Month: December 2015

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – December 2015

Welcome to December, 2015 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We will begin our present issue with a post that could well have been included in our last episode –

Four Aces and A Queen – Geeta Dutt’s songs with 4 ace music directors that may be missed because of the dominance of SD Burman, Hemant Kumar, OP Nayyar in her list of hit songs. On the birth anniversary of Geeta Dutt, the Queen of Bhaav Gayaki, Parag Sankla explores her lesser heard gems from the repertoire of four music directors Hansraj Behl, Chitragupt, Bulo C Rani and Avinash Vyas.

And since we are on that very site, we certainly get more to read on Geeta Dutt:

Geeta Dutt’s list of her best songs in 1957 – For some reason, may be because C.H. Atma sang it first (?), she did not include Preetam Aan Milo

Raj Kapoor – Musically – Raj Kapoor with different instrument in each of the song is remembered here. We have picked up the less heard song from the ones presented here.

Remembering Raj Kapoor- The Showman And His 7 Iconic Heroines – Nargis, Nimmi, Simi Garewal, Zeenat Aman, Dimple Kapadia, Mandakini, Padmini Kolhapure – on his 91st birthday.

C Ramchandra as Chitalkar – continuing the series on the Year of Naushad (with C Ramchandra in tandem), SoY presents the songs of CR as a singer. C Ramchandra has also sung for other music directors, such as Mir Saheb (Lal Haveli, 1944), Anil Biswas (Jwar Bhata, 1944; Veena, 1948), Husnlal-Bhagatram (Apni Chhaya, 1950), Hemant Kumar (Samrat, 1954; Lagan, 1955), Roshan (Baraati, 1954), Usha Khanna (Faisla, 1965), Laxmikant-Pyarelal (Chhaila, 1967. We have picked up some of the less heard songs:

Naushad’s gems before ‘Rattan’ (1944) – a very fine researched article that brings up the (real) vintage Naushad – Before Rattan, Naushad did over a dozen films, having over 120 songs…. The Internet (YouTube) has brought to us a large number of his early songs….. a large number of his early songs are of outstanding quality. One for one, these songs are no less melodious and enjoyable than Rattan’s.

Upperstall has presented profiles of Saeed Jaffrey by Shoma A Chatterji; Shyam Benegal by Karan Bali and Dharmendra also by Karan Bali.

We also have a couple of more pieces to celebrate Dharmendra’s birthday:

Just be yourself: Dharmendra in Guddi, and other reflections on his 80th birthday.

[A related piece here: the Amitabh cameos. And an earlier post about Dharmendra is here]

Happy Birthday Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore! Here are our favourite films featuring the pair – Anupama (1966), Devar (1966), Satyakam (1969), Yakeen (1969), Mere Humdam Mere Dost (1968), Chupke Chupke (1975), Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1975), Sunny (1984). Devdas (1976), a Gulzar venture did not go beyond mahurat.

“Thoda Sa Dil Laga Ke Dekh” – Shammi Aunty (nee Nargis Rabadi) passionately looks back on her long career . We see her playing sitar in Ye Hawa Ye Raat Ye Chandani (Talat Mahmood – Sangdil -1952 – Sajjad Hussain). In our December, 2015 episode of Fading Memories….Unforgettable Songs we had listened Thoda sa muskara ke dekh apana bana ke to dekh (Musafirkhana (1955) – with Shamshad Begum – O P Nayyar).

We now move over to other regular posts.

Bengal’s Music and Its Influence in Hindi Film Music – Antara Nanda Mondal and Peeyush Sharma take us on to a journey of discovering and enjoying gold nuggets of Bengal’s music strewn in Hindi film songs – a presentation made at the Romancing the Song Meet in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, November 14, 2015.

