BIZARRE THINKING

EC efforts to curb the use of black money in elections

2011-06-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

This piece of article was shared with me by my friend Hiral Nandu who is a Chartered Accountant and works for a CA firm in Taxation consultancy.

Political parties to go corporate as Election Commission plan new rules to curb use of black money

In an effort to curb the use of black money in the electoral process, the Election Commission now plans to ask political parties to conduct their finances in a corporate fashion by getting their accounts audited and publishing their audited finance sheets annually. The EC has received a host of such recommendations from the country’s auditing regulator — the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) – and will notify the official guidelines to political parties and financial enforcement agencies like the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) soon.

“The EC will deliberate upon and take up the final recommendations submitted by the ICAI on May 27 and notify all the stakeholders in this regard. The final recommendations by the ICAI will help in making the electoral process free from use of illegal money power,” an official involved in the drafting of the report said.

The recommendations by the top accounting body in the country come in the backdrop of the EC creating an Election Expenditure Monitoring cell within its establishment last year, which has been vital in the conduct of polls in Bihar last year and five other states recently.

The new cell, with the help of the I-T department, seized and intercepted huge sums of cash in poll-bound states and subsequent action by tax authorities led to the realisation of huge hidden tax.

The ICAI, in its final report, has recommended that “all political parties registered with the Election Commission of India may be mandated to apply accrual basis of accounting (reporting transactions on a real-time basis).”

“Every political party to follow March 31 as uniform financial year and consolidated financial statements be prepared incorporating the accounts of taluka, district and state-level party branch accounts,” the ICAI recommendations suggested, adding that all political parties should follow “a common format for presentation of its general purpose financial statements.”

“It is recommended that political parties must be mandated to get their accounts audited by a firm of Chartered Accountants, as appointed by the Election Commission of India.

The auditors should be appointed by rotation every three years,” the 38-page recommendation report of the ICAI said.

It also recommended that political parties must be mandated to “publish their audited accounts annually, which shall be available for the information and review by the concerned stakeholders and the general public at large within six months of the end of the financial year, on the parties’ website.

“Annual financial statements be also published in English in leading national newspaper and in local language in the leading newspaper of the state,” it said.

All registered political parties must be mandated to file the audited financial statements with the EC, the recommendations said, adding that the PAN number of the contributors of funds to the political party may be sought.

Laws relating to donations to political parties

2011-06-07T07:23:00.001-07:00

I wonder if there are laws in our country to identify the donations received by the political parties.

This piece of informative input is received from one of my friend Nishit Zaveri who is a Chartered Accountant and a Senior Asscociate at a Big4 firm.

Under the Income-tax Act, donations (to anyone) is not allowable under Section 37(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) as it is not for the wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the business. However, there are some case laws where the taxpayer could prove the nexus between the donation and the business purpose. Thus, if the taxpayer can prove the nexus, such donation exp. can be allowed. Apparently, no taxpayer will claim donation to political party as an allowable exp. (as nexus and benefit from such donation cannot be proved before Assessing Officer…J J)

Further, the Act specifically disallows any expenditure incurred by assessee on advertisement in any souvenir, brochure, tract, pamphlet or the like published by a political party by virtue of Section 37(2B) of the Act. Thus, even if such advt. exp. is for the purpose of business still it will not be allowed.

However, the donations are eligible for deduction (50% or 100%) u/s 80G/80GGB/80GGC of the Act (if the trust or political party is approved and registered etc….). Thus, even if it is not allowed while computing profits still the taxpayers gets the benefit under the Act. So if the taxpayer wants to claim deduction on donations made to political party it will have to disclose the information in its return of income. Since the return of income is not a public document the same will not have any problem with respect to association with any party.

Further, the political parties can receive any amount in cash as donation. However, if it does not maintain a record of such contribution and the name and address of the person who has made such contribution, the income received in excess of INR 20,000 in cash will be taxable.

PS Also the companies Act has a limit for donations to political parties but that is only applicable to companiesProvisions of Section 293A of the companies Act restricts a limit of donation to political party to 5% of the profits with some other conditions.

Loopholes in the existing Lokpal bill

2011-04-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

The existing Lokpal Bill proposed by the government is quite toothless and has glaring loopholes which make the whole anti-corruption exercise a sham exercise.The whole selection process,powers and member of Lokpal give rise to vested interests and would make it a fruitless bill.The deficiencies of the government version of the Lokpal are

a) Selection of 3 retired judges by the ruling government only to the Lokpal Panel.Gives rise to vested interests,Jan Lokpal advocates selection of any eminent citizen who has fought against corruption.Selection will be made by government,civil society members and judiciary.

b) Bureaucrats outside the purview of the Lokpal Bill,Speaker Power.This is a huge loophole as government bureaucrats have been found to be ringleaders in most corruption scams taking place in the country.The recent CVC case where PJ Thomas was implicated and Supreme Court had to force the government to remove him

c) No Sou Moto Recognition of Legal Cases – Complaints against the Legislature Members can only be made to the Speaker of Parliament who can decide.This makes no sense as Speakers in India have sullied their image with repeated partisanship to their party.Independent and impartial speakers in Indian parliaments are hard to find.Jan Lokpal can take Sou Moto cases

d) No Defence or Foreign Matter Jurisdiction – Again most of the large scams have taken place in Defence Deals.This has happened under the rule of both the main political parties.Bofors,HDW Submarine are some of the bigger Defence Scandals.Lokpal will have no authority to investigate these.The Jan Lokpal version allows investigations into such cases.Exceptions are only allowed in existing cases before judiciary or currently held legislation.It also imposes strict jail terms for corruption cases.

The Jan Lokpal Bill has the power to transform Indian state and system and have a major impact on transperency like the RTI Bill.However there are extremely powerful interests opposing this Bill..Hazare alleges the 9 member group of ministers who drafted the proposed draft bill are the most corrupt ministers.A lot of support and pressure is needed from the civil society and citizens to get this to move forward.

Source Indiaagainstcorruption.org

Video by Arvind kejriwal(RTI activist)

Features of Lokpal bill

2011-04-06T05:17:00.000-07:00

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.

Source Ndtv.com, wikipedia, India against Corruption.org

Tobacco problem complex in India

2010-12-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Goverment of India and its role in Tobacco Control
Tobacco addiction is a global epidemic that is increasingly ravaging countries and regions that can least afford its toll of disability, disease, lost productivity and death. It has been recognized as the single biggest causes of preventable death and disability world wide. Every year millions of people die due to tobacco use. By 2030 it is expected to kill 10 million people per year, half of them in the age group of 35 to 60 years. Tobacco use is a growing concern, with statistics which reveal facts where one is compelled to understand and take cognizance of the fact to tackle the problem we need to develop a multi sectoral and integrated approach.

The tobacco problem in developing countries like India is more complex and difficult compared to other parts of the world. India is the second largest producer of tobacco worldwide and ranks fourth in total tobacco consumption. Tobacco and its use are not new to our culture. It is easily accessible and consumed in rural India in various forms - smoking, chewable and snuff - like cheaper cigarette versions like beedis, betel leaves, flavored powder (pan masala and gutka), hookah etc. and is closely related with rituals and social status. Families already grappling with scant resources are pushed further into extreme poverty due to spending on tobacco products or on treating tobacco-related diseases.

As studies reveal 5,500 adolescents start using tobacco every day in India joining the 4 million young people under the age of 15 who are regular tobacco users. India also sees a steady rise in deaths attributed to tobacco every year. From 1.4% of all deaths in 1990 the number is expected to rise to 13.3% in 2020.According to the WHO, India would have the highest rate of rise in tobacco related deaths during this period, compared to all other countries /regions.

The Indian government, the civil society and we as citizens need to urgently take proactive steps to combat this demon.

Anand Kumar from Bihar

2010-12-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

Anand Kumar, who founded Bihar's free coaching centre Super 30, thathas helped many to enter the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),was conferred Wednesday the state's highest award in education.Anand was given the 'Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puruskar' byGovernor Devanand Konwar at a function here to mark the education day."I am happy to receive the award for my honest effort to make adifference to people who cannot afford quality education," Kumar toldIANS."The award is special for me. This is a big honour. My own state hasfinally recognized me," he said.Officials said Anand was chosen for his contribution in teachingchildren from poor families and preparing them for the IIT-JEE exams.At his school students get free coaching, lodging and food for ninemonths.The award was instituted by the Bihar government in 2007. It carries acitation and Rs.2 lakh.In the last three years, all 30 students of Super 30 have made it tothe Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Since 2003, 212 students havemade it to the IITs.Kumar, who himself missed a chance to study at the Cambridge becausehe didn't have enough money, gives full scholarships to every annualbatch of 30 students.They have to pass a competitive test to get into Super 30 and thencommit themselves to a year of 16-hour study each day.Anand, who started the Ramanujam School of Mathematics in 1992,founded the Super 30 in 2002.

Dr. Sunitha Krishnan - Co-Founder Prajwala- Very Inspiring

2010-11-19T23:02:00.000-08:00

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: We have a strong and disturbing story today about sex trafficking and the courageous work of one woman in India who is rescuing young children from forced prostitution. Estimates of the number of young girls sold for sex across international borders go up to nearly two million a year, not counting those tricked or kidnapped into prostitution within their own countries. Fred de Sam Lazaro reports today from the southern India city of Hyderabad.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: She's stands barely taller than these children, but to them Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is a towering figure -- big sister, mother, and school principal rolled into one. Their faces betray few outward signs of the trauma these children have endured. Every child at this transition center is HIV positive. They weren't born that way. They were infected as a result of rape or incest.

Dr. SUNITHA KRISHNAN (Co-founder, Prajwala): I don't know what their future is. I know what their present would be, and for me it's one day at a time right now. And my effort is to see that their smiles are restored everyday, and I can sustain their smiles.

DE SAM LAZARO: But beneath her smile lies a deep anger that propels Krishnan. It began when, as a teenage social activist, she was gang-raped.

Dr. KRISHNAN: The rape per se was not so much of an issue for me. I don't know, for some reason I was never traumatized by that, the fact that I was raped. But what happened after that made me think [about] the way my family treated me, the way the world treated me, the way people around me treated me. The sense that thousands and millions of children and young people are being sexually violated and that there's this huge silence about it around me angers me. This huge normalization of that angers me.

DE SAM LAZARO: Krishnan began working to combat sexual violence in what she says is its most pervasive form -- prostitution. After getting a doctorate in social work, she and a Catholic brother, who died in 2005, founded Prajwala, which means "eternal flame." It is dedicated to removing -- she says rescuing -- women from brothels. It begins with helping their children. In 1995 she started a school with five children. Today, aside from this boarding school for HIV positive kids, Prajwala runs 17 schools across the city of Hyderabad with 5,000 children.

Dr. KRISHNAN: If this facility was not here today perhaps most of the girl children would be inducted into prostitution.

DE SAM LAZARO (to Dr. Krishnan): Even at this age?

Dr. KRISHNAN: I would say eight or nine. The older children that you saw on the other floor are children who would have been easily procured for prostitution and most of the boys, right from the age of six or seven perhaps, would be pimping for their mothers.

DE SAM LAZARO: She says about two million people are trafficked each year within India or from neighboring countries. Most are inducted into the sex trade at age 10 or even earlier, usually destined for big cities and tourist areas. Prajwala has developed a network of informants in the sex industry to help conduct what have become trademark brothel raids. Most of the young women rescued are already veterans of the trade. Many are actually very reticent.

Dr. KRISHNAN: There's so much desensitization that has happened, so much normalization of exploitation that has happened, so much internalization of trauma that has happened. Most of the time, you know, they develop some very close attachments, and they will any day go back. Some of them would any day go back to their pimps or procurer than rather be with us.

DE SAM LAZARO: In fact many do go back to a life that's become normal, a familiar routine. But Prajwala has managed to coax 1,500 women out of prostitution. Peer counselors like 20-year-old Malini play a critical role.

MALINI (Peer Counselor, Prajwala, through translator): When we get the girls, they cry a lot. I ask why, and I tell them my own story, that this is what happened to me and I don't want the same to happen to you.

DE SAM LAZARO: Malani's story is typical. There was abuse, poverty, and despair in her home. A seemingly helpful adult friend, often it's a relative, offered the young daughter work in the big city. Instead, says Malini, she was sold into a brothel. The price the brothel paid for her then became the price she would have to pay for her freedom, paid from her brothel earnings. The accounting is elastic and entirely dictated by pimps or madams, as she found out months into her servitude.

MALINI (through translator): One day they told me, "There's a small balance, and when you pay it off you'll be free to go." I asked how much, and they said 200,000 rupees. I got frightened. I said, "Why 200,000? I've been here so many months, and you've earned so much money from me." They just beat me, so I ran away.

DE SAM LAZARO: But running to the police in a city she didn't know, she encountered only more violence.

MALINI: When we asked the police, "Why are you hitting us?" they said "because you do this immoral work." And I said, "Well, why are you catching us? You should go after our house madams, not us." But they just beat us some more.

