Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XI – May 2023 Edition

Welcome to May 2023 edition of XIth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

LnC-Silhouette commemorates the centenary celebration of Mrinal Sen’s birth anniversary with the series Mrinal Sen@100

Bajooband Khul Khul Jaye – Remembering Mohammad Shafi on his 43rd death anniversary.

How KJ Yesudas cast a spell on Hindi film music – After Jaaneman Jaaneman, Basu Chatterji offered Yesudas another song in his next film Chitchor (1976) – what would become the iconic Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara. ….. Even though he made his Hindi debut in the late 1970s, by the end of the decade, Yesudas had already sung an impressive number of chart-toppers, most of which have become classics. By one estimate, Yesudas has sung at least 207 film songs in Hindi. This number does not quite do justice to the outsized impact he has had on Hindi film music.

Of Incomplete Tales: My Friendship with Guru Dutt in Parts 1 & 2 and Parts 3 & 4. – Translation & Postscript: Ratnottama Sengupta – In his autobiography Eka Naukar Jatri/ Journey of a Lonesome Boat, Nabendu Ghosh wrote about his troubled friendship with the legend Guru Dutt who valued his writing yet wasted his scripts.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits 1958 – Lata Mangeshkar.

Apni Kahaani Chhod Ja: Leave a Story That Will Be RetoldApni kahaani chhod ja — a line that personifies the masters who created such unforgettable classics as Do Bigha Zamin. Seventy years after the film was released in 1953, we enjoy and discuss this masterpiece by Bimal Roy and sing its songs, which we know by heart. Shirish Waghmode rewinds the song to explore how relevant it still is.

The Sculptors of Film Songs (4): Kishor Desai – the mandolinist,  is the fourth article in the series on music arrangers and musicians. The previous ones have covered Sebastian D’ Souza and Anthony Gonsalves, and Enoch Daniels

May 2023 episode of VIIIth volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Manna Dey – Chale Ja Rahein Hai…. : 1957 (1). Till now, we have covered Manna Dey’s less popular, less-heard songs for the years –

1942 – 1946 in the year 2018.

1947 – 1950 in the year 2019.

1951 – 1953 in the year 2020

1954-1955 in the year 2021, and

1956 in the year 2022

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Playback Singer’s Cameo is about a playback singer appearing as a singer on the screen.

Yatindra Mishra’s ‘Lata Mangeshkar: A Life in Music’ – Over a period of about four years, from 2010 to 2014, Lata Mangeshkar was interviewed by the biographer Yatindra Mishra, the interviews coming together in the form of a Hindi book, Lata: Sur Gatha. The biography won a National Award and was published in its English translation (Lata Mangeshkar: A Life in Music, translated by Ira Pande) earlier this year.

Birdmen of Delhi – on the lovely documentary All That Breathes – There are many ways of talking about Shaunak Sen’s Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes – the warm, life-affirming story of two brothers who rescue injured cheel (black kites) in north Delhi – but the moment that drew the author into the film was an early shot that played like a sight-gag from a silent-movie comedy.

Solo Songs with an unobtrusive listener – Many of us love to undertake certain activities especially singing when we are alone. That perhaps explains the popularity of bathroom singing!!. However, this post is about solo songs where the singer is unaware of the fact that there is an unobtrusive listener who is hearing the song, sung more for self- assurance/self-pity or entertainment. For example  yhe part that Mohammad Rafi Sings in Tere Bin Soone Nain Hamaare (Meri Surat Teri Aankhen (1963) – Lyrics: Shailendra – Music: S.D.Burman.

After Ballads of Love: Ecstacy and Ballads of Love: Agony D P Rangan concludes the trilogy with Ballads of Love: Flippant where the love birds express their mutual love in a light-hearted manner, e.g. Unko Rupaye Mein Solah Aane Humse Nafart Hai Humko Rupaye Mein Do Rupaye Tumse Mohabbat Hai – Pyar Ki Baatein (1951 ) –  G M Durrani, Asha Bhosle – Lyrics Khawar Zaman – Music: Khayyam

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

Songs of Yore has commenced Best songs of 1942 in the series Best songs of year

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Zara Dekh Idhar Idhar Dekh Dekh – Badshah Salamat (1956) – Lyrics: P L Santoshi – Music: Bulo C Rani

Daudo Ji Chor Chor Bhaga Dil Churake – Chaar Minar (1956) – Lyrics:  Vishwamyra Adil – Music:  Shardul Kwatra

Ye Kaisa Yog Liya Sarkaar – Guru Ghantal (1956)  – Lyrics: Ghaafil Harnaalvi – Music: Lachhi Ram

Ghazab Hua Ram Zulm Hua Ram – Agra Road (1957)  – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan – Roshan

 

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – May 2023 Edition

Welcome to May 2023 edition of the XIth volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XIth volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Presently, we take up the concept of Moving From Continual Improvement to Continuous innovation …..

A textbook definition of Innovation is the successful conversion of new concepts and knowledge into new products, services, or processes that deliver new customer value. For instance, all the time and effort invested in trying to make a candle that burns the brightest would still yield a candle only. Innovation will convert the concept of using electricity to a create a bulb.

Continuous Improvement (CI) is a method to identify opportunities for streamlining work and reducing waste in operational processes.

While Innovation is about creating new value by materializing on effective ideas, Continuous Improvement strives to strengthen an existing value proposition to make processes efficient. Innovation effectively improves the outcomes and Improvements yield efficient processes. The mental model in improvement focuses on optimizing existing systems and eliminating defects. Innovation requires a different mental model — creation of something fundamentally new and different from what we’ve experienced before. A different process or end-result that can then be further optimized using improvement.

