father and is a real cool dancer too.

Bollywood has been witnessing a real negative phase marred by complete stoppage of activity and no new releases on one side and death of several of its famous and not so famous members on the other! Jagdeep belonged to a genre that was more theatrical in style – loud and boisterous- rather than current style of understated and restrained performances. But nothing matters as long as audiences love you and lap up all that you dish out! Jagdeep was loved by mass cinema viewers of our country!

RIP – Syed at birth, Jagdeep in lifetime and Soorma Bhopali immortal !

With the skill sets changing very fast – older skills getting redundant in a matter of few years – the new mantra is to unlearn the earlier skills and acquire fresh skills. For example, when IT started taking roots, there was a huge demand for data entry operators, but with newer technologies such as OCR and voice modulation, the data entry operations seem to be a redundant skill.

However, my experience shows that much of it is hyped and this has been there all along. Let me cite some real life personal examples. I started my schooling at a Municipal corporation school where I was made to write Hindi alphabets and numerals on a wooden tablet called “takhti”. The very next year I switched to Central School and shifted to paper and pencil. Mine was the second batch that had to study an extra year as just a year before, the boards shifted from 8+3 to 10+2. Imagine the mental state when the option of going to college got deferred by full one year! When I joined the banking sector, I witnessed changes on continuous basis – from December closing to March closing, manual ledgers to ALPMs, public sector to private sector. mechanised banking to anywhere banking, typewriters to computers – its an endless list. At each stage of life agility and adaptability were required and those who were slow in adapting suffered!

The only difference is that pace of change has become much accelerated. What used to take a decade to change is now changing in a much shorter timeframe, but it’d not be appropriate to glorify this is as an extraordinary event of the modern times, underestimating the earlier period altogether.

And it’s great to see our elders, who didn’t really use modern technologies in their active work days, slowly but surely adapting to smart phones using features like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Google search, net and mobile banking freely and rather enjoying the same.

If the change is only constant then we should be constantly changing rather than resisting the change. Nothing is impossible to at least learn if not master! Let’s go with the flow and enjoy all this new development by being part of it rather than staying or shying away from it! There’s some learning – our scriptures, wisdom received from our elders, virtues as taught to us by our teachers that should always stay with us ! Rest we should be ready to unlearn and relearn to stay updated! After all didn’t we all have to unlearn what we learnt at school that there were 9 planets to relearn that the number was down to 8, Pluto no longer remaining a planet!

Gururbrahma gururvishnuh
gururdevo maheshwarah |
Guruhsakshat parabrahma
tasmai shrigurave namah ||

Today is Guru Purnima, an important day that celebrates the position a guru enjoys in our society as also continuation of Guru-shishya parampara or tradition that’s now limited to a few old gharanas of Hindustani music.

Guru is Shiva sans his three eyes, Vishnu sans his four arms, Brahma sans his four heads. He is parama Shiva himself in human form – Brahmanda Puran.

Guru Purnima honours Ved Vyasa, known as one of the most honoured Gurus of ancient India. Senior Ayurvedic consultant Dr Vishakha Mahindroo says, “Veda Vyasa, structured the four Vedas, composed the epic of the Mahabharata, created the foundation for the many Puranas and the vast encyclopedias of Hindu sacred lore. Guru Purnima represents the date on which Lord Shiva as the Adi Guru or original guru taught the seven rishis who were the seers of the Vedas. In the Yoga Sutras, Ishvara as Pranava or Om is said to be the Adi Guru of Yoga. Lord Buddha was said to have delivered his first sermon on this day at Sarnath, reflecting the power of this sacred time.”

Guru Purnima is celebrated to honour our teachers, who remove the darkness from our minds. They have a special place in the lives of their followers since ancient times. All the holy books of Hinduism dictate the importance of Gurus and the extraordinary bond between a Guru and his Shishya (disciple). An age-old Sanskrit phrase ‘Mata Pitah Guru Daivam’, says that the first place is reserved for the mother, second for the father, third for Guru and forth for God. Thus, teachers have been given a higher place than Gods in Hindu tradition.

Given that it’s a very pious and deep rooted tradition that has a direct reference to our mythology and culture, I pay obeisance to my gurus – the parents, any person’s first gurus, school, college, university teachers, professional gurus who train you in one’s work and several others whom we across and learn something from- on this Guru Purnima day. However, at this age, when I have also worked for decades coming across hundreds of juniors , a few admirers have also been sending me Pranam on this Guru Purnima. While humbly acknowledging their kind gesture, I would like to tell them that I do not consider myself worthy of all their respect and affection as I am yet to achieve any major milestone in my life other than day to day struggle to meet mine and my family’s normal requirements. I consider myself a student, trying to imbibe a single drop from this vast ocean of knowledge, though I am always ready to disseminate or share whatever little I have!

It’s such a beautiful thought that all elders are our gurus and so are those who are doing good for an organisation, society, community, city or country! Corona warriors are one such group that are waging a battle, sometime losing, with the pandemic to keep us safe! Our forces defending our borders are another example! Likes of Mother Teresa, Baba Amte and several other unsung heroes are all gurus that deserve our respect. Because God himself does not always come to our rescue or to remove darkness – whether of ignorance, mal practices of something like Corona virus, he sends his representatives- our Gurus, who are our teachers, mentors, advisors, protectors and above all a bridge to connect with the God himself!

Happy Guru Purnima to all !