DE SAM LAZARO: Official corruption has decreased in recent years. Prajwala's rescue raids are now conducted with the police. At least part of this is due to pressure from Washington. The U.S. Justice Department publishes an annual T.I.P. or Trafficking in Persons report. Countries that show no improvement in cracking down run the risk of some trade sanctions.

Dr. KRISHNAN: At one level it irritates me to no end that my country would require somebody else from outside to tell them that this is a problem. That's not the right way to go about it.

DE SAM LAZARO: At the same time, she's not shy in telling the U.S. and others what to do. Twenty-five percent of sex tourists in Asia are American, she says.

Dr. KRISHNAN: So one needs to ask questions in America also about why American people want small children to have sex with, and that if they don't get it in their own countries, they seek it out in countries like Sri Lanka and India and Philippines. You're about imposing sanctions on India, but have you also thought about imposing sanctions on your own country?

DE SAM LAZARO: Krishnan says Washington has laws against sexual predators, even those that offend abroad. But she says it doesn't enforce them enough. In India, her advocacy has strengthened laws to counter trafficking and to protect victims. Prajwala's rescue raids are now conducted in many of the country's major prostitution areas.

Dr. KRISHNAN: Most of these girls have spent many years in flesh trade, and this is a kind of a transit shelter.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN (through translator, lecturing to group of children): You're not old yet, and at your age girls should remember a few important things: the way you dress, your behavior. How should that be? It should be acceptable to others. For example, the way you walk.

DE SAM LAZARO: It will take months with lectures and skits to unlearn the sexualized behavior and demeanor they've acquired.

Dr. KRISHNAN (speaking in Hindu to group of girls): Hey girl, where are you going? Come here. How much do you want?

First, tell me, why did all of this happen?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: If a girl's good looking, people will make comments like that.

Dr. KRISHNAN (to unidentified girl): Do you think this happens to regular women?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: No, it's because of the way we're dressed. That's why they are saying that.

DE SAM LAZARO: Young women like 19-year-old Abbas Bee are trained in traditional life skills and quite untraditional occupational ones. The goal is to find good-paying jobs, jobs rarely held by women in India. Prajwala itself runs a printing and metal workshop and that helps pay for its work, along with grants from UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, and others.

Dr. KRISHNAN: We have trained young girls as welders, as carpenters, as printers, as bookbinders, as screen printers, as taxi drivers and auto drivers. We also train them as housekeepers to work in hotels and hospitals and things like that.

DE SAM LAZARO: Their earnings make women like Abbas more eligible as brides, even though she, like perhaps 25 percent of women here, is HIV positive.

ABBAS BEE (Through Translator): I want to get married to a very kindhearted man, and I definitely want an HIV positive man, because I don't want to ruin somebody's life. He should be caring. If he is sick, I'll take care of him, and if I'm sick, he'll take care of me.

DE SAM LAZARO: If she does get married, her wedding, like many others, will happen at Prajwala.

Dr. KRISHNAN: At any given point of time there is somebody pregnant, somebody delivering or somebody -- something's happening. So from birth to death, birth to death, we are the only linkage.

DE SAM LAZARO: She tries to reconcile these women with their families, but for many Prajwala is the only family they know. It's a daunting parental role for the 34-year-old Krishnan, one for which she calls deeply on her faith.

Dr. KRISHNAN: I am a practicing Hindu. I have this deep-rooted belief that my life is a providence by itself, and God has brought me in this world to do what I'm doing, and God will allow me to stay in this world so long as he believes that my mission is not done, and therefore I do believe that the day God believes that my work is done, I'll be killed or I'll die naturally, or whichever way that is possible.

DE SAM LAZARO: Prostitution is a very lucrative organized crime she says. She's been beaten up 14 times since starting Prajwala, the price for rescuing thousands of children from what she calls "the world's oldest form of slavery."

For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, this is Fred de Sam Lazaro in Hyderabad, India.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOumyTMCI8

Controversy

2010-11-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Few days back some medical experts have opined that smoking on screen by iconic actors like Aishwarya Rai will increase the smoking habits among the masses. The scenes from Guzarish in which Aishwarya Rai is smoking should be removed. This is because the doctors believe the former Miss World smoking on screen will influence people to smoke as well.

My question is do films make such an impact? If yes why isn't the impact visible if an actor or actress does a sensational act in films. Films like Gangajal, Shool, etc portrayed an honest government servant. How many government servants have changed after watching these films?

The habits are inculcated right from the childhood days by the schools and parents. People get influenced to some extent from their friends circle. Any impact made by the film stars can at best be momentary. If the people start smoking looking at the character portrayed by the film star then I believe its an individual problem and not the problem of the actor/actress.

We need to understand that the character portrayed by the actress is smoking. It is our responsibility to educate people around us what is good and what is not. Again the problem arises do we really know what is good and what is not?

Waste Management

2010-10-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

After lot of insistence from couple of my friends, I am posting my experience during Ganapati Visarjan.
Can you imagine how much of non- biodegradable waste we generate especially during the festivals?
We a bunch of young group of around 10 people in the age group of 16-26 volunteered during the Ganesh festival to segregate the bio degradable waste from the plastic bags. Dnyana Prabhodini, an NGO, gave us an opportunity to volunteer for this work. Since the group was small we volunteered at MIDC (Dombivli) on the 2nd day and on the Gauri visarjan day. A small group among us also volunteered at Thakurli on the day of Gauri Visarjan.

Our task was to segregate the the plastic bags from the biodegradable waste. Biodegradeable waste can be used for the production of fertilizers. However with the presence of plastic bags, the production of fertilizers is not possible. The work performed on these 2 days helped us collect an astonishing 84kgs of plastic bags at these places of Ganesh Idol immersion.

Just imagine if the plastic bags collected on 2 days at couple of places is such a big number, what would be the plastic non-biodegradable waste that we will be generating all over the country. We should minimize the use of plastic bags or take efforts to segregate the degradable and the bio- degradable waste. If more people volunteer we can execute this job at different places rather than restricting this job to a particular place.

It is worth noting that if such small issues are not addressed at this point it will be very difficult to control it at a later stage.

Bribery

2010-06-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking on corruption and bribe for many days now. I have discussed with some about who is responsible for corruption. These are my views on bribery and corruption.

There are 2 types of bribe offered-
1. Bribe paid to an official not to perform his/her duty.
2. Bribe paid to an official to perform his/her duty.
In the first case I feel the person giving the bribe is at fault and should be punished. This is known as reverse control. This is ther law in Israel.
In the second situation the person taking the bribe is at fault and hence should be punished. In other words in some situations the giver should be held responsible and in some situations the receiver should be held responsible and punished.
For example; If 'A' is not having a driving licence and is caught by the cop. Here the cop's duty is to fine him for the illegal act. In this scenario if A pays the bribe and gets away by not paying the fine then A should be punished rather than the cop. Here A is not allowing the cop to perform his/her duty. Therefore 'A' is at fault and should be punished.

Consider another situation where 'A' seeks permission for legal water connection. However he is asked to pay a bribe to get the work done which is the work of the officer incharge. In this case, the officer is at fault and must be punished. This is a case where bribe is demanded to perform the duty.

Ulhasnagar Skywalk Project

2010-06-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Continuing from the previous post.........

Little bit of search reveals tht estimated cost of Ulhasnagar Skywalk is Rs 35 crores for Length of 650m and 4m width. This makes the per metre cost close to 135000 which is again more than Bandra Worli sea link. Again this is much costlier than 13crore skywalk in Bandra.

One good thing about Ulhasnagar skywalk is that it has overrun by couple of months unlike Kalyan skywalk which has overrun by about 8months.

Kalyan Skywalk Project costlier than Bandra Worli Sealink

2010-06-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

It is a strange fact but true that Kalyan Skywalk is costlier than Bandra Worli Sea link on a relative basis. On an absolute basis it is much costlier than Bandra skywalk.

the BWSL, with a length of 5.5 km or 5,500 meter and width of 32 meters (8 lanes), was built with a cost of Rs16.5 billion.

When you equalise the costs of both the skywalk and sea link, the cost of skywalk turns out to be a mere 30% less than the sea link! Here are the calculations.

BWSL

Length 5,500x Width 32=176,000 sq m

Project Cost 16,500,000,000/176,000=90,909 (per sq m cost)

Bandra Skywalk

Length 1,300x Width 4= 5,200 sq m

Project Cost 136,300,000/5,200=26,211 (per sq m cost)

So the cost of the Bandra skywalk is about one third than that of the per sq meter cost of the sea link. Now let’s check the cost of Kalyan Dombivali skywalk. MMRDA is constructing this 1.4 km skywalk at a cost of Rs839 million. The width is same for all skywalks i.e. 4 meters. So here are the calculations...

Length 1,400x Width 4= 5,600 sq m

Project Cost 839,000,000/5,600=149,821 (per sq m cost)

And here are the comparisons of the sea link and skywalks:

Bandra Worli Sea Link Rs90,909 per sq m

Bandra sky walk Rs26,211 per sq m

Kalyan sky walk Rs149,821 per sq m

This means the Kalyan skywalk is more costly than that of BSWL!

Source: Suchetadalal.com

Budget 2010, Taxes and Charity

2010-03-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

The budget of this year has brought a smile on the faces of tax payers especially the educated class more. However I feel that the government could have increased the basic exemption limit. Obviously the government would have thought about this and then decided to provide the tax breaks without tinkering the basic exemption limit.

Also we need to consider that a budget needs to be looked from a political angle and not only from social and economical angle. Finance Minister who announces the budget is a politician at the end of the day.

My point is that instead of directly increasing the slab from 5L to 8L, the government could have increased the limit to say 6.5L and increased the basic exemption limit. One of my friend who works for Citi bank made this point to his colleague who told him that if you dont like the 40K you save give it to me. This was a shock to me. There is no sense of belongingness towards the country. Taxes are a liability rather than an opportunity. We need to understand that its a contribution.

I was checking Give India site to make some donation and one of my colleagues told me that it seems I have excess money. I just smiled and said yes.

I have heard people give excuses like why should we pay taxes we dont get benefit out of it. The money doesnt reach to the bottom of the pyramid. Politicians gulp the money,etc... Now there will be savings in terms of tax which means now the same people who gave excuses should find opportunities on their own to do charity and reach to the down trodden people. In other words next year we should see a surge in the donations made by people ideally.

I have been saying this time and again that it is not about money whether you do make a difference but its about willingness to influence a change. I sincerely hope that in times to come we cut down our ambitions (read as greed) and work towards reducing the inequality in the society.

Family

2010-02-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

I ask a question to many people- Given an option will they pay taxes and the typical answer I get is NO. " Why should we pay taxes without any benefit?" In other words we dont understand that the "haves" have a responsibility towards the "Have- nots".

Going by the same logic why should anybody earn for their family because what is the benefit obtained by earning the money for the family. The problem is our myopic definition of life and family. The point I am making is why cant we program our brains to think beyond a few set of people as family. Family is our primary responsibility but not the only responsibility. Even better lets broaden the definition of family.

We have not liberated our minds. We are yet to get independence from the narrow minded thinking.

Global Warming

2010-01-25T06:15:00.000-08:00

An initiative by Art of Living and Times Foundation.

To: Airline Corporations
Global warming has reached alarmingly dangerous proportions and governments all over the world now are taking measures to contain it. It is our collective responsibility to join in these efforts in all our capacities to save our precious planet.

A 2006 United Nations report summarized the devastation caused by the meat industry by calling it "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." Everybody today is aware that the environmental cost for producing a meat-based diet is monumentally higher than a vegetarian one. These costs have escalated to enormous proportions and now pose as very disturbing details.

Additionally, more and more people are increasingly becoming aware of the unhygienic and cruel practices involved in producing meat. Apart from the horrible treatment given to animals reared for meat, they are also injected with harmful chemicals and hormones to add bulk to their bodies, which show strong signs of being poisonous for human consumption. Consequently, health agencies are also recommending people to reduce meat consumption.

It has been established that if a small fraction of the population brings down the meat consumption, by even a little bit, it will do wonders for the environment. Leading researchers all over the world have started recommending a vegetarian diet. Therefore, we would like to solicit your support in declaring all flights meat free. Such a policy change would not only benefit the airline industry, by cutting cost and increasing profit margins, but also the environment and is both economically prudent and ecologically responsible.

It has become imperative that all of us attend to this issue. We, therefore, request all Airways to serve completely vegetarian meals during flights. To increase awareness among people, we have launched a massive signature campaign in support of this drive.

We look forward to a positive response from you.

Warm Regards,

The Art of Living India & Times Foundation. If you believe that this makes sense please voice your opinion.

click to add your voice to this initiative

Adoption

2010-01-25T05:47:00.000-08:00

Why does the educated class still dont consider Adoption as an option? What can be done to make it popular?

