Magic of Books

Safdar Hashmi, had once said "Kitabe kuch Kehna Chahte hai, tumhare pass rehna chahti hai". 

When I sit to analyse the statement i sometimes think that how much true is that statement, how much of truth is that statement that is, it is only that we in our day to day life we choose to ignore it. 

Books as I always say that, are my best friends and the statement by Safdar Hashmi, has just touched  the internal chord which I cannot explain in words. The feeling  is like having scotch which is about a thousand years  old or a scotch bottle which has never been opened. I just wish I had the calibre to communicate the feeling which I feel when I am alone and have nothging to do and read a Milton, Bryon, Shakespeeare or Rabindranath Tagore or Sukumar Ray or Bhibutibhusan Bhadhopadhay (only a few to name).

The feeling which one opens a book and especially if it is a old book and the feeling which one  feel when one gets when a he enters a book store...wow, how can that be explained.

The  characters of the  stories from Rhett Butler to Scarlet O Hara to Sherlock Homes to Feluda to Pip to all the characters which I have read or have been created, oh how wonderful they are. The magic of these characters are that you can be all those characters all at a time, it gives me a freedom to be any of those characters and there is no body to stop me. Another magic of books is that it takes me to another world and anywhere I want  to g where only  my imagination can take.

I  thank my Bhaiyadadu and Ma and Baba, that they introduced me to the world of books who have become my best friends and will always be and you know the thing with books is that it is fair to anyone and everyone.

If I only talk about  books then it would be very unfair as there is something  known as Music which has always fulfilled my life and I cannot express in words whether that be simple or lyrical how much role music has played in my life. When ever I feel depressing ,I just start  my music player and start listening to songs, oh how  wonderful is that and my choice goes from Hindustani music to western classical to rock to Rabindra Sangeet  to simple day to day and with  so many variations, I am really spoilt for choices  and I enjoy that , because I always feel that music flatters me and when someone flatters me  I love it .

Another thing which has been, close to my heart is movies,oh how i love to see them and as the above two friends  it takes me to a different world where I can actually visualize and  thae moments can be frozen wow.... what an amazing feeling.

Republic Day

Today is 26th January 2011, which seems a very long way from 26th January,1950 , just 61 years from the day we became a republic and to think it took us about 154 years to reach this point (if we calculate from 1857, as I firmly believe that it was from 1857 that our Indian Independence was incepted and started to take feet) and to think that what all sacrifices as a nation India to become a republic. 

To think how the people who, saw the first republic day and  to be also a part of the sixty second republic day...wow, what must be the feeling, I just wish that  i could get a feel of that emotion or in hindi as we say eshass. 

Suddenly a question which comes to  our mind is that what is the most important element or what is the that thing which we have achieved in these years and for me that answer  is that of self-belief that i can stand on my feet and breathe the free air,oh what a feeling that is. 

To think to  achieve this  self belief  what all sacrifices  people have gone through from Bhagat Singh, sacrificing his life at the age of 23, when a man starts to dream what he would do that person had already decided to dedicate his life and then thinking of all those leaders and people who become leaders and took the choice to do something and to think that it was not only before Independence but after Independence also. 

Yes India has a huge corruption problem and lot of corrupt people and a lot of  problems  but we must remember what Gandhi had said when he was told  by the Britishers, that India had too many problems and would face many  problems and to that Gandhi had said that it would be your problem and not yours. 

To think that had our ancestors not taken the choice, of fighting for our Independence, somebody sitting in London would be taking decisions for us and we would have to follow them and that I am able to write this Blog is because due to my ancestors who fought for us and I would like to thank them. 

Memoirs of Mumbai...Last days...

I am  writing this blog after I have reached Jodhpur.

The last week of  my stay in Mumbai  went the usual going to office and coming back and submitting my report after a lot of editing  finally  my project got submitted and i also got my certificate.

So I and my friend decided to enjoy  the event by drinking but the cream was the other day when we got the tickets of Indian Ocean which would be performing live at Bandra Fort. 

