Being the Pinnacle

 In Marathi Bhakti tradition, there is this lovely "abhang" (a type of hymn) by Sant Bahinabai. This devotional composition is an extended metaphor. It compares the Marathi Bhakti tradition to the construction of a temple. Sant Dnyaneshwar, my favourite most saint who is an all-in-one presence, a great thinker, a spiritual guru, a devoted disciple, a superb poet, and so on and on, is the plinth of this edifice, while Sant Tukaram is the temple dome, the pinnacle. 

In contemporary times, the namesake, Tukaram Mundhe, seems to be the pinnacle of the administrative structure. He is an IAS officer. His, however, is not the "eat (be corrupt) and let eat (allow others to be corrupt as well)" policy. 

Naturally, a very p(r)icky officer, because he is highly conscientious and ethical, he has often been transferred. He is currently serving as the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra, based in Mumbai. Appointed in May 2026, this marks the silver jubilee transfer of his twenty-one-year long civil service career!

Why so many rendez-vous with so many varied profiles ? Well, he loves his job, is a stickler for rules, and his strict administrative approach consists of  anti-corruption drives. No wonder he is so much a thorn in so many sides that often he faces life threats. 

Such pinnacles, however, are very much the need of the hour, committed lecturers, devoted doctors, politicians who are thinkers/statesmen, and so on and on, if the socio-cultural fabric is not to be to vitiated by the Siya adulter(y)-ated way!

Pratima@ Papa was one such hyper committed, conscientious officer. He, too, faced so many transfers that my parents had these big boxes to pack their minimal goodies, and move on to the next town of transfer. I am very, very, very proud of being the daughter of such a pinnacle of an officer, and of a pinnacle of a couple who later sacrificed their togetherness so that our  education does not suffer, given Papa's transfers! 

Quote of the week:                                                         "Be a yardstick of quality," says Steve Jobs. "Excellence is an attitude," asserts Ralph Marston.  

Word of the day: pinnacle of excellence.                   This phrase represents the absolute highest point of achievement, quality, or success in a given field. It is often referred to as the summit of perfection, the gold standard, or the finest example of mastery.

Magical Melody

 R. D. Burman! Most of us would associate him with rhythm. In fact, he was called the "rhythm king." No wonder, when the Bhappi Lahiri's who could improvise better on the Western rhythm started to dominate the Bollywood music, R. D. was hugely rejected by the film industry. 

He was at the nadir of his career, nay life itself. Nobody would sign him. If he was signed at all, the songs would not click. His health was deteriorating. Monetary losses stared him in the face. He was all alone, in addition. 

Significantly, during such difficult days, R.D. 're-turned' to melody. Yes, I am referring to his swansong, "1942: A Love Story." All the songs composed by R.D. for this movie are melodious. Magical, however, is "Rim Zim, Rum Zum," right?

The very poem, yes, the song is a poem, is most musically written by Javed Akhtar. There is lovely alliteration, assonance, consonance which are enhanced by the rhyme-n-repetition. Absolute onomatopoeia echoes in literally every line of this soft, gentle song. 

Noticable it is that the accompanying instruments in this song are rarely the percussion types, which otherwise dominate R.D's oeuvre. Instead, here the melody is as soft as the drizzle, as the gentle feel of deep love reflected in this poem through highly lyrical images.

No wonder, come monsoon, on the loop are  "lagi aaj sawan ki phir yeh zadi" , "rim zim kare sawan", AND "rim zim, rim zim, rum zum, rum zum" which captures the ever reviving magic of the monsoon and the tender melody of a blooming love forever blossoming. 

Pratima@ R. D. kabhi marte nahin because the magical melody of such songs shows his soft power! Hence this tribute to him on his birth anniversary.

Quote of the day:                                                           "Melody is the soul of music." So said Mozart. 

Word of the day: Onomatopoeia                                Onomatopoeia is the process of creating or using words that phonetically imitate, resemble, or suggest the sounds they describe. These words bring the lyric to life by engaging the listener's/reader’s senses, making the song/poem more vivid and dynamic.

The Regal Win

 Siya, alias Sonam Junior, hated hubby-to-be because of his stutter/stammer, it seems. That news item made me think of two remarkable wins over this physical impediment. Both the efforts in my opinion are the best, indeed regal, examples of the human will to overcome seemingly impossible hurdles. 

