Bombay Notes

[I'm not entirely sure if I'd be starting things off again here. Let us see how it goes. However, for now, here's something I wrote about five years back, on a visit to Bombay with some friends]

...the low hills of the end of the Western Ghats; the Arabian sea; the lagoons, backwaters, some inlets; long islands on the coastline; waves and waves of the ocean; waves and waves of slums; touchdown; 38 degrees C on a November afternoon; heat waves off the airport tarmac; Andheri, in broad daylight!; the concretization of sidewalks; something-or-the-other-naka; oh yeah, Marol; flats, apartments; people, crowds; humidity; in search of an Orange; Traffic, Traffic in Andheri - peak hour; an auto ride for two - conversations; Bandra at night - sidewalk ladies' shoe shops and bangle stores reflecting the bright gold of bulbs, neon lights and silvery white of billboard hoardings - flashy, but essentially cheap; Hawaiian Shack - cover charge Rs.400 per head only - pretty cool, but essentially costly!; beer, breezers, screwdrivers, rum 'n coke, a lot of smoke; reunions; hot chinki waitress - what's her act? ;-); pop rock and loud conversations - mostly harmony, some discord; taxi ride in the night; Worli - Gandhi Nagar - Lady Ratan! - duplex apartment - home; eggs and noodles!; sleep...

...chai at home on a lazy Friday morning; afternoon taxi drive - the Flyover, Haji Ali, Pedder Road - in to Town!; Eros; Starters and More-or-less; sidewalk CD- and book- stalls - fountains of knowledge - science, art, wallpapers, cocktails, math, music, cooking, sex; fountains of entertainment - movies, remixes, magazines; the very end, a Fountain; Fabindia kurtas; Colaba; Rhythm House; mocha - coffee, Society, the Fez - a tall cylindrical red Moroccan hat, chinki waitresses!, smoke, biz plans and broadband, cutting chai; Marine Drive opposite Pizzeria; the Arabian sea; dusk; people, crowds; city lights in the distance; gujju teenagers in CRV's; nightlife - decisions decisions; beer, sangria, rum 'n coke, a bit of smoke; it's 10 - no jazz by the bay; samrat - gujjus eating; local train at night; Mahalakshmi; home; friends; old monk; friends; conversations; jokes; old monk; laughter; old monk; old monk; confusion; old monk; saturation; puke? no? decisions!; unease; a breath of fresh air; a walk; some conversation; sleep, blessed sleep...

...chai at home on a lazy Saturday morning; music, sweet music, soul food; hunger!; afternoon taxi drive - just get off at Kyani's :-); people, crowds; lanes, gullies, gaalis; Parsee bombay bawas; the Gujju restaurant at the end of the narrowest stairway in the universe - Bhagat Tarachand version 2; gujjus eating; chaach, tomato sev, paneer, ghi chapatis, 'binaghi' - (g)astronomical relief!; outside Rhythm House - the Enchanter with the Flute!; Crossword, the Sale; a borrowed marketing idea; home again; evening in Bandra - just get off at Boat Club!; from Lemon Grass, second right, first left; mocha - louuuunge; Dali - Persistence of Memory; coffee, chai, big cake; an analysis of Dali; letters to oneself; nice babes, man; huuuge cake - Attack of the Chocolate Brownies and Mousse!; uhh, Dissipation of the Persistence of Memory? - dont remember; on towards Bandstand - Mount Meri-flat-tumhari-se-expensive-hai; night sea (land?) breeze in the 13th floor apartment; the inauguration of a toilet; swank apartments, swanky cars, swanky women; to the Orchid - this auto driver needs direction in life; beer, conversation and karaoke; a farewell; a promise; some songs in the taxi ride home; sleep...

...reville at 5; hurry, hurry, to the Gateway; santoor strums up a soporific sunrise; eyes closed - santoor, crows, pigeons, santoor, the sea, santoor, digestive unease = nausea; take a run-up before puking into the sea; in search of Bisleri; walkers, joggers, meditators, bun maska, stray dogs, the faint strains of the santoor; breakfast at Kenai's!; paper, deep freeze; beans bread and bun maska; the waiter; an escalation to the management; the ruination of a French toast; homeward bound; a lockout - the transfer of keys at a railway station; an education about the Western line - it's Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri; a ride in a crowded train; people, crowds; bawling Hindi classics from a beggar child on a crowded train; santa cruz station kis side pe aata hai bhai saab?; disembarkation - the use of human masses as a means of propulsion; Okkaala mosque :-); lunch at a friends place; catch up conversation; a camera that breaks; the train to Churchgate; people, crowds; NCPA; Pune Highway - a well crafted slick bollywood play; hep crowds, people; a last walk on Marine Drive; horse-drawn buggies; dusk; solitude; people, crowds; city lights in the distance - a last look; a ride in a taxi with a bright blue neon light inside it; the train home; exhaustion; heat; fatigue; conversation; packing; Sukh Sagar - gujjus eating; people, crowds; idly sambar kulfi falooda; home and sleep, blessed sleep...

