Fiji Islands

Fiji Islands of the South Pacific

Fiji Islands image courtsey: robinsoncrusoeislandfiji.com

its people flowers and birds.

A tropical paradise.

“An idyllic and relaxing tropical paradise, a heaven to the about to be weds, newly weds and those who are romantic at heart”

The above statement although are words from Fiji’s official site cannot be ignored as propaganda as the visitors to this paradise vouch the same even if not in such flowery words. The nation of Fiji is an archipelago of 322 islands in the South Pacific; of these islands 106 are inhabited. Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are the major ones which contain 85% of the whole nation’s population. This article is an attempt to describe the exclusivities of this small island-nation; for those who are interested in exotic locations either for paying a visit or just for information.

Bare stats.

The capital of Fiji is Suva and this nation comprising of 322 islands has a total area of 18274 sq kms and a population is about 9 million. The entire population consists of different groups of people like ethnic Fijians of different islands and people migrated from India during the British rule (like all other third world nations Fiji also was occupied by the British from 1874 to 1970). The languages prevalent are English (a remnant of the British Raj), Bao Fijian (language of the early settlers) and Hindustani (a combination of Hindi and Urdu; arrived with the Indian migrants).. Ethnic strife has always been the here between people and it works against the democratic process. Fiji’s GDP is about 5.5 billion and the per capita income is US $ 6500; its economy is heavily dependent on fishing, small industries and tourism.

Politically unstable.

Fiji Island Map courtsey: csus.edu

Fiji got its independence in 10^th October, 1970 ever since democracy has found it hard to get entrenched in this small cluster of islands its politics has seen many upheavals as due to ethnic strife one group never let the other rule whether democratically elected or not. Fiji had gone through two major coups; the first by George Speight who captured power from Mahendra Chaudhry the then Prime Minister, and the second by Sitivani Rebuka who came to power by a military coup in 1987.. At present this island is being ruled by President Ratu Josefa and Josaia Voreque the Prime Minister. The political issues have not much affected Fiji’s position as a major tourism destination; as its people have always been friendly lot and impress the tourists in that aspect. About 43000 tourists visit this archipelago every year adding wealth to the coffers of Fiji.

Traditional Fijian Houses

In local English language ‘bure’ is the word for house; of late this word is commonly used for a thatched Fijian style-hut in tourist resorts; where as a traditional house in Fijian is known as ‘vale’ or vale ‘vaka vakaviti’. ‘Were’ (inland dwelling houses of western Fiji), Navananitawake (pre-Christian temple), Vale Kubulolo (found in Lau islands of Eastern Fiji) are all examples of the traditional Fijian style of construction. A common feature of the traditional Fijian houses is a timber frame and thatch, this particular structure gives warmth in cold climate and cool in hot seasons. Most of these ‘bures’ or ‘vales’ are built on earth mounds, edged with stone or balabala (tree-ferns, cyathea lunulata, but some are simply built on the ground while others (vatavata) are built on platforms over the sea.

All locally available components.

In ground plan they can be oblong, square, oval or circular, and the materials used for the walls and the thatch vary largely according to materials which are locally available. While ‘gasau’ (reeds, miscanthus floridulus) and vadra (Pandanus versus) are perhaps the most commonly used, ‘misimisi’ (sedge, scirpodendron), sugarcane, coconut, and sago palms are extensively used. Many traditional houses have sections of a tree-fern trunk protruding out of both ends of the top (this is only mainly for ornamental purpose and it has no function); which is known in Fijian as ibosa or loru. These have become iconic of Fijian architecture. The houses of Village-Chiefs are decorated with sea-shell (cowry).

Flora.

The thick terrestrial rain forest surrounding mountains ranging up to 1300 meters of this oceanic high islands in Fiji is home to a myriad of color and gaudiest form of more than 1800 native vascular plant species (orchids being most prominent among them) such spectacle is often taken for granted by the locals but never failed to fascinate enthusiasts. They sport astonishingly weird shapes to look like butterflies, bees, a fly and a swan. Botanists flock to this virgin land in search of new species of orchids to be listed in the records. The geographical isolation of this archipelago is the main reason for the evolvement of so many exotic species.

Orchids..Orchids!

There are 65 orchid genera (major group) in Fiji of which 51 are endemic. Calanthe Ventilabrum reichenb found in Melanesia and Samoa with long and lasting inflorescence. Liparis layardii F. v. Muell (a very rare species found in Viti Levu Island) Dendrobium catillare Reichenb (only found in Fiji discovered in 1860, an epiphyte growing 50 cm long) Dendrobium mohlianum Reichenb (has the largest number of species (21) found in Solomon Island and Vanuatu and Somoa an epiphyte growing to 70 cm in length). Glomera montana Reichenb found in 1855 from Lomaiviti by William G. Milne a botanist.

The Exotic Birds.

The British as well as other colonists have introduced totally 29 types of birds from their homeland as well as from their other colonies to this land and half of them got settled and flourished in this land.

Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer, an aggressive and quarrelsome little bird native of the Indian Sub-Continent with erect crest, black head and red ventral tail), these birds were not imported for any purpose but they probably escaped from captivity to lead a free life and flourish in this beautiful land!

Spotted Dove (Fasoro Streptopelia chinensis) – called as kukuru; black and white spotted half-collar, it is one of the most widespread exotic birds of the island), it is a native of South East Asia. It was in 1923 it was established that the bird has settled in Fiji, now barring Kadavu Island these birds are found almost all islands of the archipelago.

Australian Magpie (introduced in to Fiji to control coconut stick insect, native of Australia; at present they have cross-bred with indigenous varieties and mostly hybrids), Java –Sparrow (Padda oryzivora - beautiful large finch with light-grey plumage with contrasting black head with white cheek patches. A globally threatened species), Jungle Mynah (Acridotheres fuscus, introduced in to the viti Levu in 1900 for controlling Army-Worm caterpillars –a serious pest to many crops) etc are just some of them. They are found abundantly in Viti Levu and Ovalau and their immediate offshore islands.

A heaven for earth for tourists!

Fiji Island Corel image courtsey: usdivetravel.com

Fiji is a place with ideal sub-tropical climate where temperature does not exceed 35 degree c even at the peek of the summer, yet air-conditioning is available in almost all resorts worth its name.

Island of Fiji image courtsey: usdivetravel.com

The rainy season is from December to February, tourists can avail bicycles available for nominal rent for sight-seeing without any fear as crime-rate is one of the lowest in the world. Room rents are affordable one US$ can fetch two Fijian dollars. Fiji is the haven for surfing enthusiasts as the waves are ideal for the sport Frigate-Pass and Kadavu are crowded with surfers. What else are required for a tourist to spend some time in merrymaking; as everything under the sun is here at Fiji?

Salil Chowdhury and Mohammed Rafi

Salil Chowdhury’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

Salil Chowdhury image courtsey: Wikipedia.org

Salil Chowdhury, noted poet, musician, lyricist, thinker is one of the most renowned intellectuals who had glorified the Silver Screen (both Bollywood and Bengali Cinema) with his stories, poetry, lyrics, dynamic musical compositions in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He was a member of the IPTA, an organisation which has been an instrument of public awareness during the pre-independence and post-independence period. Salil Chowdhury’s story was picturised under the title Do Bigha Zameen, in 1953, depicting the struggle of a farmer of a village in coming to urbanised city of Kolkata and earning his livelihood as a rickshaw-puller, which had brought national and international awards for the story, direction of Bimal Roy and other categories.


The poetic and literary skills of Salil Chowdhury had synchronised with his east-west blend of music in most of his creations. Best example can be “Ujjal Ek Jhak Paira” sung by Classical Bengali singer, Sandhya Mukherjee. It was written by Bengali poet, describing the flight of pigeons and Salil Chowdhury composed the upward and downward movement of the song in the same lines as the pigeons fly in air. The literary society in Bengal were flabbergasted with the composition of Salil Chowdhury with the translation of famous poetry titled “Runner” (postman) written by Sukanta Bhattacharya, the way the movement in music changed with the moods of the postman delivering mails on road. Other landmark musical creations of Salil Chowdhury include “Palkir Gaan” written by famous Bengali poet Satyendranath Dutta and sung by Hemanta Mukherjee.


While bringing in revolution with words and music in Bengali modern songs Salil Chowdhury went to Bombay with his treasure of knowledge. Very interestingly the song “apni kahani” in Do Bigha Zameen, 1953, sung by Manna Dey had been based on Russian processions. While using Mukesh in a number of songs in Raj Kapoor’s Jagte Raho, 1956 and DilipKumar’s Madhumati, 1958, Salil Chowdhury acknowledged the versatile talent of Mohammad Rafi, the man with the golden voice. Salil Chowdhury created a Choir Group in Bombay, where Rafi, Lata were all members.


Probably Madhumati, showed the range of music composition of Salil Chowdhury, where he got an opportunity to blend the flavour of music in the hilly regions. The songs for Rafi included “Jangal Me mor Nacha kisi ne na dekha” for Johnny Walker. But Salil Chowdhury reserved the best song in the tragic andaz for Rafi titled “tute hue khwabon ne”. The pathos in the role of Dilip Kumar was depicted by the serene performance of Rafi.


Salil Chowdhury also used Rafi in the film Maya. The song “Tasvir teri dilme” which was a duet song with Lata Mangeshkar was very big hit. The other song of Mohammad Rafi included “Koi sone ka dilwala” which was also successful. Rafi was used in the film Musafir, 1957, where his songs along with Dilipkumar’s own song “lagi naahi chute rama, chahe jiya jae” showed the tragedy of Dilipkumar who had provided his immortal performance as a poor wretched violin player, who could not marry Usha Kiran, but played the violin for a handicapped child, not knowing his son, and dying at the end of the film. It was the beginning of journey in film direction of Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee.


