on Songs...

Songs... specially, old hindi songs...

I don't think I can really define the kind of charm they have... I am a fan of all kinds of hindi film songs right from late 40's to late 90's... but I still don't know why, I don't much like the songs that Bollywood generates today.. with some exceptions, of course..

I get bored with new songs very easily.. I listen to them for some time if I like them, then I just get fed up with them soon..

it NEVER happens so with old songs.. I always feel a kind of charm, a freshness about them.. especially the songs sung by Kishore, Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Asha and Hemant Kumar.. I still don't know what attracts me to yaad kiya dilne kahan ho tum.. who knows Usha Kiran and Dev Anand these days? but I still like the song and the video both.. I have even set it as my caller tune.. it seemed so perfect for a caller tune..

yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum
jhoomati bahaar hai kahan ho tum
pyaar se pukar lo jahan ho tum
pyaar se pukar lo jahan ho tum

whenever anyone of my friends remembers me and calls me, I always feel like telling them "call me with love wherever you are, I am just a phone call away.."

there is this old-world innocence and charm associated with the romantic songs like maang ke saath tumhara from naya daur or udhar tum haseen ho idhar dil jawan hai yeh rangeen raaton ki ek daastan hai from Mr. and Mrs. 55 or aaja sanam madhur chandani mein hum tum mile to virane mein bhi aa jayegi bahar... wow!!! i just love those lyrics.. there's some shyness associated with the expression, and very subtle undercurrents of passion... it all seems attractive, and better than the nakedness of physical wants and needs that we come across in recent songs.

I think people and their expressions look more clear if the song is shot in black-and-white mode.. even the comedy, like Johny Walker does in various movies and songs.. the one i absolutely love is the office romance in jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji.. and another one is sar jo tera chakaraaye... and aye dil hai mushquil jeena yahan.. jara hatke jara bachke yeh hai bombay meri jaan.. I absolutely love looking at all those locations in Mumbai when it was still called as 'Bombay'..

Now what do I say about Kishore Kumar? He is the uncontested king of the old hindi songs, and GOD OF SINGING according to me.. the way he manages to make you smile with his yodling or laugh with the songs like paanch rupaiya baara aana or gaana na aaya bajaana na aaya, or makes u feel sad and emotional with some songs like zindagi ka safar hai yeh kaisa safar, mera jeevan kora kagaz.. or gives u all those subtle romantic vibes in o hansini and tum bin jaoon kahan.. or makes you dance to the tunes of om shanti om and saara zamana.. haseenon ka deewana... only one word for all that... AMAZING!!! I'm absolutely in awe of this person...

only one equally versatile female singer is Asha... when she sings.. oh god, she blows you away with her talented voice... this woman can sing songs of any genre.. be it romantic, discotheque, sad, passionate, ghazal, mujra.. you name it and she has sung it... Asha when sings to the tunes of R. D. Burman with Gulzar's words... a masterpiece like mera kuchh samaan tumhare paas pada hai is created... that one is my all time favourite..

I can very well go on and on like this about old hindi movie songs.. but I got to stop somewhere... so I will stop here, though I've once again returned to my shell where I live with my songs.. I will listen to some more songs now, and will write about the rest later on..

Let there be music!!!

A lazy morning...

I love mornings...

when I say that, I mean I love mornings when I can sleep for howmuchever time I want to, and nobody comes to disturb me and wake me up... and even after getting up, I love to lie in bed and think, or read some book that I couldn't finish last night... the best of the books that I read, I have loved to read them in this fashion... and the best of my self-assessment or brainstorming has happened at this time...

Today also, it is such kind of a morning... oops!! its 12:30... I got up at 11:00... and still lying in bed, writing this blog... staying in hostel in summertime, with no work at hand can give me this kind of luxury... all otherwise there's mom who yells at me saying I don't have any manners, discipline etc etc... or there are classes to attend, work to be done, projects to be completed...

but right now, I am just living a peaceful life at my hostel... the campus is all serene, silent and beautiful without the normal hustle, people talking, shouting, partying etc etc... in such a situation, all that 'laziness' sets in...

people might call it laziness... even I feel so sometimes... but in this rat-race of life, I need to have some time for myself... some time, which is absolutely and uniquely mine.. for which I am not answerable to anyone, except perhaps the almighty... but certainly not today.. I will have to settle that account years after.. why to worry about it now?

