Life Inspires

There's a reason why I started writing this blog at 4am in the morning. I was woken up by the deep philosophies Vijay sometimes mumbles in his sleep. And then I made the mistake of picking up my phone and checking email. I had submitted the following Haiku for critique on one of the forums: dying embers... the kohl beneath his eyes unsmudged The poem elicited starkly contrasting opinions. While some were offended that I chose to use "unsmudged", instead of "not smudged", other objections were far more existential. I will get to those objections in a second, but let me dwell on "unsmudged" for a minute. According to many traditional dictionaries, "unsmudged" is not a word at all, and even as I am writing this post, blogger is diligently putting red squiggly lines underneath "unsmudged". Blogger too is trying to bring this poem in line with traditional language, so why should biased, opinionated human beings be any different? But ...

For as long as I can remember, I have held this belief that while science and technology are the body of a society, arts and literature are its soul. No society can progress holistically if both the aspects of its being do not evolve in sync with each other.  For the longest time, there was a lull as far as literature is concerned, or perhaps I was oblivious of what was happening in the society. But recently there has been a surge in literary activities. My organization Literature Studio is just one such organization trying to make a difference. There are many others. The good part is the peaceful co-existence.  One prominent organization that is doing good work in this field is Readomania . The organization is run by the very dynamic and inspiring Dipankar, and is a literary brand with interests in e-library for fiction and poetry, publishing – digital and print, literary products and events. Readomania’s online avatar has a membership of 10000+ literary enthusiasts and...

( Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L0216-0033 / Katscherowski (verehel. Stark), / CC-BY-SA) The first time I came across Bhupen Hazarika's name was 18 years back when his soul-touching music and voice floated in the background while Dimple Kapadia in her Rajasthani attire denuded her body of all jewellery. It was Rudali, not exactly a favorite amongst the teenagers back then but truly artisty in every other sense. What made Rudali special for me was nor the breath-taking acting by the cast neither the off-beat, heart-wrenching story. In fact, it wasn't even the silky-smooth voice of Lata Mangeshkar bringing those rustic, alluring lyrics to our homes. It was that coarse, broken, seemingly untamed male voice that sang Maula O Maula, Dil Hum Hum Kare, Samay O Dheere Chalo, that stood out even to my untrained ears. But of course, Bhupen Hazarika is (and in spite of his demise yesterday, I still say 'is') much (and much) more than Rudali. His singing career sta...

Drama is closer to life than movies, simply because there are no retakes. And that is why, whenever I watch a play, I'm filled with admiration for the skills and passion of the entire team involved. While there are some who do come in the limelight, it is only the tip of the iceberg that is visible. Most of the team remains hidden, behind the stage, merging seamlessly in the background. But the play is the result of a symbiotic relation between these various players whose only motivation is to make the play a success, to charm the audience enough to earn a spontaneous applause on that emotional scene or that part of passionate speech. There's no better way to picturize the success a team that works well together can achieve. Therefore, when my friend invited me to watch a play at the National School of Drama, I readily accepted. This was only the second play I was watching at the NSD and I was looking forward to it because the first pl...

The restoration of Gaiety Theatre in Shimla couldn’t have come at a better time. During the last decade, the lifestyle of Indian middle class has seen a tremendous shift from the ‘earn and save’ mode to ‘earn, save, and spend’ mode. They can now afford to use their hard-earned money for recreational activities. There was a time, not too long ago, when theatre, art-exhibitions, and museums were thought to be the pastimes of rich and were never a part of our day-to-day lives. People have started waking up to the importance of arts and literature in the growth of a country. As a result, you can find more and more youngsters visiting art galleries, photography exhibitions, and dramas and studying these subjects as part of their formal education. But this change would have been pointless and self-defeating if the society and the Government had not supported it. And the restoration of the Gaiety theatre is a commendable step in this direction. When the Gaiety theatre opened for...