Sleepwalking Stories...

Jaipur Literature Festival 2012: Listening to Gulzar

2012-02-01T18:11:00.000+05:30

Gulzar with Vishal Bharadwaj at the festival

20/1/2012
How well can you translate Gulzar’s works into English? Writer and diplomat Pavan K.Varma has walked the tight rope to do the same. As a result, in a brand new bilingual poetry collection, we have Gulzar’s Hindi originals on the left side of the page, to Varma’s English translations of the same, on the right.

The story behind the book title goes like this: One day, after a long gap, Gulzar abruptly called up Varma and told him, “As several of my poems have been lying neglected for the need of publication, we shall call this collection – Neglected Poems.” What was thus uttered frivolously became the name of the book. Gulzar and Varma alternatively read some selections at the post lunch session on January 20th 2012 at the Mughal Tent. The session was named after a popular Gulzar song: Do Deewane Shehar Mein.

The audience that had accumulated at the venue was all ears to the poet’s rendition. Those who couldn’t find seats, had positioned themselves near the speakers, and were content to take in each word. Some sat with their eyes closed, some held up their recording devices even as Gulzar’s mellow voice flowed through the gathering.Varma’s translations did show that the work was in good hands.

Then there was a rare insight of the poet into New York, as his keen eye notices that there are no ants in New York. “I dropped some sugar, but not a single ant came.” He continued, “There are plants here, flowers and beautiful trees…but I didn’t see a bee hovering over any flower…there are no leakages on the wall here, hence no cracks on the wall, at our place there are the leaves of Peepal sprouting from the cracks..”

Full of camaraderie and laughter, both Varma and Gulzar were also narrating anecdotes in between the readings. As Varma revealed, he was jostling with one of the difficult poems of the poet, and was in either a good or bad mood when he was doing his work. Gulzar used to send over some SMSes to cheer him up. One of them read:

Muddat huvee hai yaar se
cheers kiye huve,
Ghalib ne ab ke
Eid pe kya sharaab chod di

(It has been a while since
we said cheers,
has Ghalib discarded alcohol
this Eid?)

Even as the crowd roared in laughter, Gulzar chuckled that let us see how my friend lets out other secrets…

This wonderful, evocative session on poetry made a great start to the first day of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012.

Jaipur Literature Festival 2012: The Echo in the Inaugural Address

2012-01-30T18:48:00.001+05:30

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Purushottam Agarwal

20th January 2012
The threat of a ban, the artist’s dissent, self-expression, it was all there, in between the uttered words, at the inaugural session of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012. The session was aptly called, Bhakti Poetry: The Living Legacy.

After an introduction and welcome by Festival Producer Sanjoy Roy; poet, literary critic, academician and activist Purushottam Agarwal spoke on bhakti poetry over the ages. He talked about the element of God as a child in bhakti poetry and about the poet’s equality and partnership in the relationship.

Agarwal proceeded to voice his opinion in his Hindi oration in the following manner, “No one has a right to ban literature. Just as a writer has a right to write, the reader has a right to read.” He also said, “Expression is the most common of the fundamental rights. The freedom of expression is not limited to writers and artists. Expression has to be for all who stand for it.”

This was followed by the keynote address of poet and translator, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. This was less of a keynote address, but more of a recitation of the poems of Kabir, translated by Mehrotra himself, and some translations of Tukaram, as rendered by the Late Arun Kolatkar.

Tukaram’s poems offered a rare angle of Tukaram’s wife, the words describing her lament, even as the poet’s fascination with Lord Krishna had lead to the husband not performing his conventional duties to earn a livelihood.

The selected Kabir poems reflected and criticized the futility of religious rituals, even as Mehrotra read in an effective tone, the ultimate truth:

...one day,
says Kabir,
all bundled up;
you will be delivered
to death hell…

Mehrotra concluded his recitation by saying, “Had Kabir been here, at Jaipur 2012, he and Richard Dawkins would have had a lot to say to each other. Perhaps they would have found some common ground. They might even have made common cause…”

Thus did begin the literature festival, with us not yet knowing, with or without Salman Rushdie?

