There is nothing concrete that I wish to write about today or if I could phrase that better it would be that, there is no one issue I want to talk or write about. Hence the title! They are thoughts that have come and gone. Some have stayed. I keep telling myself that there is a need to keep a writing book whereby I can just note down random thoughts and then it would help when I get down to doing stuff like this.
Anyway for now let me just ramble on.....
Watching a programme on t.v. which has Anu Malik in it. And just have this thought that I cant quite figure out who I dislike more, Anu Malik or Himesh Reshamiya! I have no idea why the comparison. Maybe its just the 'dislike' factor that is intense and common!
Speaking of Himesh, his songs and lyrics just go from bad to worse but yet get more and more popular. Its almost like its inversely proportional! And its amazing that this man actually gets roles of a hero! All the people involved in the making of a film which has Himessss bhai in it are either too courageous or are too foolish! Just throws light on the 'never say never' philosophy! Most people even when asked as part of a research randomly , whether they would ever see Himesh as a hero would have laughed away or said 'no way!' and see what happened!
Moving on. the October heat just does not seem to be receding. Literally speaking its still October but hoping that the advent of november brings along an actual season change as well! Personally for me there is an indiactor, probably very different from the general ones, that marks the arrival of the winter! Its a strange phenomenon which possibly may not have struck anyone or most people but I have marked it from year to year. There is an 'aroma' in the air and it smells of some kind of a spice. The closest that I can come to describing it is that it smells somewhat like nutmeg or alternately a mix of cinnamom, clove and nutmeg! I dont know where it comes from but I am guessing that some or many trees emit it. Its a wonderful aroma that almost lifts your spirit at once! This aroma has already set in, indicating that the winter has indeed arrived. Now the season just needs to take off! The aroma will just get more and more intense as we get into the thick of winter. Its lovely!
The whole hype about the F1 races in Noida just left me with one thought, especially after I watched glimpses of it on some news channels on t.v. and that thought was " Why cant we give the contracts for our roads to the people who built the track!" If they can do such a great job there bring them on to do this mighty herculian task!
Saw Ra.One! Went with no expectations and came back feeling nothing! It was not bad but neither was it great! Given that it revolved around gaming etc, I have a feeling that 'boys to men' would probably like the film by virtue of pure content alone! When the song Chhamak Chhalo was being aired initially, I did not seem to like it but overtime it has really grown on me and I always catch myself grooving to it! Akon has sung it very well and the part where he says 'akkiyon se akkiyan mila le' instead of 'akhiyan', somehow sounds very sweet!
Diwali has come to an end. The good part being that the pollution levels will come down which were enhanced due to the crackers. The sad part being that the lights will also now dim down and the festivity will disappear only to reappear during Christmas and New Year! The lights , the diyas will simmer away and the festive air will suddenly vanish! During diwali there is so much to do and there is such a 'feel good' factor attached to the festival that everyone's spirits just soar! One to two days post Diwali, all of us feel the vaccuum and say "Oh its already over!" Such is life I guess, everything being transitory in nature.
This year somehow seems to have flown by! We are nearing the end of another year and it just feels that it has been quick! I often wonder if we had no days, dates, months and years and no such measures of time how would it be or how would it feel!
When I began writing there were way too many thoughts in my head and now suddenly it all feels blank, like atleast as of now I have nothing more to say! There is music that I am listening to while writing this post and there is a thought relating to that too! What would life be without music and thats not a very pleasant thought I must add! There is nothing more apt and better than music to perk you up, anytime, anywhere! It can change your mood in an instant and can linger on and on, in a good way! So much so that I sometimes feel that when you visit a doctor for any/every ailment, there should be a note emborsed on every page of their prescription pad, more like a P.S. which says " Listen to music!". Music heals in such a miraculous way!
I end this post while I am still listening to some of Jagjit Singh's ghazals. One goes something like this " koi yeh kaise bataye ke woh tanha kyun hai", and the other one goes " tum itna jo muskura rahe ho", both from Arth! If there is a word more appropriate than 'profound' I would use it for such awesome lyrics and an even more awesome rendition of the same! I still cannot get myself to believe that this great singer has left this world and is no longer with us.