Bengal’s Music and Its Influence in Hindi Film Music

In our last episode we had first time landed upon a couple of posts on the Silhouette, the magazine section of Learning & Creativity. It is time to catch up with some of the several interesting posts:

We have three posts by Arun Kumar Deshmukh on Atul’s Song A Day, which also throw quite an insight into the topic that is intrinsically related to the song under discussion. Even as we will listen to the songs mentioned in these posts in our next issue of Fading Memories.. Unforgettable songs (10th January, 2016), here is the brief take on each of the posts:

Tu mera copyright main teri copyright – Mohammad Rafi has given playback to Kishore Kumar more number of times than others.

S No. Movie Song Co-singer Music Director
1. Miss Mala (1954) Chori chori aana naa* Asha Bhosle Chitragupta
2. Bhagam Bhag (1956) Chale ho kahan Asha Bhosle O P Nayyar
3. Bhaagam Bhaag (1956) Hamen koi gham hai Asha Bhosle O P Nayyar
4. Raagini (1958) Man mora Bawra O P Nayyar
5. Shararat (1959) Ajab hai dastan teri aye zindagi (happy and sad versions ) Shanker Jaikishan
6. Sharaarat (1959) Tu mera copyright Lata Mangeshkar Shanker Jaikishan
7. Baaghi Shahzada (1964) Main is masoom chehre ko Suman Kalyanpur Babul
8. Pyar Diwana (1972) Apni aadat hai Lala Asar Sattar

Incidentally, the other singers who gave playback to Kishore Kumar are Manna Dey ( 3 times), S D Batish (1), Amanat Ali (1) and Asha Bhosle (once in film Baap Re Baap-1955).

[*The video clip shows some other actor singing this song.]

Samaa ye pyaar ka bahaar ke ye mele traces the most creative period – years 1955-60 – of SJ. The author attributes the loss melody in the din of popularity in post-1960 period to the growing differences between the partners.

Aa jaa aa jaa aa jaa nadiyaa kinaare – Author Ganesh Anantharaman, in his book “Bollywood melodies”Bollywood Melodies says, “Perhaps success came too early to them from the very first film, depriving them to develop a bond which comes after struggling together for success.” Over and above the support of RK, quality lyricists and singers, the strong arrangers like Sebastian D’Souza played a major role in SJ’s great success. The post has quite succinctly presented a full range of ranking arrangers of that time.

Incidentally, I have been also able to locate a very interesting clip, on the subject of ‘Conviction and Leadership: Insights from the World of Bollywood Music’, in which Ganesh Anantharaman presents his ‘evolving thoughts on what can be learnt from the world of Bollywood music about conviction and leadership.

Three versions of a song – Man Mor Machaye Shor – Ladki (1953) – Lata Mangeshkar and Geeta Dutt . The Hindi version sounds a bit different from the Tamil (by T.S. Bhagavati and M.S. Rajeshwari) and Telugu (by T.S.Bhagawati and P.Suseela) versions.

Scroll.in continues to provide a variety of posts:

Bollywood raags: Hindustani classical vocalists who made film music – Featuring Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, DV Paluskar and other legends – Aneesh Pradhan :

Incidentally, I watched Ankahee (1985) a few days back. The film has a Tulsidas bhajan, composed by Jaidev, rendered by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi – Raghuvir Tumko Meri Laaj

HMV studios: In Kolkata, the home of India’s melodious past struggles for relevance

Some say it was Satyajit Ray’s favourite place. Now, the dappled HMV studio complex wears a mostly deserted look. – Chandrima Pal  · Fading tune – Next year, Mumbai will lose a significant piece of its musical history when Rhythm House at Kala Ghoda shuts down for good. Some 1,652 km or more away, in the dusty neighborhood of Dum Dum north of Kolkata, another icon of the country’s musical legacy awaits the inevitable. [I was a regular visitor to Mumbai’s Rhythm House from 1974 till 1979. I had also occasion to visit Rhythm House sometime in 2009, when I was in that area in a case relating to a customs case. I had purchased a couple of film CDs then.]

