Of Friends & Friendship

We have just celebrated Friendship Day. Friend and friendship have had different meaning for us at various stages of life. As children, we had our playmates as friends. In school , we found some classmates to strike a friendship with. The friend as often described in an essay on “ My Best Friend” used to be a paragon of virtue – a brilliant student , an excellent sportsperson , born of rich parents but very humane and down to earth, without any airs, respectful and obedient etc etc. In later years, pursuing our career and vocation, may be we found some kindred souls , who fitted in the definition of a friend. In school we were told and made to write a story “ Two Friends and the Bear ” , which bore the moral: “ A friend in need is a friend indeed” & “ Do not trust a selfish friend ” - the latter purported to have been whispered by the bear in to the ear of the friend feigning death , so that the bear would leave him unharmed.

Man being a social animal has always craved for company and companionship which with some further bonding develops into friend ship.

We have had movies like ‘Jagriti’ and ‘Dosti’ eulogizing true friendship

Francis Bacon in his essay “ Of Friendship” has waxed eloquent on the need for friends and friendship, as an essential human trait and has minced no words to drive home his point.

Once , the outgoing Chairman of an institution , where I had a stint , in his farewell address advised the staff to live and be like friends and not like brothers -as he put it – as there is always a possibility of brothers falling out over matters.

I can safely vouch for the friends and friendship made in the school/college days as being true as in later years, it is not friendship but more of a symbiotic relationship , meaning, you rub my back and I will rub yours- implying that there is some give & take involved , though there are exceptions to this rule also.

One has to be wary while choosing friends so as not to regret later like the poet who wrote :

“ Huey tum dost jiske dushman uska aasmaan kyon Ho” !

Of Gurus and Ustaads

The other day I watched a recording of an old programme on DD Bharati, featuring Prakash Kaur, a noted Punjabi singer and the elder sister of Surinder Kaur , another singing genius . The singer, when asked about the first remuneration she received as a professional singer, told that it was an amount of Rs. Five and she had given this to her Ustaad as an offering. The Ustaad , obviously moved by this honour , in his turn , told every body about this .

Years ago, while in school, I read a book – The Untold Story – by Lt.Gen. B .M . Kaul, in which , he had showered praise and expressed his gratitude to one of his teachers- himself making both ends meet with difficulty - for giving him a hundred rupee note, signed by him , wishing him good luck. .

Both these incidents present Gurus or teachers or Ustaads in full glow and glory.

In sharp contrast, is the incident of Eklavya , whom Dronacharya had refused to take as a disciple and , who by dint of sheer grit and determination himself practised and mastered archery , keeping alongside a small statue of Dronacharya , made of straw treating and revering it as a Guru.

It is common knowledge that seeing in Eklavya , a possible threat to number one position that his favourite disciple Arjun enjoyed in archery, Dronacharya had demanded Eklavya’s thumb as guru dakshina and the latter had obliged . Again the same Dronacharya , taking sides with the Kauravas had fought against the Pandavas , in the Mahabharat war.

Remembering Mukesh

Today is Mukesh’s birthday . Mukesh, the popular playback singer of Hindi cinema is my hot favourite. I am always in a fix, when I ask myself as to which of his songs I like the best - I like most of them for the sonorous quality as well as that peculiar twang which makes Mukesh stand apart from the other singers. Mukesh , though he lent his voice to songs picturised on almost all the heroes or actors of the time, was in particular, associated with Raj Kapoor. Mukesh , the singer ; Raj Kapoor, the actor; and Shankar- Jaikishan , the music duo - were a unique combination. His song- Nain ka chain chura kar le gayi - has many a time had the effect of a lullaby on me. The songs sung by him for films like Aaag, Awara, Andaaz, Upkar, Kabhi Kabhi , Milan, Bandini, Anari ,Teesari Kasam , Banarsi thug , and many many others are classics and as such unforgettable. I remember, I won a small bet for the song Dil jalta hai to jalne de - as many others would think that the song was sung by K.L. Sehgal , another immortal singer. The song from Kabhi Kabhi- Main pal do pal ka shayar Hoon - proved prophetic as Mukesh died in 1976 , the year the film was released.

Sawan Ka Mahina

“ How beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and heat,

In the broad and fiery street,

In the narrow lane,

How beautiful is the rain!........”

-wrote H W. Longfellow, the noted American poet.

Back home, reams and reams of paper have been consumed writing paeans for rain and particularly the month of Sawan i.e.; the peak rainy season. Sawan has long been associated with showers of rain resulting in good crops and prosperity to the peasantry. Little wonder that Sawan finds mention in poetry, songs and folklore especially in northern India. For the religious minded, ‘sawan ka mahina ‘ is the time for immersing in worship of lord Shiva . For others, depending on the age, stage and mindset, this is the time for merry making, swinging in the Jhula, weaving romantic dreams and fantasies . The separated beloved thinks of her lover when the “sawan “ comes.

One is reminded of Kalidas’s Meghdootam - the cloud messenger, the echoes of which can be felt in the old film song , “Sawan ke badalo, unse yeh jaa kaho..............." Hindi films are replete with titles based on sawan like - Sawan- bhadon , Sawan ki Ghata , Sawan ko aane do , Aya sawan jhoom ke etc. etc. with the title songs invariably thrown in.

There are a number of songs, finding a mention of sawan and clouds :

Mere naina sawan bhadon

Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul…….

Kar de na kahin barbad mujhe, jab chhaye kahin sawan ki ghata

Aya sawan jhoom ke

Sawan aye ya na aye, jiya jab jhoome, sawan hai

Phir sawan rut ki pawan chali tum yaad aaye

Ghanan ghanan ghir aye badra etc . etc.

- My personal favourite is Rim Jhim gire sawan , sulag sulag jaye man – sung beautifully by Lata Mangeshkar from the film, “Manzil” . On the screen the bubbly and innocent Moushumi, in the company of Amitabh Bachchan, seems to enjoy fully the rain showers., while walking on road in the metropolis.

I am also reminded of a beautiful rendition by Jagjit Singh in Punjabi--- Saw(a)n da mahina yaaro , saw(a )n da mahina e - bringing alive the scene in rural Punjab as to all that sawan means and stands for. While the urban people are content with, hot pakoras and tea, the rural folk gorge on mal puay and kheer .

Sawan is really a month of joy and merry making !

Remembering Guru Dutt

The larger than life persona of film actors has fascinated me since childhood-so much so that I always thought of them as above humanity- or immortal -so to say. It came as a shock when as a ten year old , the news of untimely death of Guru Dutt , was disclosed to me in the school itself , by a class pal of mine, who had heard the news on AIR during lunch break. Even his tone carried a streak of disbelief, as it was for the first time that we had heard about the death of an actor. I had not heard of Guru Dutt , but his death did cause a feeling of deep sorrow. Only a few months back, the same year the death of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister had plunged the nation into shock and grief.

When I went home and disclosed that the actor had died, my parents told me that actors were also human beings and as such were destined to die one day like others. In later years, I heard of the death of Madhubala , Meena Kumari, Smita Patil …….. also at very young age, but by then had reconciled to the bitter truth.

But , metaphorically, actors and singers or other artistes for that matter never die , as they come alive through their films, creations and compositions any time we chance upon their masterpieces.

One has only to see Guru Dutt’s movies like Pyaasa, Kagaz ke Phool, Chaudhawin ka Chaand and Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam to feel the magic !