...up before the sun; a quick wash; sleepy farewells; a taxi ride for two - conversations; Siddhivinayak temple; the airport - a farewell; check-in; a take-off into the rising sun...

The grass is greener...

It was eleven AM. Time for a coffee break. As was his wont to do everyday, he stood in the corridor, waiting for the elevator to take him up to the cafe. He stood looking down from the fifth floor, out the glass wall of his air-conditioned concrete office building, far below at the now-familiar scene in the lawn.

She was rolling around on the fresh green grass, now arched out belly-up on her back, now face down and stretching luxuriously. The gentle sun that she so casually took for granted beamed down on her in all his benevolence while her every fiber basked in his warm comfort. The two little ones gamboled about nearby - running about here and there, taking turns chasing each other, tripping over themselves playfully. They searched for hidden treasures beneath the odd clump of grass, often startling a beetle or a dragon-fly into sudden flight - and promptly gave chase with glee. They ran around in circles screaming in mock-terror as the sprinkler's jets watered the green earth, seemingly following them wherever they went and splashing them occasionally. She watched over them with eyes half-closed in maternal contentment, as she just lay there and lazed in the warm sun and the cool breeze.

He stood five floors above, behind his glass wall, and looked down at this picture of peace and solitude. It was a perfect world, this world of theirs. They had the whole lawn to themselves - just the three carefree souls, in their own private green universe. Not another human being in sight. Do they even care that there may be prying eyes around? It's almost shameless, the way they were luxuriating - a small part of him felt.

And then she saw him. Or he thought she did, as he could never tell by her reaction - she just paused mid-stretch as her eyes swept past his general direction, then came back to him. For a moment, he felt like a guilty voyeur, but it was clear she couldn't be bothered that he was looking. She just continued to look at him for a moment with those same half-glazed eyes - the only indication she may have actually noticed him being a gentle wag of the tail, and a sort-of quizzical look in her intelligent mongrel eyes. Was it an invitation? - he wondered to himself. But then the puppies came tumbling over in childish excitement, clawing at her and sniffing noses, and she bent down to them, rolling them over and over in the grass as they yelped happily, and loped off after them around the lawn.

He lingered on, looking down at them in their perfect world. The 'ping' of the arriving elevator shook him out of his reverie, and he turned away with a wistful sigh of longing, the words on the signboard at the edge of the lawn gently mocking him...

"Please Do Not Walk on the Grass"

Knock! Knock!

Knock! Knock!

Who's there?

Misbah!

Misbah who?

Mis bah five runs!! :-)


He-he!

[V - thanks for this email fwd!]

What The Fork???

Signboard outside a restaurant on the way to Tito's Lane in Baga, Goa (pic taken on my cell-fone, earlier in January this year).

He-he!

The singer's Song

I came across this amazing bhaava geethe last weekend. Its words are simple, but I think it completely epitomizes the true spirit of a singer. Here it is -

Edhe Thumbi Haadidhenu

Edhe thumbi haadidhenu andhu naanu
Manavittu kaelidhiri alli neevu
Edhe thumbi haadidhenu andhu naanu

Indhu naa haadidharu andhinanthe kunithu
Kaeluviri saakenage adhuve bahumaana
Haaduhakkige baeke, birudu sanmaana

Ella kaelaliyendhu naa haaduvudhilla
Haaduvudhu anivaarya karmavenage
Kaeluvavariharendhu naa balle adharindha

Haaduvenu Maidumbi Yendinanthe
Yaaru Kivi Muchchidaru, Nanagilla Chinthe
Yaaru Kivi Muchchidaru, Nanagilla Chinthe

Edhe thumbi haadidhenu andhu naanu
Manavittu kaelidhiri alli neevu
Edhe thumbi haadidhenu andhu naanu

[Poet: Dr. G. S. Shivarudrappa]

The Young God of Music

That is the literal translation of the name Kumar Gandharva - a title given to this great singer when he was discovered as a child prodigy. I'll leave it to you to look him up on Wiki and elsewhere on the Net in detail for facts and stuff. But it can be said that he is one of the iconic singers in the history of Hindustani classical vocal music.