Meet Demosthenes. Misfortune dogged his footsteps since childhood. He was orphaned at seven when his father passed away. His so-called guardians so squandered away his inherited wealth that he grew up to be abjectly impoverished.

As if that misfortune was not enough, he suffered from both, a weak voice and an articulation issue, a stammer. Either did not deter him as he had an iron will. He practised with pebbles in his mouth. He would recite verses while running uphill. At the seashore, he would speak over the lashing winds and crushing waves.

Thus he became the most impressive speaker of his times.'The Philippics' is his passionate series that warned Athens against the marauding territorial ambitions of Alexander and his father. In fact, his first public win was the prosecution speech against his wastrel guardians. He became the best logographer, that is,  the speech writer of his times.

Now meet George VI. His childhood could prove that being a prince is a misfortune. His father was both, emotionally distant and disagreeably disciplinarian. His nanny was a horrid harridan who pinched him hard so that she would not have to present him often in the royal presence as his royal father did not like the cry-baby.

Much worse, he was naturally left-handed, which was then considered diabolical. He was brutally forced to make his right hand in to his dominant hand. The hardship was both, neurological and psychological.

Emotionally thus impoverished, these childhood traumas led to a marked stutter. Destiny delivered him a huge surprise. His elder brother abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. Now, as the King, during the World War II, he had to give impressive speeches!

How did he manage a fight against an impossible fate? Lionel Logue was a speech therapist who taught him breathing techniques, vocal warm-up's, and thus built his confidence so much that the royal speeches during World War II were the solace of his subjects. 

In brief, if/when there is a will, there sure is a way!

Pratima@ Go.Pu. Deshpande, a brilliant thinker, analyst, educationist and author had a pronounced stammer. Yet one never noted the long pauses, the stutter, et al, so brilliant was his content.

Quote of the day:                                                           "The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it," asserted Molière.

Word of the day: grit                                                  Grit generally refers to firmness of mind, indomitable courage, and the passionate perseverance required to achieve long-term goals despite obstacles.

 

A low-down @ High!

 International Day against Drug Abuse, but sadly yet agaaaaain! Hence the query. What often causes the adrenaline high? Or the dopamine spike? Artificial drugs that help one get high, such as cocaine, crack, inhalants, would be the typical answer, right? Quite the dumb, eh, "been there, 'do'ne it all"  answer, too! Because these drugs destroy the body and the mind, if at all any, to begin with, of those who consume such poisons regularly, right? 

Well, in this context, may I differ from such stated, proven facts? In my opinion, the real drugs are aplenty , varied, and available in abundance everywhere. In our blog, let us list n discuss a few such addictions. 

The first one of these, extremely dangerous, too, is "inanity infinitum." Unique it is. It makes the 'deadlier of the species' go high n then push their partners down to death. A few of its users may give the investigating officer astounding reasons for their 'habit'ual high which could include the would-be's bald head which they hence want dead, for instance! 

Yet another dastardly drug might be the "amigo extra". It is the regular stuff extra(marital) f(r)iends of rich witch brides do. They, too, get high n in a 'spirit'ed way send others, and thus bring themselves, down. 

Extremely addictive is the next one known as "hypocratic oat(h)". It is the favourite of the mammas of the "femme fatale".  Once on it, these users go deaf-n-blind, though, unfortunately for the rest of us, they blubber more. Their darling daughter, drunk full, dressed half naked could dance in boy-friend's birthday bash. Yet she is innocence incarnate for such dumbies, eh, sorry, mummies who do not know the paramour with whom daughter dear speaks for hours! 

"ED Fever" raises the temperature mostly of politicians. At times, it increases the palpitations of a 'pater familias' whose daughter messes up a 'proposal'. The po(r)tion involved in the fast 'dark'ening deal is so astounding that it interests in(ve)stigating journalists, not to forget officers, of all sorts! 

Well, the list of such hi-fi drugs is endless. The space of a blog, however, cannot 'do' them in. Better hence to stop here! 

Pratima@The obsession with the social media sans sensible filters is the real depressing drug! 

Quote of the day:                                                            "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson is indeed a great thinker. 

Word of the day: Addiction                                        Addiction is a dis-ease that makes you too selfish to see the havoc you created for people who are foolish enough to continue to care for you even when you have shattered their lives. 

