Aanewala pal jaane wala hai.......

Hrishida is no more! By no means was he the typical glamorous Bollywood director, yet Hrishikesh Mukherjee was one of the most popular and beloved filmmakers in Indian cinema. His biggest assest lay in weaving a cinematic magic through simplicity and warmth of characters and their settings without relying much on glamor or largeness so often associated with Indian cinema.

He began his career in 1951 as an editor and assistant director to legendary Bimal Roy, participating in the landmark Roy films Do Bigha Zameen and Devdas. Though his first directorial venture, Musafir (1957), was a disaster, but producer-director Raj Kapoor was so impressed by his talent that he strongly recommended Hrishida as director for Anari (1959). Starring Kapoor himself and Nutan, the film was a critical and commercial success.

1960 saw his next film, Anuradha, which got him the President's Medal Award. But the decade of 60s was not a succesful one for Hrishida and his films were not particularly distinguishable, barring Asli-Naqli (1962), Anupama (1966), Aashirwad (1968), and Satyakam (1969).

Then came 1970 and that year saw Hrishida's masterpiece Anand, one of the best movies ever made in Bollywood. This classic film saw scintillating performances by Rajesh Khanna, then a superstar, and Amitabh Bachchan, then a little known aspiring actor. The music by Salil Chowdhary was soul-stirring, the songs unforgettable..... "zindagi kaisi hai paheli....."; "kahin dur jab din dhal jaye...."; "maine tere liye hee saat rang ke sapne.....". Anand was dedicated to Raj Kapoor, whose joie de vivre had inspired the central charatcer.

It was an auspicious beginning of the 1970s, for that time proved to be an exceptionally good time for Hrishida as he gave the popular and excellent films like Guddi (1971), considered as Jaya Bhaduri's debut film; Abhimaan (1973), that saw the Bachchans' greatest ever performance together; and Chupke Chupke (1975), a comedy par excellence. These films gave an extremely skilled and detailed look at the middle-class mentality. Very few Bollywood writers and directors have touched the inner chord with the Indian middle class the same way Hrishida did.

Hrishida was a profilic director and writer. Few other gems to have emerged out of his oeuvre include: Bawarchi; Golmaal; Naram Garam; Namak Haraam; Bemisaal; Sadma; Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kaate.

Hrishi Da's Quotes:

"It's more difficult to portray simple emotions on screen than complex ones. And that's why I try to delve more into such themes."

"I try to make my films like sugarcoated messages, but the sugar should not exceed the medicine."

Did Gandhi bat for N.Y. Yankees?

IBN-CNN reports: Mahatma Gandhi played baseball during a top secret visit to the USA in 1933—hold on! this is not historical fact but the fiction of a film.

Gandhi at the Bat shows the Mahatma playing for the New York Yankees, but US President Franklin D Roosevelt ensures that the trip is kept secret in national interest. However, long after the visit, baseball historians are intrigued by stories about a mysterious pinch hitter.

The film, touted as a mocumentary, has been made by Los Angeles-based Alec Boehm and Stephanie Argy and comes from the production house Mental Slapstick.

The filmmakers plan to take the film to the festival circuit and it can also be found in the Web site www.gandhiatthebat.com .

So we can now watch the Mahatma as he gets on the baseball diamond in sepia tones and flickering motion. And Gandhi, though in real history went to bat with great success for India. But, as a person with a great sense of humour, he probably would also have enjoyed the spoof.

Is this fair?

George Orwell in his hard-hitting satirical novel Animal Farm wrote: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." It seems history has turned a full circle and now it's the leading US companies, driven by unbridled greed for market dominance, who are bending over backwards to appease the autocratic regime in China. So, for Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Cisco and Wal-Mart there is one set of rules that applies to everyother 'animal' and another set created exclusively for the 'Red animal'.

Google: Does not offer email, chat rooms, or blogs in China, but only Web search, image search, local search, and Google news and that it censors these programs so that Chinese customers cannot search for "democracy," "Falun Gong," and other topics that China wants to shield its people from.

Yahoo: Provided information about one of its Chinese customers that led to his arrest and a 10-year prison sentence for political activity.

Cisco: Sold equipment to the Chinese police that assists them in monitoring dissidents.

Microsoft: Is not allowing the Chinese version of its Web portal, MSN Spaces, to use words deemed politically sensitive by China's Communist Party.

Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart with 1.6 million employees in 16 countries and regions, has a tradition of not allowing trade unions in its outlets. The CPC-backed All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) has forced the Wal-Mart to allow the establishment of labour unions in its branches.