Salil Chowdhury also used Rafi in the song “insaan ki zindagi hai” from the film Jhoola, 1962. There was also a chorus song of Rafi and Lata, “aag pani me lagi”. There was a song “dil tarpe tarpe” for Rafi in the film Poonam ki raat, 1965, and “tumhe dilse chaha” in the film Chand Aur Suraj, 1965. Besides Rafi was given an Afghani song “ho ya qurban” in the film Kabuliwala, 1961, in which Manna Dey’s song “ai mere pyare watan” was also a big hit.


In the 1970s, Salil Chowdhury reduced composition of film music in hindi films, as he was busy with Bengali films and Bengali modern songs. Even then Manna Dey’s song “Zindagi kasi hai paheli” in the film Anand, 1970 shows his class in composing chorus songs. Even Mukesh’s song “Kahi Door Jab din dhal Jaye” was well acclaimed by musical pandits in India.


At the same time Salil Chowdhury had encouraged new talents in Bombay and allowed noted Bengali singers to flourish in the all India arena, examples include Shyamal Mitra in the song “Ek aye ek jaye” in the film Musafir, 1957. He also composed songs for Dijen Mukherjee, Subir Sen and other singers for Bollywood films. In Bengali films like Ganga, 1960, Kinugoalar Goli, 1964, Lal Pathor, 1964, Marjina Abdulla, 1976, Salil Chowdhury’s music amazed the listeners with folk songs and westernised tunes. Besides his basic compositions for Monobendra Mukherjee, “Ami parini bujhite parini”, Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, “Jhanana Jhanana Baje”, Krishna Ganguly’s “Dakhina Batashe Mono keno Kande”, Sandhya Mukherjee’s “Srabon Ajhor jhore”, shows his control over Hindustani classical compositions.


It is difficult to highlight the contribution of Salil Chowdhury in a short article, because he had created immense number of immortal poetry, prose, songs, music in Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam films in a span of 50 years. But his admiration for Rafi is evident in the rich compositions. So Rafi’s archive should be adorned with Salil Chowdhury’s compositions to mark their fair relationship.

***** *** ** *

1. Salil Chowdhury received Filmfare award for best music in the film Madhumati in 1958.


2. Salil Chowdhury’s Assistants like Probir Majumdar, Anol Chatterjee, Abhijit Banerjee, became legendary Music Directors in Bengali Modern Music in later years.

3. My father, Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, Kolkata, had interviewed Abhijit Banerjee, renowned Music Director who had composed Bengali modern songs like “muktojharar neiko konya neiko motir haar”, “jodi amake dekho tumi udashi” for Manobendra Mukherjee, who said Salil Choudhury’s most of the creations are based on scientific, logical justifications of lyrics and tunes, which only a small section of the listeners understand, giving example of song “dhitang dhitang bole” which was based on Caribbean Calypso.

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.


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Ganges River

River Ganges of India – The Holy Ganga

River Ganges image courtsey: scienceclarified.com

No other river on earth commands the respect River Ganges has. For Indians it is not just a river but a goddess who appears as a human character in Indian Mythologies. No other river attracts so many pilgrims who flock to the holy river in search of salvation. For the millions a dip in this holy waters is enough to wash out all sins one had to commit during his life on earth.

The mother who purifies.

For the people of India from all parts of India this holy river is a purifier of the soul. Ganges hosts the largest number of pilgrimage place on earth, old people perform pilgrimage either return with a pot-full of holy water (this is kept safe at home his kiths know this water is to be dripped in to the dying man’s mouth so that the soul will get salvation) or stay there at some ashrams and live a life praying till death (it is their wish to be cremated at the banks of Ganges and ashes dropped in the river.

Mother and Father.

A famous song in Hindi follows the line “Ganga meri mam ka nam, Bap ka nam Himalay; which means “Ganga is my mother’s name and the name of my father is Himalaya” That is the affection an Indian to this holy river which is referred as ‘Ganga Mayya’ meaning ‘Mother Ganges’. Lord Shiva is pictured with goddess Ganga flowing from his head. It is said Goddess Ganga is the Wife of Lord Shiva.

A rather long saga.

The 2510 km (1557 miles) journey of the Ganges from the chilly waters of Gangotri Glaziers to the Bay of Bengal is a month old saga where many tributaries join and distributaries part in its course. On its way the holy river feeds the eastern parts of the Gangetic plains- a one million sq km land mass with a population of 900 million people any way world’s most thickly populated plain. Ganges is the life bloods of this plain not only because of the much needed water it gives but the rich alluvial soil Ganges brings from the distant Himalayas nourishes the soil of the plains.

Gangotri.

The Gangotri glazier is an important pilgrimage center for Hindus (bathing in this ice-cold water is considered very auspicious for them) is the source of River Ganges. It is a mountain lake at the height of 25,446 feet above the sea-level in the Uttarkashi area of Uttarkhand state of India formed of the water from the glaziers surrounding it.

With a mass of 27 cubic kms this is a massive one with a length of 30 kms and breadth of two to five kms. The terminus of the glazier resembles the face of cow and hence called Goumukh which in Sanskrit means cow-face. The main mountains which supply the glazier with water are Shivling, Thalaysagar, Meru etc. The prime source of water to the Ganges remains to be River Bhagirathi its main tributary that originates from Goumukh.

