Of restraint & control Tuesday, Oct 31 2006 

Hindi films & music tavaishnav 11:01 am

Critics of master singer Mohammed Rafi most often harp on one thing – that Rafi was often very loud. I must say you can produce many songs as evidence that this was so. Many music directors, I guess, have composed songs based on a very high pitch and with loud accompaniment mainly to take advantage of Rafi’s ability to scale those high pitches. Mahendra Kapoor’s case is even more stark, and he has sung some mind-bogglingly high-pitched songs (na munh chhupaa ke jiyo, I am sure, has some ultrasonic frequency components).

Here I wish to point out that Mohammed Rafi was actually a master of the soft, restrained, controlled songs as well. I list below ten very restrained Rafi songs, executed with breathtaking control by him. Most of the songs remain in the lower sur’s throughout, and have a vilambit taal, as far as I can tell. Each one has been tuned by a different music director, and have been selected so as to note that this forte of Rafi was widely noticed and made use of. This is by no means an exhaustive list of such songs.

1. man re, tu kaahe na dheer dhare (music: Roshan, lyrics: Sahir, film: Chitralekha)
Hailed by Asha Bhosle as the best male playback song in Hindi ever composed, this has also been chosen as the best Hindi film song ever, period, by a panel of 20 judges from the film music industry in a recent poll by Outlook magazine. But regardless of these opinions, listening to this song, you get the idea of perfection in human effort. Lyrics, composition, singing come together brilliantly to convey the intensely philosophical mood of the song.

2. koi saaGar dil ko bahalata nahin (music: Naushad, lyrics: Shakeel, film: Dil Diya Dard Liya)
The Naushad-Rafi combination did not hold as much charm in its later years as in the late ’40s and early ’50s. This ghazal is an exception. The measured tones and Rafi’s great command over the drunken mood drive home the unremitting despondence in the words of the ghazal.

3. apani to har aah ik tuufaan hai (music: S. D. Burman, lyrics: Shailendra, film: Kala Bazaar)
This is one mischievous song. Picturised in a train (or, maybe, in a set of a train), it is apparently philosophical and addressed to God (uparwala), but is actually addressed to the lady in the upper berth. Here Rafi’s voice is extra-soft, making a plea, and makes the song thoroughly enjoyable.

4. koi sone ke dilwala, koi chaandi ke dilwala (music: Salil Chaudhary, lyrics: Majrooh, film: Maya)
This song makes you wish there were many more Salil-Rafi songs, but unfortunately, Salil Chaudhary himself did not share this enthusiasm. This piano song has a breezy pace and Rafi glides on a velvet carpet throughout. The easygoing pace of the song is a musical euphemism, since the words convey disillusionment (mehfil ye nahin teri, deewane kahin chal).

5. ik haseen shaam ko dil mera kho gaya (music: Madan Mohan, lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, film: Dulhan ek Raat Ki)
This is Rafi at his utterly romantic best, starting from the humming in the prelude to the end. Rafi displayed a great felicity in enunciating certain words, such that those words seemed to acquire new meaning. The shaam in the mukhda is pronounced so beautifully here that it makes the environment of a romantic evening come alive.

6. huii shaam unka khayaal aa gaya (music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal, lyrics: Majrooh, film: Mere Humdum Mere Dost)
Laxmikant-Pyarelal had some wonderful tunes up their sleeves in the initial years of their career. In this reflective song of remembrance, notice that Rafi pronounces shaam more conventionally (with less improvisation) compared to the earlier song.

7. akele men vo ghabarate to honge (music: Khayyam, lyrics: ?, film: Biwi)
This beautiful song is from the early days of Rafi and the very early days of Khayyam. The latter’s mastery over tunes and the slight classical tint that he gave to so many songs are both visible in this song.

8. ham aur tum aur ye samaa (music: Usha Khanna, lyrics: Majrooh, film: Dil Deke Dekho)
I can imagine how proud Usha Khanna must have felt on composing this fantastic song in her debut effort. Rafi used to make an extra effort for new and less renowned music directors, and he imbues this song in blissful romance.

