Guide

Film "Guide" completed fifty years of its release in 2015.
An unrivalled, ahead-of-its-time film, "Guide", as we all know was based on a novel of the same name by reputed writer R K Narayan, directed by the legendary Vijay Anand and produced by Dev Anand.
Vijay Anand has also contributed to the screenplay of "Guide".
There was also a 120-minute US version written by Pearl S Buck which was produced and directed by Tad Danielewski.
"Guide" was screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, all of forty two years after its release.

From the conviction and faith the producer-director team had in the story to Waheeda Rahman accepting to play the female lead, "Guide" has been a very unique and special experience.
Special not only for the makers, but for the fans as well.

It is not just another film.
It is an experience that leaves the audience enriched, pensive and entertained.
The songs of "Guide" have been among the best in Bollywood history, remain unsurpassed in flavour and popularity even after half a century.
The music (by none other than Sachin Dev Burman), the lyrics (by legendary poet philosopher Shailendra), ... and their presentation ... all superlatively class apart ... !!!
And totally wowsome are Waheeda Rahman's dances, not to forget her amazingly accomplished portrayal of Rosie!!!

An interesting memory associated with one of the songs of "Guide" was narrated by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.
He said in one of his television interviews that Pancham Da being a good friend of his coerced him into playing the tabla for the song "Mo se chhal kiye jaaye ... " although Pandit Ji had left playing tabla and was concentrating on Santoor.

I have heard Waheeda ji saying
"Dev was so comfortable and secure in his performance that not once did he try to even remotely overshadow my character in the film."

I saw "Guide" after more than a decade of it's release.
In those days the sprawling lawns of our Colony Club used to fill up with the residents every Saturday night.
The weekly film show used to be a much awaited event for most of the people.
And of course "Guide" was House(Lawn)Full !!!

A family friend who was staying about thirty kilometers away, had seen the film nine times already, but came over all the way specially to see it yet another time.
I am convinced that in doing so he was not exaggerating his reverence for "Guide".
He was doing exactly what I have been doing ever since.

"Guide" is an overwhelming and unparalled phenomenon.
From the beginning "Guide" was special.
Everything about it was so different from the films we were used to seeing in those days ....
It was a deeply engrossing saga of complicated human relationships woven with incredible sensitivity and ease.
Who can forget the philosophy of "Wahaan kaun hai tera .... "
The grandeur of "Piya to se naina laagey re ... "
The pathos of "Din dhal jaaye ... "

An ardent fan of "Guide" has mentioned this following small bit of interesting information on Facebook, and I am copy-pasting it here :
The conversation between a lesser known actor Dilip Dutt (a regular in B R Ishara films) and Dev Saheb is memorable and remains heart touchingly profound even to this day :
Dilip Dutt : "'kya baat hein Sir aaj akele hee pii rahein hein "
Dev Anand : "'Batein karne ko itna taras raha thaa Mani kee socha thodi pii kar apne aap se kuchh kahooNga "
Aur ...Mani ki chaal ... that small shot from behind ... when he leaves ... 
ek taraf ye aur doosri taraf puri picture "Guide". Am exagerating,? 
But not as much as I appear to ... " !!!
And another one readily agrees :
"Yes ... also captivating is the moment when he keeps the unfinished Glass on the table and looks upwards where he can see Waheedaji ...
Thanks to Vijay Anand, Dilip Datt would be remembered in History "

And Dev Anand, the gentleman that he was, saw to it that even the smallest actor would not be ignored.
Such is the undying, unfading magic of  "Guide" that everything about it touches the soul.
Everyone knows they are watching a film.
But what a deeply moving, spiritually enriching and genuinely soul-stirring experience it is to watch Dev Saheb absorbing in himself the ultimate enlightenment!!!
The unadulterated bliss of it all was so real and so comforting, its aura engulfing and hypnotizing the audience completely ....

That was the kind of honesty with which The Great Anand Brothers created this legend on screen ... A stunning tale of Real Eternal Beauty !!!

When the film ended I knew once was not enough ...
Must have seen it countless times after that, but every time there is something enriching and refreshing to discover ... to learn ... to relive ...
The "Guide" never ceases to guide.