Facts about India

2010-01-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

A mail forward which I recieved and I loved it. Hope you also like it.

Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)?
A. Vinod Dahm

Q. Who is the third richest man on the world? A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Azim Premji, who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at 6 th position now.

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based email program)?
A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejwrika

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

Q. We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America , even faring better than the whites and the natives.
There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population).
YET, 38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
28% of IBM employees are Indians.
17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
13% of XEROX employees are Indians.

Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA .

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.
5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.
7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8. The value of pi was first calculated by Boudhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Boudhayan's works dates to the 6th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.
9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053.
10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
13. Chess was invented in India .
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley ( Indus Valley Civilisation).
16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

Quotes about India :
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
Albert Einstein.

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.
Mark Twain

If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India .
French scholar Romain Rolland.
India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
Hu Shih (former Chinese ambassador to USA )

I hope you enjoyed it and work towards the welfare of INDIA .

Say proudly, I AM AN INDIAN.

Something to think

2009-09-29T03:34:00.000-07:00

My equation on education

2009-09-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

Education = L + A + W

L= Literacy
A=Awareness
W=Welfare

Relationship between man, woman and donkey

2009-09-29T00:03:00.001-07:00

Prasad dada is one of my friend and a social activist and a member of India 2020 Dr Abdul Kalam's team.

He sent me the following equations- I am reproducing the same. I enjoyed it a lot.

Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy
Donkey = eat + sleep

Therefore:
Human = Donkey + Work + enjoy

Therefore:
Human-enjoy = Donkey + Work

In other words,
A Human that doesn't know how to enjoy = Donkey that works.

++++++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ ++ ++
Equation 2

Man = eat + sleep + earn money
Donkey = eat + sleep

Therefore:
Man = Donkey + earn money

Therefore:
Man-earn money = Donkey

In other words
Man who doesn't earn money = Donkey

++++++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +
Equation 3

Woman= eat + sleep + spend
Donkey = eat + sleep

Therefore:
Woman = Donkey + spend
Woman - spend = Donkey

In other words,
Woman who doesn't spend = Donkey

++++++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +++++++++ +

To Conclude:
From Equation 2 and Equation 3

Man who doesn't earn money = Woman who doesn't spend

So Man earns money not to let woman become a donkey!
And a woman spends not to let the man become a donkey!

So, We have:
Man + Woman = Donkey + earn money + Donkey + Spend money

Therefore from postulates 1 and 2, we can conclude

Man + Woman = 2 Donkeys that live happily together!

I know of at least one person who will enjoy this.

MRP in mutiplexes and malls

2009-09-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

FYI

The products in restaurants, multiplexes and malls which are charged at a higher rate compared to the rate charged in normal shops are legal. However, it should be mentioned on the packet that the goods are to be sold through select outlet only. If this is not mentioned on the good then we are not suppose to pay a higher price.

Such products are separately packed and a separate MRP is printed on such products.

Please next time check whether the tag "to be sold through select places only" is mentioned on the product.

Excess price charged

2009-09-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Consumer is supposed to be the king of the market. However, the consumer chooses not to be. Yesterday I had gone to purchase 1litre milk. I inquired in 6 diaries in Dombivli and all of them charge 1Re per litre extra over and above MRP. This is a kind of a rule applied by the shopkeepers on any branded milk. As far as my knowledge goes this practice is followed in most parts of Mumbai.This happens even in Bengaluru(as per the input received from a friend staying there)

The point is everybody thinks its only 1Re whats the big deal. I am putting forth a point I hope it makes sense. Correct me if I am wrong. Now in Mumbai itself 50 lakhs litre packed milk may be sold per day. So illegal(against the Consumer Protection Act,1986) money of at least 50lakhs is generated EVERYDAY. I presume that such charges will not be accounted by the shops and hence no taxes are paid on such amount. So on an annual basis nearly 150crores of revenue goes tax free. Which effectively means a loss of 50crores of tax to the government. Now this is some amount.

Who is responsible for the black money?YOU and ME(the king of the market). The so called educated class is responsible and we blame the government. I call the so called educated class as literate class.

Remember we pay the amount and it becomes a norm and for us annual amount of 300+ Rs may not be that important but for someone this amount makes a difference.

We all pay our taxes regularly but somewhere our 1Re is responsible for black money getting generated in the market. Who has to take the responsibility for this? The shopkeepers are much united compared to the consumers.

The reason given by the shopkeeper is that the commission which they receive is not affordable and hence they charge the extra 1Re. Its a matter to be dealt by the agent and the company how is the consumer involved. The shopkeepers know it is difficult to get the extra commission from the company and consumer will not bother about the extra Re.

FYI The extra Re collected is more than the commission which they receive per litre.

An Interview with Kumar Sanu

2009-08-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

Staying alive

Kumar Sanu has defied critics to prove his mettle.

So you won't work with new-generation
composers?

Thank God I don't have to sing techno songs. Today's songs don't go with my style. I've
never asked composers for songs. I'm happy with my achievements.
No regrets.

Do you plan to join politics?
No, there is no such plans. I respect Pranab Mukherjee and I share a very good relationship with him. Personally, I have great respect for Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and for Mamata Banerjee, who is a determined leader.

But the politics in the music industry?
As far as my industry is concerned, politics is about ego, money, good PR… A good rapport with producers and directors helps to bag songs, at times for big banners. I never compromised on my rate. I, in fact, never compromised on any aspect.

You started in the industry with Kishore Kumar as your idol. But with Aashiqi you sounded original.
I believe that copying another singer, doesn't pay off in the long run. It's also true that I followed Kishore da's style as he was my idol. Later, I decided to come up with my style of singing. I'm still singing. I started as Sanu Bhattacharya when Kalyanji-Anandji suggested a new name ~ Kumar Sanu ~ for the Big B film Jaadugar. The film also had my first solo effort.

How did you team up with RD Burman?
Panchamda knew me when he first heard my series of cassettes in memory of Kishore da on T-Series. One day I got a call from his camp and we had a nice discussion. Ultimately, I sang in Yeh Desh. Panchamda was a great composer, an amazing human being. Then we worked together in Jhuti Shaan, Purushottam, Tum Karo Vada and in the unforgettable 1942: A Love Story.

Your experience with the next generation of composers during the 1990s.
During the 1990s Nadeem-Shravan used my voice the best. They had male-oriented songs that suited my tonal quality. Then with Jatin-Lalit I had a good rapport ~ they are followers of Panchamda's gharana. We worked together on a number of hits ~ Khiladi, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na and so on. In Bazigaar, Sir, Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Ayee, Anu Malik provided me with a platform.

What would you say about AR Rahman, the composer?
He was not a composer for the masses. He gradually changed his style and it's reflected in what he produces today. I worked with him only in Kabhi Na Kabhi. Then there was some misunderstanding and we stopped working
together.

Your assessment of Slumdog Millionaire.
I have an objection to using the word "slumdog". It's not our culture. We don't treat people from slums as dogs. They have shown only the negative aspect of our country. As far as the Oscar is concerned, I think Rahman gifted us more enchanting melodies before. This is not his best.

You have worked with both the legendary Mangeshkar sisters. Your experience.
It's like receiving a lifetime achievement award. Both of them were simply outstanding. I shared the microphone with Lataji in Naya Sawan for a Bappi Lahiri composition. For Khiladi I rendered a song with Ashaji for the first time under the baton of Jatin-Lalit.

Your thoughts on the present trends in Bollywood music?
It's pathetic! I can't recognise the singers. They are the singers for a month. Go through the inlay cards of their CDs and rarely would you identify the singer.

Your big achievements…
First, the love and respect I get from fans all over the world. I was recently conferred the Padma Shri, I have received five Filmfare awards in succession, Guinness Book Of World Record features me for recording 28 songs in a day and, the government of Denton in America observe Kumar Sanu Day on 31 March… I once did a charity show there.

It's rumoured that you had a tiff with Amit Kumar…
No, no, there were no such clashes with Amit Kumar. He is senior to me. He was already a well known singer when I started . I would rather say there was healthy competition. I've worked with him only once ~ a song in Yoddha. Later both of us rendered the same song Is Tarah Ashiqi Ka for Imtihaan, separately. We share the same gharana ~ Kishore Kumar.

Who do you consider the best singer to work with?
Udit Narayan.

Your future projects.
I'm working on songs for a number of Bangla films. After Utthan, my compositions can be heard in Yeh Sunday Kyun Aata Hai where Shaan, Sunidhi render my songs. I have sang in Udit Narayan's Bhojpuri film Kanoonwa Meri Mutthi Mein' I am working with Munna-Raj for my Puja album.

Do you believe in comebacks?
I'm an optimist. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping the trends in the music industry would change.

Today is 22/7

2009-07-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

Today is 22nd july and is celebrated in the world by Maths geek as Phi approximation day as Phi is approximately equal to 22/7. 14 of March on the other hand is celebrated as Phi day as in American date format it is written as 3/14.

Phi is defined as the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter.

The first Phi day was celebrated at San Fransisco Exploratorium in 1988 with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, and then consuming fruit pies. Now a days Pizza pies are added to its pi day menu. The founder of the Phi day was Larry Shaw, a retired physicist at the Exploratorium.

Mathematicians who approxmiated the value of phi include Archimedes (first to find the approximate value in 200 BC) but I had read in a book that it was Boudhadhanya (Indian mathematician to give the first approximation). 600 years later Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi improved on the approximation provided by Archimedes. This was the most accurate estimation for the next 900 years.

Later on in 1400 Indian mathematician Madhavacharya discovered a formula for Phi which was later rediscovered by James Gregory, Lebnitz in 17th century.

Two interesting trivia:

14th of March happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday. He was born in the year 1879.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology often mails out its acceptance letters to be delivered to its prospective students on the Pi Day.

For more info log on to http://www.goiit.com/posts/list/community-shelf-in-pursuit-of-pi-78336.htm

Sach ka saamna

2009-07-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sach ka saamna- Where you earn by saying the truth. The show is in the limelight from the day it has been on air. Its TRPs are increasing and today the show has been the talking point even in the parliament. The concept seems simple but the kind of questions asked are difficult to say the least.

Every contestant will give the true(to his belief) answer for all the questions. This is because there is no incentive to lie. First you lose the money and second people still know what is the truth as the ploygraph test reveals that the answer is a lie. I dont know how true is the polygraph test but assuming it is true I think we ourselves dont know what is the true answer for some questions in our life. There are certain answers which are structured as we are brought up and we dont realise that the answer is not what our mind thinks. We repeated say the structured answers that it gets registered with us and we end up giving that answer rather than the true answer.

I agree with the politicians that the show might lead to some problems in the contestant's life and is against our culture. Isnt it the truth at the end of the day?Does it mean we should hide the truth and boast about our culture. All the contestants are very courageous and I hope a politician comes to the show one day. Would I participate in the show?Very less probability that I will. Anyways who is giving me an option. Finally I think the society is not matured enough to accept the show.Given an option would you participate in Sach ka saamna?

Bacchae mann ke sache

2009-07-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

How Does a person Decide Who to Marry?

“You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like
sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep
the chips and dip coming.”
Allan, age 10

“No person really decides before they grow up who they’re going to
marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later
who you’re stuck with.”(Hmm.. Philosophical kid)
Kirsten, age 10

Concerning the Proper Age to Get Married

“Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by
then!”
Cam, age 10

“No age is good to get married at…. You got to be a fool to get
married!”(Very matured for his age)
Freddie, age 6

How Can a Stranger Tell if Two people are Married?

“Married people usually look happy to talk to other people.”
Eddie, age 6

“You might have to guess based on whether they seem to be yelling at
the same kids.”(nice logic)
Derrick, age 8

What Do You Think Your Mom and Dad Have in Common?
“Both don’t want no more kids.”(Haha)
Lori, age 8

What Do Most People Do on a Date?

“Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know
each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.”(girls are you listening)
Lynnette, age 8

“On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually
gets them interested enough to go for a second date.”(really)
Martin, age 10

What the Children Would Do on a First Date That Was Turning Sour

“I’d run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the
newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.”
Craig, age 9

When is It Okay to Kiss Someone?

“When they’re rich!”(very smart)
Pam, age 7

“The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn’t want to mess with
that.”(knows the law at this age... sahi hain)
Curt, age 7

“The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry
them and have kids with them…. It’s the right thing to do.”(his grandpa must have told him)
Howard, age 8

The Great Debate: Is It Better to Be Single or Married?

“It’s better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need
somebody to clean up after them!”(She must be watching at home)
Anita, age 9

What Promises Do a Man and a Woman Make When They Get Married?

“A man and a woman promise to go through sickness and illness and
diseases together.”(Saat janam ka saath)
Marlon, age 10

This is by far my favorite.

How to Make a Marriage Work

“Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck!”(Is he really 7?)
Ricky, age 7

Getting Married for a Second time

“Most men are brainless, so you might have to try more than one to
find a live one.”(this will make the girls happy)
Angie L., age 10

How Would the World Be Different if People Didn’t Get Married?

