SD Burman- Biography

He was born Comilla (now Bangla Desh). He was from Tripura's royal family, but the brothers fell out, and one moved to Comilla, till they later went back. Anyway, he studied in Agartala and Calcutta, and started with singing Bengali songs of various kinds. His influences were Baul and Bhatiyali songs. He made a name for himself, but for further growth, moved to Mumbai. He stayed with Harindranath Chattopadhyay initially, and struggled.

Success came slowly, and he once even considered moving back. Ashok Kumar managed to delay his departure- for ever, thank God. We may otherwise have missed out on his superb music from later films. My own favourites are all his Dev Anand films- from Paying Guest Check out this song.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YXCTKubQLg from the film as an example.

Or Tere Ghar ke Samne Check this out too.. Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMMGb4xMQQ what a melody.

Later songs from Gambler (Dil aaj shayar hai..), Tere Mere Sapne (Hey, maine kasam li), Prem Pujari (Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye), or Guide (Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain), or others like Ek ladki bheegi bhagi si (Chalti ka Naam Gadi), O meri, o meri o meri Sharmeelee from the film Sharmeelee are a testimony to an abundant talent that gave Rajesh Khanna his superstardom in Aradhana. To me, SDB was a superstar too.

The book details the contributions of his assistants Jaidev, and arrangers/players like Basu, Manohari and Maruti Rao Keer, who assisted him throughout. Pandit Shiv Kumar played for him, and so did Hariprasad Chaurasia.There was also a professor Gopal das Saxena aka Neeraj who wrote many beautiful songs for him.

He composed (for Mili) till his last breath, and turned out superb numbers. In Abhimaan too, before that. Stories about various songs abound, and are thrilling to read. I read the translated book in Marathi, from HQ Chaudhary's original.

World's Greatest Inventions- General

This is my list of the world's greatest general inventions.

1. The battery- even if electricity connections fail us, the battery can keep us going. Like the heart, which keeps pumping blood for a few decades. Battery life enhancement will win a million admirers to the guy who does it.

2. Cures for common ills- like the flu. Not sure if there is one, though.

3. Books. My life certainly would have been worse off, for the lack of these. Thank you, whoever thought of it.

4. The train. Magical moments are tied to train journeys undertaken, particularly in childhood. The steam-engined ones were the best, like classic wine. The sounds they make is still music to the ears. Even the song 'Gaadi bula rahi hai, seeti baja rahi hai' gives me the goosebumps.

5. The Single Malts- I am not much of a beer drinker, but single malts are worth celebrating their inventor. Germans will disagree!

6. Parents- you wouldn't survive for too long, if they weren't around to give you unconditional care!

7. Spouses (and marriage)- life would be incredibly dull without them (and it).

8. Children- bundles of joy, for around 364 days, and then, the joy is all theirs. Anyways, what would parents do without them? How long can you fight with each other, after all?

9. Bosses- source of humour for hours on end, with their antics. Scott Adams needs to thank them, more than all others. Mario Miranda too, bless his soul (he died last week).

10. Friends- last but not the least, they are forever. Diamonds don't even come close!