Personal blog

A very simple and beautiful ghazal by Ghulam Ali. I don’t know the name of the writer. If you know please post in the comments. You can listen to it here. beqarar tanhaiyon ka silsila reh jayega tere mere darmiyan bas ek khala reh jayega (khala - space, distance, vacuum) aks beh jayenge saare dhoop ke sailaab mein aur koi paanion mein jhaankta reh jayega tere mere darmiyan bas ek khala reh jayega (aks - image, reflection | sailaab - flood | jhaankta - looking) ...

waqt rehta nahi kahin tik kar, iski aadat bhi aadmi si hai - Gulzar in Marasim (time has an attitude like that of a man…it doesn’t stop anywhere…) …so another year is gone and we are welcoming the new year 2012. In most parts of the world, the first sun of 2012 has already risen. 2011 was an year of mixed emotions. Along with the personal & professional achievements & happiness, this year snatched from us legends like Jagjit Singh & many others. Also this year was marked with political turbulence in many parts of the world. Many innocent lives were lost. ...

In the recent times, if there is someone who has really seen some good success, he is Satinder Sartaaj. His albums have been selling like hot cakes, probably leaving the old and experienced singers behind too. But all is not so well. He has been criticized for few things as well. In the opinion of his hard core fans, this criticism is not justified. On the other hand, in the view of the other group, his success is fake, hyped, spoiler and not so permanent. ...

“kaun sahab nu aakhe ke inj nahi inj kar” (Literal translation is: Who can dare tell God that do it like this, not like that ?) How truly someone has put it in just a few words. A very very sad day for music and the music lovers. The “one man army”, the captain of Indian Ghazal singing Jagjit Singh is no more. And even sadder is the thing that there is no-one to carry forward his legacy. His untimely demise marks the end of an era in the Indian music. There is no one like him, of the same status, same repute. In our sub continent also, there are very few names; Mehdi Hasan already stopped singing due to his health. At this moment the singing in 2 countries was being headed by Ghulam Ali & Jagjit Singh and one of them just left us. I can’t describe in words what a tremendous loss it is. Only a month back, we saw him perform live with Ghulam Ali and I was not at all happy with his performance and complained a lot about it. Because I wanted him to sing the classics he created. I feel lucky to have seen him perform live thrice in my life. I can’t just accept that he is no more with us. ...

dukh fasana nahi ke tujh se kahein aur dil bhi maana nahi ke tujh se kahein aj tak apni bekali ka sabbab khud bhi jana nahi ke tujh se kahein (bekali - restlessness) betarah haal-e-dil hai aur tujh se dostana nahi ke tujh se kahein (betarah - unsteady) ek tu harfaashna tha magar ab zamana nahi ke tujh se kahein (harfaashna - ?) aey khuda dard-e-dil hai bakshish-e-dost aab-o-dana nai ke tujh se kahein ...

Just got back after watching Ghulam Ali & Jagjit Singh live in concert at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. It probably was for the first time that both were coming together on a single stage. The concert started with Ghulam Ali and as usual he was amazing. He started with faasle aise bhi honge and then went on to sing dil mein ek lehar si uthi hai abhi, chupke chupke, legendary Ahmed Faraz’s phir kisi rahaguzar par shayad, hungama hain kyon barpa and so on . And believe me it was an amazing performance. If someone is there after Mehdi Hasan, he is Ghulam Ali. After one and half hour Ghulam Ali freed the stage for Jagjit Singh ...

dekha jo aaina to mujhe sochna pada khud se na mil saka to mujhe sochna pada uska jo khat mila to mujhe sochna pada apna sa woh laga to mujhe sochna pada mujhko tha yeh gumaan ke mujhi mein hai ik ana dekhi teri ana to mujhe sochna pada (ana - ego, self) dunia samjh rahi thi ke naraz mujhse hai lekin woh jab mila to mujhe sochna pada ik din woh mere aib ginaane laga ‘Farag’ jab khud hi thak gaya to mujhe sochna pada ...

A beautiful qawali by Khan saab. I am not sure about the name of the writer. From the last stanza it seems that it was written by Mohsin Naqvi. If anyone can confirm/correct it, please post in the comments. tumne bhi thukra hi diya hai dunia se bhi door huye apni ana ke saare sheeshe aakhir chakna-choor huye (ana - self, ego) humne jin par ghazlein sochi unko chaha logon ne hum kitne badnaam huye the woh kitne mashoor huye ...

Oh man day 4 is here but not much stuff to talk about. So today it is gonna be short and sweet ;) Well, in this new guest house I didn’t wake up too early. There was less light and almost no chirping of birds. Day started well with DD1 playing an interview with Gulzar saab. Also, the guys prepared a real good breakfast; aalu poori. So after filling my tummy properly I left for the office and was there in around 20 minutes. It was a wet day in Kolkata and was drizzling almost for the whole day. I continued with the regular dose of tea every 3 hours :D. In such a weather tea becomes even more important :D. ...

Okay…here we go with day 3 ;) and I think I am doing a real good job :D. Like yesterday, today again I was up at 6. Killed some more time in bed and finally got up at 7. It was a holiday for me so there was plenty of time for some site seeing. Started calling few contacts but nothing worked out. One dude, who I thought was here, had already gone back to Delhi. Another friend was busy in some house hold stuff (he is married actually :D). So I thought about planning something on my own. There were few good places that I could visit and I had to meet one of my ex manager and a good friend too. He is getting married on 10th of this month. I probably won’t be able to attend the marriage so it was the best time to meet him. So I asked the guest house guys to book a cab for me. The cab was there in an hour. I had my breakfast and left for the city. Visited a mall to buy a gift and then left for Victoria Memorial. If you aren’t aware what it is, Wiki comes to rescue ;) ...