American Leadership's hypocicy in dealing with China is legendary; and now US MNCs seem to be emulating their politicians. I don't have any objection to that, provided, the US and these companies stop preaching ethics and values to others. At the same time, China has shown the world how vulnerable these powerful MNCs are. One can make them dance to ones tunes provided they get double digit growth figures in bargain.

Pluto --- from Persephone's Paramour to a Pesky Planet

In the past few days enough heat was generated among scientific community about the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voting outcome on a draft definition of what distinguishes a planet from lesser space rocks. The fuss over Pluto's planethood started a few years ago when astronomers began to discover large, icy bodies in the outer solar system, some of them not much smaller than Pluto. A committee of 19 astronomers set up by the IAU in early 2004 failed to reach a decision over the issue of defining a Planet. A smaller committe of 7 members, set up to look into the matter, came out with a "new" definition of planet which would have increased planets in our solar system to 12, and probably many more. Finally, astronomers could be homing in on a definition of the word planet. On 22nd Aug., after much public bickering in Prague, followed by negotiations behind closed doors, the latest draft resolution was greeted with a broadly friendly reception. The terminology is still ambiguous but the proposal currently under consideration is least controversial. If accepted on Thursday, it would be bad news for Pluto, which would no longer be a full-fledged planet.

Eversince its entry into the family of solar system, Pluto has faced stiff opposition to its inclusion. Now it will no longer be part of the family of Zeus. Poor Pluto!

Ustad Bismillah Khan--- a genius musician

With the passing away of Ustaad Bismillah Khan in the wee hours of 21st August, 2006, an illustrious chapter comes to an end in the annals of Hindustani Classical music. The legendary shehani maestro was born on 21 March 1916. His ancestors were court musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar and he was trained under his uncle, the late Ali Bux `Vilayatu’, a shehnai player attached to Varanasi’s Vishwanath Temple. He brought the shehnai to the center stage of Indian music with his concert in the Calcutta All India Music Conference in 1937. It was Khan Sahib who poured his heart out into Raga Kafi from Red Fort on the eve of India’s first Republic Day ceremony.
Where others see conflict and contradiction between his music and his religion, Khan Sahib saw only a divine unity. His namaaz was the seven shuddh and five komal surs. Even as a devout Shia, Khan Sahib was also a staunch devotee of Goddess Saraswati. He once remarked, "Music, sur, namaaz. It is the same thing. We reach Allah in different ways. A musician can learn. He can play beautifully. But unless he can mix his music with religion, unless he strives to meet God, he will only have kalaa (art) but no assar (mystical union). He will always stand at the ocean and never reach the heights of purity." Khan Sahib poured his soul into the music he played and could elevate the listeners to the ethereal heights of mystical plane.

He was a simple man, a man of tenderness, a gentle private man, yet given to unbridled display of emotion. With a princely beard and eyes which glint with boyish mischief, he was a 'Suron ka Badshah' who made money but spent it just as fast. His only "bad habit", was smoking Wills cigarettes which he puffed with obvious relish. It was Khan Sahib who composed that magic Lata number 'Dil ka khilauna hai toot gaya' for the film Goonj Uthi Shehnai.During his long and fruitful career as an artiste, Khan Sahib enthralled audiences at performances across the globe. Ustad Bismillah Khan was the third classical musician after Pt Ravi Shankar and Smt M S Subbulakshmi to be awarded Bharath Rathna. He was also honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, the Tansen award as well as the Padma Vibhushan.

Khan Sahib lives on in the hearts of millions of his fans.

Mosaic of Indian Fabric

VANDE MATARAMHAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

N.B.: Kindly click on the photos above & enlarge them to have a clear view.

How Long Will the World be at War?

Man is the most violent of all living creatures--- he kills other living beings for food, pleasure, research and he kills fellow humans in name of religion, caste, ethnicity, nationality, ideology. Right now, while you are reading this post, someone somewhere is being killed by another human! With eight "major wars" underway right now and with as many as two dozen "lesser conflicts" ongoing with varying degrees of intensity, it seems the world is on fire.


GlobalSecurity.org has this to say, "Most of these are civil or "intrastate" wars, fueled as much by racial, ethnic, or religious animosities as by ideological fervor. Most victims are civilians, a feature that distinguishes modern conflicts. During World War I, civilians made up fewer than 5 percent of all casualties. Today, 75 percent or more of those killed or wounded in wars are non-combatants.

