Raavan has three songs with words which repeating words...
Kata Kata sung by Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi and Kunal Ganjawala... This song has a lot of words which are sung in repetition! Gaya Gaya, Mara Mara, Dulhe Miyaan Dulhe Miyaan and so on!
Ranjha Ranjha sung by Rekha Bhardwaj, Javed Ali and Anuradha Sriram... I love the feel of this song!
finally
Beera Beera sung by Vijay Prakash, Mustafa Kutoane, and Keerthi Sagathia... It sounds really nice the way Beera Beera sequence sounds... and some of the lyrics also catch attention! Somehow it reminds me of the title track of Omkara, Dham Dham Dhadam Dhadaiyya re!
All these songs shout out loud of the typical AR Rahman flavor of music! Crisp highs, and deep lows! In my personal opinion, ordinary music systems do not do justice to his music!
Now why are the words being repeated?
My take... this is Raavan's soundtrack! and has to justify the fact that Raavan had 10 heads! all of them singing would mean the same word is to be repeated! As a matter of fact, Beera is repeated 10 times when the song starts :)
Alright I am just kidding about the repetition of Beera 10 times, but thanks if you tried to sing the song in your head and count the number of times it was repeated!
I have been a Raavan fan for a while now, and have some thoughts about how his presence in the modern day could be beneficial to us! (this is assuming he carries all his 10 heads together)
Now some people could argue that 10 heads were symbolic and share their accurate knowledge about Raavan or Raavana, but hey! We are not in a "know more about Raavan" lecture are we?
I feel angry, and I feel frustrated, and I feel restless and ...
then I hear something that makes me forget everything!!!!
Irrespective of how much hatred I have about Pakistan and what it does, I cannot stop admiring some people that I know from there, and the music that originates from it! Also I just cannot stop thinking that in the past, it has been a part of India only and the two countries share so much of history. No I am not a advocate of peace, and I firmly believe that if someone slaps you in the face, you should take his hand off, and while I cannot stop myself from getting frustrated about everything, there is little I can do to change the situation.
At times like this, I usually find something that balances my anger with admiration and respect. Arieb Azhar is a Pakistani Artist, who has rendered this Kafi written by Khwaja Ghulam Farid in a way that it can reach your heart if you open up to it. A Kafi is a form of Sufi classical poetry, and needless to say, has the amazing element of romance which I do not find anywhere else!!! Sufi poets have always treated God as someone they are in love with, and have wondered about the beauty of God through the soul touching words they left behind!
Enough of text now! enjoy Husn e Haqiqi !!!
If you'd like the mp3 of this video, write to me with your email address and I shall send it to you. I am reachable @ prashanbhardwaj [at] gmail
Husn e Haqiqi :
Aye husn haqiqi noor-e-azal tanuu wajib tay imkan kahoon
tanuu khaliq zaat qadeem kahoon tanuu hadis khalq jahan kahoon tanu mutlaq mahaz wajood kahoon tanuu almiaa ayaan kahoon
tanuu dsurat lejman ram kahoon tanuu seeta ji janan kahoon baldev ja souta nand kahoon tanuu kishn kahenaya kan kahoon
tanuu bhrama vishn ghanish kahoon mahadev kahoon, bahgwan kahoon tanuu geet granth te ved kahoon tanuu gyann kahoon agyan kahoon
tanuu ibrahim hawahishees kahoon tanuu nooh kahoon toofan kahoon tanuu ibrahim khalil kahoon tanuu moosa bin imran kahoon tanuu har dil da dildar kahoon tanuu ahmad aali shaan kahoon
tanuu shahid malk hijaz kahoon tanuu baies kaun makaan kahoon tanuu nazz kahoon andaaz kahoon tanuu hoor pari walmaan kahoon
tanuu nauog kahoon tanuu toug kahoon tanuu surkhee bedaaa paan kahoon tanuu tabla tay tamboor kahoon tanuu dholak sur tay tan kahoon
tanuu husn-te har singhar kahoon tanuu ashawa ghamza aan kahoon tanuu ishq kahoon tanuu illam kahoon tanuu waham yakin gumaan kahoon
Some songs have the capability to make you shut up and listen.... this I feel is one of those songs...