Some anecdotal info - At the tender age of 8-9 years, Kumar-ji could listen to the records of the old masters and mimic them to great accuracy (it is said he could listen to a 3 minute segment once, and sing it back exactly). As a singing boy wonder, he traveled and performed extensively. In one of his sessions, one of the audience was Prof B R Deodhar, who spotted the boy's talents, and took him under his tutelage. Kumar-ji later got married and moved to Madhya Pradesh. In his 20's, he was struck by a debilitating tuberculosis affliction, which rendered him unable to sing for the next five years or so. But during his recovery, while still being bed-ridden, he had his wife attend gatherings where local folk songs were sung, memorize the dhun's and sing it back to him at home. He built a number of ragas and compositions based on what she brought back. After he recovered, he took up singing again, but it is said that the disease left him with only one functioning lung! It is despite this constraint that he went on to become one of the greatest singers of all time. He passed away in 1992.

Kumar-ji's music is probably not for everyone. He can best be described as a maverick genius, who took classical gayaki to a different level. It is said that one must first master the existing rules, traditions and frameworks of an art form - and then question the very same. It is then that true creativity emerges. Kumar-ji is proof of this statement. His way of singing polarized the world of music into those who thought he was the greatest ever, to those who are dismissive of his approach - a debate that continues to rage even today. But none can question his very unique and inventive style - of innovative interpretations of ragas, of bringing out strong and often surprising emotional colors of the verses, or of electrifying super-fast taan's sung with brilliant accuracy. He was a strong proponent of exactness of the notes - saying that music is when the exact center points of the frequencies of the notes are sung; anything which is close or near-about these madhya-bindu's but not quite there, does not constitute real music! Another very clear difference in his style of singing as compared to others is his use of shorter phrases, and silences in between. His diminished lung power probably forced him to make do with shorter breaths, but that only led him to invent his own use of phrasing, with the silences in between that serve to keep the phrases separate from one another, giving you time to appreciate and savor each one in its individual brilliance, and actually give you time to think!

Below is a sample I found on YouTube. Check it out.



Here is the bandish he is singing, and it's meaning -

Bandish
aisan kaisan barasat barakha
ghiri ghiri aai chhay dis chahuNwa
bahu din te chhip gayo soorajawa
oob re gayi barasan te manawa

Meaning
How come it's raining like this
It's raining in all directions
The sun has been hidden for many days
My heart is fed up with all this rain

Dwell on the lyrics, line by line, as you listen to the master interpret it in Raag Kamod.

Credits - Wikipedia for Kumar-ji's photograph above, YouTube for the video as well as the bandish and its meaning, and Pt Vyasamurthy Katti for a lot of the anecdotal info he shared with a bunch of us in a session about Kumar-ji and his music held at Mowna-ji's place. Thanks everyone!

Full Meals under Rs. 50!

1. Starters

1 Pani Puri at the roadside stand outside 'Sri Vasavi Condiments' - Rs. 10/-

{Remember to ask for the 'sukha' at the end!}


2. Main Course

1 Plain dosa, (made from pure ghee that the cook squirts straight out of the pouch it was packed in) with coconut chutney on the side at the unnamed eatery - Rs. 15/-


3. Dessert

1 glass of Malai Milk, garnished with dry fruits and nuts, at the 'Mumbai Badam Milk and Lassi Centre' - Rs. 20/-

Total Expense = Rs. 45/-

That wonderful feeling of your taste buds exploding in ecstasy and your tummy sated in content - PRICELESS!

Location - Vasavi temple road, also known as 'Eat Street', or 'Food Street', VV Puram (Basavangudi), Bangalore. Get to Lalbagh West Gate, go down to VV Puram Circle, take the lane that leads back up from the corner of Vasavi Bakery. Parking is an issue, so make sure you take the first available spot anywhere nearby and walk.

The above is just a sample that this place offers - this is one of the best street food areas in Bangalore. Food is cheap, mostly fairly clean, usually very tasty, and you get to see it made right in front of you. It's packed on weekend nights - which can be part of the fun as well! The entire experience is best enjoyed on foot.