Awaaz Dey KahaaN Hay A Note for the Chowk staff:

Thank you for your impersonal note. I hold the copyright. I posted it on my blog http://banjaara.blogspot.com/ and simultaneously submitted it to http://desicritics.org/index.php and www.chowk.com at around 1.30 am in the morning and was surprised to see it on the main page of both sites the next day. It is hard to establish now which site published it first.

If you want to acknowledge Desicritc, I can ask them to acknowledge Chowk. You may contact me at: banjaara1@gmail.com for any further action.

The only change in both articles is ‘temporal’ whom I mentioned by name in the other version.

Thanks.

Awaaz Dey KahaaN Hay Swarrier, Jang, Dost Mittar aur Echoboom sahibaan.

Yahan to mehfil urooj per hai. Subhan Allah;)

I hope mannyd has got his answer from Jang and Swarrier. I wish Harimau could offer his comments, his knowledge about Hidustani and Karnatic Music is extremely good. I am just a layman who enjoys the ebb and flow of the golden vioices, be it dadra or thumri, khayal or dhrupad, and move on if the piece does not pull at my heart strings.

Mannyd #100
If you are keen to know the grammer and other technicalities of Hindustani raga, check out Rajan Parrikar, a noted expert on Hindustani Classical Music. His website is: http://www.parrikar.org/.

The silver Jubilee was 25 weeks, Golden Jubilee 50 weeks and Diamond Jubilee was 75 weeks of continuous running of a film in one cinema hall.

Ras # 89

I did my schooling and graduation in Chittagong, followed by post graduation from Dacca University. How about you? Were you in Chittagong or Dacca.

Awaaz Dey KahaaN Hay HP #22

Two of your points quoted below are interesting. While you generalize and call Indian artists “talent-less hacks”, which is a serious charge and needs proof but in the same breath you mention - Now I cannot give specifics because I think it is waste of time for me to work on that project but the obvious don’t need any proof either. Do you expect to be taken seriously after what you said?

The second point you raised specifically against Naushad Ali is:

“His success was also dependent on good poetry and good singing. It may sound strange to his blind followers here that his numbers w/o some quality poet and quality singers never made it to the top. So he can at best share the credits with some other people for the best efforts.”

Naushad Ali scored in 67 films, out of which 3 were Diamond jubilee, 9 were Golden jubilee and 26 were Silver jubilee films. Which gives him a success ratio of 57 percentile which may not be very high in your estimation but in a risky venture like Hindi Movies it was considered extremely high by his peers, producers and directors. It was due to this success rate that his name was mentioned before the hero and heroine, because his name alone was considered a guarantee for a successful film.

Awaaz Dey KahaaN Hay I am dismayed at the antics of some of the interactors on this thread which was opened to bid farewell to a genius.I would respectfully request them to please take their agenda elsewhere. I can safely say that the problems of Biharis will not be solved on the threads of Chowk. I know what I am saying because I was there and lost relatives and properties. Please stop this soapbox oratory, no one is hoodwinked by anyone.

haider5 # 23
Ghulam Mohammed was assistant to Nausahd Ali for many years and his films included:

1. Amber (1952) 2. Dil-e-Nadan (1953) and 3. Pakeezah (1971).

Ghulam Haider scored for many more successful films, both in Lahore and Bombay.His first film was A.R.Kardar’s Swarg ki SeeRhi made in Lahore in 1935. But he became famous with the Punjabi film Gul Bakawli released in 1939, in which he also introduced Baby Noorjahan whose Shala Jawaniyan Mane and Pinjre de vich qaid jawani were instant hits all over Punjab. His biggest hit was Khazanchi completed in 1941 and thereafter, he moved to Bombay in 1943-44 and scored music for Chal Chal re Naujawan (1944), Phool (1944), Humayun (1945), Bairam Khan (1946), Shama (1946), Majboor (1948), he introduced Lata Mangeshkar in this film, Padmini, Barsat ki aik Raat, PatjhaR and Shaheed, all made in 1948. His last film in India was Kaneez, released in 1949 after which he migrated to Pakistan. In Lahore he formed Filmsaz with Nazir Ajmeri and S. Gul. And produced Gulnaar in 1953, which was a flop. He died in 1954 aged 45 years.