आरम्भ है प्रचंड बोलें मस्तकों के झुंड आज ज़ंग की घड़ी की तुम गुहार दो
आन बान शान या के जान का हो दान आज एक धनुष के बाण पे उतार दो
I have always liked Piyush Mishra as an actor... his screen presence, his dialogue delivery and most importantly his voice... There is something about it that I notice and I like !
Gulal has a few songs that Piyush Mishra has brilliantly sung, and he has done such a wonderful job with his lyrics, and music... One of the strongest lyrics and music of recent times... Hats off to him... Most of these NSD guys have brought so much to the Indian Cinema, but they are so under rated... anyway !!!
Another song that I "listen" to is "Raat ke Musafir" by Rahul Ram... I have always loved his voice, and way this song has been rendered with minimum music... just the acoustic guitar and Rahul's incredible voice... sheer Brilliance !!!
मुकाम खोज ले तू मकान खोज ले तू इंसान के शहर में इंसान खोज ले तू
देख तेरी ठोकर से रास्ते का वो पत्थर माथे पे तेरे लग जाये न उचल के
ओ रात के मुसाफिर तू भागना संभल के !
Here are the two songs which I have mentioned above, in case you have not heard them yet!
This song is set up in an environment of College Elections and brought back memories of the DU elections... There used to be so much at stake in this youth elections and being a part of them was an amazing experience! All is fair in love and war and "elections" was the motto I guess !
And here is Raat Ke Musafir:
And While you are at it, why not see/hear some more of Piyush Mishra... This reminds me so much of the Street Play times. I wonder where would I be if I had continued with my love of theater.
I have been thinking of writing about this for a while now... just could not start but today when I was responding to some comments on flickr for a recent photograph I realised that I need to write about what music means to me...
I am very fond of Indian bollywood music, but not from the current times... more from the times of Mohd. Rafi, Manna Dey, Kishor Da... not sure if I like Mukesh as much as the other three... my favorite has to be Manna Dey.. some of his songs like Aayo kahan se Ghanshyaam, Phool Gendwa na Maaro, Chalat Musafir Moh liya re, Dil ka Haal Sune Dilwala are always on the top of my lists... Kishor Da in my opinion can be worshiped for what he was as a musician.. I don't think someone like him will ever be born again... And Rafi Sahab... well.. the simplicity in his voice and the flow of his songs is something that makes it sound like water flowing in a mountain stream...
And then the songs with Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, and likes from the 70s and 80s... the favorites of the re-mixers...
And songs from movies like Chitchor, Rajnigandha, Gharonda, and likes...
From the last decade or so, I listen to Fusion and Sufi the most with my favorites being Indian Ocean, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahab, Abida Parveen, Shubha Mudgal, Kailash Kher and so on... I can listen to songs like Jhini, Khajuraho, Ma Rewa, Des Mera, Dama Dum Mast Kalandar, Tune Deewana Banaya to, Ab ke Saawan, Bam Badam, Teri Deewani, again and again and again...
The bollywood music of these days, I feel, does not come with age to it... you listen to it for a few days, weeks, maybe months and then you stop... Metro was amazing, Jhankaar Beats was beautiful, Dilli 6, Rules, Bombay, Roza, and the list can go on and on and on... some of them would randomly play on the ipod and bring a smile to my face !
With a lot of new bollywood music, I would like to dance... numbers from Oye Lucky, Race, Omkara, and a few more... Bhangra and Chichora music to be specific :P
Angrezi... I like to stick to the ones I like there too... Bon Jovi, Bryan Baba, Aerosmith, GnR, Boney M :), Micheal Jackson. Shania Twain, Celine Dion, U2, UB40 to name a few... and in the recent times, Green Day and Smash Mouth... Mostly I feel good with the movie sound tracks and Grammy Nominees... Ice Age, Shrek, KungFu Panda, Lion King, Madagascar (mostly animation I guess)
and then pure music... my favorites, Percussion... Dholak and Tabla come first... huge respects to Ustad Allahrakha, and his two awesomely talented sons Ustad Zakir Hussain and Taufiq Qureshi.. I wonder if there is someone today who makes the Tabla sound as good as Ustad Zakir Husain... Taufiq is more about percussion and including playing his own mouth ! Shivmani is another artist who gets so much respect... Not to forget artists like Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasiya... they make the world of music complete for me !
