किसी ने कुछ बनाया था, किसी ने कुछ बनाया है,
कहीं मंदिर की परछाई, कहीं मस्जिद का साया है,
न तब पूछा था हमसे और न अब पूछने आए,
हमेशा फैसले करके हमें यूं ही सुनाया है…

किसी ने कुछ बनाया था, किसी ने कुछ बनाया है…

हमें फुर्सत कहां रोटी की गोलाई के चक्कर से,
न जाने किसका मंदिर है, न जाने किसकी मस्जिद है,
न जाने कौन उलझाता है सीधे-सच्चे धागों को,
न जाने किसकी साजिश है, न जाने किसकी यह जिद है
अजब सा सिलसिला है यह, जाने किसने चलाया है।

किसी ने कुछ बनाया था, किसी ने कुछ बनाया है…

वो कहते हैं, तुम्हारा है, जरा तुम एक नजर डालो,
वो कहते हैं, बढ़ो, मांगो, जरूरी है, न तुम टालो,
मगर अपनी जरूरत तो है बिल्कुल ही अलग इससे,
जरा ठहरो, जरा सोचो, हमें सांचों में मत ढालो,
बताओ कौन यह शोला मेरे आंगन में लाया है।

किसी ने कुछ बनाया था, किसी ने कुछ बनाया है…

अगर हिंदू में आंधी है, अगर तूफान मुसलमां है,
तो आओ आंधी-तूफां यार बनके कुछ नया कर लें,
तो आओ इक नजर डालें अहम से कुछ सवालों पर,
कई कोने अंधेरे हैं, मशालों को दिया कर लें,
अब असली दर्द बोलेंगे जो दिलों में छुपाया है।

किसी ने कुछ बनाया था, किसी ने कुछ बनाया है…

~ प्रसून जोशी

Raghuvir Yadav belongs to that area and must have been familiar with the folk songs of the area. The origin of the song has been traced to the writer late Gangaram Shivaare and sung by Bulavaram Yaadav. Later on three Joshi sisters Ramadutt, Rekha & Prabhadutt Joshi sung this song first time in Raipur which is now the capital of Chhatisgarh and features in the end of the song. The song is very popular song sung in the local marriages. Chattisgarh being the tribal area, where innocent people are wedded to nature and are till now insulated from the industrialization and modernization do not even know that their song is being plagiarized by the people in Bollywood.  They care it least because the folks are constantly being modified to newer and newer music. Only the writer who has modified it should give due credit to the original writer. In this case, it even does not look like that Prasoon Joshi has changed the original song much. Incidentally, a program called “Dadaria” recorded many years back is available with Doordarshan of India and I have myself watched that program a few days back on DD Bharati. One of the female singers featuring in that program was humming this song. And think this program must have been recorded by Doordarshan much earlier than the movie was made.

In the book “Encyclopedia of Literature” , the author Mr. Joseph T. Shipley, states that in Dadaria songs emphasis is on the rhyme and in their effort to stick to matching the second line to the first line, sometimes words not exactly relating to the meaning of first line are substituted and it results in the songs becoming somewhat cheap and facile though their music quality is very good. May be the “Sasural Genda Phool” which compares the in-laws household of a girl to an marigold flower was substituted extempore. Many other interpretations are available. For example traditionally in India, the girls are treated badly by their mother-in-laws, and sister-in-laws titter when the mother-in-laws are rebuking the girl, the brother-in-laws, if younger in age to her husband, tease her, often their language couched with sexual expletives. So this means that they represent an assortment of characters like numerous flowers within the flower of marigold. The girl is dependent on her husband for the succor who is often in such families mostly afraid of his mother and often takes the side of her mother. This way if he is emotional, his life will be made miserable by his mother and wife. He will be like the grain being crushed between the two stones of a mill.

Note: English translation by unknown. From the official Taare Zameen Par website.

