the Thinker

Hi bloggers around the world,

All thinkers face it some time or the other, and yes, its my turn. Heard of temporal inertia of mind? No? Well, anyways, I am suffering from that. In other words my mind is too exhausted to think for some time now and last night I had this dream that I am on a holiday. So I thought, better go for it now. So, don't scream or shout (those of you do, of course) if you don't see any updates for a week or so on my blog. When I am back, I will make a grand entry, promise (who the heck do I think I am anyways?). Till then, au revoir people and keep blogging!

A part of my mind always takes pleasure in analysing situational circumstances, which leads to certain emotional responses in human beings. In case any of you are wondering what am I talking about, refer to one of my earlier posts titled, ‘Boring!’ (Am suddenly having this weird feeling that I am a teacher referring to an earlier lesson or a doctor prescribing medicines).

So this time, I was thinking (well, you can also say ‘time passing,’ but since I am the Thinker, so…) about situations that generally seem embarrassing to us. I remember back in college, one day I entered my classroom around 10 minutes late and everyone in the class, including our professor gave me a peculiar look (as if I am a Martian) and their eyes followed me till my seat. As you all can guess, this was embarrassing.

So, here are a few occasions when one’s cheeks might grow red/pink/orange or colourless (varies from person to person) with embarrassment.

1. As I already mentioned, entering late in a classroom, examination hall, seminars or similar other places and events, when people suddenly stop minding their own businesses and cast a stupid look at you, knowing that it will not change the fact that you are late. At the most what it can do is to make you self-conscious (not applicable to shameless people) or in case of hypersensitive individuals, it can lead to ‘I wish I were not born’ kind of feeling.

2. Imagine yourself sitting amidst a very crucial office meeting, where the Managing Director of your company is addressing everyone. All of a sudden, a burp escapes your mouth or worse, an unending string of noisy hiccups. All the people chortle under their breath and the boss gives you an amused or a strict look. Pretty embarrassing!

3. You are partying with your friends and suddenly they pass into a discussion about a topic or a person, about which or whom you do not have any idea. Suddenly you blurt out a question, which you later wish you had not asked. For example, your friends are discussing Tom Cruise and you do not know who he is. You are hesitant but choose to prod out your curiosity through a question like, “Er…excuse me people, but who is Tom Cruise?”

Result-One of you pals (who considers himself/herself the smartest of the lot) screams in a tone that annoyingly loud, “YOU DON’T KNOW TOM CRUISE!!”

Aftermath of the episode- half the people around you know now that you don’t know Tom Cruise. It is a different issue that some of them might not know him themselves. Believe me folks, this is very embarrassing. It happened to me once long back and I did not know where to hide my face.

4. Well, if you are not the self-obsessed type, gloating with an irksome (to others) sense of superiority complex; then too much of appraisal and flattery too can be embarrassing. I remember this friend of mine in college, who was (and still is) very pretty and her face kept going red (yes, it was red in her case) whenever someone reminded it to her. Well, it is not only beauty that is embarrassing, at times being too much of a geek or being too successful at something also earns an amount of admiration and adulation, which can be quite embarrassing. But I repeat, if any of you are one of the kind who takes pride in what you are, i.e, on being appraised heavily, if you are likely to say, “I know that about myself, what’s new..,” then none of it will embarrass you.

5. There are a few habits that could lead to embarrassment. For example, making strange noises while sipping tea/coffee/any other drink. Suddenly, you look up and realise that everyone around is staring at you in a admonitory manner. Some of them also appear amused. There are other habits like nose digging or spitting while talking that lead some to amount of embarrassment. Besides that, hyperactive ones feel embarrassed with a single flake of dandruff in their hair or one small pimple on their face (not to mention, mostly teenage girls and rarely boys, comprise casualties list in this case)

6. Language problem can be an embarrassing problem at times. It hits one harder on one’s face when one is working in a prestigious organisation, has entered into a prominent beauty pageant and other such circumstances. If you not getting the picture then imagine a person giving a speech in front of an important and high nosed audience. I know of a person who pronounced ‘id’ as ‘ij’ and ‘was’ as ‘waj;’ and every time he did so, the audiences would smirk/ snigger.

Well, these are only some situations that could be embarrassing for people who suffer them and funny for people who witness them. Any more you guys can think of?