And how can I not mention the Bagpiper Drums Scottish Combo of Clanadonia here... they are the best !!!!
I used to play the keyboards myself when I was doing my graduation and I was not too bad either... but with time and the pressure of getting into a job, and earn money took away the time and dedication I had for theater and music... and today all I manage is listen and watch and appreciate... being on the stage a number of times and in the front row too, has helped me see and feel both sides of the music coin... Its magical to know how to play something and then play it well... its an experience that NOTHING else in the world comes closer too... and that is why when I see/hear a good performance I feel heavy in my heart and usually have wet eyes... I get overwhelmed !!!
Had not really planned this long a post, and I am sure I might have missed something that I like about music ! anyway... now that you have managed to read so much (or you just cheated and came down to this line) enjoy some of the photographs of people in a world different from ours !
Kailash Kher in concert in Infosys Campus, Bangalore
A local band in Camden Town, London who play covers for most popular numbers and are really good with it... the third photograph is an old couple who thoroughly enjoyed their music and danced like there was no tomorrow... and were amazingly fantastic as well...
Lead drummer of the Scottish Band Clanadonia... Not seen or heard anything this powerful EVER... and his energy at his age was unbelievable. Took this picture during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland
Goga Singh at Jyotisar Temple, Kurukshetra, Haryana... He comes daily to the temple to sing Bhajans and has God in his voice... the interesting thing about his singing is that he sings at one corner on the pond at the temple complex into the water, and his voice resonates in the entire temple complex in a way that it seems there is music in the air... you cannot really figure out where the sound is coming from... Makes it a magical experience.. Papa had requested him to sing a Bhajan for us when we went there... I took his picture when he was singing Papa's request...
An old man enjoying his music in the town of Crawley, near Gatwick, UK
The latest of all musical photographs... a Violinist at the Grand Avenue Mall, Downtown Milwaukee... which triggered this post
and can I dare to forget mentioning Radha when I talk about music? :) Seen here are Radha, Aro and my german friend Martina somewhere between Chamba and Dhanaulti, Uttarakhand... Mostly my music (when I am home) is experienced with Radha and that makes her most important person of my musical life :)
Have a happy weekend everyone !!! Will see you around !
And I found the performance that I had seen in Edinburgh on Youtube (Went into that hour while seeing this)... The sound is not excellent but you cannot miss the energy !!! I don't have words to explain what if felt like, listening to this live !
Since childhood, I remember mom chanting Sanskrit shloks in the morning, and Pa chanting them during his meditation in the morning and evening..
I think the love for the word (ॐ) OM comes from Papa's chanting of it, and the environment it creates at home every time I hear it from him, in addition to one out of body experience I cannot forget EVER.
Also since a very very long time, I have found peace in listening to Sanskrit in the form of chants, and one of my favorite happens to be the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra...
I am not a very religious person, but I have a very very strong faith in something which is beyond me or anyone I know... I can call him Uncle God for the lack of a better word at this point of time, though Mom Dad, are also very apt words in case you are not too keen on using the God word :)
Coming back to this Shlok, I feel at a lot of peace when I hear it, and a few more which I might talk about in some of the later posts ! It is apparently one of the most powerful as well as per the learned. And then when I chant with it, I speak Sanskrit, which happens to be my most favorite language !
Some information about it below from Wiki . In case you are interested in buying the CD with it, please do not buy anything other than TIMES music. It has been rendered beautifully in that album. or ask me for the mp3, I can send it to you.
You can tell a lot about the music the person is listening through headphones, even though you are not listening to it..
1. If the person is moving the head sideways, back and forth, (s)he is probably listening to some Indian Classical or something based on Rags...
2. If the head is moving up and down, slowly, then its probably some pop rock or a light peppy number
3. If the head moves up and down, faster, and the hands/fingers move as if the person is playing a guitar or drums, then its probably some rock rock... a bit harder than soft and softer than hard !