The performance was amazing...something which cannot be explained in words, the way they played and the way they performed Ma Rewa and for the first time I learnt that a flute could make such amazing magical sounds..it was just amazing and I just loved their energy with which they played cant be stated in words.It was enjoying like wine/rum which is about 100 years old.






But the most beautiful thing which I liked the most was that  the way they intermingled with the audience and that is what I beleive that makes them  most special so different from all the bands and the other thing which I like about then is that they have kept the Indian Ocean Indiansed and not followed the Western Style of Bands  blindly . Among the songs I just loved the latest song of their recent album 16/330 Khajoor Road :- Bula Raha Hai, it is one the best composed and written songs I  have ever heard.

After that i and my friend (Abhirup Mitra) went back home  with another friend Soumitra Bannerjee and we had drinks together and after a long time I discussed Rabindra Sangeet and after a long time i heard such a beautiful expression of Akash Bhora Surja Tara.I just hope i could have such more discussions with him such more and  this meeting develops into a good friendship.

Thus this ended my  short stay in Mumbai and the next day I was back in the city which  I love :- KOLKATA....oh how i love that city.

So farewell Mumbai ...Hoping that I come back again and explore you again....SO  LONG FAREWELL....

Memoirs of Mumbai:- Theater festival at Prithvi Theater

Last week I went to theater festival at Prithvi Festival where the theater festival was being organised by the name of Sarkash by Jana Natya Manch.

On the first day TUMHARI AMRITHA was being held where there were only two actors Shabana Azmi and Farooq Sheikh   and what a brilliant performance it was by both. For the first time I saw such a performance where only two actors where there and the whole story came up  through letters. It was just brilliant and what the most I loved was the way voice modulation was used to explain the  nuances and as usual  Shabana Azmi was at her best. Really it was one of the most beautiful evening in Mumbai.

The next evening i again went to Prithvi Festival i went to see the play Ismat Aapa Ke Naam, where three stories where played ,Chui Mui, Mughal Bacha, Gharwali. All these plays where played by single person playing all the characters and it was just like I was reading a book where I become all the characters and it was a beautiful experience.

Naseeruddin Shah played in Gharwali and it was totally brilliant the way he depicted the characters and I was lucky to sit in the front seat and see the play and it was a experience which I cannot say in words it was that kind of experience and especially he played the character of girl and miran wow. Ratna Pathak who played Mughal Bacha was nothing less but Naseeruddin Shah overshadowed everyone.

It was the most beautiful weekend I spent in Mumbai and will always remember Mumbai for this weekend and what I like most was that  both the plays was in Hindusthani , a language which I heard after a long time and which is slowly vanishing. 

Mumbai...Memoirs

Continuing from the old post...

It has been nearly two weeks that I came to Bombay (I prefer it than Mumbai) and it has been hectic and boring and somehow I managed to go with my friends to the real Bombay at the night time and saw why Bombay was enchanting and why it hypnotises everyone.

Though for a brief  moment it had enchanted me .

I was with a wonderful company that day and really enjoyed my time out with them but the most soothing was the sit on the marine drive..kit soothed me away...

I really loved it and plan to go again in the morning...and see the sunrise.

One thing I have understood is that the history of Bombay is quite  interesting as that of Calcutta (preferred than Kolkata )  and Delhi.

Mumbai...

Visiting Mumbai for the first time  an as usual being a student of history I read about history of Mumbai or Bombay as it was known in the old days and saw that the growth of Mumbai was not just a crazy idea but was done with a planned idea to make it a commercial hub. So the first question which came to my mind was why. To get the answer I looked into the map of Mumbai and observed that firstly Mumbai was situated in the west so it had to had first contact when the foreigners came and secondly it was the only place from where cotton could have been exported or imported and all the foreigners came to our country for that.  Secondly with  the developments of Bengal during the 1900  it was important to create another centre and Mumbai was the perfect answer to Bengal.

Lets leave that because I would be dealing with the history of Mumbai more in a detailed manner but the most that thing amazed me was the trains and the confluence of people in the trains from each and every class and that’s something. Really when  trains were started no one had thought that also that trains would form such a part if life. The most distinguishing feature of Mumbai trains from the other local trains of other cities is that it is used as a mode of transport within the city and not to come to the city.