“There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn’t there?”
Kelvin, age 8

Source http://chainletters.net/chainletters/kids-take-on-marriage/

2009-07-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

Lets check your division.

Puzzle to puzzle you

2009-07-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Apathy

2009-07-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

Apathy means an attitude of "I Dont care". We come across a lot of people who suffer from apathy. What else can be the reason for low voter turn out, people spitting on the road, littering,etc.

Do we really care on the global warming front?Do we really care about the electricity shortage, water shortage, etc. Do we care how people are dying of hunger and we waste a lot of food?

We only care about some things which affect us directly. We don't understand or realize the impact of the things that impact us indirectly.I think many of us do care but then think what can I do alone. The amazing thing is most of us think this way. There is an uniformity in thinking. I admit I am also among the majority but do my bit (may be 1%). I have come across especially young people of my age who don't care about all these issues. We are becoming more and more self centered. We exploit the environment and then crib about low rainfall. We litter and use polythene bags and complain about water logging. I know this is not going to change anything. Because majority knows whatever is written.

As Helen Keller said we have found out the cure for virtually all diseases but still the most dangerous disease seems to have no cure- Apathy. (not the exact verbatim of what Keller said)

Music Industry's take on Amit kumar

2009-07-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Fans speak up

PRITAM
I still remember attending one of his para shows in Kolkata. Those were the days when all-night concerts were popular. He arrived at 3 am and sang till 5 am! When I recorded my first song with him I was extremely moved. He is an amazing singer, gifted with a very powerful voice. Unfortunately he hasn’t got his due. He is a living legend.

VISHAL (of Vishal-Shekhar)
He has a God-gifted voice. We worked with him in Jhankar Beats and that was a learning experience. The remake of Humein Tumse Pyar Kitna turned out to be superb! He often comes up with suggestions and the influence of Pancham comes through in Boss Kaun Hai. He doesn’t believe in competition. But he doesn’t fail to swing even after 40 years!

VIJU SHAH
He puts in his best to make any song stand out. We worked together in Janaam, just after Tridev. He has a strong voice. We spent a lot of memorable moments working together.

SADHANA SARGAM
Amit Kumar is a very energetic and lively singer, besides being a decent soul. His voice is close to that of his father’s but along the way he has developed a style of his own.

UDIT NARAYAN
He has an extraordinary vocal range ~ a bass voice. He can feel the pulse of any song. Amit Kumar lives the lyrics of any song when he renders it. I have great memories of recording with him.

JAVED AKHTAR
I’ve always been a Kishore Kumar fan. Being his son, Amit has a gifted timbre. There was a time he was highly accepted by listeners but I don’t know why he shifted focus from singing for soundtracks. He sang my songs in Tezaab (Ek Do Teen, Kah Do ke Tum Ho Meri Barna), Sailaab (Mujhko Yeh zindegi, Palko Ke Taale) and also in Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Drohi… He hasn’t got his due.

MILIND (of Anand-Milind)
Singing is not just facing a microphone. Songs need be acted out. Kishoreda was a master at this. Amit does the same. Recording with him has always been a good experience ~ since our first film, Ab Ayega Maza. He has even sung for our father Chitraguptji.

VISHWAS NERURKAR
He has a God-gifted voice, close to Kishoreda’s… Being an actor, he can put a lot into his recording sessions!

Amit Kumar turns 58

2009-07-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

3rd July is the birthday of the singer Amit Kumar- son of legendary singer Kishore Kumar.
He turned 58 yesterday. Excerpts from an interview with Amit Kumar on his 58th birthday.

Still walking tall

Some people call him an eccentric ~ he doesn’t fly in aeroplanes during the monsoon ~ and some like to believe he doesn’t record songs often. The truth, as Sudipta Chanda finds out, is that the singer has been delivering hit after hit for the past 40 years. An exclusive interview with Amit Kumar

Looking back at the four decades behind you…
There is a popular English song Time Passes On. It feels like that; it feels great and I don’t have words to express my journey so far.

The moment you first walked into a recording studio…
It was for Door Ka Raahi ~ my father was the composer ~ and it was recorded at Bombay Film Lab in 1965. I had just reached Mumbai from Kolkata and rehearsed the song Main Ek Paanchhi Matwala Re ~ that was a tension-free session. An interesting point to note here ~ the video for the song was picturised on me and was filmed at Gourikunj. Unfortunately, the video was excluded from the film. The record released in 1969 with the song and I was credited as Amit Ganguly.

Your father was indeed your friend, philosopher and guide.
He was my mentor ~ he graduated me from studio to stage. My first Bangla song ~ Jinisher Daam Berechhe ~ was under Baba’s baton. He was my real critic. When I met Panchamda and sang Jhumroo real bad, Baba criticised me while returning home. I couldn’t sleep that night; time went by weeping. Later, when I started singing, he said that I would be sitting in a chair like the one he had at every studio.

Learning music…
The year was 1970, perhaps 1971. I suddenly decided that that I should get trained in Indian classical music. Baba laughed. But I was determined enough that he had ask Manna De to give me an appointment. And thus I met Mannada, who also laughed before recommending me to Ghulam Mustafa Khan, who used to visit Gourikunj twice a week. Suddenly, I felt the exercise was difficult and gave up learning. After Baba’s death, I once again learnt classical music from Satya Narayan Mishra and that definitely helped me to win back my confidence, add clarity to my vocal treatment. My singing style matured.

You have achieved a lot…
On my debut show in Mumbai, SD Burman was the chief guest. He was moved by my performance and threw a garland at me. Now, that’s a moment to cherish. I also remember receiving my first Filmfare award from Baba for Love Story in 1981. After Baba’s death Laxmiji said something really heart-warming, “Don’t think you are getting to sing my songs because you’re Kishoreda’s son. You have potential.” OP Nayyarsaab also heaped compliments on me, “Beta, your voice has gamaak which used to be in Rafisaab’s voice.”
How do you assess Amit Kumar, the singer?
I don’t consider myself to be a great singer. I sounded raw when I started my career. Now I sing much better.

People who helped you to succeed.
First, my listeners, fans… they made it possible. Then my Baba and Ma. All my composers who believed in me ~ Shankar-Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, Salilda, Nayyarsaab, Rajesh Roshan, Bappi Lahiri and, of course, Shaktida, Tarun Mazumdar and RD Burman.

RD Burman was your mentor…
Of course… after Baba, Panchamda was my mentor. I spent some lovely days with the maestro. I became his fan when Chhote Nawab released. Outsiders were not allowed in his sitting room but I was an exception. Thanks to him, I found my first hit in Balika Badhu, the only Filmfare Award for Love Story and, after Baba’s death, he helped me with Rama O Rama… I never had to look back. His recording sessions were very creative, enjoyable, extremely comfortable. I still feel he is around.

You’re a master of stage shows…
I started performing in Kolkata, the first being in Uttam Kumar’s locality ~ Bhowanipur. Later I joined Calcutta Youth Choir as a percussionist. Suddenly Baba was informed that I was doing shows and he called on me. Ma was very much confused about my future as I started losing interest in studies. This was the time when Baba introduced me at a gala show ~ “Papa Kishore and Sunny Amit Together” ~ in Mumbai, where SD Burman was the chief guest. I had my first big stage show at Rabindra Sadan ~ it was arranged by Gautam Mukherjee. And in 1972 Suprakash Gargari presented “Amit Kumar Presents Kishore Kumar”, a memorable musical extravaganza. Besides, I did shows with Laxmi-Pyare, Kalyanji-Anandji, Ashaji, Bhupinder Singh, RD Burman and many others.

Your idols.
My parents introduced me to a wide range of music. I love South American music and singers like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Jose Feliciano, the orchestra of Ray Conniff and so on. I still love jazz ~ Benny Goodman, Harry James are worth a mention. I would like to believe that music has no boundaries.

It’s a mad, mad world.
Baba was known for his eccentric activities but the saying goes ~ baap ka beta, sipahi ka ghoda. Kuchh nehin to thoda thoda (chip off the old block)! A few years back a few journalists asked me a cliched question: how I assessed remakes and remixes. I wanted to run away from them and answered, “Oh great! I love remakes and remixes. It sounds better than the originals. I don’t listen to Kishore Kumar’s songs.” They were confused and stopped asking me questions. I can recall another incident that took place in Benaras one year ago where a reporter asked me why I was not performing often. I said, “This donkey’s braying has been well accepted for 40 years. Khuda maherban to gadha bhi pahalwan (God willing, even a donkey feels strong)!” Then I rattled off a list of songs from my forthcoming films. There was a long silence.

Future projects.
Dulha Mil Gaya, Aladin, Mukti, Rama The Yoddha, Leela, Harano Sur, Osama, First Forward, Hang To Death, Ekbaar Take Chaichhi and so on. There is a special stage show ~ “Do Kishore” ~ in memory of Baba. Hopefully it will start in October. And I plan to record an album ~ Baakwas.

IPL and World Cup

2009-06-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

The timing of the IPL was perfect. BCCI took the advantage of the fact that India had won the inaugural T20 world cup. I think it would have been difficult for BCCI and Lalit Modi to introduce IPL had the performance of India in the last world cup been similar to this year's world cup.

Was the timing of IPL perfect or the timing of the Indian team's performance?

When the inaugural World cup was held already countries were having domestic T20 tournaments. Its an open secret that India is the biggest market for cricket.So a domestic T20 tournament was round the corner in India taking into consideration the popularity it gained in countries like West Indies & Pakistan. If you remember the match against South Africa where they were chasing 150 odd runs and struggled to even reach the par score to reach the semis.The point which I am trying to make is that BCCI needed to announce the IPL at a point when it will be a sure shot hit. Indians performed well or may be were forced to perform well in the inaugural T20 Worldcup and made life easy for BCCI. The finals with Pakistan was an icing on the cake.

You never know India did well (or were made to do well) in the last world cup to make IPL a hit.

Go short with India

2009-06-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

In the last two matches of T20 world cup, Indian batsmen have been found wanting against aggressive pace bowling. West Indies and yesterday England used the same tactics to keep the Indian batsmen under check. Fidel Edwards slingy action means that his bouncers will skit from the turf and yesterday I thought all the England fast bowlers bowled really magnificently. They had a definite plan against the Indian batsmen and executed it to perfection. Raina is a wonderful player but showed his vulnerability against short pitch stuff. Ravindra Jadeja struggling for most part oif the innings meant that the run rate went out of reach for Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan who tried their level best but couldn't convert the defeat into victory.
Stuart Broad and Sidebottom bowled excellent overs in the end. Broad has a big heart to come back in such a manner especially after having bowled the last over against Netherland for a lost cause and in his last match against India Yuvraj singh hit him for 6sixes in an over.
I was watching the match with my friends and when 60 runs were needed of 30 balls i told them the Yuvraj's crucial miss field in the last over of Harbhajan could make the difference. In the end we lost by 3 runs. Some of the players looked relaxed (rather happy) even during the stages when India were down.Dont know if it means something.
Dhoni made a terrible mis calculation I guess when 9 runs were needed of 2 balls Yusuf hit the ball although there was only 1 in it they should have gone for the second run atleast we sould have had the chance of leveling the scores of the last ball. Also it was strange to see England booed at their home ground. As Collingwood said that incident meant no pre match motivational talk was required.
It was thrilling to watch the match nonetheless.

Hayden's retirement

2009-05-26T04:01:00.000-07:00

Matthew Hayden retired from International cricket in January 2009. Did he retire so that he can play in the IPL2? Last year he had problems with Cricket Australia(CA) for exacerbating his Achilles heal injury. This injury kept him away from Test matches against West Indies after the IPL last year.

Infact he was docked his pay for not fulfilling his international commitments. Cricketers in Australia dont earn to the extent what Indian cricketers do.

CA spokesman Peter Young believes that the risks of releasing players to the IPL are the same as the once-traditional pilgrimage to England every winter.

The one difference, though, is that Hayden had no interest in a stint of county cricket.

This is from an article extracted from last year's Thaindian News.

Mind you this year CA was more careful and didnt allow Shane Watson, Nathan Bracken and Shaun Tait to play in the IPL.
I may be completely wrong. Looking forward to your comments.

Arctic and Antarctic

2009-05-26T03:03:00.002-07:00

Arctic is the region around the earth's North pole opposite to the Antarctic region in the south pole.
The question is why are the regions named so.

Arctic region is a region where we find Polar Bears. However in Antarctic region we dont come across Bears even though the conditions are more or less similar(The temperature at Antarctic is 2 degrees lesser than the temperature at Arctic). The reason is Arctic region is mostly covered by land so we find polar bears in huge numbers. However Antarctic is also an island and hence no bears are found.

Arctic is derived from the Greek word ARKTOS meaning Bear. The region opposite to Arctic is Anti-Arktos and hence called Antarctic.