4. If the person's body is moving and the legs are tapping the floor, its probably a dance number...
5. If the person is doing something other than listening to music, it is probably just a random selection of music and a ligh volume
What else?
I am really missing the green room below the stage in my collage today! For some reason I am thinking of all the wonderful hours I have spent there !!!
Worldspace today filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, under which they would either sell the company or do some re-org !
The satellite radio service never really picked up in India anyway! We are not really game for paying a monthly subscription for music, specially when there is so much available for free !
Having said that, some of the channels over Worldspace are too unbelievably fantastic, the Hindi classics, the rock, the dance music ! But there is a whole lot of junk as well in the 40 channels they were offering. I hope with time, we can pick and choose and play the channels and pay only for the usage instead of paying a fixed subsription. And not to forget mobile satellite reception for music, instead of the bigger fixed boxes !
I have about 30 pictures from my Utah trip uploaded already to a draft post and I was going to write about it tonight, but I just happened to "Rock On"...
Farhan Bhai, aap mahaan ho !!!
Very natural on the screen, and phenomenal on the vocals (though I heard him shaking a lot in the live version of a song from the soundtrack, making me feel that his voice has been digitized)... but still boss, 10 on 10 for you !!!
Arjun Rampal looks good... fits in just where he should be !!!
The cast of the movie looked very carefully chosen... Can I miss talking about the fantastic score by Shankar Ehsaan Loy... one of the finest percussion and strings that I have heard in long time now !!! The way they have used Lead in their music is mind blowing... I am sure I am going to love listening to it full blow with Radha, as soon as I am back... Honestly speaking the lyrics are not really needed at places, because they just go in a different tangent for me.. for example the Song Zehreele... I heard it twice... and the second time, I was only listening to the music... What amazing music !!!! and ditto with Pichle Saath Dino Mein... there are parts of the song, where the vocals interfere with the music and I don't like it, because the vocals are good and so is the music, just were just not going together !
Now I have to look for Du Hast and listen to it soon... ask me for this song if you have not heard it yet !!! but make sure you have good speakers if you are listening to it !!!
Brilliant vocals and acoustics on Phir Dekhiye... and not to miss the lovely piano !!!
I really liked the movie too and it reminded me of my days in college, the green room, the band Nakshatra, the numerous rounds of Sweet Child of Mine, the rock remixes of Altaf Raja, the amazing guitar Solos of Rahut Patrick (The simplest and the best, rather simply the best guitarist I have met), joining Nimisha for her English Solo Competitions, hearing the band practice and just being there enjoying the music, that trip to Pilani with Ankur and Pradeep where we sat in the rock competition and concert for 13 straight hours....
I am not sure if I was watching the movie, or living my college days again in those two something hours of the movie...
Ah !!!!
What a feeling !!! I Yum Loooving Eet !!!
*now listening to Session - Linkin Park !!! yummy !!!
A friend of mine asked me a few days back, if I had ever felt weightless ! I said yes ! Though that does not happen more often these days, however everytime I listen to the music with the handle you see below, it just lifts me up :) and the mood alongwith !
And something that I am listening to these days :
Well I started out down a dirty road Started out all alone And the sun went down as I crossed the hill The town lit up the world got still
Im learning to fly but I aint got wings Comin down is the hardest thing
Well the good old days may not return And the rocks might melt, and the sea may burn
Im learning to fly but I aint got wings Comin down is the hardest thing
Well some say life will beat you down Break your heart, steal your crown So I started out for God kno ws where But I guess Ill know when I get there
Im learning to fly around the clouds But what goes up must come down
Im learning to fly but I aint got wings Comin down is the hardest thing Im learning to fly around the clouds But what goes up must come down
Im learning to fly Im learning to fly
A beautifully written, sung and videographed song by Tom Petty... Check it out here.
I think the FM channels in this city of Minneapolis are fantastic.... whatever I have heard so far at various hours of the day has been amazing.... I need to get a FM Receiver...
Amazing music !!! Love it !!!