Jaipur Literature Festival 2012: Couple of Clicks

2012-01-29T13:17:00.000+05:30

Shekhar Kapur outside the Mughal Tent on the fourth day of the fest

Tarun Tejpal interacts with the audience after the intense Rushdie debate on day 5

Back from the Jaipur Literature Festival 2012

2012-01-27T14:39:00.000+05:30

We have returned after a week-long cloud walking at Jaipur. We were amidst writers, and what's more, we were getting paid for the same. The sheer volume of what was imbibed at the five-day fest will continue to resonate and echo for days to come. Starting today, we shall share with you quotes and anecdotes from the festival.

The girls from Finland

2012-01-10T18:03:00.000+05:30

A friend's friends are presently visiting India, happened to meet them on Saturday evening, while they were doing their Pune leg, with the friend guiding them. Here is a summary of the information extracted from these two nurses-to-be.

Anna and Johanna, close friends and roommates at Helsinki, wanted to take a break after completing their nurse course.
So one fine day, Johanna asked Anna,"Would you like to go to India?"
Anna said,"OK."
That was it. The Euro's value against the Indian rupee ensured that expense was not a major issue for a short sojourn.

So, laying down the plans about five months in advance, the duo alighted in Delhi, got hassled by Saree shop-owners, prospective guides and numerous street vendors. Their stay at India's capital was thus, anything but fun.

Their next destination was Mumbai, and from there on, guided by the friend, they tried various Indian food items, visited beaches, travelled in local trains, sung, loved the architecture and vibes of South Mumbai, and after three days, unwillingly left the city to arrive in Pune.

Conversation
Finland has temperatures between 21 to 25 degree Celsius in summer, in winter it can go down to -20 degree Celsius. It is something the denizens of Finland are used to, that they go skiing and indulge in other winter sports during this time.

The girls were very keen on what they were eating, sometimes, extracting from a paratha, strands of coriander stem and enquiringly about the same. They also had intent eyes on how we were going about it, one particular moment when we were gobbling Anise Seed (saunf) by handfuls had them look at us with asking eyes.

Then there were the jokes that you have to crack with care and caution, now what do you make them laugh at? It is usually with the aid of elements that are at hand, and you hope they are laughing more out of instinct than politeness. And that was that.

(This will seem to be a withheld, inconsistent information piece, for the purpose is such, the rest of the details go into a dairy.)

Poetry Publication: 'Scrap Collector's Diary'

2012-01-03T20:43:00.001+05:30

This is to inform that one of our poems 'Scrap Collector's Diary' has been featured in the Jan-Feb 2012 issue of Reading Hour Magazine.

Reading Hour is a rare Indian literary magazine that features short fiction, essays, verse and reviews. Published on a bi-monthly basis, the magazine completed its first year in Jan 2012. They also presently pay a nominal amount and courier the magazine and payment to the contributors, which is a gracious and sensitive gesture.Considering all things, the Reading Hour people make quite a good work out of it.

Wish more such Indian magazines provide us writers, poets and literary lovers with a common, converging outlet.

OUR HINDI FILM SONGS OF THE YEAR 2011

2011-12-31T14:06:00.000+05:30

We feature our favourite Hindi film songs of the year of the 2011, THE BOOM BOX IN THE PROJECTION ROOM . The exact link is here: The Hindi Film Songs of 2011

bull

2011-12-28T14:43:00.000+05:30

worshipped / leased / domesticated

bus stop

2011-12-27T17:08:00.000+05:30


winter evening pensive thoughts fragmented reflections

lights

2011-12-25T12:00:00.000+05:30

a city sky

sans stars

christmas

two lions

2011-12-23T15:30:00.001+05:30

colony sounds

open mouths

ventriloquism

Stories Retold as Twitterature

2011-12-15T21:14:00.000+05:30

Yes, people, we have been retelling our favourite stories through the limitations of Twitter, apart from other spontaneous stuff and so far it has certainly been enjoyable. We shall carry the complete versions of these retold stories in the blog soon. For the stories and the other stuff we do there you can follow us on Snehith Kumbla on Twitter

Our Haiku in the Dec 2011 World Haiku Review

2011-12-12T15:01:00.001+05:30

The haiku tribe of the World Haiku Review, also the part of the World Haiku Club have accepted couple of our stuff in the December 2011 issue.