Ok something in me wants to end on a happy note so I am wondering what that should be! Maybe a happier song! So it's got to be "tumko dekha toh yeh khayal aaya, zindagi dhoop tum ghana saaya!" :) Its not a totally happy happy song but still is one of the happier ones and somehow just feels very soothing and reassuring. And its from an absolutely lovely film called Saath Saath!
The last part of this current post feels like an extension to my earlier post on Jagjit Singh but since I like this man so much I almost always get carried away while saying anything about him and I always feel the need to let it flow!
Tomorrow begins another day and another week and something happy and hopeful to look forward to and that part comes from the die hard optimist in me :)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Ghazal Maestro!
When I switched on the radio this morning I just felt nice because I heard some of my favourite numbers and then I soon realised they had a common thread, that of being sung by Jagjit Singh. Then there was this sadness that crept up with a sudden realisation that dawned on me! They usually play such clusters either when its someone's birthday or when someone dies and the probability of the latter was higher since he was in the I.C.U. And then I finally heard one of the Radio Jockeys announce that this great singer with such an enchanting voice had indeed passed away. It felt sad , like a void and a vaccum and the corresponding thought was that we may no longer have songs that will reflect our deepest sorrow, pain or hurt, in relationships and in life! That feeling of 'wow someone understands our intense emotions and actually puts them into words and renders them as beautiful songs that touch the deepest core of our heart and soul" suddenly felt alien enough like it was some distant dream! Sure the songs are usually penned by profound writers but to lend a voice to those words that render them so soulful, is no small task!
Jagjit Singh has this deeply profound and haunting ( in a good way!) kind of voice which can tug at your heart strings and linger on and on much after the song is over. The pain in the voice is that of a person who sings from his heart and has seen life with all its peaks and valleys. I do know of his personal tragedies where he lost his daughter and then his son early on in life ! The classic "chithi na koi sandes" was written after his son's death, in his memory apparently. So the real pain always reflected in his singing as well. It was like this man felt and lived every emotion and feeling that the words in his songs evoked. He knew what it felt like when he rendered compositions like " apni marzi se kahan apne safar ke hum hain", or like " tum itna jo muskura rahe ho , kya gham hai jisko chhupa rahe ho!" These are my all time favourites . You almost felt like someone just peeked into your life and got out stuff that was burried under the many layers in your soul , like way down there where no one could go ! And that feeling was as daunting as it was reassuring!
I remember as a child we had this music album on an LP which had songs by him and his wife. I had two favourites then and those were the first ones I had heard. Till then I did not really know who this man was. One was " saare pindich puare aaye" , it was a punjabi song , so sweet on your ears that u really did not care that u coud not understand most of the words. And the other one being " woh kagaz ki kashti , woh baarish ka paani'. I was a kid then, so the profanity of the words eluded me, but I enjoyed listening to it nonetheless because it had words like nani etc and kids could relate to what was being described in the song in a childlike manner, though not in the way it was meant to be or in the way you would relate to it as an adult! After that introduction to this genius called JS , there was no looking back! 'Honthon se chhoo lo tum' and 'tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya' are so soothing apart from being lyrical masterpieces and couple of my most favourite lines in the latter are " hum jisse gunguna nahi sakte , waqt ne aisa geet kyun gaya..... aaj phir dil ne ek tamanna ki , aaj fir dil ko humne samjhaya"..... so so beautiful and his rendition of the same have just made these ghazals evergreen classics. These songs literally give me goose bumps, especially when I listen to them in some specific phases of my life, when they suddenly become so meaningful and true!