And I bought myself a 1:87 replica of the 1958 Porsche Speedster, the car from Top Gun, one of the BEST movies EVER made !!! And not many songs come close to The Top Gun Theme !!! The music that melts my heart just right !
And what on earth is an Organic Bra !!! I have heard of Organic Tomatoes, Organic Potatoes, Organic Juice, Organic Tea, but this is taking the organic fever too far !!!
If i was a flower growing wild and free All I’d want is you to be my sweet honey bee. And if i was a tree growing tall and green All I’d want is you to shade me and be my leaves
If you were a river in the mountains tall, The rumble of your water would be my call. If you were the winter, i know I’d be the snow Just as long as you were with me, let the cold winds blow
If you were a wink, I’d be a nod If you were a seed, well I’d be a pod. If you were the floor, I’d wanna be the rug And if you were a kiss, i know I’d be a hug
If you were the wood, I’d be the fire. If you were the love, I’d be the desire. If you were a castle, I’d be your moat, And if you were an ocean, I’d learn to float.
All i want is you, will you be my bride Take me by the hand and stand by my side All i want is you, will you stay with me? Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.
I have been thinking for a while, that life is missing something called Simplicity... and then I was reintroduced to it, thanks to the soundtrack of Juno....
Juno is a movie about how a teenage girl deals with pregnancy... a very well made movie and worth a watch....
What this post started with, is a song from the movie that I had been searching for a while now... "All I want is you..." by Barry Louis Parker... while most of the songs from the movie are beautiful, simple and easy on your heart and ears... another one that I particularly liked was "Tire Swing" by Kimya Dawson... In case you are fond of acoustic guitars, please find time to listen to So Nice So Smart by Kimya Dawson again... very nicely executed chords on the acoustics... I am really happy to have the entire soundtrack with me today... listening to it is really making me feel nice :)
I think you should also hear these songs by clicking
When you are listening to some songs, the ones that I mentioned in one of my previous posts, in addition to the simplistic lyrics, the basic instruments like the dholak, harmonium etc, its the filler lines lines like the two above that give them the perfect mood !!!
Have been listening to Dekhta hai tu kya for a couple of days now, and I still love it... Super energy, and fun !!!
Pity that I am not with a group of friends dancing on this number ! soon... sometime soon...
I have this thing for the songs that are labeled as "Chichora" songs... and the latest addition to the list is...
Billo Raani! Kaho to Abhi jaan De doon...
I hear it almost every morning on 9Xm or radio... and today I asked Tushar to download it and send it to me too... so I can listen to it after any hot pursuit of some people in the office, or a call where i had to speak a lot, or just like that...
The list is endless... but the ones that I can remember right now are...
Nain Lad Jai Hain to Manwa ma Kasak hoi be kari...
Mere Pairon mein ghungroo bandha de, phir meri chaal dekh le...
Sapne mein milti hai...Aye Ganpat...
Bidi...
Namak...
Every time I think of a song like this, I can effortlessly imagine myself dancing away to glory on the song :) hehehe... its super duper funn...
I can' think of many right now... Can you? Please share... let me make a collection, an exclusive one !!
and look at the irony... I am currently listening to a Jugalbandi with Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya :) Raag Kirwani... lovely !!! Some additions to the list thanks to the Chai ki Dukaan'ers..
Aai meri meri zohra zaheeb.... phurkate gam mita ja !!! jumme raat hai ;) aaja !!!
My first visit to a 5 star hotel's restaurant in Central London... Called the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.
Amazing service for two reasons...
Thats how it is in the Park
and it was the Pastry Chef's birthday
So we ordered our starters and the main course...
In addition to the Chinese Spring Rolls, The French Asparagus Salad, The Thai PakThai, The Indonesian Nasi Goreng which we ordered, kitchen made some "not on the menu" dishes only for us... The Arabic Pita Bread with Humus, and the Chinese Dimsums... very interesting food this was...
And I was asking Abhishek to tell me the best dessert in his kitchen, and when we checked for desserts we were told that we cannot order it because the kitchen had prepared something for us... again not on the menu... So we had something made of Hazelnut cream, black berries, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, and choux... suppa duppa...
