Pandit Ravi Shankar....

When I think of Pandit Ravi Shankar, three names come to mind immdiately: Norah Jones, Anoushka Shankar and Ananda Shankar. The last of them pre deceased his uncle, Ravi Shankar, but in the realm of Indo-western fusion music his name shall rule forever! He produced some brilliant music. His LP's were always a prized possession of mine ... I wish I could recover them.

Chal Way Bullehya Chal O’thay Chaliyay
Jithay Saaray Annay
Na Koi Saadee Zaat PichHanay
Tay Na Koi Saanu Mannay

 

Let's go to the place, Bulley Shah
Where all are blind
Where no one knows my caste or creed
And no one knows who I am

 Hazrat Baba Buleh Shah's poetry has a lot of meaning, relevance and depth. He is as relevant today as he was a few centuries ago in his lifetime. Many singers have sung his poetry, but according to me Abida is the best. When she sings it really seems she has the blessings of Baba Bulleh Shah....

The Beatles changed a lot of things....

The Beatles changed the world of music, and much of what we hear today by way of modern music - be it pop, rock, soft rock, rock n roll, or whatever - it owes a lot to them.
I belo...ng to the generation just after the Beatles, having been born about the time they became world celebrities. When we came of age, disco music rose to rule the world. But somehow we became huge Beatles fans, having discovered the worth of their music. After that we grabbed each and every record, book, VHS cassette, or whatever that we could lay our hands upon of the Beatles! Each song of theirs was on our lips, and in happy moments we would sing them out in unison…. We never had stuff like the internet back then, so information about the things you liked was gathered through newspapers, magazines etc. etc. John, Paul (now Sir Paul!), George and Ringo, became our favourite idols.
In a short career which spanned the period 1963-1969, the Beatles saw fame which has not been seen by any other performer or group of performers in the world, and probably would not be seen in the future too.
They lent their fame to some Indians too. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (of Rishikesh) attained worldwide celebrity status due to the Beatles, the Beatles having visited his ashram in 1968 approx. The supergroup was tremendously attracted to Indian philosophy and religion in the late sixties, and many of their songs featured instruments like the sitar and the tabla. Words like Jai Gurudeva and Om became part of their repertoire! They derived a lot from some Indians too. George Harrison’s association with Pandit Ravi Shankar paved the way for him to imbibe the beautiful nuances of Indian classical music. Their attachment to India opened the gates to a whole lot of western youth making a beeline for India, the youth that belonged to the hippie generation! They reached Kullu, Manali, Rishikesh, Goa, and many other places in India. Amongst the hippies were some very gifted individuals – poets, painters, calligraphers and musicians etc. They provided the theme for Bombay movies such as Hare Rama Hare Krishna – songs like “I love you” and “dum maro dum” ….
The Beatles, in their time, were a bridge between the old and the new. The song here is one from their early years, but a beautiful one nevertheless….
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