Dejection: A Ghazal

 Samuel Taylor Coleridge! One of the finest poets when it comes to world literature. A great critic, his poem "Dejection : An Ode" lends us the title of our blog today, dedicated to  one of Madan Mohan's most moving and intense ghazals. The occasion is the birth anniversary of the master(ful) musician. 

Undoubtedly, Madan Mohan is the ultimate maestro when it comes to filmy ghazals. Each one of his masterpieces is the best example of the genre. Yet no song can match the unforgettable magic of "aaj socha to aansu bhar aaye." It captures the acute pangs of loss, the deep tragedy of a haunting personal ruin through words and notes that wring the most delicate strings of the soul.

"Aaj socha to" is a ghazal from the 1973 film "Hasante Jakhm." In fact, all the songs from this film, such as the feisty n yet full of deep emotions "tum jo mil gaye ho", are simply great. Yet the unmatched "Aaj socha to" would be one of the top five songs of Madan Mohan's entire oeuvre.

To begin with, it is a lovely lyric by Kaifi  Azmi who manages to capture the pathos of bereavement. True, I have not watched the movie. I would not hence know how the song reflects the feel in the film. Yet allow me to say that the  deep intensity of the song as a poem, as a ghazal overflows the film-y  frame. Its emotional timbre captures the lament of each emotional wound n every soul-wrenching hurt. 

Latadi's melodious notes portray this poignant anguish most meaningfully. She so sings each 'sur' that agony itself comes alive in every line. Each repetition unravels anew the pain pulsating in every word.

The allure of the song, however, is the unique magical touch of Madan Mohan's composition. He has used Rais Khan's sitar as the interlude most evocatively. It compliments the melancholy of Lataji's notes most lyrically. 

Madan Mohan implements Raag Shivranjani to reflect the profound pain. Apparently, the raag is a late evening raag. Yet Madan Mohan's Midas touch so embellishes it that it becomes an anthem of each woe any time everywhere. 

In brief, this unique song so gives a voice to acute pangs that each eye fills with unshed tears as its tragic mood envelops the mindscape of every listener. Hence this thankful tribute to Madan Mohan, the magician of mood music, on the occasion of his birth anniversary!

Pratima@ No wonder, Madan Mohan  continues to be a legend because his songs provide in abundance "the pleasure of being sad" as Victor Hugo would put it.

Quote of the day:                                                           "She smiles a lot,/too much,/and her eyes hold/a melancholy about them -/ kindness masking sadness. / I hope to live / with as much/ bravery one day."  Touché, Louis Innis.

Word of the day: poignant                                        Poignant refers to an experience/ memory that evokes a keen, piercing emotion, most commonly a feeling of deep sadness, regret, or tenderness that touches your heart  most profoundly.

Pratima R. Agnihotri.                                                Pune

'Single'!!!

 Being single and not ready to mingle? For the rest of the world, that is quite some tingle (in the Marathi sense of the word, too!) First and foremost, you are a terrible threat to almost all. There is no knowing how and why. 

You are efficiently managing your home, you are quite good at your work/profession, you are excellent at all your avocations, you do not bother even an ant as if you are following the white stripes meant for the 'muni's' in Mumbai, and yet for most all, you are a discomfort. 

In fact, most everyone keeps a close watch on you as if they are the gestapo guarding a particularly rebellious Jew, a tribe if there was any during the Holocaust. What you wear, which veggies/fruits you buy, where you go when n why, what did you say to the "ghanta gadi mavashi", these mock gurkha-guards are forever following your every move(ment). 

It is obvious, these poor devils, they do not have anything to do. Their own lives are such that even boredom would be tired of being bored. The single person hence is their target, and rather an easy one, they think, because in their stupid no-brainer mode, there is no one to stand up for/support the single(s), especially a woman. 

No, no, no, they cannot even imagine helping out even in any smallest way. When would they have time, poor souls, they are gossiping the whole day about someone or the other, prefarably, of course, about everyone, excluding hopefully their own selves. They might even be indulging in this activity last mentioned because such dim-wits think that any mention, whether good or bad, is publicity. Who cares, if it is cheap!?!

They think they know when you slept, at night, in the afternoon, why, when you woke up, and in such wrong details that at times, you feel like walking up to them, and saying, "Do take some rest. You must be tired after this strict watch over me, day in and night out! Go off to sleep, now that your drunken drawl drooled enough, okay?" 