Thanked the people around for the amazing dinner and then walked to Piccadilly for my so far favorite club in London, the Strawberry Moons... the inhouse DJ plays amazing music and even with my very limited knowledge of songs I enjoyed the beats that make you move... and to add to icing on the cake, he played Summer of '69, Jump, You Give Love a Bad Name, Wake me up before you go, Grease and a few more that I knew...
and now time for the highlight of the night... Picture this..
A platform for pole dance...
lovely young women dancing there (no these were not performers, these were the guests at the club who could do their 30 seconds or minutes to fame)
and my friend Abhishek decides to enjoy his birthday doing some pole dance with a girl there... comes down of there after 15 minutes and then is dragged up again by a blonde who literally takes all his clothes off doing the pole dance with him... So my dear friend cheers the crown up with some topless dancing for sometime and becomes an instant celebrity !!! This should be good for a birthday :D
And we left only when the music stopped which would have been around 0300 hrs...
this does not look like and end to the post... :) its not... the weekend is still on... two more days to go... lets see whats happening... It might just be like all the other weekends... Ghar, Movie, TV Food and a relaxed time....
Have some nice lyrics that make sense, add a nice folk flow with music in it, garnish it with a dhol, dholak, tabla, harmonium, a few more simple instruments.. and what you have is the song that I mention below...
I had heard it sometime back on TV and then forgot about it completely before a friend mentioned it to me generally today and i downloaded it....
Now these are my options:
1. Close my eyes, listen to this song and think about the amazing street plays that I used to be a part of in one for or the other, scripting, direction or just acting... this has so much of that sing together feeling with a message...
2. Close my eyes, listen to this song, and think about how it would be dance to this number... what free flow of music this song is.. and I can effortlessly think of enjoying my dance on it...
3. Close my eyes, and just listen to this song... like I have been doing for a while now...
4. Keep my eyes open for a change, and read the lyrics while the song is playing...
Ever wondered why we usually like to close our eyes when we are really enjoying something... is it a way to disconnect from the actual visuals and have a visual that we want to see in our brain? How do we see what are we thinking of? Is this the eyes that see it? Does a movie play on the eye lids?
Its strange how my eyes can see whats running up in the brain !!! God Uncle, you are great !!!
Enjoy the lyrics below... and if possible do listen to this song... and sing along too... if possible write the lyrics down... and sing-a-long loud together with friends... I can assure this is an awesome song to enjoy with friends !!!
क्यूँ खोये खोये चाँद की फिराक मे तलाश मे उदास है दिल क्यूँ अपने आप से खफा खफा ज़रा ज़रा सा नाराज़ है दिल
यह मंजिली भी खुद ही तै करें यह फासले भी खुद ही तै करें क्यूँ तो रास्तों पे फिर सेहेम सेहेम संभल संभल के चलता है यह दिल
क्यूँ खोये खोये चंद की फिराक मे तलाश मे उदास है दिल
ज़िंदगी सवालो के जवाब ढूँढने चली जवाब मे सवालों की एक लंबी सी लड़ी मिली सावल ही सावल है सूझती नही गली की आज हाथ थाम लो एक हाथ की कमी खली
If I had to think about one album that I could listen to over and over again, without thinking of forwarding the songs that has to be KANDISA, by Indian Ocean...
Needless to mention, I am in love with the way the music and the lyrics flow in every single song... and the vocals are fantastic... Another song that I love to love is the title song from the album Jhini... love the folk touch with the guitar and the percussion... for me music does not get better than this...
Nothing in my list of albums that I want to hear a million times beats Kandisa.
And I noticed something today... you can go to the official website of the band and download the MP3s from there itself...
Scene 1 : One of the finest Indian restaurants in London, Mela, Shaftbury's Avenue.... amazing food and mango lassi...
Scene 2: The Jubilee Line Tube and the person, a firangi, next to me sitting listening to some music...
If were wondering why the above two are mentioned together is because there was something common in the two scenes..
No points for guessing, if you are a close friend of mine, that it was my "favorite" Himesh Reshamiya... with aapka suroor in scene one and jhalak dikhlaja in scene 2...
This guy would not leave me like this... aargh !!!
