DHOOP KINARE (At the edge of the Sunshine)

DHOOP KINARE (At the edge of the Sunshine)

 

Raat yun dil mein teri  khoyi hui yaad aayi,

Jaise viraane mein chupke se bahaar aa jaye,
Jaise sahraon mein haule se chale baad-ae-naseem,

Jaise bimaar ko be-wajaah qaraar aa jaaye. 

Translation in English 

Last night your faded memory came to me
As in the wilderness spring comes quietly,
As, slowly, in the desert, moves the breeze,
As,  to   a  sick  man, without cause, comes peace

 

These lines in Urdu were written by FAIZ AHMED FAIZ , I heard it for the first time in a Pakistani drama DHOOP KINARE which was written by Haseena Moin, in case you have missed out on DHOOP KINARE just grab a cd or go to you tube and watch it, I have seen it at least 40 times and in fact sitting across all the corners of the giant living room(or Mardana) we had in the haveli of Chandni Chowk. The work of Faiz is immortal but hearing it in the backdrop of the performances of RAHAT KAZMI and MARINA KHAN was indeed magical.

 

Penned by HASEENA MOIN one of the gems is as follows- the father of the leading lady saw that she was visibly upset one day ,so he walked up to her and said  

 “ Jaane baba ye jo tumhara chehra hai naa, ye mere dil pe bana hai,

 is pe zara bhi shikan aaye to mere dil pe gubaar chha jata hai”

 

DHOOP KINARE was a part of growing up, for me it was as endearing as a trip to the nearby park or chatter with friends or eating at my favourite joint. The chemistry, the performances, the dialogues were all brilliant. So in case you have missed out on this work of art, do catch it, it is highly recommended.

RANG BARSE

RANG BARSE bheege chunar wali rang barse, are kaine mari pichkari tori bheegi angiya, O rangrasiya rangrasiya ho….

As Holi approaches us there is sense of joy and concern (for some people) on getting splashed in gulal and synthetic colours, listening to songs on the terrace and yes eating sweets and going berserk.

1.Colours- There are various types available in the market , depending on who you are, what is your state of mind and who is going to face your blitzkrieg. It will be herbal gulal for the elders , sari dying colour for the friend who only meets you twice a year, printing ink for the friend who applied grease on you last holi and so on and so forth.

2.Music- There are a barrage of songs out there dedicated to holi from Bachhan in Silsila to Dharmendra in Sholay and Anupam Kher in Darr, they have all contributed generously to the fun element of this festival. There is only one rule here, the 1km radius rule, if your music is not audible in a radius of 1 km from your terrace then you aint playin it baby.

3.Food- To do justice to the spirit and delicacies cooked on holi you need to have the PRASHAD first, translated as BHANG KI KULFI, after couple of bhang ki kulfis (the apparent difference is that they are green in colour compared to your regular yellow kulfi) you will not even realise that you have gulped 10-15 puris with loads of matar panir and your dil (heart) will definitely ask for more.

4.Friends-This is the most special ingredient of holi , as nobody can chase you, pull you down and rangofy you like your friends, these are the same set of people who have been doing this for years and will again do a good job of making you a colourful clown, they will ensure that you are a picture of envy and even your parents and relatives would not be able to recognise you after the drill.

Wishing all a very happy and colourful holi, may your colour stick on for days and weeks.

EXPLORING OPTIONS ON THE WEEKEND-DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

A friend recently told me that how people reacting differently to the same situations/options could be an interesting feed for my blog.

This makes me wonder what are those situations/options in the first place which brings out the black or white, dravid or dhoni, apples or oranges out of different people.

Exploring options on the weekend can be an interesting case study

1.       The Couch Potato/The Lazer Dazer- This person just loves to be on the sofa (sofa being the synonym for holiday) along with the usual culprits newspapers, magazines, chips and the Kingpin the REMOTE CONTROL. The music system, the wall mounted television set and the print media become your best friends. The dress code is Jockey boxers and Levis T shirts along with the trusted ally the Bata Chappals.

 

2.       The Shopping Mall Maniac/The Multiplex Maverick-This person thinks it is absolutely criminal to sit at home on weekends and here the Credit Card is the synonym for a holiday. Shopping bags, food court vouchers and popcorn in the multiplex is Nirvana. The dress code becomes a little more formal with the Levis Strauss & Co taking centerstage with their showpiece denim jeans popping up like a uniform across these malls and multiplexes.

 

3.       The Social Butterfly /The Party Hopper- You got to love the spirit here, meeting your friends, relatives , acquaintances is the order of the weekend, be it a barbeque on the terrace on a balmy Saturday evening, or a brunch with your cousins at the local eatery on asunday morning, it can also be a pooja at home (Kurta Pajama is the order of the day) followed by hot puri bedmi what else. The Kurta Pajama makes way for the John Travoltaesque deep purple shirt for an outing with friends in the evening.

 

4.       Desh oops Ghar Ka Sipahi- This person thinks that Kishore Biyani must have been related to him in some other life as most of his/her time is spent in Big Bazaar. This person can clearly tell you the difference between all forms of lentils available in the hypermarket. Dettol, lizol and harpic doesn’t only clean the home but also cleans the soul can be vouched by this person.