Its course.

River Ganges is actually a confluence of six rivers the first the Alakananda which meets Dhauliganga at Vishnuprayag, Mandakini (slow mover) at Nandiprayag, Pindar at Kamaprayag and the final one Bagirathi at Devaprayag from there onwards the river comes to be known as Ganges. The next most famous location is Haridwar (door to god) in the Shivalik hill ranges which is one of the most famous pilgrimage center for the Hindus.

The Kumbhmela Once in twelve years there is a grand function held in four pilgrimage places (Ujjain, Haridwar, Nashik and Allahabad (Prayag)) by rotation. Kumbhmela (festival of the pitcher) is world’s largest crowd puller and in that merit it has gained position in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The ceremony is held in Prayag by observing the position of sun, moon and Jupiter when comes in alignment. In other three places also it is the astronomical positions of sun, moon and stars that are observed for fixing the occasion. It is believed that the essence of life (by consuming which immortality can be achieved) is placed in a clay pitcher in the heaven and at times when the heavenly bodies are in compromising positions a drop of the amrut (heavenly nectar) will fall on certain places and it is that time selected for the occasion. The Naga monks who parade naked is just one of the strange rituals of this occasion.

The invisble river.

From these places the river flows nonstop to Allahabad where the main tributary of the Ganges the Yamuna River joins this meeting place is known as ‘Sangham’ (joining together) which is also a very sacred place for the Hindus and there is always the rush of pilgrims. There is one mysterious invisible river also joining this place by name Saraswati – it is said that there once existed a river which later got dried. Later numerous rivers like Kosi, Son, Gandak, Ghaghra all joins with the Ganges. At Pakaur for the first time a parting occurs when River Bhagirathi diverts this branch later comes to be known as the River Hoogly in Bengal. When distributaries part the main branch remains as the Padma River.

Some part as some join.

It is time for the river to bid farewell with India as its duty is to serve Bangladesh. There just before entering in to Bangladesh there is the Farakka Barrage (a multipurpose dam for irrigation as well as for checking silting to the port. This is a bone of contention between Bangladesh and India as the former thinks it is against its best interest. After entering Bangladesh there are two more rivers joining the Ganges or Padma; Jamuna and the Wild Bramhaputra.

Meghna both distributaries of the formidable Bramhaputra that comes after circumventing the Himalayas and well known for its habit of making flash floods. .

The combined water discharge of Ganges and Bramhaputra makes the water discharge as the third largest in the world after Congo and Amazon. Their silt has formed the largest deltas in the world The Lower Gangetic Delta which is peculiar to its fauna and flora dolphins like Irrawaddi and Gangetic plain dolphins are endemic to this region. Extensive human invasion has put these animals in to the verge of extinction. This place brackish during the dry season and fresh watered during the monsoon.

The Sundarban (sundarban means beautiful forest) it is said that a type of mangrove peculiar to this region which is locally known as ‘sundari’ (Heritiera fomes)is the reason for the place known by that name- fresh-water Delta is nearby to it. Sundarban is famous for the animals like the Bengal Tiger, Indian Python, Clouded Leopard etc there are large number of crocodiles and aquatic creatures.

A clean Ganga alone will clean the nation.

If River Ganges is revered as a giver of life, there is no exaggeration in it as this holy river gives food, water and livelihood to millions of people and without which India would not have existed. These devotees flocking to this river in large numbers are actually the problem the river is facing now. Waste materials from the pilgrims in extra-large numbers have made the river polluted to the extreme. Rajiv Gandhi the former Prime Minister of India had proposed a scheme for keeping the river clean (Ganga Action Plan) and all those had crashed for lack of political will on the part of the authorities. Now the ball is on the court of god himself as no machinery had been useful for saving the life giver without which there would have been no India or a culture with Indians boast of as their own.

Agra

A visit to Agra India.

Taj Mahal Agra image courtsey: gotchance.com

Taj’s own land.

The name Agra instantly reminds Taj Mahal the monument – one of the seven wonders of the world - built by Shah Jehan but Taj is only one among the land mark structures located in and around Agra. It is a fact that Agra would have been much poorer if Taj would have located elsewhere; but this ancient city has much to offer beyond Taj as it had been the center of the Mughal Emperors for years. In ancient sites of historic importance Agra can outpace Delhi but closeness between these two cities has worked for the benefit for both places, tourists are also benefited as they can visit both locations packaged in a single day tours.

On the banks of River Yamuna.

The City of Agra is in the State of Uttar Pradesh, on the banks of River Yamuna, is 82 sq. k m in area, and has a population of 1.4 million, it is at an altitude of about 169 meters above sea level and about 204 kilometers south of India’s capital New Delhi. It is some what a quieter town when compared to Delhi but enriched by numerous landmarks like mausoleums, palaces, tombs and other historically important sites. Its history dates back to the Maha Bharat times as the Agrabana mentioned in it is the present day Agra, where Lord Sri Krishna was born and fulfilled his mission of birth hence this part of the land is also known as Brij Bhumi. .