I sometimes don't know why I am doing a PG course.. why do all people want me to work hard? what if I don't? they say that I'll suffer... what if I want to suffer? or, what if I enjoy not working hard?

why other people always consider that I am answerable to them, for the time that I spend with myself? its MY time, I will spend the way I want... I am doing myself some good by spending a lazy day or a lazy morning... I think, I read, I write, I take my time doing small everyday things and really enjoy doing them... for example, taking bath is such a joyous thing!! In everyday chaos I just want to have a bath as a ritual so that I get fresh and then I have to reach somewhere to work on something... when I take time out for myself, I appreciate gain the joys of small everyday things...

well, I might not be able to appreciate the beauty of the morning sun, or the dewdrops on grass... but I can certainly enjoy being with myself, and doing the things that I really love to do, and most importantly, not to do anything because I have too...

In a contemplative mood...

I was just reading my friend's blog... and something triggered my mind...

she says she sees me as a tough person who doesn't show their emotions often... and here I am, thinking that I'm a creature with the feeblest mindset on earth.. I always have my eyes full of water.. I start crying every now and then.. maybe not when I am sad, but everytime when someone insults me, and I get angry... but generally people don't understand that these tears come out when I think that it is a defeat.. anger and hopelessness of the situation often give way to tears..

Those are the moments when I am supposed to be strong, cool and level-headed... and those are the moments when I need the least of sympathies... and I get more angry if people try to sympathise, looking at my tears... thats gives way to more tears.. and it continues.. till I tell myself that I am nothing but a stupid emotional fool.. and I always have my heart on my sleeves.. and my mind is weak enough to let my heart control my actions...

so.. what I began writing is about the perceptions..

When we say that we know someone.. is it not our perception about that person that we see as an absolute truth? How can a person completely 'know' some other person? we can just say that we know some typical habits and reactions of that person in some particular situations...

when I come to think of it, how much do I know myself? Don't my own actions surprise me now and then? Sometimes I condemn myself for having a particular thought.. saying that "this is not me.. I don't think that way.. I don't know where that thought came from..." Why do I make such statements about myself?

Am I not living by my own perceptions about myself? Am I not casting an ideal image of myself while thinking that some things that I do are uncharacteristic of me? Are they really uncharacteristic of me, or I don't want to admit that the things I critisize the most.. they are actually a part of me... they reside within me, though I like it or not... why can't I accept myself as I am?

These are the questions.. and I know the answers lie within... within me, myself and my thoughts...

Destination Dorli!!

“The society gives us so much; we should give something in return...”

This is what we thought, here at IMT Nagpur. We are “KOSHISH…let’s make a better future”, a team of 12 people, all second year student managers at IMT Nagpur, who go to a nearby village ‘Dorli’ every Sunday to teach schoolchildren there.

It all started with…

The thought that we should do something for Dorli village was shaping up in the minds of a few people simultaneously. I discussed it with Jaspreet, Mitesh and Khushboo and together with Nitin and Neha, we decided to go to Dorli and talk to the Sarpanch about what we can do. Neha, Jaspreet and Mitesh were associated with some or other NGO in Delhi and we were benefited by their experiences.

We went to the village, met the Sarpanch, Mrs. Sunanda Rokade and asked her what all problems they are facing there. She discussed at length about the condition of schools, the problems children are facing with English and Mathematics, the condition of medical care, the problems that farmers are facing, 10^th-12th passed younger generation deprived of jobs due to lack of computer training and many more... We told her that we can help with one of the problems, to begin with. The reason was that we are all students of post graduate management program, which is quite a demanding course; hence availability of time was a major constraint for us.

Brainstorming sessions…

After coming back, we held 2-3 meetings where we weighed our options. Everybody had a distinct opinion about what is to be done and how it should be done. After a lot many debates, discussions and brainstorming we came to a consensus that we can teach the schoolchildren. There was a problem of language because the schools have Marathi as the medium of instruction and I was the only one speaking Marathi. All the same, we decided to try it out.

The first experience with children…

We met the Sarpanch again, this time with specific ideas. We decided to go on a Sunday afternoon in November (it was 2^nd Sunday of November 2007), meet the children and gauge their level of understanding. When we actually reached there, nobody had turned up! We called Mrs. Sunanda and requested her to gather as many children as possible. Soon the crowd gathered and there were almost 50 children of different age groups sitting in the panchayat courtyard in front of us. We introduced ourselves and I started telling them a story in Marathi. The children were shy initially, but soon after listening to the story they started opening up. Then we asked their names and chatted with them.

