Miscellaneous

Songs of Yore completes three years

Songs of Yore Third Anniversary June 7, 2013

Celebrating with three triad songs Today SoY completes three years. When I look back, it is not merely more of the same. To be sure, the frequency has increased from the preceding two years. Thirty-three posts in the year gone by, i.e. a post every 11 days, is far more than the preceding two years. […]

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In conversation with Minoo Mumtaz

Minoo Mumtaz April 26, 2013

Wishing her Happy 71st Birthday on April 26, 2013 I am not a journalist, nor am I in a line which should bring me anywhere near film people. Yet, here I was having a relaxed conversation with Minoo Mumtaz in her apartment in Pune, a few months back. Some stories are epic in scale. This […]

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Caught stealing from ‘Songs of Yore’, two Harvard students sadden me

plagiarism April 20, 2013

I wish I had never written this piece, and I tried my best to see that I didn’t have to. Yet there are times when you have to face up to unpleasant situations. When I started Songs of Yore about three years ago, I did not have a clue what blogging meant. My only excuse […]

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‘Mere piya gaye Rangoon’ and some more Indo-Burmese links

Thumbnail image for ‘Mere piya gaye Rangoon’ and some more Indo-Burmese links April 14, 2013

Wishing Happy Baisakhi, Happy Indian and Myanmar’s traditional New Year, and Happy Birthday to a legend When you think of Rangoon you think of Mere piya gaye Rangoon. Naturally this was what was uppermost in my mind when I visited Rangoon and some other places in Burma last December.

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Romancing the dunce or ‘Mahamoorkhon Ke Gaane’

Songs on dunces March 27, 2013

In an interesting Holi tradition in many parts of North India, important personalities of the town get together to play the fool, and vie with each other to get the coveted best fool awards. The next day’s papers carry colourful reports of these proceedings with profile of the winners of Mahamoorkh or Moorkhshiromani awards.

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A novice’s romance with Raga Durga

Memories of Raga Durga October 21, 2012

Remembering Durga, Sangeet Mahakumbh at Patna and Pandit Kumar Gandharva There are great romantic lovers like Dev Anand renowned for their ways with women.  And there are illiterate, bumbling ones no less endearing like Raj Kapoor with Padmini in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahti Hai – so has been my romance with Raga Durga for […]

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Songs of Yore completes two years

Thumbnail image for Songs of Yore completes two years June 7, 2012

Today Songs of Yore completes two years. While the first year was somewhat tentative and kind of groping its way around, it has become surer of its steps in the second year. I have generally maintained a frequency of a post every two weeks. SoY has also become more interactive. The readers’ comments, views and […]

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Some perspectives on Jhumka gira re

Thumbnail image for Some perspectives on Jhumka gira re March 8, 2012

Every married man encounters this experience quite often – you are all dressed up to go to a wedding, you go out to take out your car. The dear wife should have by then locked the house and come to the driveway. But you wait and wait, yet there is no sign of her. You […]

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Dilip Kumar’s many voices

Thumbnail image for Dilip Kumar’s many voices December 12, 2011

My tribute on his birthday December 11 I had no plans of doing this post as it is not even a week since I did my last one. I need about two weeks to organise my thoughts and squeeze bits of time to write a piece. Secondly, my focus is on songs, their themes, singers […]

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My favourite zulf songs

Zulf July 9, 2011

A common popular theme on the blog land is to put up a variety of favourite lists, such as ‘My ten favourite ??? songs’. This could be on a person (Mukesh, Naushad, Dev Anand etc) or a theme (birthday, holi, wedding etc.) or an object (train, rain, tonga etc.) Some creative bloggers have come up […]

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