Phir Milenge (2004)

हे हे हे, हे हे हे हे
हे हे हे, हे हे हे हे

याद है वोह पहली मुलाक़ात याद है
याद है मुझे तेरी हर एक बात याद है
वोह महेकी रातें, साड़ी सौगातें
भीगी मेरी आंखों से आंसू बह चले

किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए
किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए

मेरे टूटे दिल में कोई ख्वाहिश ना रही
अरमानों के सब रास्ते सूने पड़े
क्यूं दुआ भी मेरी बनी आज बाद-दुआ
यह एहसास चाहत के सभी चुभने लगे

किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए
किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए

गा नि सं रे सं नि सं नि सं गा, आह
गा नि सं रे सं नि सं नि सं गा, आह

तुझे भूले न भी चाहूँ तो ना भुला सकूं
तू ही बता तेरे बिना कैसे रहूँ
तू जाने ना सनम ग़म मैंने क्या सहा
बिखरे मेरे सपने ज़मीन पे टूटके

किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए
किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए

याद है वोह पहली मुलाक़ात याद है
याद है मुझे तेरी हर एक बात याद है
वोह महेकी रातें, साड़ी सौगातें
भीगी मेरी आंखों से आंसू बह चले

किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए
किस्से कुछ पुराने मिल गए
रोने के बहाने मिल गए

(wikipedia) Phil Milenge (2004)

Kurbaan (2009)

शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह

नज़रों से नज़रें मिली… तोह
जन्नत सी महकी फिजायें
लैब ने जो लैब छु लिया… तोह
आसमान से बरसी दुआएं
ऐसी अपनी महब्बत
ऐसी रूह इ इबादत
हम पे मेहेरबान दो जहां

शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह

तेरी बाहों में यह जिस्म खिल गया
तेरी साँसों में चैन मिल गया
कैसे रहे अब हम जुदा 
हूँ हूँ…
तेरे पास हम इतने हुए
तेरे खवाब अपने हुए
ऐसे हुए अब हम फ़िदा

ऐसी उसकी निय्यत
मिट गयी हर शिकायत
हम पे मेहरबान दो जहां

शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह

वोह्ह… अल्लाह्ह्ह्ह… शुक्रं अल्लाह
ओह्ह होऊ अल्लाह्ह्ह…
होऊ शुक्रं अल्लाह

तेरे साए में मिली हर खुशि
तेरे मर्ज़ी मेरी ज़िन्दगी
ले चल तू चाहे जहां
हा हाँ

मेरी आँखों में नज़र तेरी है
मेरी शाम ओ शेर तेरी है
तू जो नहीं तो मैं कहाँ
खिल गयी मेरी किस्मत
पाके तेरी यह चाहअत
हम पे मेहरबान दो जहां

शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह
शुक्रं अल्लाह वल्लाह हम्दुल इल्लाह

अलफ़ाज़
इबादत  – (Arabic) prayers and devotion
फ़िदा     – (Arabic) sacrifice, devotion
निय्यत   – (Persian) intention, purpose, will, aim
जहां      – (Persian) the world
किस्मत   – (Persian) fortune, fate
शिकायत – (Arabic) complaint, accusation
चाहअत  – (Hindi) desire, love, affection, need

Kurbaan (Hindi: क़ुरबान, Urdu: قربان. , translation: Sacrifice)

(wikipedia) Kurbaan (2009)

Fanaa (2006)

यह साज़िश हैं बूंदों की
कोई ख्वाहिश हैं चुप चुप सी
यह साजिश हैं बूंदों की
कोई ख्वाहिश हैं चुप चुप सी

देखो ना देखो ना
देखो ना देखो ना

हवा कुछ हौले हौले
जुबां से क्या कुछ बोले
क्यों दूरी हैं अब दरमयान

देखो ना देखो ना
देखो ना देखो ना

फिर ना हवाएं होगी इतनी बेशरम
फिर ना दाग मग दाग मग होंगे यह कदम

फिर ना हवाएं होगी इतनी बेशरम
फिर ना दाग मग दाग मग होंगे यह कदम

हां सावन यह सीधा नही खुफिया बड़ा
कुछ तोह बरसते हुए कह रहा
समझो ना समझो ना
समझो ना समझो ना
हवा कुछ हौले हौले
जुबां से क्या कुछ बोले
क्यों दूरी हैं अब दरमयान