Music and the monument: Songs inspired by the Taj Mahal – The seventh wonder of the world has always fired up the imagination – Nate Rabe  · sunday sounds :

The Carnatic vocalist who sings Urdu blues – Hariharan has invented a whole new genre in ghazal singing – Manish Gaekwad – Hariharan’s singing career began with a ghazal. Jaidev signed him to sing for the movie Gaman (1978). Hariharan sang Ajeeb Sanehaa Mujh Par Guzar Gaya Yaro, written by poet Shahryar. Hariharan later came to create a new genre within the ghazal called Urdu Blues. He incorporated elements of jazz and blues music in the song Yeh Aaine Se (Kaash, 2000). Guitars and drums play on a slow beat alongside the sitar and sarangi moving into a noir space.

We would conclude our Blog Carnival 2015 with a post that was originally published on 31st July, 2015, but I landed up only this month. So welcome an opportune coincidence!

Mohammed Rafi: For The Record By Gajendra Nand Khanna – During my of vinyl records purchasing years in mid 70s, I had collected a fairly large collection of Mohammad Rafi’s LP records. At least so I believed till I came across this post. This collector’s collection documented here is simply mind-blowing. In one of the responses to the article, Antara very aptly comments that this article has become a reference point for many. (What) an eclectic collection of Rafi’s versatility!!!

As we continue our pursuit of the golden period of Hindi Film Music …….

Wishing you all a most fruitfully joyous and happy 2016….

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – December 2015

Welcome to December, 2015 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

In the current episode of our blog carnival, we will take an overview of the changes that ISO 9001:2015 – Just published! has brought in over its previous version (: 2008).

ISO TC/176/SC2 (Public Information) Home Page has provided a host of the basic inputs relating to core of the changes in the new version @ Revision of ISO 9001 :

  • A presentation on the ISO 9001 revision (here)
  • Transition Planning Guidance for ISO 9001:2015 (here)
  • ISO 9001:2008 and ISO/DIS 9001 Correlation matrices (here)
  • ISO 9001:2015 Revision Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (here)
  • Implementation Guidance for ISO 9001:2015 (here)

Seven Quality Management Principles

The table below compares the 8 Quality Management Principles with recently revised seven Quality Management Principles (QMPs).

8 Quality Management Principles

7 QMPs
Principle 1: Customer focus QMP 1: Customer Focus
Principle 2: Leadership QMP 2: Leadership
Principle 3: Involvement of people QMP 3: Engagement and Competence of People
Principle 4: Process approach QMP 4: Process Approach
Principle 5: System approach to management
Principle 6: Continual improvement QMP 5: Improvement
Principle 7: Factual approach to decision making QMP 6: Informed Decision Making
Principle 8: Mutually beneficial supplier relationships QMP 7: Relationship Management

ISO 9001:2015 – What are the main changes?

1/The standard is rewritten according to the HLS (High Level Structure)

2/ Risk management becomes a foundation of the standard

ISO 9001_2015-progressive changes

3/ Leadership

4/ A standard purposely open to the service industry

5/ No more quality manual?!

6/ Importance given to the context surrounding the certified organization and to its stakeholders

7/ Knowledge is a resource like any other

Significant Changes in ISO 9001 Revision 2015:

  1. The term “product” has been replaced by “goods and services”.
  2.  Two new clauses related to the context of the organization:

4.1 Understanding the organization and its context
4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties.

  1. The requirement to use the process approach has been more explicit by adding a new clause.

4.4.2 Process approach

  1. The standard does not include a specific clause for “Preventive Actions“.
  2. The terms “document” and “records” have been replaced with the term “documented information”.
  3. Control of external provision of goods and services address all forms of external provisions.
  4. The term “continual improvement” has been replaced with “improvement”.

‘Infographic: ISO 9001:2015 vs. 2008 revision – What has changed?’ presents all the basic information visually.

