One would think that Hindi movies have obsession with Pyaar and Mohabbat (Love and Romance) and Yaad (Memory) and Chand (Moon). However, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Hindi movies' biggest obsession is about Zindagi or Jeevan (Life). In a way it reflects we Indians' fixation about unravelling the mysteries of Life; which, lightheartedly, is very different from an American's fascination with Life: "Dad" asked the American son of his father, "Can I ask you something about Life?" Dad, expecting the embarrassing question, gingerly responds, "Go ahead, son; ask without fear." And the son asks, "Why are we not subscribing to it (Life magazine) anymore."
1984's Hit Television Serial
Hindi movies and television, though, are refreshingly different about Zindagi (Life). You'd find songs covering every aspect of Life. Lets kick off with this 1956 movie 'Jaagte Raho' (Remain Vigilant). The great Shailendra was the lyricist. Shailendra hada long association with music directors Shankar Jaikishan (Punjabi-Gujarati duo) and the show man Raj Kapoor who liked his poetry in a mushaira (Poetry Recital Meet) in Mumbai when Shailendra was working in Indian Railways. This was in 1947 and Raj Kapoor immediately signed him for his 1948 film 'Aag' (Fire). Jaagte Raho was produced by Raj Kapoor and he was the hero in the movie; but, the movie was directed by Amit Maitra and Sombhu Mitra. The song talks about Zindagi (Life) being a Khvaab (Dream) and hence there is no sach (truth) and no jhoot (lie). Mukesh, who sung almost all songs for Raj Kapoor sung this too. The music though is not by Shankar Jaikishan but Salil Chaodhary. The song is almost a satire on Life. The actor in the song, the one who is drunk, is Motilal:
Lets jump to 1972 movie 'Piya Ka Ghar' (My Husband's House) about Life in Mumbai (then Bombay) and the lack of privacy when large families stay in small flats with common bathrooms and toilets, and when water is so scarce (nothing has changed in Mumbai after so many years). The movie was a comedy directed by Basu Chatterjee starring Jaya Bachchan and Anil Dhawan. Anand Bakshi as lyricist and Laxmikant Pyarelal as music directors made the most popular hits in the Hindi movies without any extraordinary philosophy. However, the theme song of the movie had Life's philosophy described in very simple terms: 'Ye jeevan hai is jeevan ka yehi hai yehi hai rang roop; thode gham hain, thodi khushiyan hain, yehi hai yehi hai chhanv dhoop' (This is Life and this is its colour and face: some sorrows, some joys, here only you find sun and darkness):
Now, lets talk about what appear to be two opposite thoughts about Zindagi (Life). The one is by what I regard as the greatest lyricist of all times Shakeel Badayuni (Read 'The Best of Old Hindi Songs: Rafi, Shakeel, Naushad and Dilip Kumar Together') writing these immortal lyrics for 1948 movie Mela (The Fair). The crux of the song is that we, as human beings, are too small entities in the Fair of Life; we are like drops in an ocean and whilst we give ourselves lots of importance, we must remember that the world can go on very well without us as it has done before and will do later. 'Ye zindagi ke mele duniya mein kam naa honge, afsos hum na honge':
The other is by the great Sahir Ludhianvi for the 1961 movie 'Hum Dono' (Both of Us). Actually, if you pay attention to the lyrics, both mean the same. In Hum Dono, Dev Anand in this song thinks of Zindagi in the manner of Miller of Dee, ie:
There was a jolly miller once
Liv'd on the river Dee ;
He danc'd and he sang from morn till night,
No lark so blithe as he.
And this the burden of his song
For ever us'd to be
I care for nobody, no, not I,
If nobody cares for me.
Likewise, Sahir in this song says:
Jo mil gayaa usi ko muqaddar samajh liyaa - 2
Jo kho gayaa main usako bhulaataa chalaa gayaa
Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya.