I have just landed and slowly the city is creepingly trying to charm me. Lets see.  

Independence Day

 Do we understand....what freedom..is.....when for us freedom is a gift which we have received from our ancestors...something as a right...do....we..understand.......what it is to be not to be dependant...and treated as slaves......do we really...understand...the sacrifice of our ancestors...... when we utter the words "I dont care"....I really somethings think what would have happened had Gandhi  said I dont care....what would have happened...if  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had said I dont care and gone on with his practice........what if Bhagat Singh had  said I dont care about Jawalianah Bagh.....Subhas Chandra Bose had said I dont care".... and gone of to do his civil service job..like hundreds of young not independent  persons belonging to India.....said I dont care".... what would have happened.....i sometimes force....myself to think........what  do we understand of independence when on a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai the voting is less than 50% while in the so calledm naxalite areas.....voting..exceeds.....80%...do we really..understand...what... independence...is

Speaking of Independence.........lets..for this time.celebrate .... independence day as a day ......to understand...why..people..are..taking..up..arms.........why you`g...Kashmir...is ..angry...lets..listen to them once...why..naxalism....has...become the greatest threat......why..........

 Lets .start a new...beginning...lets enjoy not the songs but .........people......of India.......by listening to them.......lets teach...our youngsters........what is independence and that  is is not a gift but a duty and responsibility for us ........lets  celebrate.... Independence each and every moment ....we...live.......lets remember of  the innumerable sacrifices....lets enjoy...each and every moment when we savoured as a nation...and lets take all together in this enjoyment....lets remember...of our ancestors for innumerable fought...lets understand that this independence which we use is not a gift but something....which is our duty...as history has nasty...habit..of repeating  itself...lets start respecting people...by.. listening to them ....giving them recognition......the most human basic right..

English Translation by Satyajit Ray of Abol Tabol written by Sukumar Ray ..... a unique nd exceptional piece of work

THE MISSING WHISKERS

They always knew the Boss babu

To be a gentle fellow

What happens if he in a jiffy

Turns all blue and yellow?

He was seated in his chair

Relaxed and free from care,

Indulging in his post-meridian nap,

When without a warning,

In the middle of his yawning,

Something right inside him seemed to snap.

With muffled cries he rolled his eyes

And threw his arms about,

"Alas I'm sick. Come save me quick"

Was what he sputtered out.

They heard him and they all began

To cluster round the stricken man

And pondered on the safest plan.

To bring him to his senses.

"Call the police " "No – the Vet"

His partner said, "He seems upset"

"But careful he might bite yet"

Said his amanuensis.

But Boss Babu – his face all red and swollen –

Now declared, "My moustache has bean stolen".

"Stolen whiskers?" they all cried,

"The Babu must be pacified”

And so they held a mirror to his face.

"There sir", they said "You see

Your whiskers where they used to be

Who would dare to put you in disgrace?"

Babu now began to scream

"You dunder heads, I would not dream

Of ever wearing whiskers so outrageous.

They make me look a shaggy butcher

Know this – in the near future

I ought to – no, I must reduce your wages.

This he did. And then at random

He composed a memorandum

Herewith quoted (minus appendages).

If you think your employees

Deserve your love - correction please:

They don't. They're fools. No commonsense.

They're full or crass incompetence.

The ones in my establishment

Deserve the highest punishment.

They show their cheek in not believing

Whiskers lend themselves to thieving

Their moustaches, I predict,

Will soon be mercilessly picked;

And when that happens they will know

What Man is to Moustachio:

Man is slave, Moustache is master,

Losing which Man meets disaster!

Some of my favorite quotes

1. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-----------------Robert Frost

2. If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it? If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it? -------Albert Einstein.

3. May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers! --------- Albert Einstein.

4. He Mahajiban

No more of this poetry.

Bring on the hard, harsh prose instead.