‘What are the main differences between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015?’ not only tabulates the 10 clauses of the revised standard in comparison to the previous version, but also has visually presented the arrangement of clauses 4 through 10 according to PDCA cycle:

ISO 9001_2015 clauses in terms of PDCA cycle

As a result of the new arrangement in ten clauses, ISO 9001:2015 now has the same unambiguous structure as all standardized management systems, known as a ‘High Level Structure’ (HLS).

ISO 9001_2015 HLS

There is more emphasis in ISO 9001:2015 on measuring and properly assessing the input and output of processes.

ISO 9001_2015 on measuring and properly assessing the input and output of processes

Here are some more specific presentations on the subject:

What Changes Will ISO 9001 : 2015 Bring ? – A Bureau Veritas presentation

Key changes and transition – DNV GL

DNV GL guidance document aims to gives a basic overview of the changes to ISO 9001:2015

We will also take a look at some of the video clips on the subject:

All you need to know about ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001:2015 Revision Training Webinar

ISO 9001:2015 Part 1: Prepare for Impending Changes in ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001:2015: Part 2: New QMS Structure Overview for ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001: 2015 (Part 3): Risk-based Thinking Goes from Implicit to Explicit

Risky Business: Surviving ISO 9001:2015 :- Part 1 of 3 discusses the troubled development process leading to ISO 9001:2015 and the pressures put on ISO TC 176 to rush the standard, rather than focus on ensuring the quality of the content.

Risky Business: Surviving ISO 9001:2015 :- Part 2 of 3 – discusses the good and bad aspects of the new requirements, including a scathing look at “risk based thinking.”

Risky Business: Surviving ISO 9001:2015 :- Part 3 of 3 presents “survival strategies” for leveraging the weaknesses of ISO 9001:2015 to your advantage, and how to tailor your QMS for maximum effect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7JiK5y3iLk

NQA ISO 9001:2015 Transition Webinar (8th Sept 2015)

We will now turn to our regular sections:

ASQ CEO, Bill Troy ASQ’s Influential Voice in its post ISO 9001:2015 is now available! has furnished the supporting products such as training programs, case studies, and articles.

We have presented here ASQ TV episodes on the current subject, as available currently:

Transitioning to ISO 9001:2015 : Transitioning to a new standard can be a daunting task but there have been several revisions before, meaning there is plenty of advice on how to do it. View the head of delegation for U.S. Technical … Advisory Group to ISO Technical Committee 176 (TAG 176), Lorri Hunt’s full interview HERE.

Implementing ISO 9001:2015 : Standards expert John DiMaria explains risk is embedded in many areas of ISO 9001:2015. Access ASQ’s ISO 9001 resources, including the standard, articles, books, training and information on the upcoming … conference at the links below

We will also continue to take a detailed look at the changes in ISO 9001 in the separate series of respective articles as well as in the ensuing episodes of 2016.

I wish warm greetings for the festivities of the season and highly fruitful New Year ………

I look forward to your active participation in enriching the blog carnival as we pursue our journey into 2016 by charting some new initiatives in our presentation style and content …………

The Revenge of Geography – India’s Geopolitical Dilemma

The Revenge of Geography

Part II – The Early-Twenty First Century Map

Chapter XII – India’s Geopolitical Dilemma

By Robert D. Kaplan

In the first installment of this article, we looked at the base discussions of the book.

The Revenge of Geography 2We now move on to Part II – The Early-Twenty First Century Map, and focus on Chapter XII – India’s Geopolitical Dilemma.

India is possessed of geopolitical logic – Arabian Sea on the West and South-west, Bay of Bengal on East and South-East, the mountainous Burmese jungles on the east and Himalayas and knot of Karakoram and Hindu Kush on the North and North-West. Internally, too, India is vast. What it lacks is a single nursery of demographic organisation, like Wei Valley and lower Huang He (Yellow River) in China. Even the Ganges River valley did not provide enough platforms for the expansion of a unitary India State into the subcontinent’s deep, peninsular south. Various river system, besides Ganga, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tungabhadra, Kaveri, Godavari and so on, divide it.