Begins from Ptolemy.

Written history starts with Ptolemy’s records were Agra is marked in his world map. King Jaipal who had a fort in 12^th century was attacked unsuccessfully by the great conqueror Mohammed Gazni. Then comes ruler Sikander Lodhi who repulsed an attack by Baber; father of Akbar. Later Baber won the battle and established the Mughal Empire. The period of Mughal Empire (1526 – 1658) which begins from Baber is written in golden inks in the history of India as most of the structures of which India is proud of; were built during that period. Baber, Akber, Jahangir, Shah Jehan, Aurangazeb etc were all rulers of high caliber and they all played their roles in making Delhi and Agra richer to great extents.

Triple crown.

Agra has the pride possession of three World Heritage Sites, the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and the Fatehpur Sikri Fort. Taj Mahal as it is well known is described as the gem of the crown and has the credit to be one among the Seven Wonders of the World. Emperor Shah Jehan built it in between 1632 to 1648; as a Mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. In fact Taj Mahal is a complex of many structures made of rare Makrana marble mined from Rajasthan. The accompanying structures include four Minars at each corners (Minars are cylindrical tall structures often associated with Islamic construction), tombs, Mosque, Parleys etc.

The Agra Fort is a massive 2.5 Kilometer structure in red sand-stone built by Akbar in 1565. It was originally built as a military cantonment but the lavish style associated with the Mughals designed it so; that it can excel even palaces. Later Shah Jehan made many additions to it like Diwan i Khas, Diwan i Am, Octagonal Towers etc making it akin to a palace. Shah Jehan used this place for administration as well as hearing public grievances. Jahangir Palace is an associated structure that stands out in grandeur among other locations of Agra Palace built by Akbar for his favorite son Jahangir

Diwan i Khas is an addition made by Shah Jehan where the famous Pea-cock Throne was placed before it was taken to Delhi.

Diwan i Am is made in marble with exquisite floral motifs was used as a place where the Emperor addressed public grievances.

Octagonal Towers was built by Shah Jehan and it was in this place Shah Jehan spent his last days from where he could see Taj Mahal, it is said that in his sun-set time he used to shed tears simply by staring at Taj (Shah Jehan was a virtual prisoner of his own son).

Sheesh Mahal is also is a delight for the visitors among many other sights in this Fort of historical importance.

Fatehpur Sikri built by Akbar in 1571 is just 37 kilometers from Agra was originally built as the capital of the Mughal Empire, the fort made of red sand-stone, administrative complexes, residential facilities all were built but the town-ship could not sustain as water was scarce and the entire complex was later discarded and the capital changed to Lahore.

Fatehpur Sikri is now a ghost town; a complex for tourists to visit and see the remnants of what used to be palaces, residential complexes and the Fort that has not undergone any damages. The sunset over the remnants of this ghost town is so graceful that people watch it with awe.

Diwan i Khana (treasury), Diwan i Khas (where Akbar’s throne was placed), Diwan i Am (place for public audience) etc are of places that evokes memory of a bygone era.

Akber’s Tomb is only 4 km from Agra its construction is an assimilation of Indian, Jain, Persian and Christian architectures (Akbar was well known for his religious tolerance and he promoted a religion by name ‘Din Ilahi’ assimilating the cultures of all religions but it did not succeed). The unusual thing with it is that its work was started none other than Akber himself.

Soami Bagh Samadh in Dayal Bagh is a tall structure for the memory of Swamiji Soami Maharaj the promoter of Radha Soami faith which had many followers.

Itmad Ud Daula’s Tomb was built by Nur Jahan for her father Ghias ud Din Beigh her father.

Mariam’s Tomb is the mausoleum of Akbar’s Christian wife Mariam.

Ram bagh, Chini ka Rauza, Jama Masjid etc are all of historical importance and worth seeing. A family determined to cover all locations in Agra will have to take weeks to fulfill their wish.

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Rahul Dev Burman and Mohammed Rafi

Rahul Dev Burman’s immense respect for Mohammad Rafi.

Rahul Dev Burman image courtsey: downmelodylane.com

Rahul Dev Burman, the son of eminent singer and composer Sachin Dev Burman, is one of the most popular composers of the last decade whose tunes are used by many modern composers in their own compositions. Being the son of the legendary Music Director, SD Burman, RD had a great challenge to match the sheer brilliance of his father. It happens with the son or daughter of all the famous personalities.


RD Burman started his journey with Chote Nawab in 1962 with the help of the man with the golden voice, Mohammad Rafi. Major songs in the film was sung by Rafi and RD Burman commanded respect in the musical community of that period, who were still mesmerised with the classical compositions of Naushad, folk songs of SD Burman, western effects of Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Salil Chowdhury, Ghazals of Roshan, Madanmohan. RD Burman had other skills like playing the mouth organ, tabla and other related instruments and he showed his skill while playing the mouth organ for Laxmikant Pyarellal in the film Dosti, 1964 where Rafi had galvanised the silver screen with his tragic andaz *.


