A day to feel the essence of womanhood!

Quiz: When is the International Men's Day?

A rather strange question, isn't it? Adding a 'Wo' before the Men's could have made the answer easier...oh, aren't we still in the International Women's Day mode? Actually, I wonder if we need a particular day to make us realize how special women are? Doesn't a woman already know her true worth, not the one set by the society around? Perhaps she does not...perhaps it takes a celebration to make her realize what she is worth! An event celebrating womanhood...an award ceremony to award women or repute and credentials...a week long programme schedule with debates and discussions on 'The Role of Women' etc etc...it takes all of these to salute what is so special in women!

I will never forget this teacher of ours who was supposed to teach us a few lessons of FEMINISM...this was about 7 years back, but till date the paradox of her statement is something I couldn't forget! "I was sitting at home...my husband told me 'Why dont you try teaching instead of sitting at home?' and so I started teaching! Startling, isn't it? Wonder what feminism meant to her? Her husband suggesting her to take up something to kill boredom? Or is feminism or Women's Day celebrations all about with short salt and pepper hair, oversized bindis, starched cotton sarees sermonizing about what women should be doing? Post the celebrations...these same women would probably go back home and boast of the day's events to their husbands and await the slightest hint of appreciation in their eyes...after all their wives are doing something worthwhile!

Celebrating Women's Day once a year might be able to make a handful of women proud of their womanhood...but what difference does this day make to the woman who begs by the corner or the road? What difference does this day make to the woman who earns her bread by being a domestic help at one of the short haired ladies' house? What difference does this day make to the docile housewife who is raped like every night by her drunkard husband? What difference does the day make to the prostitute who sells her flesh like every night at the same price? ZILCH, is the answer...it does not! All It does it make us...the generation and the class touched by media, advertisement, publicity, hype and class consciousness, aware that we women need a special day to remember that we are special!!!

International Men's Day, by the way is on the 19th November...sadly they don't need a special day to celebrate their manhood!!!

Gulaal - A Journey...Halt 3

This was the voice that had first touched the hearts of millions of music lovers as she had sung out loud the verses written by Gulzaar Saab that reeked of the Sufi philosophy! Rekha Bharadwaj’s ardent surrender in front of the beloved lord had been a treat as she had sung ‘Tere ishq mein…raakh se rookhi, koyle se kaali, raat katena hijr wali…’ And then they continued one after another…She seems to be picking up from where she left…her last song to hit the masses was ‘Genda Phool’ from Delhi 6 in a style that is so typically hers! A perfect rustic flavour that almost smells of the earth and yet has that naughtiness that leaves a strange smile on the lips…Beedo might sound like a continuation of ‘Namak Ishq Ka’ and it could be…a mujra it is anyway. You wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from tapping your feet or giving that little nudge with your shoulder as she does a ‘Chak Mak Chak Mak’ interspersed with occasionally heavy breathing and sarangis, harmoniums, mridangas, and tablas for company.

Beedo duje thaalika lage bade masaledaar

Man bole chak mak, hai...

And don’t we all know this ever since Amitabh sang ‘Khawe gori ka yaar balam tarse’ in style? What does not belong to us is always something which appears tastier than what we have! A rather infectious song that brings an inevitable ‘thirak’ to your feet, ‘Beedo’ is a welcome break from the other serious songs in the film. And who would ever have thought that it was not uncouth to use a word like ‘bhartar’ in a typical hindi song? How authentic it sounds as she says –

Meethi si kasak chhor ke chala gaya bhartar

Man bole chak mak, hai...