Let the jingle of verse disappear

And the strong hammer of prose strike.

No need for the serenity of a poem;

Poetry, I give you a break today.

In the regime of hunger, the earth belongs to prose,

The full moon burns like a loaf of bread.

5. The Testimonial
(Chhaadpatra)

The news came
From the child who was born today.
She has got the testimonial,
And therefore she proclaims her rights to the new
unknown world
With piercing cries.

She is helpless and small, yet her fist is raised,
Glowing in an incomprehensible oath.

No one understands.
Some laugh, some reprove.

I recognize her language, though.
I see the signs of a coming age
As I read the child’s credentials
In her hazy, misty eyes.
The new child has arrived. We must make place for
her;
And move away
Into the wrecked and dead wastelands
Of this old earth.

And leave we will. Yet as long as I breathe,
I will go on clearing the debris
with all my strength
From the face of this earth.
I will make this world habitable for this child;
This is my firm pledge to the newborn.

Once my work is done,
I shall bless the child
With my own blood.

And then, I shall become history.

6. A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. ----- Albert Einstein.

7. Either you die as a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain----- from the movie Dark Knight

8. Madness is just like gravity, what it needs is just a push----- from the movie Dark Knight.

9. You are too concerned with what was and what will be, there is a saying , yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, i.e., why it is called the present------ from the movie Kungfu Panda.

10. To make something special you just have to believe it is special. ------ from the movie Kungfu Panda.

11. When the going gets tough the tough gets going---- Universal Commando Theme.

12. God Helps those who help themselves. ---- Unknown.

13. Fortune favours the brave--- Unknown.

14. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction. ----- Albert Einstein.

15. Sukanto Bhattacharya who wrote :"khudhar rajoye prithibi goddomoy, purnimar chand jeno jholshano ruti".

16. Invictus poem by William Ernest Henley that provided Mandela inspiration during his 27 years in prison.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
I thank whatever gods may be

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

17. “After All if I cannot change, when circumstances demanded, then how can i expect others too”--- by Nelson Mandela on being asked in a sports show that how is he supporting the team Springboks, when during the apartheid times, he used to support any team which played against the Springboks, taken from the movie invictus.

18. Any fool can know. The point is to understand. ----- Albert Einstein.

19. “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it” ---- Winston Churchill.

20. “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense” ---- Winston Churchill.

21. “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” ---- Winston Churchill.

22. “We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out” ---- Winston Churchill.

23. “Life is not what One lived, but what One remembers and how One remembers it in order to recount it" ---- Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

24. “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ---- Albert Einstein.

25. Misty Morning, Clouds in the sky, Without Warning a wizard walks by.....Casting his shadow, weaving his spell, Funny clothes, tinkling bell.....Never talking, just keeps walking, spreading his magic"............"Sun is Shining, Clouds have gone by, All the people give a happy sigh......He has passed by, giving his sign, Left all the people feeling so fine.....Never talking, just keeps walking, spreading his magic" -------- from the song 'Wizard' by Black Sabbath, released in February 1970. Sabbath had composed the 'Wizard' inspired by the character Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings.

26. Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. ---- Albert Einstein.

27. "In order not to have to rob his subjects, to be able to defend himself, not to become poor and contemptible, and not to be forced to become rapacious, a prince must consider it of little importance if he incurs the reputation of being a miser, for this is one of the vices that permits him to rule," -------- Niccolo Machiavelli in the book The Little Prince.

28. "To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people,"----- Machiavelli

29. Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.—William Butler Yeats, 1899

30. "Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot."---- Charlie Chaplin

31. Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. ---- Plato, Greek Philosopher

32. Wisdom is not a product of schooling but a lifelong attempt to acquire it. --- Albert Einstein.

33. I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received --- Antonio Porchia, Italian Poet.

34. Wisdom s knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it and virtue is doing it. -- --- David Starr Jordan, Writer.

35. Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.----Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle.

36. A horse gallops with his lungs, preserves with his heart, and wins with his character.--- Frederico Tesio.

37. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. --- Will Durant.

38. What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. --- Bob Dylan.