The bigger challenge of RD Burman was to create a gharana which was different from SD Burman, which was very difficult. He created western composition in “Ayo Twist Karen” for Manna Dey in Bhoot Bangla. But he received the maximum appreciation from music lovers with his compositions in the film Teesri Manzil, 1966. All the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. All the songs were superhits, including “O haseena zulfonwali”, “Aja aja”, “Dewaana tujhsa nahin”, “ janeman janeja, tumne muhhe dekha hoker meherba”, “O mere sona re sona re sona re.” The rock and roll flavour of Shammi Kapoor, which was started by Shankar Jaikishan in films like Junglee, 1961, songs like “Asman se aya farishta” in An Evening in Paris, 1967, “Aj kal tere mere pyar ke charche har jawan par” in Brahmchari, 1967, was matched by RD Burman in Teesri Manzil, 1966, and he gave the message to the Indian audience that he had arrived in the musical arena and was going to be a leading composer in future.


The relationship of RD Burman with Rafi continued in films like Pyar ka Mausam, 1969, where the songs like “Tum bin jayun kahan”, “Ni sultana re pyar ka mausam aya” were major hits. RD Burman developed a beat of his own which marked his identity in the 1970s. The biggest success came in 1970, with the film Karwa, where the songs “ kitna pyara wada” “are ho goriyan kahan tera desh re” were superhits, and Rafi’s voice balanced the choreographic skills of Jeetender for whom the maximum number of songs were sung by Rafi. For a short period RD Burman composed songs for Kishorekumar in films like Amar prem, Kari Patang, but that was due to the fact it matched with the voice of Rajesh Khanna.


Whenever RD Burman reverted back to Rafi, the songs were successful as ever, like “Yaadon ki Baarat,” “Chura liya hai tumne jo dilko”, in the film Yaadon ki Baarat, 1973, “Yeh ladka hai alla kaisa hai diwana”, in Hum kisi se kum nahi, 1977. In fact Rafi’s outstanding combination with Rishi Kapoor compelled RD Burman to provide the successful qawalli “Hai agar dushman zamana gham nahi ghan nahi”, in Hum Kisi se kum Nahi, which Rafi only could sing. The same film provided Rafi with the National award in 1977 with the song “Kya hua tera wada”. Further the musical competition in the film had Rafi and Kishore singing songs, including “chand mera dil”, etc.


The combination of RD Burman with Rafi continued in Rishi Kapoor’s film, “Zamane ko dikhana hai” where “Sochenge pyar kya hua” with Asha Bhosle, was a major hit. Further in the film Burning Train, 1980, the biggest hit was the qawalli sung by Rafi and Asha, titled “pal do pal ka saath hamaara”. The action of Dharmender and Vinod Khanna was balanced by the excellent choreography of Jeetender in the song “Pal do Pal”, and superlative performance of Rafi.


People have a wrong conception of the fact that RD Burman underestimated Rafi, which is not true. He had tremendous respect for the man with the golden voice. The only lacuna was that RD Burman had a lot of inherent classical skill which he did not get any scope of showing due to the demand of popular music except in the films of Gulzar. In Kinara, 1977, “Naam Gum Jayega”, “Meethe Bol Bole” sung by Bhupinder Singh, shows RD Burman’s gharana. Had Rafi survived for a longer period of time and had RD Burman got more opportunities to blend eastern and western music, the combination could have provided everlasting creations for future generations to cherish. Rafi’s archive should also contain the compositions of RD Burman which are admired by the modern generation and should be restored for music lovers of different ages.

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* My father Ex chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, (Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Kolkata) had interviewed Manobendra Mukherjee, a versatile classical singer having immortal records on bhajans, kirtans, nazrulgeeti, modern bengali songs, film songs and asked him to sing his first Bengali Modern Song “Naichondon Lekha, sriradhar chokhe, nai nai shemorai” before the crowd in a function held in Paikpara, Kolkata where Manobendra said it was his beginning of his musical journey and a song which was a blank verse without musical instruments. If that song could be heard minutely it can be realized that modern music is almost bankrupt. Aroti Mukherjee, the famous Bengali singer, also my father’s witness in a case instituted in Bankshall Court, in the anurodher asor, in all in Radio, said that her teenage was shaken up by Manobendra with the song “Naichondon Lekha” in 1953. In the same interview Manobendra Mukherjee told my father, the real starting point of compositions is classical background. He said the more RD Burman tried to move away from SD Burman in composing western tunes, the more he landed back with SD Burman’s classical gharana in Kinara, 1977, Parichay, 1972, Masoom,1982, where he was appreciated the most by musical pandits where the classical songs were sung by Bhupinder Singh and Lata Mangeshkar..

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.


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New Delhi

A Tour to New Delhi the Capital of India.

India Gate New Delhi image courtsey: yogeshsarkar.com

A capital for many kingdoms.

