Ravi- Tribute to his Music

Aye meri zohra jabeen, tujhe maloom nahi, tu abhi tak hai haseen aur main jawaan... was a lovely song, full of zest, from Waqt, a film by B.R. Chopra. Hamraaz and Gumraah too had some excellent songs composed by Ravi. Neele gagan ke tale, tum agar saath dene ka waada karo and Na muh chupaake jiyo aur na sar jhukake jiyo, ghamon ka daur bhi aae to muskura ke jiyo (could be the inspiration for the HDFC Life ad tagline sar uthake jiyo?) from Humraaz, and Chalo ek baar phir se, ajnabi ban jaayein hum dono from Gumraah rank among the best in my book.

I don't know if it was by design or otherwise that Mahendra Kapoor figures in many of his songs. 'Zohra jabeen', of course, was sung by Manna Dey.

He was not mentioned among the greats of Hindi film music, but was superb when he did compose, as is evident from the list above, even if not complete. If you need any more proof, Chaudhvin ka chaand and its title song should do the trick. I also found on looking up his biography that he had scored music for Aankhen, the Dharmendra- Mala Sinha starrer that had some good songs, particularly the lilting "Milti hai zindagi mein mohabbat kabhi kabhi" by Lata Mangeshkar. Also my favourite song from Aadmi aur Insaan was his composition- "Zindagi ittefaq hai..."- how true. Maut bhi. We'll remember you as long as we are around.

Bangkok Diary Part 2

Met a couple of directors at Assumption university and discussed possible academic collaboration, thanks to a friend, Dr. Parvathy Varma who is a Professor there. She is married into the famous Ravi Varma family. Ravi Varma was a famous king-artist from Kerala, who has painted some incredible life-like stuff. His "lady with the lamp" and a few other paintings are classics seen in many Indian art galleries and museums. Not surprisingly, we found a few of the reproductions around her house. This is the second Varma that I know now. Nisha is an old friend from long ago, now turned into a Janwadkar, post-marriage. I understand a Hindi film, Rang Rasiya is in the making about Ravi Varma's life and times.

The conference came to a close and we got a chance to explore some more food joints in Bangkok. One highlight was a Bangladeshi restaurant which served some really good fish. We had a Bengali colleague who could speak with the owners, and we had a fish called Pabda in Bengali, apparently the Cat fish elsewhere. It is soft, and has to be cooked just right, so it does not fall away into pieces. It was. Also tried some Thai food including the Pad Thai noodles and Tom Yum soup, which has a distinct flavour induced by some of the stuff put in it. Very good! The shrimp is generally delicious, in any recipe.

There is a new metro from somewhere in town to the Suvarnabhumi airport which apparently takes a very short time to get you into the airport. We need it badly in Bangalore, and a few other places. Delhi apparently has one.

No time for golf this time, but was enjoyable all the same.