Published online on a quarterly basis, the review has again some spellbinding stuff from the makers of haiku from all over the world.

Here is the link to the main page of the December 2011 issue: World Haiku Review December2011

Here is the link to the page containing my haiku for December 2011: Page 1 of December 2011 issue

*
It was after a very inspiring Haiku workshop held in November 2010 in Pune, that first got me in to this form of poetry. Our first haiku appeared in WHR in the January 2011 edition:
WHR Jan 2011 (page 1)
WHR Jan 2011 (page 2)
WHR Jan 2011 (page 3)

This was followed by couple of them in WHR August 2011 and a solitary one in The Heron's Nest:
Heron's Nest June 2011
WHR Aug 2011 (page 1)
WHR Aug 2011 (page 2)

Idling on Twitter

2011-12-09T15:10:00.000+05:30

We celebrate the art of loafing around and the joy of having the time to waste, betwixt the slave routine. Hail the idlers! Hail the loafers! Also we celebrate this essence all week at our twitter page, whenever we feel like it and not by compulsion, we shall post stuff....follow us on Snehith K on Twitter

Today we talk about the 50 exact days we spent without anything resembling a job and how much learning was packed in those unfolding, uncertain days.

Osho International Meditation Resort Pune: November 2011 UPDATE

2011-11-28T17:50:00.000+05:30

The Osho International Meditation Resort Pune tour review posted a couple of years back was a often-visited post on this blog. So this is to inform that the Rs 10 tour is no longer in operation. A virtual tour is available at the OSHO website Virtual OSHO PUNE TOUR

Instead, as on now the Welcome Center, situated to the right of the front entrance, can direct you to participate in meditations. The opening hours are between: 9 am to 12.30 pm in the morning, and 2 pm and 3.30 pm in the afternoon.

The Registration Procedure according to the pamphlet distributed at the Welcome Center, as reproduced here:

1. Registration, HIV/ AIDS test, Welcome Morning fee:

Nationals: Photo ID Plus Rs. 900/-

Internationals: Passport, Valid Visa plus Rs 900/-

2. Daily entrance fee, which includes the full meditation program:

Nationals: Rs. 480/-

Internationals: Rs. 980/

A Tale of a King

2011-10-21T19:49:00.002+05:30

Shot in May 2009 for no particular purpose, this youtube video documents my friend Ashish narrating a historical story in his own inimitable style. Click this link to view video - Sinhgad Productions Present - Chatrapati Shivaji Escapes

THE WINDOW PROJECT on YOUTUBE

2011-10-19T17:16:00.000+05:30

A part of the series of photographs that featured on this blog as part of THE WINDOW PROJECT is now uploaded as a slide show at youtube.com. A Shankar Mahadevan song plays as the audio for now.
So, headphones recommended. Click this link to view the same: Snehith's THE WINDOW PROJECT

Jagjit Singh's Earth Visit Concludes

2011-10-10T21:37:00.001+05:30

In his early twenties

Blessed with an angel voice and realizing the gifts accorded to him, Jagjit Singh (1941-2011) paved his own path between the trees. Be it rendering a unique soft pattern to ghazals, adding depth to devotional songs and occasionally, but memorably, composing and singing for Hindi films. His entire oeuvre though was at lustrous display at his live shows, where he surprised audiences with humourous Punjabi numbers, betwixt the ghazal play list. Another creative addition was how he rendered, notably, his most popular songs with varied deft touches at each show, such that no single rendition would be the same....More celebration and stories on this songbird soon.

MAUSAM: No Smoke, No Fire

2011-09-27T13:02:00.005+05:30

Sometime in 1992, Harry (Shahid Kapoor) or Harinder is awaiting a life-changing letter in his remote Punjab village. Apart from idling with his village friends, borrowing cars to race with trains, and having an empty purse, Harry falls for the new Kashmiri girl Aayat (Sonam Kapoor) at the bakery at first sight. Soon, his bicycle chain starts slipping off near the girl's abode. Hand-written notes are exchanged quietly, dipped in water as evidence disposal, and finally, caught in a downpour, the girl promises to tell him," Tomorrow." Only, the girl has left the village in haste with her family, as Harry hauntingly looks at a disappearing train. These initial parts of the movie are all charm and simplicity.