9. jaag dil-e-deewana, rut jaagi vasl-e-yaar ki (music: Chitragupt, lyrics: Majrooh, film: Oonche Log)
Feroze Khan was immensely fortunate to have this longingly romantic song picturized on him. Chitragupt has tuned this exceptionally well, and Majrooh has written magnificently. Rafi does justice to both, conveying the pining of the hero in the slight vibrations in his voice while starting each stanza.

10. vo ham na the, vo tum na the (music: Iqbal Qureshi, lyrics: Neeraj, film: Cha Cha Cha)
What a superlative song this is! If you ever wanted to listen to the so-called silken voice of Rafi, listen to this song. Brilliantly written for a melancholy mood, this song is sung in an extremely cultured voice, reflecting the great amount of work singers used to expend in preparation for songs in those days. The other great Rafi solo from this film is more well-known – subah na aayee, shaam na aayee, and it reaches the high, high pitch that I started off referring to.

 

Words that sting Thursday, Oct 19 2006 

Hindi films & music tavaishnav 11:44 am

The theme of the jilted lover washing himself or herself in tears and sorrowful phrases has been a very common one in Hindi cinema from the very beginning (although these days, one doesn’t hear too much on such themes).

One song, a ghazal, that stands out in this genre because of the way it expresses its
sentiment is jab Gam-e-ishq sataataa hai to ha.Ns letaa huu.N – sung by Mukesh, tuned by Jaidev, and written by Pt. Nyay Sharma for the Chetan Anand film ‘Kinare Kinare’. Jaidev’s tune and orchestration is quite superb, Mukesh is a perfect fit. Yet what stands out in my mind are Pt. Sharma’s lyrics.

Sometimes when you encounter too much sorrow and reflect upon your circumstances, you can only laugh, or smile, to yourself. That is the theme of the song. When the sorrow of love rankles, I can only laugh, says the opening line. Disillusionment with hope-givers is not far away. merii uja.Dii huii duniyaa me.n tamannaa kaa chiraaG, jab koii aake jalaataa hai to ha.Ns letaa huu.N. When someone tries to re-light the lamp of my desolate life, I can do nothing but laugh. Love is not worth crying for. jazbaa-e-ishq ke a.njaam pe is duniyaa me.n, jab koii ashq bahaataa hai to ha.Ns letaa huu.N. In this world, when someone weeps over the denouement of the emotion of love, I, on the contrary, laugh. The poet does try to dispel that there is any rancour on his part, yet the final words sting. koii daavaa nahii.n, fariyaad nahii.n, tanz nahii.n, raham jab apane pe aataa hai to ha.Ns letaa huu.N. I am not trying to make any claim, lodge any complaint, or joke. It’s just that when I feel this pity on myself, I can only laugh.

 

Knowing Knowledge Wednesday, Oct 11 2006 

Philosophy tavaishnav 10:54 am

The phrase ‘I know this’ (or ‘you know this’, etc.) is a commonly-used, everyday one. But do you really know you know? How do you know you know? What is it, really, that you claim to know?

I love reading and, at times, studying, philosophy. The branch of philosophy that deals with the fundamental questions mentioned above (and many others) is epistemology. For amateurs interested in philosophy, I think this is the branch of philosophy that is most neglected, mostly because it is the most abstract and can get drab and heavy sooner than other topics in philosophy. Epistemology does have applications, however, especially in today’s ‘knowledge economy’. For one, it can serve as the background to and guiding philosophy for a comprehensive enterprise-wide knowledge management strategy.