Getting acquainted…

It took next two sessions to get to know each other. Till that time we also held some meetings and decided our approach. Meantime, Chetan, Ashish, Deepak, Divya, Sheetal and Arunima had joined hands with us. We divided children in four groups, standard-wise: 1^st to 3^rd, 4^th to 6^th, 7^th-8^th and 9^th-10^th. We assigned 3 members to each group. Since I and Chetan were the only two Marathi-speaking people, we decided that we will help out whenever needed. We decided to teach them English, Mathematics and some tricks and tips for self-study.

Work that is going on…

We go to Dorli every Sunday afternoon and spend 3-4 hours. Each and every one of us teaches some group or other. The initial language problem has eased out by now; because children are able to understand Hindi, and the KOSHISH members have picked up some words/ phrases in Marathi. I teach mathematics to those children who have only Marathi as the medium of instruction.

Along with the textbook study, we also tell them some tips on how to study and improve their reading and writing style. The children wanted to learn to speak English, hence while teaching we emphasize on correct pronunciations and usage of words. We also tell them some short stories about people who achieved their dreams in difficult situations. Besides, we also tell them how to maintain hygiene in day to day activities. The younger kids like to play with us, hence we conduct some group activity/game at the end of the day and the winner is appreciated by everyone with a lot of claps and cheers.

In these sessions, the children and we have become fond of each other. When any one of us is unable to go there, children always ask for that ‘tai’ (didi) or ‘dada’ (bhaiya). If they get to know that anybody is ill, one of them calls up mid-week to ask how is he/she.

Now we have resumed our sessions after coming back from our summer internships. Three of our students have passed 10^th standard board exams with moderately good marks. We called them to help us with the younger kids, and they consented. Now we can proudly say that some of out students have become teachers, and they want to help the younger ones with the studies.

Tokens of appreciation…

When we started, we used to sit on ground in the open space in front of Panchayat office; but come February and we were greeted by a surprise! The Panchayat office was opened for us, some plastic chairs and drinking water was made available. The Sarpanch herself visits every time and asks how the children are doing. We also met a primary school teacher who appreciated us. These small tokens of appreciation and recognition mean a lot to us. These are the things that motivate us further to continue the work in spite of our hectic schedule and time constraints.

Future plans…

Now that we are in our second year, we are planning to take along some of our juniors so that the initiative taken by us does not die down. For self-sustainability of this work, we have involved the 10^th passed students in our activities. We are planning to conduct a public speaking and personality development workshop in the primary school, as per the demand of their teachers. We also want to conduct English speaking classes for 10^th-12^th passed youngsters. We are looking forward to arrange a medical camp in the village with the help of some doctors from Nagpur. We are also planning to cater to the farmers’ problems; but we would require some funding for that purpose.

So far we have been successful in doing what we wanted to do and we wish to do a lot more in future. KOSHISH believes in hardwork, sincerity and willingness to bring smiles on the villagers’ faces. We believe in the saying “where there is the will, there is a way”. We are certainly treading on the right path, in the right direction…

On F.R.I.E.N.D.S….

A friend is the one whom you can share your thoughts with

A friend is the one whom you can trust

A friend is the one who will be there

When all other relationships rust

A friend is the one who supports

When the world turns its back on you

The one who believes in every bit

That is a part of you

A friend is the one whom you can say anything

But need not always say everything

The one who understands all that is unsaid

And supports you, whatever you do; all through the end

A real friend won’t ever tell you to hold back

He’ll help you in the areas that you lack

A friend is the one who holds your hand and will never leave

To whom you tell the weirdest tale, he’ll always believe

My friend,

You can talk, you can laugh, you can cry, you can crack jokes,

You can just sit with me and do nothing...

Watch movies, do silly things together, sit in a coffee shop and while away time

Just be there with me always, coz I will be there for you, no matter what...

I have written this in remembrance of the old times, for the friends that I have, and that I used to have, the friends that I cared for and who care for me… or don’t…

This is to tell them that even if you forget to call me, to say just a casual ‘hi’ or ‘hello’;

You mean to me more than that... you always reside in my heart... and I will never let you go from my life and will never let you down...

God bless you my friend…