Cut to, suddenly, 1999, Scotland. Huh? Aayat at the Royal Academy of Dance. Harry is a moustached pilot visiting on a pilot exchange program. The lovers meet and just can't act like lovers. In one jarring scene, in which, we are subjected to a telepathic conversation, to another where a cigarrate lighter is excuse for a forced retro take on the classic Hum Dono song Abhi na jao... In rising exasperation of the story's disregard for time lines and redundancies, Harry misses a marriage-possible meeting because he is summoned for the Kargil war. He doesn't inform Aayat for dramatic effect rather than logic. Thus is the period until INTERMISSION survived.

Part two. Harry calls up Aayat, but the forced turn of circumstances, wouldn't let the lovers communicate. Aayat is a travel freak now, moving from Scotland to Punjab to Ahmedabad to Scotland and back again to Ahmedabad with a sore face. The air force objected bombing scene is a sitting duck. Like the hand video games of the nineties. By the time Harry's left arm is paralysed, I have to leave the theatre. I never thought I would walk out of a cinema theatre midway, ever. It is easier if you are at Westend. Not so, when you are sinking in thousand-buck tickets, 100-buck pop corns, and 50-buck coffee. Of course, you don't get a movie as flawed each time. Only a bad movie made with confidence, nowadays, and an occasional gem.

So...
Mausam is slayed by a first-time director's ambition, that the story had to cover so many geographical settings and event references. That every historical event from 1992 to present had to adversely affect the lovers' lives is just too sad to be true. That James Cameron kept it spectacularly simple in Titanic (1997) - A ship, two lovers and an iceberg. Also the absence, of any hint of fire and passion between Shahid and Sonam only adds to the misery.

If all the venom is well-deserved, Pankaj Kapur (An amazing actor, no doubt, Director? Ahhh?), ironically, does have the promise of telling a good, simple tale. He shows his stuff especially in the village scenes. We say, try again. Something simpler please.

Music stays
Pritam's music and Irshad Kamil's lyrics are a saving grace, an odd contrast to the cracked proceedings. Some arresting moments when the Hans Raj Hans rendered Ik tu hi tu hi tu hits the screen.

homebound

2011-09-25T20:25:00.000+05:30

late afternoon

the earth-diggers

hum a soft song

Whip Worship

2011-09-21T13:02:00.001+05:30

lashing himself for god,

lashing himself for money,

no money like godmoney

effects that are purely aural,

you may call it blasphemy,

they may call it survival

IT Bombshell Exaggerated

2011-09-20T11:22:00.000+05:30

the moon has burned through the
air-conditioning,
all the zombies have collected
at the right wing,
for there comes the famed of all
the thunder thighs,
a cell phone always to her ear
attached,
we suspect she has had a dreaded
transplant

yesterday, ninety freaks were refused
her facebook friendship,
two had fainted when she had looked
away from her book,
even as the company's secret report
attributes,
the zero attrition to her herbal lipstick,
her looks

binoculars have been seized, spy cameras
dismantled,
the security TV employees are regularly
mishandled,
a thousand projects have set sail, for her
from Europe, USA,
and many marriages and careers destroyed, at
her one finger sway

now that finance minister has declared her
prominent,
and provided her with female security, all
exorbitant,
her resignation letter itself, is ample for
a recession,
now you know why the markets melted, the rupee
attracted derision

tame

2011-09-19T20:24:00.002+05:30

a room grim faced,
school created silence,
fear nausea in the air,
waiting for the next order,
drowning in xerox copies,
lunch with unrecognisable dishes,
curvaceous angels of flesh,
rustle their beauty dust,
and by evening,
the cage is ready

BOL: Heart-Rending Despite Hiccups

2011-09-16T18:10:00.005+05:30

Even as a woman is condemned to be hanged in Pakistan, her last wish is to be allowed to tell her story to the world from the gallows. Even as newspaper reporters and the TV media collect below her, a tale is told.