India has the hottest climate and most abundant and luxuriant landscape of all Eurasia population hubs and therefore its inhabitants lacked the need to build political structures for the organization of resources on the scale that temperate zones of Europe or China did.

The key to understanding India is the realization that while as a subcontinent, India makes eminent geographic sense; its natural boundaries are quite weak in place. The present Indian State does not conform to the borders of subcontinent. That is the heart of the dilemma.

The choice of Delhi as the capital of India was of very much function of geography for the invaders from the North-East, during the seventh through sixteenth centuries. Delhi’s back was the Islamic World and front is the Hindu World. The Mughal Empire was cultural and political expression of this fact. The last major ruler of Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb’s position was that of Delhi-based rulers going back hundreds of years – the (geographical) northern and north-western parts of the subcontinent were commonly under a single polity even as sovereignty over southern India was in doubt.

Unlike previous rulers who were essentially land powers, the British constituted the sea power. As evidenced by Bombay, Madras and Calcutta presidencies, it was from the sea that the British were able to conquer India. It was through technology of rail network, ranging from Afghanistan border to Palk Strait near Ceylon and from Karachi to Chittagong that the British made it possible to unite this vast internal space into one polity. British, being the sea power, were a neutral force in the historical drama between native Hindus and the Muslim land-route invaders.

When Indians look their maps of the subcontinent, they see Afghanistan and Pakistan in the North-West and Nepal and Bhutan in the North North-East or Bangladesh in East as all part of India’s immediate sphere of influence, with Iran, the Persian Gulf, the former Soviet Central Asian Republics and Burma as critical shadow zones. Not to view these places as such would tantamount to ignoring the lessons of history and geography.

From a different geographical perspective Pakistan makes up a civilizational intermediary and conduit of trade routes connecting the subcontinent with Central Asia …. A stable and reasonably moderate Afghanistan becomes truly the hub not just southern central Asia but of Eurasia in general… A quiescent Afghanistan would spur road, rail and pipeline construction not only in all directions across Afghanistan but across Pakistan as well. And therein lies the ultimate solution to Pakistan’s own instability.

But this is not the situation that currently obtains…. Hindu majority, albeit secular, Indian State wants to escape from the Muslim history and geography. The very competition and fixation with China can be views as the element of this escape. It is a rivalry with no real history behind it.

The very technologies that defeat geography also have the capability of enhancing geography’s importance. Whereas Chinese Dynasties of old almost completely fall within the current borders of China, the dynasties to which India is heir do not. Thus, India looks to Afghanistan and its other shadow zones with less serenity than doe s China to its own shadow zones. China’s influence extends all the way into Russian Far East and Central and Southeast Asia. China’s potential fear of more democratic way of state stems from Turks, Inner Mongols and Tibetans minorities that are restless. China will have to undertake some basic structural reforms and reorganize its economy. But it has an onerous task of containing the tumultuous transition to a manageable level.

India is a regional power to the degree that it is entrapped by its geography; it is a potential great power to the degree that it can move beyond it.

In the concluding installment of our look at The Revenge of Geography on 4th January, 2016, we will take up the chapter on Braudel, Mexico and Grand Strategy.

Fading Memories….Unforgettable Songs: December 2015

We had been covering separately those unforgettable songs of the golden period of Hindi Cinema, which has receded back deep into our memories in our monthly edition of the Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music. I had been toying with idea of culling out these songs into a full-fledged post from 2016. But, I had a video clip of Mohammad Rafi’s songs on 78 RPM records that need to be documented by listing each of the songs in that anthology clip. That would have made the November, 2015 issue quite a lengthy one. Hence, this decision, to advance the launch of a separate monthly post which is dedicated exclusively to such songs.

We will publish post in this series every second Sunday of the month.