PS: Wikipedia wrongly mentions him to be the father of Abida Parveen, the great sufi singer of Pakistan. Her father Master Ghulam Haider was a classical singer and had a Music school where he taught vocal and instrumental music to children.

Awaaz Dey KahaaN Hay Thank you for your comments. Naushad Saheb left a deep impact on ordinary film goers and the impromptu pouring of grief by all and sundry speaks of the greatness of the Titan of Music.

Mr. SWarrier # 1 and #2.
Lata Mangeshkar’s first Playback was in a Marathi film in 1942 - Pahili Mangalagaur (naatli chaitrachi navalai...), she even acted in a few marathi films.

Master Ghulam Haider gave Lata Mangeshkar her first big break in playback singing in Hindi film (Majboor, in 1948, in duets with Geeta Dutt and Mukesh).(There is also a nice Lata solo, ``Dil mera toRa``) However, Master Ghulam Haider migrated to Pakistan immediately after completion of this film and it was Naushad who offered her the break in Andaz:

Uthaaye ja un ke sitam aur jiye ja
yuN hi muskraay ja aanNsoo piye ja

Mahal by Khemchand Prakash was also released about the same time and is perhaps one of the greatest musicals of all times. However, both Ghulam Haider and Khemchand Prakash could not persist with Lata for obvious reasons and it was Naushad who took her under his wings. Her hits under the baton of Naushad are a part of Hindi film history.

Mehdi the Magnificent A beautiful commemoration of a great artiste. The apathy of our cultural khalifas is par for the course. A couple of years ago when Khan saheb was suffering for want of money in his 120 square yard home in Federal B area, Karachi, another maestro from India came to perform at an invitation and donated his entire fees of US dollars ten thousand towards Khan saheb`s medication and shamed the Karachi crowd into raising enough funds for the Ustad to visit Bombay for an operation and subsequent relief from his ailment.That other maestro is Jagjit Singh. God bless him. Mehdi Hasan Khan saheb is much better now but his singing days are over. We in Toronto are privileged to listen to his shagird Afzal Subhani, a cousin of Talat Aziz,who does take us into those halcyon days of sixtys and seventys when Mehdi Hasan was at his peak and Lata is reportedly commented:- ``Shri Mehdi Hasan ke kanth mein Bhagwan bolte hain``, no greater accolade can be fitting for magnificent Khan saheb.

Close Encounter Re: # 118

``those who perceive to have been belittled by temporal in the past. ``

godot.
There is an additional word ``perceive`` with the sentence you have quoted, and belittle is in context with your artistic work submitted on Chowk. Sorry! I was not lucid enough for you.

Close Encounter This looks like a personal attack on temporal by those who perceive to have been belittled by temporal in the past. I have experienced godot`s wrath who gets extremely sensitive to even constructive criticism of his work on Chowk which is composed of translation of Urdu work into English. Some of which is satisfactory and some below par, but if you tell him that he takes it as a personal attack, which reflections his insecurity.

Salim Chauhan, I have not had the pleasure of interacting with, but he does seem a very intelligent person who packs a lot of punch in his retorts and asides. But his constant harping on the victimhood combined with multi-nicks, casts a deep shadow on his motives.

Others have divided themselves into groups - for or against temporal, which is festering Chowk for sometimes now - developing into little schisms. I do not want to point fingers but I would like to reiterate here that temporal is one of the finest gentlemen I have met.

My Harvard Reunion What is this? A kangaroo court? Delhiwala has a right to say what he believes in. You may not agree with him, but that does not mean attacking him for saying his piece in his own style.Mr. Delhiwala, please keep writing. Practice makes perfect.