Sure you choose to laugh off, despite your irritation, the creeps' 'single'-minded watch over you because you realise how precious you are to their worthless lives! Next, you also thank your stars that you are not a single woman in a village, a widow suddenly forced to take care of her entire world, now that her husband chose the escape of a suicide. Your heart 'single'-mindedly goes out to the plight of such a woman, and you start thinking of 'singularly' reaching out to her, and others suffering the same way. Single is this simple!

Pratima@ What most brainless booby-traps do not undrstand that there is a huge, a Himalayan difference between being lonely, and alone. Poor devils of all sexes, they are lonely in all their relationships, especially with their own selves! 

Quote of the day:                                                         "If you make friends with yourself, you will never be lonely"."Learning how to be alone is a powerful skill. The only dates I never ever cancel are the ones with myself." Author anonymous.

Word of the day: solitude                                          Solitude is the state of being alone, often associated with a peaceful, calm, and positive environment. Unlike loneliness (which implies a painful feeling of being isolated), solitude is a deliberate, constructive choice to step away from social engagement in order to focus, reflect, and recharge.

Humanist, hey!?!

 June 21 is celebrated the World over as the Humanist Day. As June 21 this year was crowded, nay, jam-packed with all sorts of 'days', I had decided to address each one by one. 

Believe me though, I just could not bring myself to write about 'humanism'. Want to know why? Well, just look about and see what is happening around us. Pune is being tarnished the second time the world over, and this time, the issue involved is inhuman. 

Yes, Pune, once known as the "Oxford of the East", as the maternal home of knowledge itself, got besmirched as the city of money-minded and influence-obsessed (paper) leak "masters''! Apparently, many more teachers (how to call them so, is indeed a moot question) from famous colleges are involved, too. 

As if that infamy was not enough, here comes Sonam Junior! In fact, this woman has the gall to admit that she was 'inspired' by the Sonam-Raja Raghuvanshi sordid saga!! Yes, indeed, I am referring to the diabolical plan hatched by Siya Goyal!!! 

How can anyone be just twenty, and yet so harshly horribly inhuman? At twenty, one is supposedly brimming over with idea(l)s, aspirations, principles, with the intense enthusiasm to take on the world in search of justice, equality, fraternity, for instance! 

And here is this virago (how to call her a young girl?) deliberately in detail planning, with the able assistance of her paramour, the murder of the poor fiancé! Where/What was the need? If she could plot n kill, why could not she stand up to the parental pressure not to marry the lover boy!?! Why ruin lives who meant well by her, the would-be who humoured her every wish despite doubts, his entire family, in fact! What has society indeed descended down to!

Yes, even in my generation, there have been diabolical daughters-in-law who subtly but most viciously and absolutely wickedly made the lives of the unfortunate in-laws in to sheer hell. Yet even these shrewd shrews, mostly married in their mid-twenties, hardly had the infinite audacity to thus plan n kill!

 Sure, those toughies tried their level best to ruin reputations!! Yet even they might not match up to Sia's n Sonam's, the 'blue drum' types of today! Moreover, they thus managed complete control over the 'hubby', whom they could treat like a puppet whose strings were attached to the finger tips of those wily wifey's and their maternal families! They lorded it, every which way! What has Sia accomplished? A life term, if not a death sentence, for self and hood(ed)y-wallah?

In such contexts, how to extol humanism? A distant parallel would be writing  pretty little stories of love n piety n types to glorify the Nazis! Let me instead repeat Macduff's response in "Macbeth" when he sees the assassinated body of King Duncan, "horror, horror, horror!"                                                                  "HORROR!" And all is thus said! 

Pratima@ Anyways, World Humanist Day,  celebrated annually on June 21, is "a global holiday dedicated to raising awareness of humanism as a philosophical life stance and promoting rational thinking, human rights, and ethical values." 

Quote of the day:                                                         "To insult someone we call him 'bestial.' For deliberate cruelty and (wicked) nature, 'human' might be the greater insult." Isaac Asimov IS indeed a creative thinker!

Word of the day:  fiend/she-devil                           Fiend/she-devil is a diabolical or wickedly cruel person, a particularly fierce, evil, or shrewish woman.                                                                     In brief, she may simper and smile, and yet be a vamp!