When we were being tuned in to listen to the film music, during 1960s and the very early ‘70s, radio was the most universally accessible medium where one would get to listen to the gems of songs that the lady (commercial) luck seemed to ignore. So, one would not get to listen to those songs very frequently. As a result, those Unforgettable songs easily faded from the memory.

With the rise of internet, the access to these songs has become handy enough. Our friends have been very kindly forwarding us such songs. We propose to document these unforgettable songs that have been relegated in the deep crevices of the memory. We will also add the results of our own surfing finds of such songs.

We take this opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable role of the great army of uploaders of the videos on YouTube-like-sites in making the songs easily accessible.

Harish Raghuvanshi remembers:

Hai kya kya jalwa bhara hua – Aankh Ka Taara(1932) – Indubala Devi (Image: Jahanara Kajjan) – Motilal Naik

Hum Chale Watan ki Aur – Kashinath (1943) – Asit Baran – Pankaj Mullick – Pandit Bhushan

The rhythm and orchestration so tellingly create the motion of a moving train, that visual support would have been redundant!

हम चले वतन की और,

खिंच रहा है कोई हमको
डाल के प्रेम की डो…र – हम चले०

फूल खिलें हैं नए नए

और नयी कोंपलें आई;
मस्त हवाएँ चली..
डालीयाँ झूम झूम लहेराए;
नाच रहा है डाल डाल पर
मस्ताना मनमो…र – हम०

आश किसीकी पूरी होगी,
हसेंगें आज किसीके नैना
रस टपकायेंगें कानों में किसीके
मनभर मीठे बैना…
आ…..आ….
आज किसीके सुख-सोहाग का
रहेगा और न छोर !

हम चले वतन की,

चले वतन की,
चले वतन की औ..र – हम०

Bhagwan Thavrani has remembered some S N Tripathi gems

Pyaar Ke Pal Chhin Beete Hue Din Ham To Na Bhoole Tum Bhool Gaye – Kunwari (1966) – Lata Mangeshkar – S N Tripathi – Shailendra

This one has a twin version too – Talat Mahmood –

Taaron Bhari Raat Hai – Pakshiraj (1959) – Lata Mangeshkar – S N Tripathi – B D Mishra

Nigahon mein tum ho – Jadunagri (1961) – Lata Mangeshkar – S N Tripathi

Chaand Dhalne Laga Dil Machalne Laga~ Amrit Manthan~1961~Lata Mangeshkar~S. N. Tripathi~B. D. Mishra

We also have songs from other music directors too:

Looti Zindagi Aur Gham Muskuraye – Parvarish (1958) – Lata Mangeshkar – Dattaram – Hasrat Jaipuri

Khoya Hua Dil Mil Gaya– Daku Mansoor(1961) – Asha Bhosale- Krishna Kamak – Psandit Gaafil

While looking for the video link of this song on YouTube, we also landed upon

Aji Eji Yaad Rakhana Sanam – Mumbarak Begum – Daku Mansoor(1961)

Ye Din Din Hai Khushi Ke, Aaja Re Aaja Saathi mere Zindagi Ke – Jab Se Tumhen Dekha Ha (1963) – Manna Dey, Suman Kalyanpur – Dattaram –

Thavrani states : A small musical piece that plays immediately in the interlude after mukhda @t 2.12 seconds and again after second Antara in the interlude @ 4.28 seconds is quite fascination one.

It’s a very small piece of may be just 10 seconds where group violins play a very small piece, which is repeated by flute and again repeated by mandolin which is immediately followed by Manna day in the first part and Suman in the last part. Please do note it carefully since it just passes within no time ! Group violins play a small note ; move away ; flute play ; move away ; mandolin play ; move away immediately ( as if respectfully ) making way for the singers ! It reminds one the drama of life where everyone has to play his small but MUST withdraw immediately (despite temptation to go on and on …) to make way for others to play their parts…

And we again have a very fascinating clip from Dattaram – Mubarak Begum combo-

Mere Aansooe Pe Na Muskara – Mere Man Mitwa (1965) – Mubarak Begum – Dattaram

That Mubarak begum song reminds of another voice…Kamal Barot.
Even in films, she sang very few solos. Most of her songs (and there are not many) are duets and dance- mujra songs with other singers.
Here are great favourites…for her metallic voice and the pain in the poetry.