There is something about his songs that anyone or atleast most people I know love. Everyone has atleast one favourite JS song if not more! And given our own life stories, we identify with the ones that resonate most with what we have individually gone through. For me that one or rather two are which I have already mentioned above! 'Apni marzi se' and 'Tum itna jo muskura rahi ho'! There is a phrase in hindi which does complete justice to his voice and describes it perfectly. It says "unki awaz mein itna dard hai ke seedha dil ko chhoo jaati hai". Literally translated into english will make it lose its essence, so I shall let that pass!'Hoshwalon ko khabar kya' is also a lovely song but my own bias against Sonali Bendre just dilutes its whole effect for me! I wish it was sung in honour of some true diva!
Its sad that he cud not do his last concert with another legend, Ghulam Ali! That would be so memorable, yet it came as such a disappointment for the fans who made sure they booked well in advance so they dont miss this beautiful opportunity. And what a stroke of fate that he took ill the same day or just the night before! Life can be so strange and unpredictable at times. But the bright part is that even after he has gone he will continue to live forever in our hearts through his soulful melodies. There never was and there never will be another like him! May his soul rest in peace and may his songs live on for generations to come.
Jagjit Singh has this deeply profound and haunting ( in a good way!) kind of voice which can tug at your heart strings and linger on and on much after the song is over. The pain in the voice is that of a person who sings from his heart and has seen life with all its peaks and valleys. I do know of his personal tragedies where he lost his daughter and then his son early on in life ! The classic "chithi na koi sandes" was written after his son's death, in his memory apparently. So the real pain always reflected in his singing as well. It was like this man felt and lived every emotion and feeling that the words in his songs evoked. He knew what it felt like when he rendered compositions like " apni marzi se kahan apne safar ke hum hain", or like " tum itna jo muskura rahe ho , kya gham hai jisko chhupa rahe ho!" These are my all time favourites . You almost felt like someone just peeked into your life and got out stuff that was burried under the many layers in your soul , like way down there where no one could go ! And that feeling was as daunting as it was reassuring!
I remember as a child we had this music album on an LP which had songs by him and his wife. I had two favourites then and those were the first ones I had heard. Till then I did not really know who this man was. One was " saare pindich puare aaye" , it was a punjabi song , so sweet on your ears that u really did not care that u coud not understand most of the words. And the other one being " woh kagaz ki kashti , woh baarish ka paani'. I was a kid then, so the profanity of the words eluded me, but I enjoyed listening to it nonetheless because it had words like nani etc and kids could relate to what was being described in the song in a childlike manner, though not in the way it was meant to be or in the way you would relate to it as an adult! After that introduction to this genius called JS , there was no looking back! 'Honthon se chhoo lo tum' and 'tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya' are so soothing apart from being lyrical masterpieces and couple of my most favourite lines in the latter are " hum jisse gunguna nahi sakte , waqt ne aisa geet kyun gaya..... aaj phir dil ne ek tamanna ki , aaj fir dil ko humne samjhaya"..... so so beautiful and his rendition of the same have just made these ghazals evergreen classics. These songs literally give me goose bumps, especially when I listen to them in some specific phases of my life, when they suddenly become so meaningful and true!
There is something about his songs that anyone or atleast most people I know love. Everyone has atleast one favourite JS song if not more! And given our own life stories, we identify with the ones that resonate most with what we have individually gone through. For me that one or rather two are which I have already mentioned above! 'Apni marzi se' and 'Tum itna jo muskura rahi ho'! There is a phrase in hindi which does complete justice to his voice and describes it perfectly. It says "unki awaz mein itna dard hai ke seedha dil ko chhoo jaati hai". Literally translated into english will make it lose its essence, so I shall let that pass!'Hoshwalon ko khabar kya' is also a lovely song but my own bias against Sonali Bendre just dilutes its whole effect for me! I wish it was sung in honour of some true diva!
Its sad that he cud not do his last concert with another legend, Ghulam Ali! That would be so memorable, yet it came as such a disappointment for the fans who made sure they booked well in advance so they dont miss this beautiful opportunity. And what a stroke of fate that he took ill the same day or just the night before! Life can be so strange and unpredictable at times. But the bright part is that even after he has gone he will continue to live forever in our hearts through his soulful melodies. There never was and there never will be another like him! May his soul rest in peace and may his songs live on for generations to come.
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