Guys, you are more likely to find a post of this nature in Roy’s blog, but this is my own personal tribute to one of the greatest musicians Indian cinema has ever seen. There is a little tale about Rabindra Nath Tagore, which echoes the greatness and immeasurable talent some special people are endowed with.

There is a small tale that when Tagore was breathing his last he said that, “I offer my humble prayers to the next Rabindranath in the coming years.” But as we all know, till now, there isn’t a second Tagore. In other words, such people have got some special gift from God himself, which cannot be duplicated or seconded. They are unchallenged masters of their art and perhaps, an institution themselves.

Now, now, I do not want to bore you people with such heavy words, generally used by a school principal to enthuse his students (I know these words hardly impact people who listen, in most cases).

But what I want to convey is, Naushad was one such master in his art. Don’t worry; I will not start off by narrating or summarising his biography. I am sure those among you, who desire to know about the life and talent of this extraordinary musician, can find out all about him with one click in Google.

I simply want to catalogue some musical albums that were his creation and my personal favorites. So, here we go…

Mughal-e-Azam: I think if I have to rate this album (though I am no authority to judge his albums, nor do I have any ability to do so; but if I express my personal opinion), then I will give it a 10/10. According to me, the songs in this album have a certain measure of majesty and are an absolute classical delight. There is so much variety in the tunes and rhythm of each song in this album. The song, which has immortalised the spirit of true love and inspires lovers to defy all social constraints, ‘Pyar kiya toh darna kya…,’ has a gusto and energy that makes it evergreen even now. The grandeur of the song is absolutely immaculate.

However, this is not the only song in this album, which enchants me. Who can forget ‘Mohe panghat mein nand lal ched gayo re…’ and ‘Mohabbat ki jhuti kahani pe roye….’ Absolutely remarkable!

Paakeezah: Another masterpiece by the musical maestro. The tunes, lyrics of each and every song in this album have a strange haunting quality. They also capture the splendour of Urdu ghazal and poetry, one of the finest in the world.

I remember back in school, whenever we used to play Antakshari and someone had to sing a song starting with the letter ‘TTh-a’ (as in the Hindi word, ‘Thanda,’ meaning cool), the song that would effortlessly come to one’s mind was ‘Tthaarre rahiyo, o baake yaar re….’ The song falls in the category of ‘mujhras,’ i.e, songs mostly sung by courtesans to entertain Nawabs. Most songs in this album fall in this category, because of the fact that the story of the film revolves around the life of a courtesan, Sahebjaan (played by Meenakumari in the film). The other song, which excels in poetic splendour and has a beautiful classical Hindustani tune is, ‘Chalte, chalte, yuhin koyi mil gaya tha….’ It is a beautiful song and Naushad’s control over the tune, scale and rhythm is simply marvellous.

The other song that is close to my heart in this album is ‘Mausam hai aashikana….’ The song is a romantic masterpiece and absolutely enrapturing. There are many more such songs in this album, which have the brilliance of Naushad’s music, embossed on them.

Mother India: Last in this list, but not the least, is Mother India. This album does not possess the poetic magnificence of the previous two albums. But it surely reflects another side to Naushad’s musical talent. This is the quality of Naushad that fascinates me so much. His songs capture the very essence of the story, which the film narrates. Few music directors acquire such talent in recent times.

Songs in this album are earthy and the tunes echo rustic virtue and folk culture in rural India. The song, ‘Dukh bhare din bite re bhaiya…’ is full of energy and totally resplendent.

The other song in this album penetrates deep into the listener’s heart, conveying the tragic twist in the protagonist’s life. I am sure many of you must have heard the song, ‘Duniya mein hum aaye hain toh jeena hi padega….’ Absolutely touching!

This is not the end. In his long career, Naushad was extremely selective in choosing his films. Any article on his life and career would inform us that he composed music for only 66 films; in the 62 years he spent at the Indian film industry. The maestro himself confessed in one of his earlier interviews, that he composed music for only one movie at a time and never lusted behind too many offers. In the process, he made sure that the film that received his absolute dedication had the best music that year.

There are albums like Mere Mehboob, Ganga Jamuna and many others that keep reminding us that such a musician will never be born again.