Ye Haseen Taare Teri Yaad Dilaa Detey Hain – Kamal Barot – non – film song

Hum Tumhen To Kabhi Na Bhoolenge

On the birthday of Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Naresh Mankad has remembered a moving prayer, full of feelings

Tum Asha Vishwas Hamare – Subah (1982) – Lata Mangeshkar

To those who love good classical dance that does not look like artless aerobics He also reminds light-footed smooth dance, performed on screen by the ever graceful classical dancer, Waheeda Rehman with a romantic song of Mukesh sung by Raj Kapoor.

Suno Ji Suno Hamari Bhi Suno – Ek Dil Sau Afsane (1963) – Shanker Jaikishan

The bonus is Raj Kapoor displaying some really good, graceful dance actions.

Samir Dholakia remembers songs from equally forgotten music directors

Jal Ke Dil Khak Hua Ankho Se Roya Na Gaya – Parichay (1954) – Lata Mangeshkar – Shailesh and Vedpal

Sapnon ke Gaaon Mein Taaron Ki Chhaaon Mein – Raj Pratigya (1958) – Lata Mangeshkar -Sanmukh Babu Upadhyay – Lyrics-Bharat Vyas

We shall end each of our monthly episodes with songs of Mohammad Rafi.

For the present, we have

Samir Dholakia’s recommendation: Kismat Ka Likha Na Tale – Parichay (1954) –

Naresh Mankad’s recommendation: Nigahen Na Phero Chal Jaayenge Hum – Black Prince (1960)- N Dutta

Twin versions of Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur have been combined up in this one clip.

Rare 78s of Mohammad Rafi

Since this an anthology clip, we have placed here each song separately too:

We will meet again on 2nd Sunday of the next month with more unforgettable songs that have stated slipping out of our memory….If you have such songs to share, you are most welcome…..

The Revenge of Geography – Robert D Kaplan

The Revenge of Geography

What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate

By Robert D. Kaplan

This fourteenth book by Robert D Kaplan attempts to bend our views on political lines on the contours of relief maps of geography.

The book is spread over three parts.

The Revenge of GeographyIn the Part I – Visionaries – of the book, Robert D Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries and theories of the great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at the critical pivots in history and then builds the platform to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of world’s hot spots through the learning their climates, topographies and proximities to other embattled lands.

In the Part II – The Early-Twenty First Century Map -, Kaplan then applies the lessons learned from the present crises in the Europe, Russia, China, The Indian Subcontinent, Turkey, Iran and The Arab Middle East.

The part III – America’s Destiny – is devoted to the past, present and the future of USA’s foreign policy w.r.t the North America.

We will also take a three-part look at the contents of the book here . In the first part we will delve into the Preface and Chapter II – The Revenge of Geography – of Part I (Visionaries) of the book. Our second part will take a look at Chapter XII – India’s Geopolitical Dilemma – of Part II (The Early Twenty First Century Map) of the book. Our concluding part will be based on Chapter XV – Draudel, Mexico and Grand Strategy- of Part III (America’s Destiny) of the book.