(What I found, I thought of it as Destiny,
What I lost, I forgot about it
I gave full company to the Life)
What about Zindagi (Life) and Pyaar (Love)? The best on this theme is this Rajinder Krishan written song for the 1953 movie Anarkali () starring Pradeep Kumar and Bina Roy. Pradeep Kumar acted as Prince Salim who later became the emperor Jehangir. Salim revolted against his father, the Emperor of India Akbar over his love for a common girl Anarkali. C Ramchandra gave the music for the song. C Ramchandra was in love with Lata Mangeshkar, who, in order to teach him a lesson, was instrumental in ruining his career; even though he composed music for many songs sung by her including the famous 'Ai mere watan ke logo' Lata Mangeshkar though sang the song for Anarkali didn't pay heed to the lyrics in relation to C Ramachandra: 'Ye zindagi usi ki hai jo kisi ka ho gaya, pyaar mein jo kho gaya' (This Life belongs to the one who belongs to his love and is lost in such love):
Talking about Life devoted to Love, how can we forget the other immortal number of Anarkali by the same team of Rajinder Krishan and C Ramachandra. This one, though, is sung by my favourite singer Hemant Kumar. Hemant Kumar Mukhopadhyay or Hemant Mukherjee was a Bengali singer who was born in Varanasi. He sang for the All India Radio in Calcutta and his first movie as Music Director was the 1947 movie Abhiyatri. His first Hindi movie came in 1952, Anand Math. He was a leading exponent of Rabindersangeet. Most of his songs in Hindi movies have a special atmosphere built around them, eg, 'ye raat ye chandni phir kahan' for the movie 'Jaal' and 'yaad aa gayin vo nasheeli nigaahen' for Manzil. This song for Anarkali brings out that even though Life of Love is short, but it is still a Life worth living. One can have crown, throne, and all the riches in the world; nothing is more precious than Love. "Zindagi pyaar ki do chaar ghadi hoti hai":
When it comes to Life of Love, I don't suppose one can find better words than the Pakistani lyricist Qateel Shafai for the 1973 Pakistani movie Azmat. I can be forgiven for this not going entirely with the songs from Hindi movies. However, one, the song is a composition beyond compare; and two, Mehdi Hasan, the gazhal singer is as well known in India as in Pakistan. His ghazals such as 'Ranjish hi sahi dil hi dukhane ke liye aa' and 'patta patta buta buta haal hamara jaane hai' would set afire any mtiushaira in India. The strain of the ghazal below is: "Zindiagi mein to sabhi pyaar kiya karte hain; main to mar kar bhi meri jaan tujhe chahunga" (In their Lifetime many Love their beloveds; I am the one who'd love you beyond Life too." It is worth listening to over and over again:
The next Zindagi song has its music composed by another great Bengali music composer Salil Choudhury who helped Hemant Kumar find his feet in the Hindi film industry. Salil's genre is to have the music tune go up and down with the emotion of the song. His best, of course is from the 1960 movie Parakh: 'O' sajana barkha bahar aayi, ras ki fuhaar layi, akhiyon mein pyaar layi' (Read 'Rains And Our Songs'). His music literally pitter-patteredwith the rain with the words: 'aise rimjhim mein ho sanam, pyaase pyaase mere nayan; tere hi khvaab mein kho gaye'. In the 1970 unforgettable movie 'Anand', he brought out similar magic in this Zindagi song written by Yogesh: 'Zindagi kaisi hai paheli hay, kabhi ye hasay, kabhi ye rulaaye' (Life, what a riddle it is; sometimes, it makes you laugh, at others, it makes you cry):
Whichever way you look at zindagi, whether as a love song or as a sea of sorrow, you have to live it. Here is some sane advice about zindagi given by the lyricist Sawan Kumar whose most popular song in the Hindi movies was 'Teri galiyon mein na rakhenge kadam aaj ke baad' for the 1974 movie Hawas. No one, therefore, can give him credit for great philosophy or emotions (eg, 'shayad meri shaadi ka khyaal dil mein aaya hai'). However, surprisingly, he wrote this gem for the 1983 movie 'Sauten' (the other wife). Some credit for the song also goes to Usha Khanna as the music composer. Please pay attention to the lyrics whilst playing this; 'Zindagi pyaar ka geet hai':
Zindagi, for some, though can be a painful episode and they pray to the one who has given them Life to cut it short for them and recall them. The first one on this theme is a song by one who wants God to terminate his Life. The song is from the 1953 movie 'Dil-e-Nadaan' starring Shyama and Talat Mehmood. Shakeel wrote the lyrics and Talat himself sang since he was the king of ghazals in India. It is plaintive cry to the Creator to hear that his heart is burdened by Life since here in this world he died whilst still living (this happens with those who lose everything in love) (Zindagi dene waale sun teri duniya se dil bhar gaya):
The other is about the one whose Life is being terminated prematurely by God due to a terminal disease like cancer: 'Zindagi ka safar hai ye aisa safar, koi samjha nahin koi jaana nahin.....aise jeevan bhi hain jo jiye hi nahin, jinako jeene se pehle hi maut aa gayi' (The journey of this life is such a journey that nobody knows, nobody understands....such lives are also there who haven't really lived, who were visited by death even before living). Indeevar wrote these lyrics for the 1970 movie 'Safar' (Journey) and Kalyanji Anandji provided the music. It is a very soulful number sung by the great Kishore Kumar:
I end with the lyricist Shailendra writing these wonderful lyrics for the greatest music duo Shankar, Jai Kishan for the 1971 movie Andaaz. Once again Kishore Kumar sang the song. Kishore Kumar was born as Abhas Kumar Kanjilal Ganguly. His active career was nearly of four decades when he made his debut for 'Ziddi'. He was the most versatile personality in the Hindi film industry: singer, actor, composer, producer, director, screen-writer and script-writer. His movie 'Door Ka Rahi' was a one man show in most of his avatars. The song has a sane advice (though given in flambuoyant style) that Death will any case get you in the end; why should you go through the journey of life by being anything but happy ('Zindagi ik safar hai suhaana, yahan kal kya ho kisane jaana'):
What lesson do we take about Zindagi (Life) then? Is it a dream? Is it a moment of Love, of Sorrow, of Pain? Life goes on without stopping for us to pause and think. Perhaps, if we pay attention to poets as above we can have a few carry-home points how to live Life. There are many really good Zinadagi and Jeevan numbers I had to leave out. However, there is one poem I don't want to leave out. It is so Lyrical: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'A Psalm of Life':
TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,—act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
In short, as Faani Badauni wrote: 'Zindagi zinda dilli ka naam hai; murda dil kya khaak jiya karte hain' (Life is translated as Liveliness in Heart; those who have Dead Hearts, they cannot call their Living as Life)
The Present is just a moment - a fleeting moment; whereas the Past is an accumulation of memories. Our memories are based on personal experiences and hence they are dear to us. We, therefore, idealize the past and yearn for it. This is called Nostalgia, a word derived from the Greek νόστος (nóstos), meaning 'homecoming, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning 'pain, ache'. Just like Depression, Nostalgia was, at one time, thought of as a psychiatric condition, a form of melancholy. It is only in the early Modern Era that the word got associated with yearning for the 'good old days'.
We have nostalgia concerning all our five senses of Hearing, Seeing, Smelling, Touching and Tasting. We are, therefore, nostalgic about, for example, old songs, sepia coloured pictures especially of our childhood, smell of crayons in our first classroom, the touch of our mother's hand as she guided us through the busy city streets and the taste of our tiffins carrying lunch that we used to savour sitting under a tree next to the playground.
Are there any scientific studies done on Nostalgia? Yes, there are but not enough. Scientists feel that the recall of our memory about something gives a stimulus to amygdala or that part of the brain that gives us emotions. The trigger for Nostalgia is something from the past. Our emotions about the past can be happy or sad. However, in the present context, Nostalgia is generally about happy memories of the days gone by.
What
exactly is Nostalgia broken down to its commonest sense? It is a fact that we do like the present when it becomes past. There is a good one about a mother telling her son who was making fuss
about eating what she'd cooked, "Eat it. Years later you'd be telling
another woman how good your mother cooked."
As long as we are aware
that we like all Nostalgia about a miserable present until it becomes
past, we shall be happy with that old gramophone we struggled with and
which still gave screechy sound in comparison to crystal clear digital
sound of today.
Pic courtesy: ucl.ac.uk
In our minds, we should go back to those exact times that we are nostalgic about and see if we really liked them at that time. A friend of mine put up a facebook post about the era of the postman and nostalgically reminisced about the postman visiting us leisurely and reading to us our letters and delivering money orders. Others have written about walking to the school (there were no buses those days) and breathing in the invigorating air. It is yet another thing that we hated being chased by the street dogs and hated walking in the scorching sun but the filter of Nostalgia leaves out the bad memories. But I guess if we don't have nostalgia we can say bye bye to about 50 percent writing in the world; including this one.
There is, therefore, romanticism about Nostalgia. For example, this Kishore Kumar song from the 1964 movie 'Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein' (Far Under The Sky):
Albele din pyaare, mere bichhade saathi saare
Haay! Kahaan gaye, haay! kahaan gaye(Wonderful lovely days, all my friends I parted from Oh, where are they now) Koi lauta de mere beete hue din, Beete hue din vo hai pyaare pal chhin. (Someone, return to me my past, My past, those dear moments)
Main akela to na tha, the mere saath kayi, Ek aandhi si udhi, jo bhi tha leke gayi Aaj main dhoondu kahan, kho gaye jaane kidhar (I wasn't alone, many were with me A storm came, what was there it took away Today, where should I search for those that were lost) Beete hue din...