NATIONAL FILM AWARDS 2013

THE NATIONAL FILM AWARDS have been announced and it warms the cockles of your heart to see that some of the performances that you have enjoyed and talked about throughout the year have been felicitated at the national level.

Best Actor -Irfan Khan- The man is a legend who has only grown in stature since his HAASIL days (tum chale jao nahi to maar denge) has been rewarded for the depiction of another legend PAAN SINGH TOMAR. The story was based on real life story of PAAN SINGH a national athlete who became a dacoit. Jungle me to baghi hote hain , dacait to parliament me hote hai.

Best Supporting Actor -Annu Kapoor- He has been an artist of the highest order for over two decades, his performance as Dr.Chaddha was a breath of fresh air which elevated the role of the supporting actor to a level seen in classics like Pran in Zanjeer, Kishore Kumar in Padosan, Anil Kapoor in Taal and Arjun Rampal in Rock on.

Best Supporting Actress-Dolly Ahluwalia- Many people believe it was Juhi Trivedi (the scripwriter) who won these accolades for Dolly for writing such a brilliant character that tugged at people’s hearts. The mother, who was running a beauty parlor, was concerned about her son’s unemployment and wanted to accommodate all her mother in law’s wishes. The scene when she climbs up the terrace with her knees aching and with a cup of tea for her mother in law was surreal.

Best Screenplay- Sujoy Ghosh- presented a Kolkata which was as enchanting as Vidya Balan in KAHAANI and even though it may sound clichéd but Kolkata was actually like a character in Kahaani, telling its own story. For people who have never been to cal (I am one of them) it was a beautiful journey through the by lanes of cal for the search of a man who did not exist (or actually for a man who existed but would not appear)

NARENDRABHAI is back at the INDIA TODAY CONCLAVE

NARENDRABHAI is back –in Delhi that is, to attend the INDIA TODAY CONCLAVE. He attended, he retorted, roared and not to miss he conquered.

The moderator was the owner of the India Today group Aroon Purie (hope I have spelt this correctly, as this definitely is not my father’s name, he likes to keep it simple Arun Puri) assisted by the young and restless Rahul Kanwal ,the Managing Editor of Headlines Today-yes that is true.

They questioned and modi answered, they probed and modi thundered- the audience (who were mostly the high heeled and influential sorts) applauded. The audience both at the TAJ and those at home listened to the pied piper with rapt attention ( I can at least vouch for my living room).

The more I listen to the man, the more convinced I become about certain decisions that I as a voter will be asked to make 12 months down the line.

There were statements which could shake up (in a mind boggling positive way) the global investment community in New York and London. On being asked on his views on disinvestment, he replied that I think it is not the business of the government to do business (translated as socialism is dead and long live capitalism).

Questions ranged from the prime ministerial candidature to relations with Pakistan, to the unavoidable 2002 riots, to the more populist growth and development plank.

You can love him or hate him but can’t ignore him is an old saying about great characters, Modi is definitely one of them my friends (or as he would say Mitro –my dear friends).

STARBUCKS IN DELHI

STARBUCKS

Will I stand in a line of 40 people in sweltering Delhi heat to buy coffee for 200 bucks, the answer is a clear no, while I show resilience against the impact of one of the greatest brands in the world the queue outside the Mumbai and Delhi outlets is nothing short of the lines in Seattle (Excessive Coffee makes you sleepless in Seattle….hehheheh).

Some of the numbers that these stores... are achieving are mind boggling, just like the salary of its CEO Howard Schultz who is being paid 20-25 MM USD every year.

In India these serpentine queues have only been seen outside the outlets of SARVANA BHAVAN and SAGAR RATNA. So what makes STARBUCKS so popular, is it the

-Brand
-Taste
-Service
-Ambience
-Experience

I guess will find out once I can ask somebody who can stand in the queue as my proxy for a cup of DOUBLE ICE MOCHA

THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY- TASTEBUDS

Its FRIDAY and as the week closes symbolically (still have plenty of things lined up for Saturday) the mind seems to wander to what will be on offer for the TASTE BUDS during the weekend.

Despite the full work load ahead during the day, the prospects of gorging on some lip smacking, mind numbing fare in the evening (to kick-start the weekend) is hard to miss.

Some of the options that come to my ...mind are as follows

1.If its left to the wifey then it will be an ORIENTAL SOJURN all the way (never mind if it is sino ludhianavi ya that’s right its not sahir ludhiyanavi its sino ludhiyanvi which is 75% spicy Punjabi and 25% Chinese as Vir Sanghvi likes to call it) the kind of Chinese food that even the Chinese can’t imagine. Did anyone say chilly paneer ….ouch.

2.I on the other hand consider myself to be a pucca delhite and a pseudo Mughal, so my way on the high way would be TANDOORI all the way (never mind if its soyabean kabab over seekh kabab and panir tikka over chicken tikka masala for the veggie me) at Matru ki shop at Model Town a great place to visit for all the vegetarians.

3.The desserts throw open a debate which is as old as history itself. Will it be a pastry (god’s very own creation the pineapple pastry) from Wengers or a rasmalai from Haldiram’s or will it be an uninspiring visit to the Kwality Walls thela for a cornetto (noooooo).

Kellogs in the morning and the dabba in the afternoon will wonder why they are being given a second class citizen treatment today but what to do its Friday.