My Fascination With The Bottle Khamkhwa,
It was a nice read, well narrated. A bit of exaggeration at times, but we do need such material on Chowk to relieve our stressed out life style. Some of your Indian travel stories were good, they too could find a place on Front Page.
Regards.

The Allahabad I Knew Jawahra,
Encapsulated an ocean within a few pages. Ikk teer tou ne seenay pe maara ki haai haai.I guess this is what progress is all about. As the poet said: Jo naqsh-e-kuhan aaye nazar uss ko mita do.

Rahul-Capri.
Aap Faizabad se hain? jee haan jisse Saket aur Bangla bhi kaha jaata tha. Swagatum.

Nomad Janab!

NahiN tera nasheman qasr e Sultani ke gumbad per
tou shahiN hai basera ker pahaRoN ki chattanoN per

aur.

Mataa`e loh O qalam chinn gayee to kya ghum hai
ke khoon e dil meiN dubo lee haiN uNglian maiN ne

Bhaiya, Malhar Sunao ballukhan # 156.

[In fact Rais Khan Saheb is no match even for the kids from SaregamaPa serial on Zee TV.]

This kind of arrogance would not sit easily on a Ravi Shankar or Vilayat Khan or even Baba Allauddin Khan. Ballukhan Saheb, you must be one heck of a Ustaad. I bow to your greatness.

A Visit to My Hometown Kakori in Lucknow Alvi Sahab,
Welcome to Chowk. Kakori was also famous for it`s paans apart from Mohsin Kakorvi and a host of other poets and writers. The `phoonkna` on sick children by the namazis is practiced all over UP usually after the maghrib prayer and a namazi is supposed to recite the Qul and then blow it on the sick child. It is not restricted to Hindu women alone, and the faith does the rest.The same closeness is also observed during the Muharram and many a Hindu participant is seen weilding ``gatka`` with his muslim friends.

Ram Prasad Bismil was a decent urdu poet , I am quoting one of his famous ghazals for your enjoyment. He was hanged alongwith four of his friends: Roshan Singh, Chandra Shekhar and Ashfaq ullah.

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaray dil meiN hai
dekhna hai zor kitna baazuay qaatil meiN hai

karta nahiN kyuN doosra kuch baat cheet
dekhta hun maiN jise voh chup teri mehfil meiN hai

ay shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat main teray oopar nisaar
ab teri himmat ka charcha ghair ki mehfil meiN hai

waqt aanay dey bata deNge tujhe ay aasmaN
ham abhi se kya batayeN kya hamare dil mein hai

khainch kar layee hai sab ko qatl honay ki ummeed
aashiqoN ka aaj jumghat koocha-e-qaatil meiN hai

Zwingli’s Zurich nooralain#18

James Joyce lived in Zurich during the first world war and again came back to Zurich in 1941 where he died shortly. He is buried in Friedhof Fluntern (Fluntern Cemetry) which is located on one of the highest hills in the Zurichberg district,wherefrom you get an excellent view of Zurich city. It is not close to Grossmunster or the other Cathedrals, but is situated at a distance of about ten kilometers.Even though Joyce is a literary giant and an important personality, I did not deem it necessary to discuss him in a travelogue which was concentrating on the architectural aspect of the old city.

Zwingli’s Zurich Jang: I did not see any film crew during my sojourns in Switzerland. They usually arrive in summer, whereas, I was there in March which is still cold by Bombay and Madras standard.

Zwingli and James Joyce would be turning in their graves, watching a cyber war on Zurich by the followers of Mohammad and Shiva.The dog-fights over Zurich have provided me with an idea to write about Ayodhya, concentrating on Babri Masjid and Hanuman GaRhi. I am sure the followers of the two faith would have enough cannon-fodder to destroy each other and in the process I might cross hundred interacts for the first time;)