Spiritual healing sessions for Sri Lankan Cricket team

2009-03-24T00:15:00.001-07:00

Sri Sri Ravishankar & Art of Living Foundation took the efforts to help the Sri Lankan Cricket team heal from the terrorist attack. Though they are recovering from the physical injuries, it is difficult to combat the mental stress created by the attack. The efforts of Sri Sri and Art of Living is commendable. I have done the course and it helps in beating the stress.

The article appeared in Economic Times Colombo

Sri Lanka Cricket Team Counselled by Guru after Lahore attack!

Fri Mar 20, 5:42 am ET COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's cricketers on
Friday wrapped up a post-trauma course of deep breathing and yoga
taught by an Indian spiritual guru to overcome the shock of the Lahore
attack.

Swami Sadyojathah, from the Bangalore-based Art of Living Foundation,
taught the 23-member squad special breathing techniques and meditation
to "unlock the stress" after the deadly assault.

"Proper breathing techniques sort out the imbalances in the mind and
the body," Sadyojathah, sporting a long white beard and flowing robes,
told AFP. "We showed the Sri Lankan team how they can move beyond
Lahore and get back into their game," he said.

Seven Sri Lankan players and their British assistant coach Paul
Farbrace were wounded when unknown gunmen ambushed their convoy in
Lahore, Pakistan on March 3, killing eight Pakistanis. The squad
immediately flew home and the last wounded player, star batsman Thilan
Samaraweera, was discharged from hospital this week. The wives of
Samaraweera and captain Kumar Sangakkara also joined the four-session
course.

"There was so much written about their experience in the media, that I
think they mentally blocked themselves out of talking about it. Which
was OK by me," Sadyojathah said.

"Few players have resumed training. Some began playing in a domestic
tournament this week. So I think, mentally, the players are getting
stronger. The team is on the mend."

Geethanjana Mendis, head of the sports ministry's medical unit, said a
group of doctors had also conducted counselling sessions with the
cricketers and their families. "The cricketers seemed to prefer the
spiritual counselling, going by the 100 percent attendance for the
entire session," said Mendis. "In fact, Sangakkara wants the sessions
to continue."

Samaraweera said the counselling and meditation greatly helped his
wife, who was still traumatised by her husband's bullet wound.
"The sessions have helped her a lot," he said. "She is yet to fully
recover from the shock, but she is improving."

"Any time a thought, a sentence, or paragraph inspires you or opens up
your thinking, you need to capture it, like a butterfly in a net, and
later release it into your own field of consciousness."

> When you become very peaceful and quiet, you perceive the Existence. You say, "Oh, this is my nature, this is my true Self. What was I doing --- being agitated, yelling, shouting, doing all that stuff?" ..... Sri Sri !

An Interview with Lalit Pandit

2009-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

These are the excerpts from an exclusive interview with Lalit Pandit(of the Jatin Lalit duo)

His fifth solo film Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye released last week, Lalit Pandit is now upbeat about the musical scene in general and his career in particular
The ’90s, say careful music observers, belonged to Jatin-Lalit more than to anyone else. From Yaara Dildaara in 1990 to Sarfarosh and Sungharsh in 1999, the duo touched peaks as momentous as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Khamoshi and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In the millennium, the hits turned few and far-between (Mohabbatein, K3G, Hum Tum, Fanaa) and after the last film Jatin and Lalit Pandit parted ways professionally, even if they still appeared together on reality television.

After the split, Lalit Pandit soon went on to release Life Mein Kabhi Kabhie, Showbiz, Rafoo Chakkar and the audio of Horn OK Pleasss. His Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye has just released. But in this same period music underwent a paradigm change.

As we lounge in his cool music room, Lalit exhibits a calm that seems at variance with the turbulent change in musical trends. “I agree that music has changed a lot since Jatin and I parted ways. And it’s not all for the better, because they are too much into finding tunes from the ‘Net. We know of a top-name filmmaker who had to pay a huge sum to the original rights’ owners because his music director had not informed him that a song had recorded was copied from a foreign source!”
But Lalit is quick to add that there are new music makers who have impressed him too. “Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy are very strong in composition and orchestration. Vishal-Shekhar’ s songs have a lot of freshness. And A.R.Rahman has set a goal for all of us to aspire with his awards and Oscar nomination for Slumdog Millionaire. It may not be his best work but his mehnat has paid off and that an Indian has reached there is a very prestigious moment for the country.”

The composer is also confident that melody is going to come back in a big way. “Good songs always register,” he points out. “Jatin-Lalit’s strength was always melody and now I am enjoying the process of changing my music to blend with modern orchestration and today’s phrasing. Frankly, our ’90s music was easier to make. Today’s music, if one has to integrate melody, is tougher, more challenging.”

A guitarist and pianist besides being a composer, Lalit says that he is not out-of-sync with such change. “We were the youngest from the ’90s lot of Anu Malik, Nadeem-Shravan and Anand-Milind, all of whom technically belonged to the ’80s. We came in during the transit phase and got the best of both worlds, down from working with R.D.Burman as child singers to composing songs written by Anand Bakshiji and Majrooh Sultanpurisaab.”

Lalit admits that his solo work to date has been lacklustre, but stresses that more than ever before the director’s vision has become important in inspiring a composer today. “Every word has to be interpreted. When the director has done his homework on a film good work becomes easy. It becomes still easier when a big film is there and also big stars. In that sense, my real break will be Muddassar Aziz’s Dulha Mil Gaya, my ninth film with Khansaab (as I refer to Shah Rukh Khan). I have experimented with Amit Kumar’s voice on him in both songs, for the first time after Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.”

But two trends that Lalit would not care to follow are the current fads for using non-singers and also pitching male voices high. “I cannot think along such lines,” smiles the composer. “I come from a gharana of musicians and singers and singing for films is no joke. A good singer can even lift a kamzor song. But I have always believed in introducing fresh, deserving talent and today I am glad that new voices are being accepted better than before.”
Finally, we have been hearing that the estranged duo are coming back together. Is that true? “I am afraid not,” says the composer.

SCREEN INDIA-----13. 2.2009

Goodwill - simple way to Value

2009-02-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

Pepsi used a very simple and effective way of calculating Goodwill. After the Satyam issue Goodwill Valuation by using the financial statements seems to be less reliable.
Pepsi did a survey where it went to people and asked will they buy a Rs 10 Pepsi cold drink bottle. When the reply was 'Yes'. They asked the same person by showing another bottle will he buy it for Rs 10 (This bottle was the same cold drink bottle as one shown before with a difference that it didn't have a Pepsi tag on the bottle).He said NO. Then they reduced the price and asked if he will buy at Rs 9. Again the answer was NO. They reduced the price and finally the person said he will buy the cola bottle at Rs 5. So Pepsi said Goodwill of the company is Rs 5 per bottle. By putting a tag of Pepsi people are ready to pay an extra ampunt of Rs 5 every bottle.
What an innovative way to value Goodwill!!!

Prayers

2009-02-14T21:13:00.000-08:00

A boy was admitted in a hospital for high temperature. The next day in the hospital he asked his mother for a cup of ice cream. Since he was suffering from high temperature mother refused as it would have made matters worse. Boy was pretty adamant on having an ice cream at that instance. Boy was upset with his mother. Mother did the right thing and yet had to see her child upset with her.

Many times we pray to god for certain things but get upset when we don't get what we had demanded for. God always does the right thing for us in that particular situation. We need to have faith in God and continue with our prayers and let him give us in a way which may trouble us in the short run but will always be beneficial in the long run.

What we think is the correct solution for the problem very often is not the right solution. Many of us get upset if we don't get the desired results. What we desire may not be the correct solution for the problem.

Answers to the Bollywood quiz

2009-01-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

1.Abodh - a movie by Rajashri productions

2. Sridevi

3. Ram Laxman in maine pyar kiya. The song is Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate sung by Lata Mangeshkar ji and SP Balasubramanian sir.

4. Bobby

5. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

6. Amitabh Bachchan

7. Baadshah

8. Shahrukh and Juhi Chawla

9. Ramgopal Varma

10. Kamal hasan

11. Yaadon Ki Baaraat

12. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum

13. Tera Mujhse hain pehle ka naata koi from the film "Aa Gale Lag jaa" one version sung by Kishore Kumar and the other version sung by Kishore kumar and Sushma Sreshta(popularly known as poornima). The somposer is R D Burman.

14. False. Director of kasoor is Vikram Bhatt with wonderful music by Nadeem Shravan.

15. Salman Khan

16. Amitabh Bachchan

17. Lagaan

18. Seeta Aur Geeta

19. Kumar sanu. He won 5 in a row from 1991 to 1995. Aashiqui(1990) -Ab tere bin, Saajan(1991)- Mera Dil bhi kitna pagal, Deewana(1992)- Sochenge tumhe pyar, Baazigar(1993)- Yeh kali kali aankhen, 1942 a love story(1994)- Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga.

Earlier Kishore Kumar had won 4 consecutive Filmfare awards from 1983 to 1986. Namakhalal(1982)Pag ghungroo, Agar tum na hote(1983) Humein aur jeene ki, Sharabi(1984) Manzelien apni jagah hain, Saagar(1985) saagar kinare.Infact Kishore da also won the Best singer award in 1981 for Thodisi Bewafai- Hazaar raahein mudke dekheen. 1982 best singer went to Amit kumar(Kishore kumar's son) for Love story- Dekho maine dekha hain.

20. Amitabh Bachchan & Shah Rukh khan

Bollywood quiz

2009-01-02T11:44:00.001-08:00

This are the questions which I had prepared for a bollywood quiz so just thought of posting it here. Hope you will enjoy it. Happy quizzing.

1. What was Madhuri Dixit's debut movie?

2. In "Chaalbaaz" which actress played the double role of separated twin sisters?

3. I just called to say I love you a song by Stevie Wonder is copied in a Hindi movie? Name the music director of the movie in which the Hindi song is played? Name of the Hindi movie?

4. In the Priyadarshan directed movie "Hulchul" about two warring families, which movie are Anjali (Kareena Kapoor) and her family watching when Jai (Akshaye Khanna) enters the house from the window?

5. Which Bollywood star was selected as jury member for the Cannes Film Festival in 2003?

6. Which great Bollywood star received the award of "The Star of the Millennium" from BBC?

7. In the film 'Baadshah' what was Shahrukh's name in the film?

8. Who produced the film 'Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani'?

9. Name the director of the film 'Satya'

10. Which South Indian actor starred in a double role in "Appu Raja"?

11. In the movie "Swades", which Salim-Javed written movie are the people of Charanpur watching before the power cut happens and Mohan Bhargav (Shah Rukh Khan) breaks into the song 'Yeh Tara Woh Tara"?

12. Name Karan Johar's 2nd directorial film comprising of a cast of- Amitabh Bachhan, Jaya, Shahrukh, Hritik, Kareena, Kajol and Rani

13. 'The Yellow Rose of Texas' is a song sung by Elvis Presley from the movie Viva Las Vegas (1963). Which Hindi song is inspired from this song?

14. True or False: Ramgopal Verma is the director of 'Kasoor'.

15. This superstar was imprisoned after a man was killed by his rash and careless driving in Mumbai. Who is he?

16. Which actor is popularly known as 'the angry young man'?

17. Which Bollywood movie got a nomination in the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2002?

18. In the film "Akayla", which movie is the police officer Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) watching when he realizes that Braganza (Keith Stevenson) has a twin brother?

19. Name the only Bollywood male singer who has won five consecutive Filmfare awards for the Best singer.

20. "Don" had one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema in a double role. What was his name?

Jeetu - Super star global runner up

2009-01-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

This is a song sung by Jeetu in super star global- a reality show on a malayalam channel Amrita TV. Its a song from the film Kalyug sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan saab and composed by Anu Malik. Hope You all will enjoy this version of the song. Please comment about the singer. The singer is a very close friend of mine so your comments will help him to improve his singing.

The Midas touch

2008-12-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

India chasing 387 in the fourth innings and winning is a rare sight. Especially with the way the team batted in the first innings with the top order batsmen lacking application. I think India won this match because they believed in themselves to go for a win. Dhoni though seems a laid back captain is very aggressive in his approach and that's where you need the aggression. You dont need to show your aggression in the press conferences and in the interviews. With due respect to Kumble I doubt whether we would have gone for the win straight away under his captaincy. I am a huge fan of Anil Kumble but I think there has been paradigm shift in the way India approaches the game of cricket under MS Dhoni. Earlier we would have thought of reaching a position from where you cant lose and then press the onus for winning. The way Sachin Tendulkar batted was a treat to watch. He has proved over and over again that he is a great cricketer. With Sachin at the crease the confidence of the team is very high and with Laxman the fifth day pitch seems a belter and batting looks so simple. Yuvraj Singh reminds me of David Gower not that they resemble in the way they bat. Both are classy players but you cant have more players like them in the team as they are not always reliable as they will give bowlers a chance but on their day they will be ruthless. The stage was perfectly set for Yuvraj to play his natural attacking cricket and he took a lot of pressure off sachin. Sachin scored yet another century in test cricket. One of his few century in the fourth innings. He scored 1000 runs in the calender year during this innings. This is the fifth time he has done so (the first Indian) along with Lara and Hayden. Sachin has played so many match winning knocks in the first innings but this one rates really high as it came in the second innings and the first ton in the second innings which India managed to win. Centuries at Chennai against Pakistan in 1999 and at perth against Austalia in 1992 came in losing cause. Few other centuries resulted in a draw. This is also the highest run chase in India making the win even more special. However it also needs to be said we put ourselves into trouble by batting poorly in the first innings. Dhoni should be the captain even after he retires.