They say you live only once. But if you can do it right, once is enough.
With one matchless masterpiece, Dev Anand has ensured that he would be remembered for many many more decades not only as a heart warming romantic hero, but as an intense and compellingly magnificent actor film maker too !!!
He is ageless and timeless.
With "Guide", he has attained immortality.

Demonetization: A financial and human (mis)stroke

The day I withdraw my kharcha-paani from the bank, I usually go straight from the bank to a moderately good eatery to give myself a treat.

There is always a tussle between a plate of hot upma with steaming masala chaai or chicken falafel with lots of hummus accompanied by the warmth of that unfailing companion:
The ever-uplifting garam chaai ki pyali.

But either way it is a sumptuously rejuvenating experience which I look forward to.

This is followed by window shopping.

And if there is something really gorgeous (and reasonably priced too) I might even spend up to fifteen hundred rupees to add it to my wardrobe.
This is the "awaragardi" I enjoy very much twice in a month. I am bad with savings. So I withdraw strictly as much as I require. I cannot hoard.
Clothes, food, furniture, cosmetics, accessories etc etc , if they are more than what I can use, I give them away.

So, it seems much as usual, but comes back like coincidence that the afternoon of this 8 November, I withdrew five thousand rupees from the bank, went to my usual haunt and settled down comfortably with chaai and upma.

It was a usual afternoon.

The place was fairly (but not uncomfortably) busy.

As usual the shops around were having a steady flow of window-shoppers and buyers.

I also strolled in and out of the shops looking for nothing in particular.

Soon enough some lovely long skirts had me drooling over them.

Mulling over which one to buy, it occurred to me that I should have a look at the shops in Elco Market too.

So postponed the decision for the next day, and I came back home.

Everything usual took a turn for the unusual with a message from my sister.

"Saw the news?" she asked me.

This actually very unusual because we hardly watched news on television for the past many many months.

I asked her What the news was, but No reply came.

Meantime my boys started discussing on WhatsApp if there was enough cash with each one of us?

Now the horror of the News that my sister had mentioned started unfolding...

The five thousand rupees I had withdrawn hours earlier were in the 500 denomination.

So I was now sitting with ten notes of 500 which were rendered worthless by "the boldest decision in the financial history of Independent India"
(This is how PayTM hailed this disastrous announcement in its advertisement)

The next day banks were to remain closed.

By God! was the common man prepared for the chaos to which the banks opened ...
For the common man, as for the bank employees, this totally unexpected and unimaginable financial jerk has been nothing short of a horrific nightmare.

The fallout of it all has been huge and multidimensional.

It has unsettled numerous innocent human lives in more ways than any layperson could have imagined.

But the planners of this so called surgical strike are supposedly among the best brains in the country.
They should have foreseen.
And even if they did not have that kind of a vision, they should at least now not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the underprivileged.

However instead of bringing back a sense of stability and calm to the common man, there have been theatrics and counter theatrics by the political parties and a sorry display of complete absence of any sensitivity for the hardships of the masses from some upper classes.

As things unfold it is becoming more and more heart breaking to see how miserable people have suddenly become not so much because some people are facing real financial problems, but more so watching the soullessness of people who seem untouched by this mock-stroke.

Ismat Chughtai had written in Urdu some lines when my brother had asked for her autograph years ago.
I don't remember the exact text, but it was something like:
" Duniya mein do tarah ke log hotey hain:
Amiir aur Ghariib
Duniya mein do tarah ke mazhab hotey hain:
Amiir aur Ghariib
Duniya mein do tarah ke mulk hotey hai:
Amiir aur Ghariib
Duniya mein do tarah ke nazariye ( points of view ) hotey hain:
Amiir aur Ghariib "

May I humbly add a small heartfelt line to her memorable ones:

Demonetization has yet again categorized people into the same two types: 

Amiir aur Ghariib

And as the aftermath continues this following message someone shared on a social networking site sums up the crisis with much logic and depth:

"DeMonetisation reminds me of the Sheep
who cheered when their leader promised them
a blanket each.

Till one sheep asked *where will the wool come from??*😳😳"