Somewhere in bustling Lahore, a Hakim (Manzar Sehbai) in want of a son forces his wife to give birth to seven daughters. After the eighth-born boy is discovered to be a hermaphrodite, the eldest daughter Zainub (Humaima Malik) decides that enough is enough, and has a vasectomy done on the mother. The tyrannical father, feeding the family on a dwindling income, is enraged at the turn of events. The fiery venom from the father’s mouth finds its answers in only Zainub, even as the Hakim interprets religion to suit his interests. The women are not allowed to leave the house, nor are they allowed to study. The neighbours try to secretly help, with the son allowed to venture out to earn from his passion for drawing, and tragedy follows. Repression has never done anyone any good.

Pakistani Director Shoaib Mansoor’s last release, the sincere Khuda Ke Liye (2007) had a genuine issue, and more so, does Bol. The proceedings could have had a tighter screenplay at instances, and there a few over-the-top moments, the effect in totality is devastating to a degree. The consequences of suppressing human freedom, the caged lives of woman, and the dreariness of a compromise-filled life is all brought to the surface. A must watch.

Clean Slate
Note has to be made of the performances, all up to the mark, with the famous singer Atif Aslam making it to the supporting cast. Again, as in Khuda Ke Liye, the soundtrack is clean and heart-felt, Indian composers can certainly learn the importance of not mashing in western elements for the sake of sounding cool. The standouts and these are not the only ones – two Atif-Hadiqa duets Hona tha pyar and Kaho aaj bol do.

MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN: Decent Humour

2011-09-15T20:14:00.001+05:30

The commercial Hindi film romcom (romantic comedy) in the last two years, by default, has wealthy characters, thus sweeping aside with any monetary hurdles in the screenplay. London-based Luv (Ali Zafar) calls off a five-year relationship with his girlfriend, following an altercation. Fifteen minutes in to ‘singledom’ he calls up his younger sibling Kush (Imran Khan) in India, asking him to look for a suitable bride for an impromptu marriage.

Post the mildly amusing reference-filled title song, and rushing through an predictable unsuitable band of prospective brides (stupid, foolish and crazy in typical Hindi film treatment), the right match is finally found in Delhi. Only, the London-born Dimple (Katrina Kaif) is a former college mate of Kush, and as he remembers - rebellious, a beedi-smoker and alcohol 'binger'. None of this is revealed to the parents, as after a ten minute provocative (the movie’s best, original moments) video chat, Luv and Dimple assent to the wedding.

Even as both parties collect at Delhi for the engagement, Kush accompanies Dimple to fulfill her desire to live life to the fullest before the D-day. Even as the engagement takes place, Kush realizes that he is in love with Dimple. Inevitably, he declares his love to Dimple who, after a thundering slap, assents. The plot that Kush, his friends and Dimple hatch to turn the tables on the marriage forms the rest of the movie.

All sugar candy in the location, attire and scenery, the film picks up after a tepid laugh-miserly half-hour, but only just. The promised jokes come in a trickle; all the tribute paid to various Hindi films is sadly devoid of any wickedness. Thankfully, the story follows a linear path that keeps us interested. Imran Khan puts in a sincere performance. Katrina shows that if she is given a breezy, cheerful role minus complications, with an excuse to use her accented Hindi, she can act too. The screenplay overshadows Ali Zafar’s fresh performance, we like it whenever he makes it to the screen. The supporting cast are all good, especially Kush’s friend. Dimple’s mentally challenged brother is a stereotype best avoided. A bearable one-time watch.

Musik-Shuzik
Sohail Sen’s soundtrack is standard Yashraj fare, all seen and done, from Sufi-wannabe songs like Dhunki (Neha Bhasin rocks, Katrina doesn’t emote as well) and Isq risk ( featuring the indefatigable Rahat Fateh Ali Khan again) , to the passables – Do dhaari talwar, Choomantar and Madhubala. We expected more after Sen’s sincere stuff for last year’s Khelien hum jee jaan se.