देखो ना देखो ना
देखो ना देखो ना

जुगनू जैसे चाहत देखो जले मुझे
मीठी सी मुश्किल हैं कोई क्या करे

जुगनू जैसे चाहत देखो जले मुझे
मीठी सी मुश्किल हैं कोई क्या करे

हम्म होंठों की अर्जी आइसे ठुक्राओं ना
साँसों की मर्ज़ी को झुथ्लाओं ना

छू लो ना छू लो ना
छू लो ना छू लो ना

हवा कुछ हौले हौले
जुबां से क्या कुछ बोले
ना दूरी हैं अब दरमयान

देखो ना देखो ना
देखो ना हम्म हम्म हम्म

हम्म हम्म हम्म देखो ना

अलफ़ाज़
Fanaa (Hindi: फ़ना, Urdu:فناء, English: Destroyed in love)
साज़िश     – (Persian) conspiracy, intrigue, collusion
दरमयान   – (Persian) middle, midst, interval
ख्वाहिश   – (Persian) desire, request, demand
कदम       – (Arabic) step, pace, footstep
जुगनू       – firefly

Fanaa (2006)

सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह
सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह
सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह
सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह

वल्ले वल्ले
वल्ले वल्ले
वल्ले वल्ले
वल्ले वल्ले

चाँद सिफारिश जो करता हमारी देता वोह तुमको बता
शर्म-ओ-हया पे परदे गिरा के करनी हैं हमको खता
जिद्द हैं अब तोह हैं ख़ुद को मिटाना होना हैं तुझमें फ़ना
चाँद सिफारिश जो करता हमारी देता वोह तुमको बता
शर्म-ओ-हया पे परदे गिरा के करनी हैं हमको खता

वल्ले वल्ले
वल्ले वल्ले

तेरी अदा भी हैं झोंके वाली छू के गुजर जाने दे
तेरी लचक हैं के जैसे डाली दिल में उतर जाने दे
आजा बाहों में करके बहाना होना हैं तुझमें फ़ना

चाँद सिफारिश जो करता हमारी देता वोह तुमको बता
शर्म-ओ-हया पे परदे गिरा के करनी हैं हमको खता

सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह
सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह
सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह
सुभान अल्लाह सुभान अल्लाह

हैं जो इरादें बता दूँ तुमको शर्मा ही जाओगी तुम
धड़कनें जो सुना दूँ तुमको घबरा ही जाओगी तुम
हमको आता नही हैं छुपाना होना हैं तुझमें फ़ना

चाँद सिफारिश जो करता हमारी देता वोह तुमको बता
शर्म-ओ-हया पे परदे गिरा के करनी हैं हमको खता
जिद्द हैं अब तोह हैं ख़ुद को मिटाना होना हैं तुझमें फ़ना

अलफ़ाज़
Fanaa (Hindi: फ़ना, Urdu:فناء, English: Destroyed in love)
सिफारिश – (Persian) recommendation
सुभान      – (Persian) dawn
अदा         – (Persian) charm, grace, and beauty
खता         – (Arabic) mistake

(wikipedia) Fanaa (2006)

It will be based on the life of sports icon Milkha Singh

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has announced his most prestigious project, Bhag Milkha Bhag, a film inspired by the life and times of Indian sports icon, Milkha Singh.

Prasoon Joshi is behind the story, screenplay and dialogues for Bhag Milkha Bhag. Researched and written over the last two years, Bhag Milkha Bhag will go on floors some time next year.

Bhag Milkha Bhag will be the first ever biographical film to be made on a sports icon in India.

Padma Shri Milkha Singh is an Indian athlete, who created the 1958 Asian Games Record in 400 metres, won the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, set the world record in 400 metres in 1960 and participated in the 400 metres final in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
Popularly known as The Flying Sikh, he is one of the greatest athletes India has ever produced. Milkha Singh lost his parents in the Partition of India and after a horrific childhood, he went against all odds to become an international sports icon and to be revered by sportsmen and by sports critics alike as one of the greatest athletes ever.

Says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, “When I first heard the story of Milkha Singh, it was so inspiring that I wanted not only the youth in our country, but all over the world, and from various walks of life, to know this story of trials, tribulations and triumph.”
Says Prasoon Joshi, “Milkha Singhji is a legend and the story of his achievements is well known. In addition, over the last year and post several in depth meetings, one has been fortunate to cull out and visit certain rooms of memory and thought that he had probably locked. It was difficult but rewarding for this is intense and very inspiring.”

LINK

Things get rolling on Sunday 14th at the Cannes Lions organised event with a screening for delegates of the acclaimed documentary Art & Copy, hosted by The National newspaper.