SALIL CHOWDHARY- A GENIUS

2008-11-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

A legend remembered. Tomorrow is Salil da's birthday.

Salil Chowdhury was unique, in a class by himself. Had he been alive,
tomorrow Salilda, would have turned 85. What made his music distinct? How did he go about projects?

HE WAS DIFFERENT...
Veteran musician Manohari Singh says, “harmonization, use of ‘jumping’
notes were important elements in his music. He knew well the trick of
combining notes! And he had a sound understanding of Western classical
music, a mastery in scoring background music. When the likes of Raj
Kapoor and BR Chopra needed unusual background music, they approached
Salilda.”
Let’s now meet Sabita Chowdhury. “I didn’t know what a choir meant
before meeting him at Suman’s Hall in Dadar, Bombay, during a
rehearsal of the Bombay Youth Choir in 1952. I was surprised to hear
one or two members sing the basic melody and some were singing the
same thing at a higher note... He was different from contemporary
composers in many ways ~ he was a musician, poet, lyricist, story
writer, arranger, singer, producer, director... He formed an
association for musicians in Bombay...”
Well-known guitarist Ramesh Iyer says, “Creating music was a fun
activity for him. When Dada started working for Hindi films, composers
liked his work! Dada gave birth to a new style, one that puts stress
on creative harmony. He explained techniques to blend different types
of music ~ like Bangla folk with Western classical. That was his style.”

WORKING WITH HIM...
“Salilda took me to Mumbai and helped me join Bollywood. My first
project with him was Paasher Baari and then on Madhumati’s background
score. He had in-depth knowledge of Indian folk music as well as
Western classical,” says Manohari Singh. As for Ramesh Iyer, he says,
“I worked in Plot No 5 and Chemmeen as a musician before I joined
Panchamda’s team. Since 1976 I had worked for Salilda all the time he
was active in creating music. Playing his tunes is a challenge.”

FOR THE MASSES?
“I don’t agree that he was not a mass composer. On one hand people
remember Zindagi Kaisi Hain Paheli, Kahin Door Jab and some remember the
peppy Jan-e-Man, Jan-e-Man. Dada had his style and enjoyed several
commercial hits ~ Madhumati, Anand, Chhoti Si Baat, Half Ticket and
Maya,” says one of Salilda’s close associates, lyricist Yogesh.
Sabita Chowdhury also has kinds words to share. “I consider him a
composer with class. How many people can sing his songs correctly?
Without a sense of music, it’s difficult to perform his songs. He
always dealt with quality tunes..”
As for Manohari Singh, he feels Salil Chowdhury had class but didn’t
turn his eye away from the actual viewers of Hindi cinema ~ the masses.
Salil Chowdhury had received awards from Filmfare, Sangeet Natak
Academy, Allauddin Smriti Puraskar, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar and so on.
Nobody can forget his contribution to the music world. To most
musicians he would be remembered as a genius.

When the song of Half ticket was getting recorded- Aake seedhi lagi., Salil da told Kishore Kumar that it is not possible to record the song as Lata ji is not able to turn up for the recording and hence they have cancelled the recording. Kishore da said so what he will also sing the female parts. Salil da recorded the song with kishore da singing the male as well as the female parts of the song. Salil Chowdhary's music had a very bengali touch to it.

The above post is with inputs from www.statesman.com

India V Australia 1st test so far

2008-10-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

India at Lunch on day 3 has lot of work to do. The Pitch is getting slower and slower and run making is really difficult. The bounce is not true. The wicket keepers have a really difficult time and their backs are going to take a toll.
Ricky Ponting and Micheal Hussey played outstanding test cricket and showed tremendous temperament and patience to reach a big first innings score. Ishant Sharma got two wickets with the help of slower balls in the form of Brad Haddin and Cameroon White. On this pitch varying the pace is very important as there is not much in the pitch to offer for the seam bowlers. Ponting has got a very interesting field setting with a short extra cover and short mid wicket as the ball is not coming on to the bat. Johnson has varied his pace nicely it and got the maestro Tendulkar playing an early shot. Sehwag was frustrated as runs had dried up and thats what happens when you see a wide half volley- the carrot ball you nick it to slips. The old ball is reversing and Mitchell Johnson will be a threat if he is more consistent with his line and length because of his slingy action.
Nine out of the Australian ten wickets were taken by fast bowlers with Harbhajan and Kumble taking 1 wicket in 43 odd overs.Australians have 4 decent fast bowlers. With 2 spinners in the team it becomes very important that we have enough runs to bowl at and that seems virtually impossible at this stage with Dravid back in the hut. Hence the first innings score was very important as batting second time against Kumble and Harbhajan will be rally difficult. Stuart Clark is a very dangerous bowler on this pitch with the ball keeping low as he bowls wicket to wicket and as the game progresses we will see more and more LBWs and Bowled.

Fine with Over stepping

2008-10-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Vekatesh Prasad- the bowling coach of the Indian Cricket Team has announced a fine for the Indian bowlers bowling no balls. Every bowler has a partner in the form of a batsman and every time a bowler oversteps he and his partner have to pay a fine of 50 dollars each. I guess the partner of Ishant sharma is Gautam Gambhir. I don't know the partners of other bowlers.

Only time will tell whether this fine will help in bringing down the no balls. Also the players have to be fine with the fine. I am not sure what happens with the 100 dollar so recovered.

Had the fine been imposed by West Indies in the 80's and 90's I wonder the batsmen will be fighting not to be partners with Curtly Ambrose and Partick Patterson.

Come Home Early

2008-10-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

A Mail I received. Too good not to post.

Son: "Daddy, may I ask you a question"

Daddy: "Yeah sure, what it is?"

Son: "Dad, how much do you make an hour"

Daddy: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"

Son: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"

Daddy: "I make Rs 500 an hour"

"Oh", the little boy replied, with his head down.

Looking up, he said, "Dad, may I please borrow Rs. 300?"

The father was furious,"if the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or other nonsense, then march yourself to your room and go to bed. Think why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior"

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:

"May be there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs. 300 and he really didn't ask for money very often!"

The man went to the door of little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, may be I was too hard on you earlier", said the man, "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the Rs.300 you asked for"

The little boy sat straight up, smiling "oh thank you dad!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crippled up notes.

The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy I have Rs. 500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you"

MORAL OF THE STORY

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.
But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family....

1/0 is not defined and 0/0 is indeterminate

2008-09-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

1/0 is not defined and not infinity.

x divided by y means to make "y equal parts of x". Since it is not possible to make 0 parts of 1, 1/0 is not defined.

Proof goes like this
consider the series 1/(1/2) , 1/(1/3) , 1/(1/4) , ...................................
The denominator in the series becomes smaller and smaller and eventually will become zero. Thus eventually we will get a number1/0 in the series.
The series becomes 2 , 3 , 4 , ................................ Hence we can conclude 1/0 = infinity

consider the series 1/(-1/2) , 1/(-1/3) , 1/(-1/4) , ...................................
The denominator in the series will become zero. Thus eventually we will get a number1/0 in the series.
The series becomes -2 , -3 , -4 , ................................ Hence we can conclude 1/0 = -infinity

Hence we get 2 values of 1/0. We are not sure whether 1/o is infinity or -infinity.
Therefore 1/0 is not defined. Anything which doesn't make sense is not defined.

Proof 2
Let 1/0 = x .
Hence 0*x = 1. No value of x satisfies the equation. Hence x is not defined.
Therefore 1/x is not defined.

On the other hand consider 0/0
Let 0/0 = x.
Hence 0*x= 0. Any value of x satisfies the equation. Hence x cannot be determined.
Therefore 0/0 is indeterminate.

Note Indeterminate and not defined are not one and the same. Indeterminate means the solution can take any value. However not defined means the solution doesn't have any value.

So called Spirit

2008-09-17T11:11:00.002-07:00

I hear lot of news channels and people saying terrorists cannot break the spirits of the people. People are back on track the next day be it after the train bomb blasts in Mumbai or the recent Delhi blasts. Is this spirit of the people or just that people are not concerned, self centered or they dont have an option but to get back on track.

The scene in the pics is the real spirit of people that actually hurts the terrorists and not the fact that people get back to work the next day. Actually when the terrorists see people get back to their routine the next day they are actually happy and feel that the people out there are not concerned at all.

I am blaming myself also for the things happening as I am not doing anything great to bring about a change. Yes I would love to be a part of solution rather than a part of problem and make an endavour to move from the problem side to solution side. You can say I am already moving. The more the gap between rich and poor the problems will multiply and we have done enough things to ensure this.I dont want to be a liability to the planet. I always pray to God to make best use of me.

Stop Terrorism

2008-09-17T11:11:00.001-07:00

I was thinking how terrorism can be reduced if not stopped. I got the answer from Bawa. Bawa is an IITian and an art of living teacher. The following extract is taken from his blog where has posted this . His blog is awesome www.bawandinesh.name

Whenever, wherever they want, they plant the bombs and blow them off. Are we really helpless?

No. They do this because of lack of education. They do this because they think that a cause is more important than a human life. There are many ways that this can stop… here are some:

1. Many people have to go through the Art of Living training and learn to value life. I have had quite a few (muslim) students who have been approached by these terror outfits to join them and they have refused because they have this Knowledge… So go out of your way to bring Art of Living in people’s lives… You may prevent a person from becoming a terrorist!

2. When many, many people meditate on a very regular basis, then that increases the Satva in the environment. There have been studies and experiments done to prove this. A group of 10,000 people meditated in rotation for about a month in a city in the US, and the crime rate in that city dropped dramatically, “normal” crime dropped by 35% and violent crime between 38% and a staggering 85%. So if you have learned to meditate, see that you do it everyday!! You may just have a hand in preventing a bomb blast!

3. Organizations and governments need to drop their pseudo secular stance, by encouraging everyone to learn to meditate, do Sudarshan Kriya… Some classify Art of Living as “religious” or “Hindu” and they are doing so at the peril of the security and safety of our country and the world in general. Art of Living is a purely spiritual orgnization, has nothing to do with religion and will always stand up for whatever is right! If you are working in any organization, please see to it that you initiate and carry through the training of Art of Living wherever you work or study. This becomes mush easier if you excel at your chosen field. So exceling at work or studies becomes of paramount importance, because, then as far as society is concerned your words have weight… and you can use that to make people learn how to breathe :)… Who would have thought those good grades could help prevent a bomb blast huh?!

4. Everyone needs to develop the attitude that: The ONLY thing we will not tolerate is intolerance! It is intolerance, a non verifiable concept of God, a childish concept of an angry and vengeful God who will reward few people in the hereafter and punish everyone else… Everyone needs to realise that everyone and everything is God’s creation and He is not going to get any kick out of people killing each other in His name… We definitely follow one path, but we respect all… we learn from all.

5. We need learn to celebrate diversity and soak in the richness of diversity. Let go of the notion that everyone should be like me, that everyone should beileve in what i believe, that you are “good” only if you are on my “team”. We should wonder at the diversity there is and seek to preserve it. And at the same time realise that basically we are all part of a universal spirit first… gender, race, nationality, religion are all secondary and really not worth fighting about. The diversity there is has been created for our pleasure, and is not to be destroyed!

6. Look for the similarities in different belief systems and come together with those and then celebrate the differences… Most so called leaders have become arrogant and spend all their time in finding differences in what they believe and what others believe and then become very creative in finding ways to undermine, insult and destroy the other. These leaders really need to be dethroned, because they are a disgrace to the faith they represent and a blot on the humanness of humanity. All of us have to learn to understand that there are many ways to the Truth, and that Truth itself is multifaceted and beyond any logic. And we need leaders who will teach this to their flocks instead of the we are right, they are wrong.

7. Everyone has to vote! We all have to take responsibility about who we are choosing to govern our country on our behalf. The reason that the government and the politicians are doing minority appeasement, is because the vast majority doesn’t vote! So, until we have politicians who are really interested in the good of the country and who are ready to serve instead of rule, we citizens have to make our voices heard through our voting. The automatically, these power hungry people will be compelled to wield their power to serve the good of all, rather than appease the minority.

8. Whenever the media does an unfair or biased reporting about an event, we the people, should utterly flood their mail boxes and choke their telephone lines and tell them that we don’t appreciate such sensationalism in the news.