The Preface – Frontiers – contains material from four earlier titles – Soldiers of God (1990), An Empire of Wilderness (1998), Eastward to Tartary (2000) and Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts (2007). The mountains are a conservative force, often protecting within their defiles indigenous cultures against the fierce modernizing ideologies that have too often plagued the flat ends, even as they have provided refuge to Marxist guerrillas and drug cartels in our own era. .. In the times of upheaval, maps rise in importance. With the political ground shifting rapidly under one’s feet, the map is the beginning of discerning a historical logic about what might come next…When you look at the divided-country scenarios in the 20th century -Germany, Vietnam, Yemen – it is apparent that however long the division persisted. The forces of unity ultimately triumph, in an unplanned, sometimes violent and fast-moving fashion…

We all need to recover a sensibility about time and space that has been lost in the jet and information ages, when the elite moulders of public opinion dash across oceans and continents in hours, something that allows them to talk glibly about ‘flat world’….

Geography – the description of the Earth – has often been associated with fatalism and therefore stigmatized: for to think geographically is to limit human choice. However, study of relief maps and population studies add another layer of complexity to the conventional foreign policy analyses and finds a deeper and powerful way to look at the world. The more we look out over the span of centuries, the more the geography plays a role…Even as we send satellites into our outer solar system, and even as financial markets and cyberspace know no boundaries, the Hindu Kush still constitutes a formidable barrier.

In the Chapter II – The Revenge of Geography – Hans J Morgenthau (Politics Among Nations : The Struggle for Power and Peace) begins his argument by noting that the world is the result of forces inherent in human nature. And human nature is motivated by fear (phobos), self-interest (kerdos) and honour (doxa). “To improve the world, one must work with these forces, not against them.” The human nature makes for a world of incessant conflict and coercion. The tendency to dominate is the natural element of all human interactions, especially those of the states. Power only limits power.

Realists value order above freedom – the latter becomes important only after the former has been established. Sovereignty and alliances rarely occur in a void; they arise out of differences with others.

The map is spatial representation of human divisions. Maps don’t always tell the truth. They are often as subjective as any fragment of prose. Maps are materialistic, and therefore, normally neutral. Maps, even though being dangerous tools, are crucial to any understandings of the world politics.

Nature imposes, man disposes. The man’s actions are limited by the physical parameters imposed by geography. But these contours are extremely broad, so that human tendency to has more than enough room to maneuver…. The higher proportion of world’s most feeble economies are observed to be land-locked. The tropical countries (between 450 North and south latitude) are generally poor. The most high-income countries are in middle and high latitudes. East-west oriented temperate zone of Eurasia is better off than north-south oriented sub-Saharan Africa, because technological diffusion works much better across common latitudes where climatic conditions are similar. It is no accident that world’s poorest regions tend to be where geography, by way of soil suitability, supports high population densities, but not economic growth, because of distance from ports and rail-heads.

America and Britain could champion freedom only because the sea separated them from ‘the landlord enemies of liberty’. The militarism and pragmatism of continental Europe through the mid-twentieth century was the result of geography, not of character. Competing states and empires adjoined one another on a crowded continent. European nations could never withdraw across an ocean in the event of a military miscalculation. Thus their policies could not be grounded by a universalist morality. The two oceans gave America not only the luxury of their idealism, it was also that these oceans gave America direct access to the two principal arteries of politics and commerce in the world – Europe across the Atlantic and East Asia across the Pacific.

Geography, history and ethnic characteristics influence but do not determine future events. Robert Kaplan certainly succeeds in provoking our thinking on the geography as it was yesterday and as it is going to be tomorrow. As Eric Kaufmann notes, the first-order geographical effects like lack of natural barrier as a security threat, strategic proximity to sea-lanes and resources or suitability for bases and pipelines have attained new meaning in the context of the present and future legacy issues in view of the rapidly changing hard and soft technology. The second-order effects like restive national identities or the third-order fundamentalist religion culture have become untethered from their geographical moorings. Kaplan implores us to be mindful of the limits, posed by dirt, rock, and distance to our Utopian desire to bring forth a better world.

 

Robert Kaplan discusses his book, The Revenge of Geography, which illustrates how timeless truths and natural facts can help prevent this century’s looming cataclysms.

In the  second part of our look at the The Revenge of Geography on 20th December 2015, we will take up India’s Geopolitical Dilemma.