The documentary, which has been doing the film festival circuit in 2009,  takes a look behind the scenes at the social and cultural impact of the modern ad industry, revealing the work and influence of some of the most important advertising creatives of all time.

The 15th and 16th see the festival’s seminar programme swing into action, with presenters tackling a spectrum of issues affecting the regional and global industry.

Speakers include Chuck Porter, co-chairman, Crispin Porter + Bogusky; Mark Tutssel, CCO of Leo Burnett Worldwide; Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman and regional executive creative director, McCann Worldgroup India; David Nobay, creative chairman, Droga5 Australia and John Hunt, worldwide creative director, TBWA\ Worldwide.

Before culminating on the evening of Wednesday 17th with the Dubai Lynx awards presentation and dinner, the festival has also added two more evening social events to the delegates’ calendar.

The first is a media networking event on Monday hosted at festival venue, The Palladium, by Guardian News, while Tuesday sees the UAE’s Creative Club host their inaugural party at the Media One hotel in Dubai Media City.

इस बार नहीं

इस बार जब वो छोटी सी बच्ची मेरे पास अपने खरोंच ले कर आएगी

मैं उसे फू-फू कर के नहीं बहलाऊंगा

पनपने दूंगा उसके टीस को

इस बार नहीं

इस बार जब मैं चेहरों पर दर्द लिखा देखूँगा

नहीं गाऊंगा गीत पीड़ा भुला देने वाले

दर्द को रिसने दूंगा, उतरने दूंगा अन्दर गहरे

इस बार नहीं

इस बार मैं न मरहम लगाऊँगा

न ही उठाऊंगा रूई के फाहे

और न ही कहूँगा कि तुम आँखें बंद कर लो, गर्दन उधर कर लो

मैं दवा  लगाता हूँ

इस बार नहीं

इस बार जब उलझनें देखूँगा, छटपटाहट देखूँगा

नहीं दौडूंगा उलझी डोर लपेटने

उलझने दूंगा जब तक उलझ सके

इस बार नहीं

इस बार कर्म का हवाला दे कर नहीं उठाऊँगा औज़ार

नहीं करूंगा फिर से एक नयी शुरुआत

नहीं बनूँगा मिसाल एक कर्मयोगी की

नहीं आने दूंगा ज़िन्दगी को आसानी से पटरी पर

उतरने दूंगा उसे कीचड में, टेढ़े-मेढ़े रास्तों पर

नहीं सूखने दूंगा दीवारों पर लगा खून

हल्का नहीं पड़ने दूंगा उसका रंग

इस बार नहीं बनने दूंगा उसे इतना लाचार

कि पान की पीक और खून का फर्क ही ख़त्म हो जाए

इस बार नहीं

इस बार घावों को देखना है

गौर से

थोडा लम्बे वक़्त तक

कुछ फैसले

और उसके बाद हौसले

कहीं तो शुरुआत करनी होगी

इस बार यही तय किया है

Overall Album:

Picks: Actually, all of them. The vibe of this album is of one big concert. Either you’ll like the vibe and enjoy the entire album or dismiss it as monotonous. I’d recommend giving it a try because you’ll hear some promising new male singers on whom Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy have built a lush, high-energy album.

Music Director: Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy

Lyricist: Prasoon Joshi

I’ll gladly take back the complaints I issued for the dismal album that was Short Kut. Because, apparently, S-E-L saved up their energy and singing power for this one.

London Dreams is one large uninterrupted dose of rock, frenzied electric guitar riffs, percussion that will not let up and almost all male singers singing in pitches that will wear you out if you tried to sing along. It’s the kind of music that, when the song ends, leaves you exhausted from having tapped your foot along with the beat. The film is about the journey of two men, one of the kind that has to work hard to be famous and another that has fame dropped on him purely for being the more charismatic of the two, and Asin mucking it up between the two of them. I’ll let you work out who is who among the two men, but I’m hoping that London Dreams can bring back the magic that happened the last time Salman and Ajay were together on screen.