New Delhi the Capital of India is one of the oldest Cities in the world, so many Kings, emperors and rulers flourished and perished in this city with a very long history. Some of the rulers have left some traces to history as palaces, monuments and mausoleums for the future generations to see; others just ruled and got vanished without a trace in the ocean of time that always kept ticking. There are two Delhis the old and the new. As the names suggest the old was the place for the erstwhile emperors with narrow allies filled with stores and vendors where as the new is for the modern emperors by name politicians dotted with palatial buildings, broad and well maintained roads and crowded and expensive malls.

Landmarks.

The modern day Delhi (New Delhi) has many landmarks like the awe inspiring India-Gate, The Indian Parliament House (a building built utmost aesthetically in a characteristic style) Raisina Hill (where the President of India resides- Rashtrapathi Bhavan) and the North Block (where the Indian Prime Minster lives) and South Blocks, where the ‘people with power’ live.

Raj Ghat and related locations.

The city is as crowded as any other mega cities with millions of vehicles bustling through the busy streets, but New Delhi still keeps its grandeur close to its chest –as a place which has been abode to numerous emperors it seems only a natural proposition. The bank of River Yamuna (the main tributary of the holy River Ganges which passes through Delhi) is still cool and green and fit to be nostalgic.

Raj-Ghat (abode of the King) where the father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi rests in peace is a simple block of marble with epitaph ‘He Ram’ (O God! The last words he spoke before being shot dead),

Shantivan (forest of peace) where Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India was cremated is an abundant garden with trees planted by State Dignitaries, who have visited the Nation,

Vijay Ghat (platform of victory) is the war memorial for the memory of India’s war with Bangladesh.

Shakti-Stal (place of strength) is place for Mrs. Indira Gandhi two times India’s Prime Minister; known for her determination and will power.

Veer Bhumi (land of courage) is the memorial for Mr. Rajiv Gandhi who was behind the technological revolution that India has achieved. There is a huge lotus (word rajivam means lotus in Sanskrit) carved in stone surrounded by 46 small lotuses (he was assassinated at the age of 46) all these are inseparable from the history of modern India and all Indologists are familiar with.

The most happening place.

There are many museums in Delhi most of them are worth seeing, come winter Delhi turns in the capital of cultural festivals and performing arts of all colors. The gardens and roundabouts are all overflowing with colorful flowers; they don’t just add beauty to the city but give a respite to the citizen from the scorching heat in which the city is engulfed.

The pompous Republic Day Parade held on the morning of 26^th January is a function that tells the world about the emerging powerful nation that is India. Millions of Indians watch it direct while the whole one billion odd population of the whole nation sees it in TV with pride. It is a wish of every Indian citizen to watch it in person.

Shopper’s paradise

Delhi has the status of a budget shopper’s paradise, most of the products are available at very competitive price and visitors to Delhi often return with bagful of electronic, foot-wear, hardware and textile as well as jewellery items. Chandni Chawk (moonlit street) is well known for the silver ornaments, and embroidered fabrics (saris and churidars) they sell.

Old is gold.

Old Delhi (where emperors had their palaces as well as mausoleums) is also known for the delicious food items. Parathas with Thanturi chicken are the most common items, where as hot chicken and mutton jelly like curries are more suitable and matching with parathas, vegetable curries also are there for the vegetarians). The stores selling glass as well as silver bangles rub shoulders with numerous restaurants which sell food delicacies.

Parathas.

Parathas are Indian delicacies made of whit wheat-flour soaking it in water with some butter-oil, salt and keeping it for about two hours covered by wet cloth. The dough is then made in to small balls of about 50 grams and beaten flat with bare-hands and struck on a clean table -applied with oil- as if washing cloth by beating it on a stone! By sheer magic the dough becomes as flat as a newspaper! This ‘newspaper is folded zigzag and this ‘zigzag’ (in the shape of clock’s main spring) is again beaten black and blue and flattened. This flat substance is placed on a hot plate and heated until it is fresh and tasty.

Connaugt Place in Pallika Bazar is India’s first underground shopping plaza. Delhi Tourism offers one-day sight seeing as well as shopping tours, which touches Pallika Bazar as well as its outside areas. A package of two day tour touching Agra Bharatpur and Jaipur also is available.

How to reach there.

Delhi being located at a main junction between main roads making it easy to travel to any part of the country by road, railways access is not an issue as there are numerous trains to all locations of the country; the international airport offers connectivity to all major air-ports of the world. Accommodation is also not a problem as there are chains of star hotels located here which has its braches throughout the world. At the lower end there are places in Lodhi and Central Court.

A multi-purpose tour!

A tour to Delhi can be a pleasure trip for sight seeing as there are numerous locations of interest for a visitor to visit see and understand. It can also be taken as an educational tour as visitors are able to see the old as well as new historical locations that played important roles in shaping the nation. A tour to Delhi can also be taken as a bargain hunting mission as there are products of good quality available at dirt cheap prices.

Necessity and an invention!

The author remembers with delight about a time when Soviet Union was under the clutches of the communists and goods were scarce there. Innovative people of the erstwhile Soviet Union flew to New Delhi and ran to the markets from air port to Delhi markets and grabbed whichever they could buy. These materials were sold at higher prices at their country on big margin even after discounting the air-fare! Free sight seeing good food much cheaper and good profit on return!