Africa, to a greater extent than any other continent, is afflicted by war. Africa has been marred by more than 20 major civil wars since 1960. Rwanda, Somalia, Angola, Sudan, Liberia, and Burundi are among those countries that have recently suffered serious armed conflict.

War has caused untold economic and social damage to the countries of Africa. Food production is impossible in conflict areas, and famine often results. Widespread conflict has condemned many of Africa's children to lives of misery and, in certain cases, has threatened the existence of traditional African cultures.

Conflict prevention, mediation, humanitarian intervention and demobilization are among the tools needed to underwrite the success of development assistance programs. Nutrition and education programs, for example, cannot succeed in a nation at war. Billions of dollars of development assistance have been virtually wasted in war-ravaged countries such as Liberia, Somalia, and Sudan."


India has been haunted by the scourge of both internal and external wars eversince its independence. Apart from the wars India has fought with Pakistan and China, a series of conflicts mostly involving ethnic groups seeking independence or autonomy from the central government. These are in addition to the Kashmir Rebellion, which rates as a major conflict.

o Hindu-Muslim Sectarian Violence—(1947-Present): Since independence from Britain in 1947, Hindus and Muslims in India have engaged in periodic outbursts of violence against each other. The latest mob violence in early 2002 in the state of Gujarat claimed 800 to 1,000 lives.

o Hindu-Sikh Sectarian Violence-(1980s): The brutal killings of the innocent by militants; two-times Army action at Harmandir Sahib, the Holiest of Sikh shrines; the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then PM by her bodyguards, and subsequent Anti-Sikh riots in various parts on North India. It was one of the ugliest periods in history of Punjab that threatened to tear the communal harmony among Hindus & Sikhs.

o Naga Rebellion—(1952-Present): The Naga ethnic group seeks independence from India. A cease-fire took effect in 1997, though some Naga groups continue to oppose the government.

o Mizo Rebellion—(Feb. 28, 1966-Present): The Mizo National Front (MNF) seeks independence from India for the Mizoram region.

o Naxalite Guerrilla War—(May 25, 1967-Present): Beginning with a peasant uprising in the town of Naxalbari, this Marxist/Maoist rebellion sputters on in the Indian countryside. The guerrillas operate among the impoverished peasants and fight both the government security forces and the private paramilitary groups funded by wealthy landowners. Most fighting takes place in the states of AP, Bihar, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, MP, & Orissa.

o Tripura Rebellion—(1979-Present): Tripura, in Northeast India, is embroiled in a separatist rebellion as several rebel groups fight for independence.

o Assam Rebellion—(1980-Present): The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) formed in April 1979 in response to an influx of non-Assamese from Bangladesh and parts of North East India. This movement seeks to evict those "foreigners" and seek greater autonomy from the Indian government.

o Bodo Rebellion—(Mid-1980s-Present): The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) is fighting for a separate state within India. They feel that their ethnic group is persecuted by the Assamese and Bengali groups which dominate the region.

Source: The History Guy

All this information sends a shudder down my spine. When will mankind learn to live in peace with one another? I hope and pray that such a day dawns soon.



"Perpetual peace is no empty idea, but a practical thing which, through its gradual solution, is coming always nearer its final realization..." IMMANUEL KANT

Sourav makes a century everyday

Most of us blame external circumstances for all that is wrong in our lives and lament lack of good opportunity to advance our career. Little do we realise that all that we took for granted as a child -- a reputed school, crisp notebooks, immaculate uniform et al, is an unfulfilled dream for millions of children. But many of these children do not give up despite odds and continue their education. Here is a real-life story about a young boy's dogged perseverance and indomitable will. [Newspaper vendor's son in news]

Beginning his day at five in morning and cycling around Kolkata's posh Salt Lake area before school is not what Sourav Bodak does out of choice.

The money that he makes from distributing newspapers to 100-odd households along with his father takes care of his school fees and other basic needs. A tough life one would think.

But Sourav, who has topped his school this year with 92.4 per cent, in the secondary exam, sees no reason to complain. "I don't ever feel bad about distributing newspapers. Whenever I wanted something and didn't get it I told myself that there are many people who have struggled more to gain education. So why shouldn't I?" Sourav Bodak says.

Hats off to Saurav's courage and determination! All the best to him and countless like him whose struggle against poverty continues. Such 'stories' make me feel humble and at the same time increase my resolve to help in whatever small way I can to make a difference in lives of at least few children who are deprived of proper education for the want of resources.