The album begins with Barson Yaaron by Vishal Dadlani and Roop Kumar Rathod – that combination being novel enough, Roop Kumar Rathod gets to sing his lungs out at the top of the register while Vishal honors his rock roots completely. Man Ko Ati Bhavey is Shankar Mahadevan’s party, a song entirely in hindi except for one iteration of the word ‘Bebe’ as ‘Baby’ (trivia for you…) and contains delightful phrases like “Main hoon sampoorna magan”. That every chorus ends in “Hai re Hai” should give you an idea of the overall point of the song. No? Here’s Salman grooving to it.

Next up, Tapkey Masti by a new singer named Feroz Khan (a quick search on Google shows links to some Punjabi singer, might be the same guy). When I heard this song the first time, I thought, Sukhwinder Singh, but better. He has the kind of full-throated reach that Sukhwinder Singh used much to his advantage in the famous Chaiyya Chaiyya, and is able to add extra ornamentation even at the very high notes. He makes a return appearance in the Tapkey Masti (Remix) which is a good listen as well.

Next, my favorite, Khanabadosh for the concert-song feel, the lyrics about dreams and hopes and ambitions, and the wonderful new singer named Mohan. The best comparison I can find for him, is Adnan Sami but more full-throated. He does a beautiful job of taking you along on the same journey as that of the characters in the film. The anthem-like treatment of Khanabadosh – Google tells me it’s a “Sufi word meaning one who carries his house on his shoulders”, sweet! – with the chorus echoing almost every phrase the singer sings, lulls you into this head-bobbing state with a tune that’s many-layered and memorable. Khanabadosh (Remix) distinguishes itself with a crisper beat and more synthesizer melodies layered on Mohan’s singing.

Khwab Jo is a melodic, melancholy song performed very well by Shankar Mahadevan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Both Shankar and Rahat get a chance to throw in ornamentation, hit high notes comfortably and create this lush song that still resonates after the song has ended.  Yaari Bina is slightly an odd-duck – Roop Kumar Rathod, accompanied by Milind (new guy?), starts off what sounds like a typical Sufi number. Then it transitions to what sounds like a typical Yash Raj Punjabi number meandering along on the lower register, then Roop Kumar Rathod starts belting it out in the higher registers to a more pronounced Bhangra beat. Sort of meh, but the singing is good as always. It sounds like the kind of pointless high-register singing that populated Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.

Jashn Hai Jeet Ka is one of the two anguished songs in the album, performed by another new singer Abhijeet Ghoshal (who is he, and is he related to the other Ghoshal..? Google couldn’t tell me). You could draw a parallel between this song and Main Kya Hoon from Love Aaj Kal. Shola Shola is the second of the anguished songs, and is sung by the fifth new singer of the album (if you’re keeping count), Zubeen Garg. The theme of the song seems to be to “egg the flames on”, and if you read the movie preview as I have, you might guess that it is about the widening rift between the two principal characters. Zubeen puts in great ornamentation in the song, making the song a good listen.

This is not another Rock On – there are a lot of pop and Bhangra sensibilities to the songs which necessarily make London Dreams different from the rock genre that informed Rock On. Farhan Akhtar could do only so much in the songs he sang for Rock On, but here, there are plenty of very talented singers pretend-singing to rapturous 10,000+ concert audiences. I look forward to the film, and I hope you guys have as good a time listening to the album as I did.

And if anyone digs up any info on any of the new singers, do let us know in the comments below.

Listen here / Purchase here on iTunes

Feelings be damned, I’ve realised that it is far more important for an individual, to continue being who they are. So while the only thing constant in life is change, let the circumstances be the one that bear the brunt, not your soul.

Quite often, we change ourselves in small ways, to make ourselves more appealing to the object of our affection, of course with the intention that they will reciprocate in kind. And while change is not always a bad thing (just ask Barrack), change just for the sake of change is best avoided at all costs.

A Change that takes you far away from who you really are; A Change that turns you into something you are not, but something you think the other person wishes you were; A Change that stops you from recognizing who you really are, is never good. Few fortunate souls realise this to begin with, while most of us mortals have to learn about this the hard way.