Paradise Flycatcher

Paradise Flycatcher

Paradise Flycatcher image courtsey: seweasy.net

Paradise Flycatchers belong to the big group of passerine birds, flycatchers are of various types, The African which belongs to the family Muscicapidae where as those in Australia and South Asia are of Dicruriae family. Let us pursue the South Asian varieties which are more beautiful and eligible for the name ‘Paradise Flycatchers’. There are migratory (found in Turkestan, Manchuria etc as well as sedentary birds in this group. The sedentary variety of Sri Lanka is chestnut colored both male and female. When African types mostly live in the deserts and forests their southern counterparts live permanently on trees, The Indian flycatchers prefer mango trees above all. Let us see why these birds got this sacred name.

Bird possesses god dispossesses.

This is a piece of conversation between a poor chest nut colored bird sitting on the fence of the Garden of Eden and The Angel who guarded the golden gate of Paradise.

Bird “I am a poor bird with no name to call coming from a distant place. Your garden looks amazing will you please let me in; I will live their catching troublesome flies and singing sweet songs so that all the inmates may be a happier lot”

Angel “Your idea is good; little bird, but this place is The Garden of Eden and only dead souls who are pure within and without are allowed to enter here, you can come and plead for entry soon after you are dead!”

The wannabe bird was a little upset but he didn’t give up, he went back and engaged in a singing spree praising god almighty and the Garden of Eden. He pestered his friends by his preaching and his friends began to fly away to escape from his evangelism.

But God Almighty was pleased by his good work and blessed him to have a snow-white plumage. The innocent bird took it as a permission to be in paradise and approached the Angel. Seeing the beautiful bird the angel was wonderstruck and asked the ‘blessed visitor’ to wait and went to the Almighty with the visitor’s plea for entry.

There were so many visitors in waiting; to them ‘the blessed one’ boasted about his change of color and claimed he is close to the Almighty but the Omnipotent could hear the foolish bird’s chatter sitting in his throne and thought of teaching arrogant little bird a lesson. He sent a message through the Guardian Angel; which read

“You are pure and white outside but deserve a lot of improvement inside. I will let you have two long feathers on tail and a head colored black with slight blackness at the border of the wings it is a message to the fellow birds that blackness inside is a disqualification to be in, you can return home for the present, hereafter you will be known as Paradise Flycatcher”. As soon as the snow-white bird read the message his head turned black and black edges appeared on his tail-feathers appeared in his tail! The little rowdy had to go home with some black feathers.

Yet he has a handsome figure.

With his extremely long silky white twin feathers in tail, peacock blue and black anterior and a lovely crest of special feathers; the mail Fly Catchers are as graceful as a pea-cock. The above story though a figment of someone’s imagination is well deserved for these lovely birds. These birds are known as ribbon birds in some places for their long tails.

Male v/s female.

Females are a bit different with chest-nut dorsal (upper) parts bluish-black neck and head absence of extra-long feathers on tails they look poor cousins of the males! As per the story it was the male that went to the Paradise! They have beautiful eyes with bright black and round shape. These birds move in pairs their movements are graceful and they fly from tree to tree as doing somersaults catching flies make them a good time pass if spotted.

Features.

Paradise Flycatchers grow to a size of 17 centimeters (The Asian varieties grow up to 20 cm) their young males are active and graceful they sport chestnut colored plumage like that of the females, which are later replaced by white ones. The two median or middle tail feathers are called streamers (the most striking feature of male Paradise Flycatchers) grow to a length of sixteen inches. Only in the fourth year does the plumage in the tail and body become snow-white.

Weak legged.

Since the hen birds are chestnut in color and do not carry two long ribbon-like feathers in their tails, they are generally taken as bulbuls of some sort. With not so strong feet to stride on the ground this bird is entirely arboreal in nature but African Flycatchers are found to be living in deserts like Sahara..

Acrobat.

They flit about in pairs in the shade of pleasant groves and cool places looking for insects, a fly however fast it may be; will not escape from this expert ‘predator’. While flying from tree to tree or turning and twisting like an acrobat in mid-air after insects, they go on twitter, with occasional louder calls, at times they break in to little songs.

Building it high.

The breeding season as in most birds of the tropical region is from April to June. The leafy end of an over hanging branch is a favorite site for the nest the flycatchers of Indian Sub-continent seem to have preference towards mango trees. Nests are made at substantial heights so that they are secure from predatory animals like cats and mongooses.

The nest is built with moss, moss-roots, vegetable fibers and fine grass. The greater portion of the thin frame-work is made of grass and is bound with cobwebs.

The nest is quite shallow and resembles a delicate or fine grass and is two to three inches in diameter and about two inches deep. A clutch has often two to four eggs which are oval with one end pointed. The eggs may be pale, pinkish-white male as well as female share the duty like incubation as well as attending the young.

By just saying that these birds are insectivorous their contribution to Mother-Nature is not adequately expressed, the quantity of insects a bird consume in its life-span is tremendous, without these insects would have made life impossible on earth.

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