The biggest problem i think is that we don’t DO all these things that we know we should be doing. We ourselves are lazy, and we don’t want to move… and it’s always so very easy to become a victim and blame other people… All of us have it within us to stop this terror, if we only get up and start doing something about it, rather than just moaningand groaning and complaining about it…

So, breathe and meditate, get people to breathe and meditate, get people to get people to breathe and meditate, take responsibility for governance by voting and media by expressing outrage at sensationalism, involve more people into this process, educate lovingly and patiently, have zero tolerance for intolerance, stop complaints and being in victim consciousness, get up and take action.

Most importantly Pray. Prayer has the power to transform even the most rigid individual. But don’t get stuck only praying… prayer coupled with intelligent action can move the entire planet!

Sri Sri Ravishankar's closing remark in His speech at the Millennium Peace Summit at the UN in New York was: “I pray AND i take responsibility!”

ONAM

2008-09-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Onam is a festival celebrated mostly in the state of kerela in India. Basically Onam is a festival of malayalees. Onam is celebrated in honour of King Mahabali (king of asuras) who ruled kerela and that period is considered to be the best period for kerela. Mahabali was the grandson of Prahalad who was great devotee of lord Vishnu. Hence Mahabali was also a great devotee of Vishnu.

There was a war between the king of asuras and king of devas. In other words the war was between Mahabali and lord Indra and Mahabali did a special yagna to get some special weapons to fight the battle under the guidance of Guru for asuras shukracharya. With a great tussle Mahabali won the battle and defeated Indra. All the demigods were afraid because Mahabali had conquered the entire universe. Hence to avoid any problems in the future all the demigods approached Vishnu (the maintainer) to rescue them.

Mahabali made an announcement that he is ready to offer anything which a person wants from him. Mahabali itself means great sacrifices. Vishnu took an avatar of a brahmin boy and asked for bhiksha (alms) from Mahabali. Shukracharya knew that the boy was a special person and hence he advised Mahabali not to honour the promise. However Mahabali was stubborn and asked the boy what he wants. The boy said that he will take away the land which he covers with 3 steps. Mahabali agreed. The boy increased his size to a gigantic one and stepped on the earth. With the second step he covered the brahma lok(heaven). When he stepped in brahma lok, Brahma washed the feet of Vishnu and chanted the Purushasooktam. There was no place left for the boy to keep his 3rd step. Mahabali offered his head and asked the boy to keep his feet on his head and The boy pushed Mahabali in the patala and he became the king of patala. The avatar taken by Vishnu is known as vamana avatar.

However Mahabali was allowed to meet his subjects once in a year and that day is celebrated as Onam. Mahabali being a great devotee of Vishnu and having defeated the Indra was promised to become an Indra in a manvatara (the office of indra is a rotating one). In the next manvatara Mahabali is the Indra. Onam also marks the start of harvest season.

PS Manvatara is a very long period. It is defined in Rigveda. Will find out the exact mathematics of years and all

A story of Mentally challenged

2008-09-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is a painting made by a deaf and dumb boy age 9.
Some days ago I happened to visit a school for deaf, dumb and mentally challenged. The name of the school is Astitva located at Dombivli (50 kms from Mumbai). I had no answer when I was thinking why are they deaf, dumb, mentally challenged and I am normal. The only answer came to my mind was fate. I didn't do anything correct to be born the way I am and they didn't do anything wrong to be born with deficiencies.

One thing that struck me was the teachers in the school doing such a wonderful job and selflessly trying to improve the students. The difference between these teachers and teachers who teach normal students is the same which you find between a bollywood singer and a classical singer. The best part is they are so well mannered and come and hug you and stand immediately when they see you. The grown up mentally challenged students (grown up in physical age) do some work so that they can be taken care of. The worst part is if they don't perform a particular activity for couple of days they forget how the job is to be done.So there needs to be a constant demand for the materials which they make otherwise the school will not be in a position to provide work to them.

I heard from one of the teachers the true story of this mentally challenged guy. This boy has a grand mother who was ill and admitted to the hospital. The operation required huge sums of money. By god's grace the family is well to do and hence there wasn't any financial problem. This boy knew that his grand mother is admitted in the hospital and wanted to perform the operation with the help of his money. He was doing the routine work which the school authorities provide to the students. Hence, he told the authorities that he has worked and should be given money. He doesn't know what is the worth of a rupee. He was overjoyed on receiving the one rupee from the school and when he went to visit his grand mother at the hospital he told the doctor take the money and perform my grandmother's operation. He till today feels his grandmother's operation was performed with his money.

Then I realized why are these people called retards? The boy gave away 100% of his income for the grandmother's operation. If he would have been a normal human being he would never have done it or at least thought before doing it. Decide for yourself who are retards.

PS Even in accountancy giver always get the credit. Remember the golden rule for personal account- Debit the receiver Credit the giver.

Calender

2008-09-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

GIVEN A DATE,MONTH AND A YEAR; HOW TO FIND OUT THAT DAY?

Year +1/4th of year+ date + code of that month
(Year means only the last two digits of the year)
(in 1/4th of the year take only the integral part and not the decimals)

Eg: year is 1987 then take year=87
1/4th = 21

Codes Month
0 June
1 Sept and Dec
2 July and Apr
3 Jan and Oct
4 May
5 Aug
6 Feb,Mar and Nov

if the year falls between 1900 to 1999 deduct two, if the year falls btwn 2000-2099 deduct three, if the year falls between 1800 and 1899 no adjustment is required.
divide the result obtained in 1(after adjusting point no 3) by seven
note the remainder
if it is a leap year and the date is before 1st of March subtract one irrespective of the deductions mentioned in point number 3

Remainder Day
1 Sun
2 Mon
3 Tue
4 Wed
5 Thur
6 Fri
0 Sat

an Eg of the entire process:

suppose the date is 3-9-2008

Solution:

08(Year)+(1/4thof 8)+1(code of September)+3(Date)-3(Stated in point no 3)
=8+2(integral part )+1+3-3
=8+2+1+3-3
=11

when 11 is divided by 7 the remainder is 4 thus by referring to table we can say that the day is WEDNESDAY

PS Feel free to ask for any clarification. I will be more than happy to help.

R D Burman speaks about Kishore kumar

2008-08-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Today is the birthday of my friend Jeetu who happens to be a wonderful singer himself (one of my favorites). This post is dedicated to him. This is about my favorite singer and composer. Jeetu will definitely become a successful, reputed, famous singer soon.

Kishore and R.D.Burman (Pancham)

First Encounter
in R.D.'s own words...
"One day, sitting on a wall of the same studio, I saw a man wearing a muffler and cap and holding a black stick. He was imitating everyone who passed, just like a monkey. When we went into the studio the man jumped off the wall and came into the recording room. Jo jo gana gatey the unka satyanash karte hue woh khud gana gane lage. When I asked him why he was doing it he said: 'I am an orphan. Nobody looks after me. Please give me a chance'."

Amused at the recollection, R.D. gave a hearty laugh. The man on the wall was Kishore Kumar who, according to R.D., is the best male singer we have. "He is flexible. He can sing a classical song better than any of the others. I know because I've worked with all of them. He can sing a funny song or a sad song, nobody can beat him in versatility. He has never learnt any music but his ability to grasp is the secret of his success. He observes the music director and mimics.

Give him the tape
It was Pancham who generally carried S.D.Burman's (Pancham's father) spool-tape of the tune to Kishore's home. Pancham himself adopted the same technique in drawing the very best out of Kishore. S D Burman's technique was to send the spool-tape of the song to Kishore well in advance.

"There's no singer like Kishore," says Pancham, "if you send the tape of the song to him even two days before the recording. Kishore wants this tape in advance, because he doesn't just sing a song; he feels it; savours it; experiences it; before entering the music room to record it." "My best songs for Kishore," went on Pancham, "have been done this way."
"So strikingly different, in fact, was the result when I managed to send the tape to Kishore, two days in advance, that I could, here, offhand reel off the songs done this way, for me, by this my pet performer."
"I sent the tape of the tune beforehand to Kishore and he came up with O maanjhee re (in Khushboo); Zindagee ke safar mein (in Aap Ki Kasam); Raat kalee ek khwab mein aayee (in Budha Mil Gaya); Musafir hoon yaaron (in Parichay); Diye jalte hain (in Namak Haraam); and Meree bheegee bheegee see (in Anamika)."
"Plus, in my breakthrough film, Hare Rama Hare Krishna -- as a composer with a style all my own -- Kishore came up, so notably, with Dekho o deewanon."
"This without mentioning Kishore's artistry in my other two breakthrough films: Amar Prem and Kati Patang," added Pancham.
"In fact, it was with these two films that I truly discerned how much sending the tape, in advance, to Kishore meant -- as he gave matchless results in such songs of mine as Yeh kya hua and Kuchch to log kahege; Yeh jo mohabbat hai and Pyaar deewana hota hai, not forgetting Yeh shaam mastanee."

PS This is from an interview by Mr Vijay Akela, taken in Filmfare.

1 = 0.99999...............

2008-08-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

This is very interesting. Many of us know it.
1=0.9999...........
Don't worry. Everything is right about it.

For example 1/3 = 0.333333...........
ie 3 * 0.333333...... = 1 (if x/y = z, then yz = x)
ie 0.99999........ = 1 (since 3*0.3333..... = 0.9999........)

The proof goes like this
let x= 0.9999........
hence 10x = 9.9999........ (multiplying both sides by 10)
subtracting the two equations we get,
10x - x = 9.9999........ - 0.9999.........
ie 9x = 9
ie x = 1
ie 0.9999....... = 1 ( as x = 0.9999.... & x = 1)
Hence proved

PS Dont try to find any mistake in the proof because there isn't any.
Please let me know if you are interested in such posts.

Education

2008-08-23T08:47:00.001-07:00

What have we taken from education?

I am not writing the obvious things which we have got from education. The problem is I happen to see a lot of people who are termed as educated in the society but are no more than literates. The difference between literates and educated to my mind is awareness. Getting a degree ensures that you are literate. However when that literate becomes socially responsible and aware you become educated.

According to me, a graduate who litters is literate and not educated. I have seen people doing many non sense things like the one mentioned and are termed as educated by the society.

Education has given unnecessary tolerance and ignorance. How?
In a particular year there are 8 subjects and I like 3 subjects but still i need to learn the other 5 as well to clear the exam and unless you clear the exam you are assumed not to be competent in the three subjects which I like. What am I doing? I am tolerating the five subjects. When you tolerate and continue doing it a stage comes when you ignore it. In real life also we tolerate so many things and claim that we have actually accepted. This is again ignoring the difference between tolerance and acceptance. Take the example of powercuts.

Education has made us selfish. How?
In the schools we are told by teachers help others. When I actually help a student sitting next to me , he scores more than me and our system gives more importance to the progress cards than values.When I look at the progress card I say "hang on I don't get any rewards by helping others." There is no benefit in helping others and this feeling is more intense as you move higher in education ladder. One can be good by doing hard work but to be better one has to pull others down. This is what is learnt during education career and it is continued when that person goes for a job. In early 1900's people used to get educated for knowledge. Today most of the people take education to do a job. In other words the primary purpose of education is to earn and learning is ancillary.

Earn a lot !!!

2008-08-10T08:46:00.002-07:00

Earn large sums of money ethically and become socially responsible citizen. I guess people will be very interested in this post as this connects with most people. They can take pride in earning money as they are doing a job of saving the world from terrorists. People will wonder how.

If everyone starts earning more than what they are earning at this point of time, the total amount of wealth in the planet remaining fairly constant (inelastic as we call in economics), more wealth with good people means less money at the disposal of the terrorists. So the terrorists get less amount to fund their projects. Eventually the terrorists activities will reduce. Any business runs with the help of finance and terrorism is no exception.

So next time people call you materialistic be happy that you are making a contribution towards the society.

Happy birthday Kishore da

2008-08-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Today is the 79th birth anniversary of one of the most prolific singers India has ever produced. Kishore kumar was born on 4th august 1929 as Abhas kumar Ganguly in khandwa (Madhya pradesh)

Kishore kumar was introduced in the film industry by his elder brother Ashok kumar (dada muni). Ashok kumar was already an established actor in bollywood and wanted kishore kumar who was younger to him by 19 years to follow his foot steps and become an actor. However Kishore kumar was never interested in acting. If it wouldn't have been for Ashok kumar, Kishore da wouldn't have become an actor at all. Kishore Kumar always wanted to be a singer. His singing talents were first recognised by S D Burman and he got his first break from Khemchand Prakash. Kishore da used to act in films because that was an era when actors used to sing their own songs. He purposely used to act in an insane manner so that the producer will not sign him for the next film and he will only have to sing in films. Little did he know at that time he will become the first comic hero of bollywood. Kishore kumar went on to act in 98 hindi films and 5 bengali films.