One such song which comes to mind is – Rehna Tu Hai Jaisa Tu from the movie Delhi-6. Prasoon Joshi has penned this (and in my mind – not to mention that of my good friend Abhijit – Prasoon’s poetry combined with Rehmaan’s music almost recreates the Gulzaar-RD Burman magic of the yester-years)

The lines ‘तुझे बदलना न चाहूँ रत्ती भर भी सनम’ seem to have made home in my head these past few days. Last week has been pretty amazing. Hitherto the greatest seven days in my life. Coming closer to and getting to know a person to an extent that we both have been left wondering where the other was all this while. At the same time, accepting of the fact that what makes us what we are as a whole, is the experiences that we have had during the time that we were not with one another. These experiences have made us the two individuals that we are, complete with our flaws and perfections. And we love each other with those flaws and perfections, in their entirety.

With every passing day, I’m grateful for having a person in my life who absolutely loves me for who I am, and whom I completely and totally adore for being themselves.

“तुझे चाहूँ  जैसा है तू
मुझे तेरी बारिश मैं भीगना है घुल जाना है”
“तुझे चाहूँ जैसा है तू
मुझे तेरी लपट मैं जलना राख हो जाना है”

Love you, as you are, for I want to be soaked and rendered in the showers of your love.

Love you, as you are, for I want to be burned in your passion

Love you, Miss Whom Whom Soul mate !!!

Meha Mathur

My daughter asks me a question very often. And last year, while I was addressing a group of disadvantaged, yet high-performing, school girls from Delhi on media, they asked me the same question. “Which famous personalities have you met? Well, my record that front is not too satisfactory. I haven’t met Shah Rukh Khan. I haven’t met Aamir Khan. I would love to meet them of course. But not meeting them doesn’t take away from my journalistic achievement.

What is it about meeting famous personalities? Is there a rub-off effect – that if you meet them, you become famous too? Well, I can tell, and you know it too well, life doesn’t function that way. I have grown up as a daughter of arguably the biggest stalwart of Hindi journalism, Rajendra Mathur. His juniors, who started their career under him, today head some of the leading media establishments. Did that have a rub-off effect on me? Unfortunately not.

Did I get inspired by him? Sadly no.

I have heard of kids picking up parents traits. If there are parents’ books lying around, kids pick them up, literally and otherwise. If there are cameras around, they pick up up again. While father was alive, Shakespeare books were everywhere, both parents being English literature students. Somehow, the sight of those books never inspired me. They were serious stuff, and eons away from me.

To some extent, we did get influenced about our career choices in that house of books. From early on, it had perhaps become ordained that we will never be doing maths or management.

What inspired me first was the sight of forts and ruins. The more dilapidated a structure, the more fascinating it became to me. Hence my choice of subject, history.

What was it that made me so immune to any influences or ideas in that household that thrived on ideas? Perhaps the attitude of complacency, at the thought of father having achieved a giant stature? Was it the belief on parents’ part that the grains of thoughts are all lying around, kids will be receptive enough to pick them up? Was it that atmosphere of authoritarianism which prevented an atmosphere of inquisitiveness among kids?

I can’t answer with certainty, but I can today say that I have found my inspirations elsewhere, among lesser-known people, or among youngsters. I have no shame in admitting, I am learning from peers who arrived 10 years later on this planet. My inspiration has come from people like

