Ramzaan Mubarak

Ramzaan is not just a spiritually gratifying time for the Muslims of the World.
It is also astonishingly a terrifying time for many housewives , now known as home makers.

There is a couple residing a short distance away from my house .
The husband has retired and is a hypertension patient
The wife too is no longer young. She has health issues all of which I don't know , but I could see heavy swelling on her feet as she scurried in and out of the Casualty Ward where her husband had been brought after he had fainted in the bank where he had gone for some work

After he was shifted to the ICU , and things had settled a bit , she told me that he had been fasting for the day. (It was an optional roza, which he could easily have avoided considering his condition)
She also kept insisting that she was preparing meals for the evening , thereby implying she was under pressure to have the table laid out elaborately with "iftaari"
This tension was certainly not doing her any good

There is another instance that I'm reminded of ...
This was a young couple.
Husband a fitness freak wanted to fast in Ramzaan to control his excessive eating (and I wonder if there was  any religious attachment to the act too ... but that is apart )
However at the iftaar table he would expect an extravagantly sumptuous feast  evening after evening ....
The wife naturally was under a huge stress to have peace at iftaar time

Is this what Ramzaan should entail ?
Is this the spirit of Ramzaan ?

Namaaz padho ,  Roza rakho , Qur'an padho .... All very good :-)
Ibadat is for self purification and Ramzaan is specially a time for introspection , when one controls hunger and thirst  as an offering of one's love to God Almighty and also as a means to enhance the compassion in one's heart for those who have to go without food (and at so many places even water is in limited supply ....or is even sold for cash/kind to the poor)
Ramzaan is also a time to think of such underprivileged people who go hungry not because they are fasting but because they don't have enough food

Also to perform any kind of  Ibadat / Prayer / Pooja one must be healthy and medically fit ...It should be an act of goodwill which must essentially result in peace and betterment of self and others....and not a burdensome complusion
Remember God does not have a favourite worship style and there could be infinite number of ways through  which one can pray and express one's gratitude and love for the Almighty 

As we welcome yet another month of Ramzaan , let us be thankful for the blessings we have and spend time in releasing the toxins from our thought process , relaxing our hearts and renewing ourselves into better human beings :-)

Ramzaan Mubarak to all

The "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 and viewers 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 Durman), the lyrics (by legendary poet philosopher Shailendra), ... and their presentation ... 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 Saheb was so comfortable and secure in his performance that not once did he try to even remotely overshadow her 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 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.

I see a new Dev Anand every time I watch him in "Guide" 

I learn something new ... something good ... and I cry every time Dev Saheb sings "Din Dhal jaaye ... " , Kya se Kya ho gayaa ...." , and watching that dialogue with the antaraatmaaa ... 

 · 
"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 fan readily agrees , adding:
"Yes ... also captivating is the moment when he keeps the unfinished Glass on the table and looks upwards where he can see Waheeda ji ...
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 attained immortality.

Dear Maggie

Every love affair begins at some point in time , knowingly or unknowingly ... Often the most " durable , sturdy and long-lasting " are  those that grow and mature with time .... not meaning to offend the love-at-first-sight fans a la Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra brands ;-)  :-)

I don't remember precisely when Maggie was launched in India , but what I precisely remember is the morning she entered my life :-)
She looked inviting , tempting and so beautiful as she  outshone everything else on the  breakfast table that day at my sister-in-law's place in Allahabad  .... In fact I don't even remember what else was there !!!

I had been just about married . That first  winter in Allahabad was a beautiful and luxuriant experience when I was introduced to a life completely different from what I had been living till then.
Civil Lines in Allahabad in contrast to the much calmer Bombay of those days  used to still be lovelier and beautiful  any time of the year  ... I can never forget the gorgeous , stately spacious bungalows , sprawling lawns and abundant flower beds (specially in winters) .... and the plentiful gulmohars and amaltash blossoms of the summers.

An aura so romantic sows seeds of long lasting , affectionate and strong  associations as happened with Maggie and my family :-)
She gradually crept into our lives and made for herself a permanent place
The children turned out to be even greater admirers , insisting to take her to school with them , much to dismay and disagreement of my health-conscious-traditionally-indoctrinated mother-in-law :-)
But we had to give in to the pleasures of the younger generation once in a while , hence the children were allowed to take her to school on special occassions  ;-) :-P

It is not just the children , even we the elders and  so many lakhs like us have found her to be that Mom-like-well wisher who would never let us sleep hungry ....
We will always love her ... And why NOT ?

I have one last ( out of an economy pack of four ) Maggie atta noodles portion left in my kitchen ....
But after the latest developments I ve been postponing eating it ....

Jaaney phir kab miley type of emotions ....  :-)

Times change ....and how... ???
In my childhood Maggie used to be a woman ( and also featured in a  very endearing cartoon strip of those days ) , then she became a delicious noodle brand  , and now very sorry to hear that she has become something like  an abuse...

But  even when there is such a strong current flowing against Dear Maggie , those holier than thou clan of "Haaaaaaawwwwwwwww-you ve-eaten-Maggie-all-these-years" somehow come across as among the most ungrateful people around ....