Kishore da was a multi faceted personality. He had four wives. He got married to Ruma Devi from whom he has a son (Amit Kumar). O P Nayar saab gave Amit Kumar the biggest compliment he could have ever heard. O P said ''No doubt your father is a great singer but he doesnt have the gamak(Grace) that you have". After divorcing his first wife he married Madhubala in spite of knowing that she has health problems. He got converted into a Muslim to marry Madhubala. After the death of Madhubala he married Yogita Bali, who also got separated. Yogita Bali went on to marry Mithun Chakravarty. Kishore kumar stopped playing back for Mithun da.Then he married Leena Chandavarkar from whom he has a son( Sumit Kumar) who has sung in films like Deewangee( Ajay Devgan got the filmfare for the best actor in a villainous role), Naach( Abhishek Bachchan, Antra Mali, Riteish Deshmukh starrer)and Bachna aye haseeno. Kishore Kumar called his wives Bandariya as they all lived in Bandra. Kishore used to talk to plants in his free time.

Kishore Kumar never sat for rehearsals with any music directors. He agreed to rehearse with Ravindra Jain as he was moved by his compositions. Only non Rabindra Jain song for which he agreed to rehearse is ghungroo ki tarah bajta hi raha hoon main. Rafi saab used to say "No matter how much I practise this tiger Kishore will beat me". This shows the greatness of Rafi saab. Kishore da practised the song main shayar badnaam only 3 times before he actually recorded it in 1 take.

Kishore had a great base voice and could sing any song with same class and grace. The emotions of the song were understood by him to perfection. His voice perfectly suited Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan among other actors.He was about to leave Hindi film industry and go back to Khandwa in 1968 just before Aradhana was about to be made. R D said wait for this film to release S D Burman is working on some great compositions. S D Burman composed the songs and then due to health problems couldn't continue with Music arrangements. R D Burman arranged the songs. Only the song Kora Kagaz tha ye mann mera was recorded by Kishore da and all other songs were recorded in Rafi saab's voice. R D Burman re recorded Roop Tera Mastana and Mere sapnon ki rani in Kishore da's voice and he got the first of his 8 FilmFare awards for Roop Tera Mastana. Had he left Bollywood that time we would have lost some of the beautiful songs like Chingari Koi Bhadke which is a Bhairavi Raga based song only Kishore da can sing with such emotions. Yaadon ki Baraat, Tum Agaye ho, Tere Bina Zindagi, Is mod se jaate hain, Humein tumse pyar, sagar kinare & many more.

The best part of Kishore da songs is Madhuban mein Radhika is a typical Rafi saab + Naushad saab song
Mera saaya is a typical Lata ji + Madan Mohan ji song
Deewana hua baadal is a typical Rafi saab + O P Nayar song
All songs of Kishore da are Kishore Kumar songs. Listen to Aa chal ke tujhe you will understand what a great lyricist he was! We admire a lot of harkats in singing that we forget the fact that straight notes are not easy but they are effective in communicating to the listeners. Ask any of the upcoming singers who understand music how difficult are the straight notes of Om Shanti Om from Karz. Many people feel that Kishore da could not sing Pure Classical songs, I suggest them to listen to Mere Naina Saawan bhado ( a semi classical number), Payalwali dekhna(composition by Chiragupt ji), Amar deep nibhano raat( a Bengali classical number). Hearing to Amar deep seems to be hearing to a classical singer like Manna da. Listen to the falseto to the normal voice modulation in the song Na koi dil mein samay from Aa gale lag jaa. Especially the Antra of the song is mind blowing. The Bengali version of the song is sung by R D Burman from which Kishore da learnt. This proves the mettle of Kishore da as a versatile singer.

Kishore da has been an inspiration to many singers like Kumar sanu, Abhijeet, Shaan and many more. This is a small tribute from one of his million fans to the one and only Kishore da on his brithday.

Kishore da will always be alive among us through his voice.

Inspirational

2008-07-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore.
You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?
Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me)
Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, "God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky."
Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.
Childhood in a village
I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying.
Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!
Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.
I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!
I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!
January 11, 1993, the fateful day
On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door.
It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs.
The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.
First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do?
In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.
I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.
Life without legs
I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits. The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!
All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.
God's hand
I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school.
If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.
My sister, my friend
When the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.
She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.
She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.
My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.
Inspiration
I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.
When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600.
Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.
Moving to a residential school
Living in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.
There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad.
They are such wonderful supportive parents.
Life at IIT- Madras
Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.
Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras.
He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.
I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.

Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.
Joining Google R&D
I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.
Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.
I am lucky
Do you know why I say I am lucky?
I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.
I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster.
One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras, my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.
Surprise awaited me at IIT
After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge.
I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good.
Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute.
My life changed after that. I felt free and independent.
That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.
The world is full of good people
I also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too.

PS I am thankful to Jyothi for her contribution. Its acctually her post under my name

why 108?

2008-07-31T11:03:00.001-07:00

We chant a lot of mantras 108 times. What is the significance of this number?

There are nine planets ( traditionally) and these nine planets move around 12 constellations. Hence each count for each planetary movement.Thus each time the mantra is chanted the bad effects( if any ) of that planetary movement is nullified and good effects are multiplied.

The logic is 12 into 9 = 108!!!

Please don't ask me why 1008? I don't know.

Respect the Terrorists

2008-07-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am in no way supporting what the terrorists do. They are absolutely wrong in what they are up to.

I have lot of respect for the terrorists. Before you conclude anything let me make myself clear. There are many things to learn for us from them.The planning which goes in when they decide to attack a particular place, the execution is perfect. No body says ''sorry I cant plant an explosive I have some commitments, I am unwell, etc.

If we can bring the same level of commitment and dedication we can make wonders. Also they show us the right path at the cost of their lives.How do they show us the right path?Everybody knows they are on the wrong path. Hence we know we are not on the wrong path, ie we are on the right path. They exist and hence we are differentiated as peaceful people. Without terrorists people will not understand the importance of people like us who like peace in the same way that rich people exist because there are people who are poor.

Happiness

2008-07-27T12:14:00.001-07:00

Happiness doesn't depend upon the situation but on the state of mind of the individual. Even in happy times we will be sad or stressed, in difficult times also we can be happy. Let me give an example-

People often throw a party. The host is never happy because he has to think how many people are coming, are the arrangements proper, have I invited all the important people,etc. In other words the atmosphere is of happiness but the host is unhappy.

Similarly think of the floods situation, the NGO people who provide aid are very happy to be in the flooded areas so that they can reach the people and provide help to them. Even in those difficult situations the volunteers are happy who help the victims.

Even in difficult situations, if you are serving others you are happy. Be happy serve others.
Service to mankind is Service to God

Sacrifice

2008-07-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

I was thinking for few days Does sacrifice actually happen? As far as I am concerned sacrifice rarely exist. Being a Chess player, it was always a big deal if a player sacrificed one of his pieces. However, all the players sacrificed their piece to gain an advantage and eventually win. I have not come across a single sacrifice in a chess game with an intention to lose ( of course you do lose if the sacrifice goes hay wire).

According to me sacrifice is only from people's point of view. The person who actually is sacrificing does it because he is indifferent about that particular thing which he sacrifices. For Example the people who leave all the materialistic things and do philanthropic work. It is a sacrifice for all others but may not be for the person who actually did it. May be that person was never interested in materialistic things and wanted to involve himself in philanthropy. How can this be a sacrifice for him?

Sacrifice can only happen of the things which are near to you and you love them to the core. I cannot say I sacrificed playing Golf for my career because I was never passionate about golf. I think sacrifice is a very loosely used word. Its a kind of short term pain for long term gain. For me giving up something for your own benefit is not sacrifice. However when the same thing is given up for society's, people's benefit, its sacrifice in true sense.

Passion

2008-07-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

People have passion of any thing and every thing. I have seen people crazy for cars,songs (a particular genre). I always felt I lack the passion like what many people have for a particular thing that they get engrossed and forget the world around them. It was only off late I realized that to increase the horizon of knowledge one needs to be dispassionate. Passion doesn't take us anywhere instead makes us stuck into a particular thing. We lose on so many things around us because of passion.

Whenever there is abundance there is dispassion
Whenever there is dispassion everything comes in abundance.

So be happy next time when you think you lack the passion which xyz person has.

Kishore Kumar da - My Favourite singer

2008-07-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

Kishore da is one of the greatest bollywood singer our country has ever seen. He was a singer,actor,music director,lyricist,director,producer,etc.......... He had a great strong voice beautiful voice modulations which suited any actor he sang as a playback singer.He was not a trained singer but followed K L Saigal and modeled his style of singing similar to Saigal saab. He is one of the members of sixty most influential Indians. Who can ever forget the yodeling in songs like zindagi ek safar hain suhana, main hoon jhum jhum jhum jhum jhumroo. Kishore da used to call it as a gala tod kaam (breaking your voice).

Some facts about his songs
1 Mere naina saawan bhaado (R D Burman , Movie : Mehbooba)
Burman da asked kishore da to sing this semi classical song. Kishore da refused to sing asking RD to record the song from the legendery Lata ji.Lata mangeshkar obliged. After recording the song, R D Burman told kishore da ye shivranjani raag hain (this song is based on a raag named shivranjani).Kishore da replied raag ki aisi ki taisi(do hell with the raag) "Give me a cassette I will by heart the song". He practised the song for a week and everyone knows how big a hit the song is.

2 O majhi re (R D Burman, Movie : Kushboo)
The feel of the song is unmatched. When this song was being recorded, R D burman was crying and beating his hand on the wall with the disbelief how can kishore da sing with so much emotions

3 Humein tumse pyar kitna (R D Burman, Movie : Kudrat)
This song was first recorded in kishore kumar's voice. R D requested Lata ji to record the female version of the song. On hearing the song she said there cant be a better rendition of the song than the one sung by kishore da, only thing that can be done is this song can be made different.Hence the female version sung by Parveen Sultana is a classical based.

4 Aake seedhi lagi (Salil Chaudhary Movie : Half Ticket)
When kishore da arrived for the recording of this song, Salil da said Lata ji is not coming so we have to cancel the recording. Kishore da said doesnt matter i will sing the female parts of the song also. Salil da thought kishore da was kidding but kishore da meant business. When Salil da heard him sing the female part, he immediately recorded the song

KISHORE ... FONDLY REMEMBERED

NAUSHAD ALI
There was always a special place in my heart for Kishore, for whenever we met, he used to tell me, "I have but one corn. plaint against you, I have sung only once under your baton, so please do compose a song for me. Today he is no longer with us: I feel sad that I was unable to fulfill his desire.

KHAYYAM
Indian playback singing has been deprived of a powerful voice.

LAXMIKANT
Indian playback singing has lost one of its foremost entertainers.

ASHA BHONSLE
The film industry has lost its heart and soul. In fact, it was only a day before his untimely death that we had worked to, get her for a song. It was a seven hour session that I shall never be able to forget

RAVINDRA JAIN
A giant has passed away, and the last song he recorded was also ominous, 'Yeh jeevan hai sukh dukh - ka sangam, dukh ziyada, aur sukh kam'.

HEMANT KUMAR
We shall all miss him very much

ANU MALIK
I can't think of words to describe this grievous loss to the world of music. I am deeply shocked and hurt. Under my baton, Kishore-da and Manmohan Desaiji had come together once again, Kishore-da had sung for Manmohanji for his films 'Toofan'. and' Ganga Jamuna Saraswati'_ Though we will miss him, memories for him will linger forever through his voice and films.

KALYANJI-ANANDJI
The shock is too sudden and too deep to even react to it. We are numbed by Kishore's death.

KAVITA KRISHNAMURTY SUBRAMANIAN
It's difficult to believe that Life is now dead.

USHA KHANNA
I am not speaking for myself alone, the entire music community and the film world will miss Kishore Kumar.

MOHAMMED AZIZ
Though I have modelled my voice on Mohammed Rafi sahab, I have always had a deep rooted admiration for Kishore Sahab. He was like a father figure to all of us newcomers, and lent a helping hand to all of us.

PS It will be too big a post if I continue writing about my favorite kishore da- Guru

Law of Averages

2008-07-13T12:16:00.001-07:00

Before I begin just in case you are wondering what is law of averages - According to this simple law a streak of good things is soon to get converted into a bad encounter and vice versa.

I was just thinking today how much the law of averages apply in real life. I know this simple law for some long time now. Every time I think of the Australian Cricket Team losing a cricket match observing that it has won for quite a long time, it never loses (I know off late India has beaten them is ODI series finals)

There are instances where I have thought of Federer losing a Tennis match due to the application of this law, he has in fact lost.However the law of averages do prove their existence once in a blue moon.

To be frank I have experienced the law of averages quite a few times in my short span of life.The fact remains I believe in the law.I think the law applies to me because I believe in it and it doesn't happen to Australian Cricket Team,Federer,etc may be because they don't believe in the law

The belief is what makes the thing happen.