• Shradha Kaul, a PhD in English, who inspires awe in me about English writing skills. A few years my senior, she is a columnist with our magazines. Her passion for literature is combined with her crystal clear writing. And let me admit, when I write an sms to her, I dare not use any shortform, even ‘u’ for ‘you’, she being a purist (read her columns on http://www.mediamates.biz/educare/shardha_kaul.html);
• Harpreet Dhody, an engineer, earlier my colleague in the company, now pursuing MBA from the UK, but who has read every book possible on polity, society and literature. He’s our mobile library;
• Surbhi Bhatia, coming from a business family background but who got so inspired by English literature that she joined media. She worked with me for two years. At the beginning of her career, when she approached Indian Express for work and they expressed their inability to pay her, she actually offered to work without pay for six months, and learnt the tricks of the trade, traveling in buses, walking a few kilometers and tolerating the Delhi heat. Talking to her on daily basis, I actually realized that my history education was incomplete without English literature, and for that matter an understanding of philosophy and arts, these four constituting the quadrilateral of humanities, and I enrolled for a course in English MA. What those tomes in father’s collection couldn’t do, Surbhi did it for me, inspiring me;
• Jyotsna Singh, a firebrand journalist colleague, who after her graduation in history from IP College, did sociology from JNU, and is now pursuing PhD on how sports can bring about improvement in the condition of communities. Others have labeled her Brinda Karat for her Lefist leanings. I respect her for her logical approach to things – try defeating her in a debate and I promise you a Dairy Milk. And I often cite her example to others to prove that you need not be from an elitist institution like Stephens to realize your full intellectual caliber;
• Shoumyadip and Shiv; these two colleagues, born with perhaps a computer mouse in their hands, have changed my perspective towards technology. That technology is a must, I realized after I met them. Shiv comes from a small town, has no English background, but I admire him for one thing – he has learnt everything about e-world on his own initiative, beginning from a shanty shop. His latest achievement of course is learning Joomla (oh, how I envy him!). It was from these two colleagues (when they purchased their MP3s) that it first dawned on me that I must learn technology to be able to listen to even music in the near future.
• Shailesh Shah, who worked with our magazines till early 2008. Always kept me on toes. I think the number of new ideas we implemented in our magazines during his time was phenomenal.
• Aamir and Zohaib: These two Pakistani friends have again changed my perspective towards life. I met them just a few weeks after 26/11. Their approach towards India is difficult to put in words – sad about that event, yet proud about being Pakistanis (I respect them for that). And also proud and happy about the common heritage the two countries share. Very often they expressed their wish that the two countries could be good friends, that we could travel to-and-fro, even that we could have been one country! Let me tell you, it was not a sham. One can’t pretend for nine weeks! Also, what surprised me was their liberal attitude towards most things. If they are true representatives of Pakistan, I wonder why has the Pakistani society let a fringe hijack the national agenda! I am thankful I met them. It has helped me shed much of my hatred, venom and prejudices. I remember the extreme frustration I, like most Indians felt when Pakistan had won the One-Day world Cup way back in the Nineties. This time, when Pakistan won the T-20 world cup, believe me, I was happy. Professionally too I learnt from them, what with their multi-tasking and never-say-die approach. But in one respect they did a damage. I have lost interest in photography after seeing their work. I realise how hopeless I had been all along in this respect.

But to answer the questions raised at the beginning, yes, I have interacted with a few “famous personalities”. But some of the interactions (some famous, some not-so-famous) that I have had as journalist, that I will always cherish are not for the “famous” quotient, but because of what I absorbed from them as a person, not a journo:

• The one with Prasoon Joshi, adman and lyricist. Here’s a person who comes out as genuine, and who speaks from his heart. And respects others’ time. But what I liked about his interaction the most was his career journey – from a small town in North India, to the subject decision of physics and then MBA, and then the realization of his goal as a man of letters. Life is about choices we make and his story brings home the point most beautifully (www.mediamates.biz/experts_view/prasoon_joshi.html);
• Navina Jafa, a danseuse. Having learnt Kathak since childhood, along with a conscientious effort on the part of the family to teach her Sanskrit thoroughly, this person did English literature, followed it up with a PhD in urban art forms from Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, followed it up with research overseas, and today, besides giving dance demonstrations to the students of art appreciation in National Museum, conducts history tours.
• Rachel Thomas, India’s first skydiver onto the North Pole. This humble lady is a study in determination. Married at a very early age, she realized her dream of skydiving as a mother. She was a granny when she achieved the feat.
• The Sanyal family, a family extraordinaire. Aseem Sanyal had won a story-writing competition that we had organized in 2008 and the prize was a laptop! His mother called up from Nagpur that she would be in Delhi on X date and that she could collect it. We wondered whether she was coming all the way from Nagpur to Delhi to collect the prize. She told us she was coming to receive her daughter, Shomira, a student of class IX, who had spent a month with activist Aruna Roy in Rajasthan as part of Spic Macay scholarship. Greedy as we are for story ideas, we got interested. We arranged for an interview. It turned out, both the outgoing kids Aseem and Shomira spend their holidays with one or the guru in summers. At this age, their drive for larger things in life really impressed us. But what impressed me more was the mother Dilshad. Her story of how she revived her son Aseem when he lost his memory in class VII following an illness sent a chill through my spine. The family, realizing that Aseem was close to nature, resorted to taking him out in woods everyday, showing him butterflies. That did the trick. Today, Aseem after a 90 per cent score in class XII, has enrolled in Loyola College, Chennai, for biology, and is planning to be a naturalist.

I believe it’s when mind is free of fear and preconceived notions that inspiration comes best.

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