Mere khvabon ke nagar, mare sapno ke shehar, Pee liya jinake liye, maine jeevan ka zehar. Aise bhi din the kabhi, meri duniya thi meri. (The towns of my dreams, the cities of my imagination For them only I drank the poison of life Those were the days, when my world was my own) Beete hue din...
And for those who'd prefer to hear this thought in English, here is Mary Hopkins singing 'Those Were The Days':
Finally, the Moral of the Story: Treasure every moment when you have it rather than when it is gone.
In short when you get a tooth pulled out you miss the slow pain it used
to cause and your tongue goes to the exact spot nostalgically. However, you should relish the moment at the dentist's chair too.
God, I am becoming a Saint in my old age. Let me love it now rather than later when everyone has finished hating me for writing this post. One of my friends feels that the word 'Nostalgia' gives a feel as if it is a nose-related
problem. In which case, one can imagine a doctor prescribing a tablet like DCold to have with warm water twice a day after meals. Sounds far fetched? Think again: the other day a drug called scopolamine was in the news. If the powder is blown into your face you have an instant loss of memory and are immediately cured of Nostalgia. Perhaps later scientists will discover a drug whose powder, when blown into our faces will convert all our bad, sad, horrible and unpleasant memories into 'good old days'.
So now we are told that the 19th century Jack the Ripper was a woman after all. John Morris in his new book 'Jack the Ripper: The Hand of a Woman' has argued that Ripper who ripped the innards of five female victims in ten weeks in 1888 was a Welsh born Lizzie Williams. Mary Jane Kelly was the last of the victims and the book theorises that she was having an affair with Lizzie's husband Sir John who ran an abortion clinic. So, here was Lizzie who couldn't have kids killing someone who could have kids not with anyone but with her own husband.
If this is true, one would be instantly reminded of the English playwright and poet William Congreve who in his 1697 tragi-drama 'The Morning Bride' wrote: "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned," spoken by Zara in Act III, Scene VIII.
Pic courtesy: disturbia.hubpages.com
Then there is the recent case of Anjali, wife of Ajay Singh, a senior officer in Shipping Corporation of India who refused to accompany her husband on posting to Port Blair. She must have been aware that at one time, during our slavery days with the British, the freedom fighters (rebels as the British called them) were deported to Port Blair (Kala Pani or Black Waters) and whilst men used to be sent there, it was no place for women; certainly not the liberated women who live in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow etc and think of taking over the reigns of power; women who are advocates and not only know legal wranglings but are adept at the lingo that go with it; women who when they become chief ministers send the central government cowering in fear and pilots to fly planes to go and fetch their sandals; women who ask for a divorce because their husbands talk to their relatives in his language. The divorce court judge, in the case of Anjali and Ajay Singh invoked Ramayana and asked her, "Sita followed Ram, why can't you?"
With this background, lets now turn to Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate on the television. The first episode on female infanticide was so gripping and ably put up that it left people wondering why such an issue had not been discussed with such fervour before. On the television debates many of the champions of women's rights and causes went viral about their assertions that Aamir Khan was not the first one to air such views. They also disdainfully predicted that nothing would ever change.
I found all this rather strange. It is acceptable to us to have celebrities model for anything from detergents to cars; but, should they use their celebrity status to provoke active debate on issues that really affect us, they are clearly exceeding their brief. Of course, we know all about dwindling female to male ratios; of course we know all about the situation in Haryana where men don't have enough women to marry, where women work in the fields when men sit on their khaats (cots) and smoke hukkahs and expect their womenfolk to return and cook their meals too; of course we know how in Patiala in a well female foetuses were found discarded (Is There Reason to Celebrate Women's Day in India?). But, lets ask what's wrong with a celebrity asking us to look within and find answers before pointing finger at others? Should we leave to Mamata Sharma (even deadlier than the other Mamata) who, as chairperson for National Commission for Women (NCW) said it was alright to call women sexy? (Read: Hi Sexy - 'Gateway to Future' For Indian Women)
That's really what is wrong with our country: we slang ordinary people debating important issues since we assert that these should be left to experts. What experts? An ordinary citizen Anna Hazare starts a people's movement against corruption and the parliamentarians take him to task that issues such as these should be rightfully tackled by the elected representatives of the people (each one of them represented by an average of not more than 9 percent of the electorate (read: How Proud Should We Be Of The Indian Republic At 62?))
