I recently asked one of my close buddies, who used to listen Osho’s discourses during his early 20s and is no longer appreciative about his legacy when into his thirties now, what essence did Osho carry? I have spoken with many Oshoites on this subject as well - they carry a first hand experience of Osho’s world, its legacy - and tried to know if they too had anything to say in this regard. They probably would give you all kinds of insights - like Osho’s magical prowess to counsel your mind, the destructive ability to decondition your ideas etc - but no one speaks about the key point, being a Dhyani, a meditator, which according to this author is THE essence of Osho’s efforts. Yes, meditation is the essence of Osho’s whole teaching. Read the rest of this entry »

Lila’s mother Susan Manning, sister Marie and brother Bhisma mourn as her body is prepared for cremation. File image courtesy of Theage.com.au.

I had written about the tragic death of Anand Lila Salter in Vrindavan early this year. Lila salter, the 17 year old Aussie girl, who had spent a major chunk of her life in India along with her kins and friends in the holy Vrindavan, was killed by a local stalker she knew well in February this year. Her family had asked for police protection in view of the impending threat to her life. Yet the administration failed and the unthinkable occurred. The killer, who was in a one-sided emotional bond with Lila, later committed suicide. So, it became a shut case for the investigators. Not so for Lila’s family and friends though, as they have been arguing for some valid questions to be answered. Read the rest of this entry »

Date: 9/18/2008     Time: 01:14:47

Ha! Just watched an overturned car next to my home. Huge dragging sound and a couple of loud thumps. Past midnight, very few around, rushed to help the victims out. But they made it on their own. Car front destroyed due to its sheer tumbling, yet the windscreen stayed together, saving lives. Shows the positive of the modern craftsmanship. Also, walking/ driving in A’bad lanes at the dead of night dangerous now. The city is fast turning out into another Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore due to sheer, explosive growth. Save yourself by all means.

Date: 9/18/2008     Time: 01:18:48

Car still drivable. And the guys flee away without informing the police. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Yoodleeyoo.com.

Kishoreda decides to sing his heart out. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Ambarish.com

Kishoreda’s solos are getting fewer with each shared list of mine. Be prepared to start listening to Kishore-Lata and Kishore-Asha duets soon, but for the time being hum these reflective/ philosiophical Kishore Kumar numbers.  Read the rest of this entry »

Rafi Saab, never seen not smiling. A truly divine soul! From where did he borrow tears for these amazing songs?! Good humans may have more insight into human misery, as they say!

One requires more time having to decide about Mohammed Rafi’s songs as against what they may seek in Kishoreda’s case. Why so? Two reasons. Firstly, I’m not that much proficient in following Rafi’s legacy as I’d be in KK’s case. Having listened the latter more keenly since my teenage-hood only makes it easier to classify what he sang. The same couldn’t be stated about Rafi though. Secondly and more significantly, Rafi’s era belonged to better poetry. I realize this more, the more I listen to his songs from the 50s and 60s these days. They seek you more time having to classify them. Kishoreda was a highly passionate singer, had better recording techniques and composers of RD Burman’s stature by his side, but not the same enchanting poetry that Rafi enjoyed only a decade earlier. Hindi cinema was vigorously looking forward to exploiting the newly imported cine methods such as Eastman color, cinema scope and displaying slow motion displays by the onset of 70s, as opposed to good scripting and song writing they would otherwise in Rafi’s era. Read the rest of this entry »

Somebody forwarded the following jpg in Gujarati tonight. It was fun reading through, but so did come along mixed emotions. I don’t know what the basic schooling reminds to you or not, but my early days at the Baherampura Hindi Prathmik Shala run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (mid 70s-1981) came back calling to my mind. It was, like most SARKAARI schools, a wholesale picnic spot for those enrolled to be part of it. My parents were teachers, so they did not deem it necessary to send me to far flung places. There weren’t many Hindi schools in those days either. They preferred teaching me at home, while overlooking the nature of place I’d go each day.
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I have several more Gujarati Gazals and old movie songs by Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Hemant Kumar, Meena Kapoor and Manna Dey. But they can make one asleep if we played them here. The only exception was this one by Manna Dey:

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I write this in the backdrop of the latest slump by Indian cricket, and the controversies involving two Indian athletes - Monica Devi and Sania Mirza - at the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Indian sports - not only cricket - has been like this only since we gained independence. I recently had a chat with some sportsmen in my hometown Ahmedabad, cutting across various disciplines, and the things they spoke about their internal functioning were crazy. There is a gentleman (who is not so gentle in reality) called Narhari Amin, former Deputy CM of Gujarat, a typical Congress leader, and a well know bully and muscleman from his student days. He allegedly captured Gujarat Cricket Association by force (as ex deputy CM). He got clubs not supportive of his panel out, and only those who may vote for him were allowed the voting rights. This became a permanent arrangement after his taking over the GCA. His detractors have stopped hoping against hope now.

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I wanted to start speaking about Rafi having had posted so much on Kishore in the last few months. Let us begin with the following song list, the first in a series of many similar to come on Rafi and others. Rafi was the original playback maestro. All others only followed him. While Sehgal fans may not agree with my notion, I can choose to ignore them since they are hardly any force to make a hue and cry on this issue…lol. A list of mostly romantic solos by Rafi is displayed here. Remember, I’m no pucca Rafi listener, so bear with whatever I could produce now.

My childhood went in listening to an exploding Kishore Kumar. This happened from mid-70s onwards. He was alive till I became 18 in 1987. Rafi passed away when I must have been around 11. Read the rest of this entry »