If you, too, are interested in epistemology, the Wikipedia page, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and this 6 Responses »

 

Reflections on Gandhi Wednesday, Oct 4 2006 

Politics & current affairs tavaishnav 10:34 am

Yet another birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi arrived and left. The man has received more than the usual lip-service recently. Instead of the only usual piece of news on October 2, of the President, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and sundry politicans having trooped to Raj Ghat, the man has been remembered in various other ways recently. Veteran filmmaker Jahnu Barua came up with ‘Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara’. Rajkumar Hirani and the others involved with ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ gave us a new term – ‘Gandhi-giirii‘. PM Manmohan Singh is in South Africa, visiting Pietermaritzburg, Durban and other places associated with Gandhi. In fact, two full days have been spent in joint Gandhi nostalgia before Manmohan Singh and Thabo Mbeki came round to signing a joint statement. Outlook published an interview with John Lewis, one of the foremost leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement, concerning the movement’s Gandhian influence, and the relevance of Gandhi’s ideology today. Most ironically, Yakub Memon, in his outburst after being convicted for the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993, said that his brother and prime accused Tiger Memon had asked him not to ‘be a Gandhi’ and return to India from Dubai.

Gandhi is definitely relevant today, although his entire ideology may not. The basis of any ideology is a set of principles. It will usually be farcical to talk about principles in political life, not only in India but around the world, not only now or in the last century but for ages past. Yet Gandhi was a political leader with an incredibly strong sense of principle. From whatever I have read about him, I don’t think Gandhi ever violated any of his most basic principles from the time he first formed them till his assassination. To recognize principles, any principles, and to adhere to them, itself is a very valuable legacy to people across the world today.

What is Gandhi’s legacy? It consists of his principles and his methods. In other words, you may say, his ends and his means. I will make very brief observations only on his principles. Any comment on his methods would require better knowledge of the methods themselves and the context in which they were used.

What were Gandhi’s most basic principles? There was truth, and there was non-violence; faith in God, and basic equality of man; self-restraint and humility. To be sure, these do not constitute a coherent philosophy. Elements of Buddhism & Hinduism combine with a basic humanism, and there are some contradictions thrown in. For example, the caste system is an evil because it denies the man regarded to be outside the caste system his dignity and respect as a human being. Yet there is self-sacrifice in his life, and he respected that spirit in others. His advocacy of non-violence was based on the basic belief that man cannot morally resort to violence against his fellow man or fellow creatures, but his extension of this non-violence even to self-defence could only lead to humiliation and injury to peaceful freedom-fighters, without really shaming the British Government.

But witness the power of belief in principles like truth and non-violence. It gave Gandhi courage, tremendous courage. It gave him poise and the ability to stay calm and retain his sense of humour. Criticism of Gandhi for his foibles misses the point. The point is that Gandhi was equally open about all his practices and thoughts, which is how we came to know about those foibles in the first place. Most people would be frightened out of their wits to be so open about their lives. Belief in the principle of truth enabled Gandhi to achieve that openness.

That we, as a people, have failed Gandhian principles is obvious. The point is, did we ever really follow them? Even during his lifetime? In spite of some glorious successes on the communal front, Gandhi died a dejected man. He saw in his own lifetime that a principled human society in the face of so many possibilities for division and distraction was an impossible dream. Where people place any of their numerous identities above any general human principle, lasting peace can never be achieved.

 

Articulation Wednesday, Oct 4 2006 

Business tavaishnav 4:25 am

Something tells me the following is not quite the best way to articulate your company’s vision.

Extract from The Economic Times, Oct. 4, 2006:

“Having achieved a certain scale, Mr Ramadorai is getting TCS to think along a different dimension. ”Why can’t we make software more robust, more predictable… ummm… like a machine part,” he says. “I mean look at an iPod…. or… or… a car — a Toyota car. it works everytime. You buy it and it runs,” he continues. So is that it? Does TCS want to be the Toyota of Consulting Services? Ramadorai now appears non-committal, as if the message has a greater nuance. ”Actually, why not like GE or IBM? The world is far too complex to assume that learning from just one company is enough,” he explains. The goal he is charting out is to make software and even services more predictable and foolproof, and iron out the bugs in a manner that the system always works. ”