And then the song goes on to give similies that can sound grossly over rated, but think about how creative and imaginative the lyricist has to be to come up with lines like –

Sankat aisa silvat se koi haal bhaap le ji

Karwat aisi doori se koi haat taap le ji

Nikle siski jaise botal ka faag jo ura ho

Dhadkan jaisi chambal mein ghora bhaag jo khara ho

Angiya bhi lage hai jaise sau sau man ka bhar

And in spite of all the chak maks, she does an alaap at the very end of the song that truly reveals the class of this woman! What voice and what style…Certainly not the best song in the album! But most certainly worth quite a few re plays…

Song: Beedo

Soundtrack: Gulaal

Director: Anuraag Kashyap

Composer and Lyricist: Piyush Mishra

Singer: Rekha Bharadwaj

Gulaal - A Journey...Halt 2

Remember the voice which haunted you with ‘Tose Naina Lage Piya Saware’ from Anwar or ‘Khuda Jaane’ in Bachna Aye Haseeno? Yes, the very disturbing and yet soothing voice belongs to Shilpa Rao who rendered her voice for this almost melancholy track – ‘Aisi sazaa’. The sadness and hopelessness in her voice echoes the silence and emptiness around as the sound of rains falling on the ground hits the ears. Close your eyes as you listen to this number and the sound of rains can almost bring the smell of wet earth as the tears which begin to flow unaware of oneself, as Shilpa sings – Palkon ki koro pe baithi nami ko dheeme se pighla bhi do.

The song, otherwise soft and not with too much musical accompaniment, has a rather slow pace and almost reminds you of all the sorrow that hit you unaware, unprepared and unconditionally. A sadness that can set in from nowhere in particular and remind you all the forgotten defeats, failures, and losses that had crippled you sometime, but then got pushed to the corners as a distant memory…it is on a rainy night like this that all that can come back and break your reserve and make you that defeated person once more, as you soothe yourself to sleep shedding the long forgotten tears that you had almost forgotten, existed! What perfect lyrics to express a helpless sorrow…

Jeevan ki raahon mein aana ya jaana bataake nahi hota hai

Jaate kahin hain magar jaante nahi ki aana wahin hota hai

Khone ki zid mein ye kyun bhoolte ho ki paana bhi hota hai

Wo pal abhi waisa hi hai chhoda tha jo jaisa wahin

Neende bhi ab sone gayee raaton ko bhi parwah nahi...

Ye zindagi aisi hi thi tumne kabhi jaana nahi

It is not going to hit you the first time...let it grow and feel the beauty of this sorrow.

Song: Aisi Sazaa

Soundtrack: Gulaal

Director: Anuraag Kashyap

Composer and Lyricist: Piyush Mishra

Singer: Shilpa Rao

Gulaal - A journey...Halt 1

The first sound of trinkets, drums and temple bells, and conch shells can make you sit still for a while before Rahul Ram bursts into a virtual battle cry!

Aarambh hai prachand bole mastakon ke jhund
Aaj jung ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do

Aan baan shaan ya ke jaan ka ho daan
Aaj ek dhanush ke baan pe utaar do…

And what intensity he carries throughout the song! Every word is pronounced with prominence and may be even a vengeance! Not a typical song, it sounds like a mantra that with the most exquisite hindi poetry found rarely in bollywood music. Tracing its roots to the Bhagavad-Gita and glorifying bravery, irrespective of Good or Evil, Mishra calls out to one and all to rise and fight. Supported by Backing music and chorus the song gradually rises to a crescendo and all of a sudden falls to a dead silence…a soft whistle changes the mood only to be shattered once again by lines written with a pen which for all we can make out is certainly sharper than the sharpest sword, Mishra writes –

Jis kavi ki kalpana mein zindagi ho prem geet

Us kavi ko aaj tum nakaar do

Bheegti maso mein aaj phoolti ragon mein aaj

Aag ki lapat ka tum bhaghaar do

Indeed, life is not just a beautiful romantic verse…it is all about the eternal struggle for survival and the challenge of looking at the enemy as well as the new day, straight into the eye…It reminded me of the poems or songs we used to almost internalize during our days of soaking into the ideologies of social activism…one particular being a rather rustic poetry by one poet, Gorakh Pandey, that reads –

Janta ki chale paltaniya hille le jhakjhor duniya…

Hille le jhakjhor...duniya...

Song: Araambh

Soundtrack: Gulaal

Director: Anuraag Kashyap

Composer and Lyricist: Piyush Mishra

Singer: Rahul Raam

Songs