I think Aamir Khan has done right by instigating public debate (and hopefully action) on a very core issue. Today is the Mothers Day; will we have enough women left to become mothers?
As far as Jill the Ripper and Anjalis are concerned, these too are strange aberrations and certainly take the focus away from the real issue. In the northern part of our country, the incidence of reverse dowry (a phenomenon in which the bride and her siblings demand money and favours from the bridegroom failing which they would accuse him and his parents of demanding dowry and expose them to untold hardships and jail) are now becoming more common. Indeed, I wish Aamir Khan's programme's research team had brought out how Jill the Ripper, Anjalis, Mayawatis and Mamatas, by their abrasive and sometimes violent actions, spoil the cases of the majority women who have to suffer indignities and injustices on an everyday basis.
Left to myself I would give a lot of marks to Aamir Khan for Satyamev Jayate and the many unsung heroines who came forward to tell the tales of how they were stopped from becoming mothers simply because they would have given birth to female children.
In the morning my wife and I sat before the Sri Guru Granth Sahib; the holy book that has guided us for several years and which has been a gift to me by my mother on my birthday after my father died on the 1st of May 1984 in a jeep accident (Read: Seventy-Eight Not Out). An appropriate way to begin the Mothers' Day? Yes; but, there was another reason to say formal prayers today. It was one year back that the entire family sat at Parel Pets Hospital (The Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals at Parel) having cremated our bundle of joy: Roger just two months before his twelfth birthday. For a long time after we cremated him - I reminisced today about the scene one year ago with my younger son, Arun - the entire family sat in a trance as if moving away would somehow break a link.
We didn't know it at that time but the last few breaths of our baby
Today's waak (select reading as a blessing/teaching) was from Raag Sorathh and was written by the fifth Guru of the Sikhs: Guru Arjan Dev ji. As if answering my wife's and my persistent (though unspoken) doubts it clearly brought out that Hari (God) looks after you wherever you are in the Brahamand (universe) before and after death. A very comforting thought indeed. Roger has to be somewhere in the universe; he couldn't have died. He must be having another assignment somewhere, another family to love, another place to spread the joy of his being, another mama and papa to go to walks with, other children to play with. (Read: Roger And Us - A Love Story Without An End)
Just next to the Crematorium - No Entry? Well, it was No Exit
But, we are mere human beings: we are neither gods nor dogs (both anagrammatic, both meaning the same). So, whilst wishing him the best in his new surroundings, we don't mind telling that we miss him everywhere in the house. Here's Roger coming to greet me in the morning just two weeks before he went. In our earlier house, the beds were low and he could have jumped up to hug and play. But, in our house after retirement, being a small house, every little space has to made use of. Thus, the beds are high with storage space under. Also, Roger had become too old to jump up.
The pitiable look for not having been able to jump up
But, if one mama has gone for bath, Roger would be on the mat just outside, patiently waiting to be fussed and hugged:
In the end, since all of us, that is my sons and I, went for our work, my wife had Roger with her as her child and companion. This is how Roger felt safe, secure and comfortable with her:
She would pick him up and put him on the bed
When he was alive, we frequently complained about the ticks and his falling fur. After he went away, one day, my wife found a few strands of his fur and we were elated as if we had found a great treasure.
I am too small a being to question about God's Creation. However, I have to admit that I have often questioned about God's wisdom in having a mismatch between our normal ages and those of our pets. Under normal circumstances, we, having been born earlier, would die before our children. However, in case of our pets, sadly, they die before us. I was thinking of an answer to this and then one of my friends put up a beautiful piece on the facebook. I immediately commented that it was the best post I ever read. It is not my intention to repeat the complete piece here. But, here is the gist:
Pic Courtesy: Carole Hughes
A Dog's Purpose? (from a 6-year-old).
"Being a veterinarian, I had been called to
examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners,
Ron, his wife Lisa , and their little boy Shane, were all very attached
to Belker; but since there was no hope against cancer, the dog was to be given euthanasia.Ron and
Lisa felt it would be good for six-year-old Shane to
observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something
from the experience.
The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any
difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's
Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter
than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned
me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the
way I try and live.
He said,"People are born so that they can
learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and
being nice, right?" The Six-year-old continued,"Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."
And where do dogs go? Well, we know where Roger went: to another part of the universe to spread his message of abiding love.
Roger Lives.
He is somewhere around....it is just that we can't see him.
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