Presented here above is a set of eight essential attributes that are present, either in part or in full, at every big company that’s a high performer in product, process, or business-model innovation.[1]

The key to being a good innovator is being observant. Look for those things that are positive or negative deviants. Find the outliers that are remarkable or give you some insight into a system. Identify a process that will allow you to make a system better.

In the daily life, when you go to a restaurant or queue up in the line at the airport, notice the things that you think are being done extremely well or, conversely, extremely poorly. Those examples may hold the lessons to help you solve the problems you’re facing right now. If we pause to be observant and then reflect on those observations — in our daily operational practice or in our lives outside the workplace — we can make meaningful, important improvements or innovations to our existing practice. Innovative thinking can go beyond those simple yet revealing observations and become a new mindset and even an organizational function ― a pivot that leads to progress.

A typical structured innovation approach generally rests on these four themes:[2]

      • Resource and Knowledge Repurposing
      • Embracing Full Innovation Lifecycle
      • Data-Driven Approach to Decision-Making
      • Customer Centricity

We plan to take up a detailed look at the Full Innovation Lifecycle and the Structured Innovation Approach in our next episodes.

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

      • Innovation and Process Approach – Jack” West – a long-time member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO Technical committee 176 (TAG 176) and a former TAG 176 chair – discusses innovation and the process approach as they relate to ISO 9001:2015.

Next, we take up the article, From Vision to Reality: How to Implement a Continuous Improvement Program (Next Gen Quality Analytics section of Quality Magazine) – Implementing CI programs requires more than just tools and technology. It necessitates a cultural shift that involves training and educating stakeholders to be a part of the operation and monitoring process.

When starting from scratch must first establish a clear vision and set of goals. This involves identifying areas for improvement and setting specific, measurable goals that align with their high-level goals.

Next, they should involve all the relevant staff, from across the organization.

Identify the sources of accurate and reliable data that needs to tracked and analysed w. r. t. the area(s) of improvement.

Finally, it’s crucial to ensure that the continuous improvement program is sustainable over the long term. This involves creating a culture of continuous improvement, where ongoing improvement efforts are part of the fabric of the organization.

Clear objectives, a strategic approach to getting team buy-in, a mindful approach to data —and a sustainable approach — can help manufacturers accomplish substantial improvements in efficiency and profitability.

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.


[1] Innovation and creativity, wherein McKinsey principal Nathan Marston explains why innovation is increasingly important to driving corporate growth and brings to life the eight essentials of innovation performance.

[2] Structured Innovation 2.0: Four Themes Driving Innovation Success During the Pandemic – JoLynn Smith

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XI – April 2023 Edition

Welcome to April 2023 edition of XIth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Tributes pour in for producer-singer Pamela Chopra, wife of Yash Chopra, who passed away on 20th April – Pam Chopra and Yash Chopra tied the knot in 1970, but they weren’t impressed with each other after their first meeting for a ‘rishta’.

Rakhi, Pamela Chopra, and the late Yash Chopra are seen doting on baby Aditya Chopra.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Lata Mangeshkar sings with Music Directors – nearly all the songs are duets except one – The song may or may not be composed by the same music director.

Shamshad Begum: The voice behind Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar, Saiyyan Dil Mein left Hindi film music due to rampant politics – Shamshad Begum’s voice was behind some of the biggest hits of the 1940s and 1950s but the singer stepped away from Hindi film music because of the rampant politics.

SN Tripathi Part 1: The Vintage Years – A Multi-faceted Talent is the first part of tribute to SN Tripathi on the 35th Anniversary of his Remembrance Day (14 March 1913-28 March 1988), with his songs in the Vintage Years, the 1930s and 40s.

How films became a bridge to my past and my present – Film scholar Suresh Chabria unpacks the meaning of nostalgia in a digital age, about films that were not seen in the digital formats and carriers now available, but mostly in movie theatres and auditoria where film societies and the cultural institutes in Mumbai screened movies in the 1960s. Often, the print or projection quality was of an indifferent nature. But each film satisfied one’s hunger for emotion and spectacle expressed in moving images and sounds that cinephiles everywhere speak of as ‘the magic of cinema’.

BR Chopra dared to make Hindi cinema’s first song-less film in 1960, which won a National Award – On BR Chopra’s birth anniversary, revisiting his 1960 film Kanoon which won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The Ashok Kumar-Rajendra Kumar starrer was the first song-less Hindi film.

The Sculptors of Film Songs (3): Enoch Daniels is the third article in the series on music arrangers and musicians. The previous ones have covered Sebastian D’ Souza and Anthony Gonsalves,

Zohra Sehgal: The grand old lady of Indian cinema who walked in the West so Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai could flyArushi Jain – Zohra Sehgal was a multi-hyphenate: an actor, a danseuse, a choreographer, and a stage performer. She defied the barriers of religion, age and gender at every step of her life and was full of life till the very end.

“Ye Raat Phir Na Ayegi, Jawani Beet Jayegi” – Leela Pandey,  who acted in just about a dozen films in eight years, but created her distinct mark. Ye Raat Phir Na Ayegi, Jawani Beet Jayegi (Mahal, 1949 – Rajkumari, Zohrabai Ambalewali – Lyrics: Nakshab Jarchvi – Music: Khemchand Prakash) is one song wherein Leela Pandey shared the screen with Sheela Naik.

Hasrat Jaipuri – The Eternal RomanticPainting vivid word pictures of the various shades of romance time and time again is no easy task. Yet Hasrat Jaipuri did just that in song after song, leaving us with thousands of verses that express love’s every emotion, writes Anuradha Warrier

April 2023 episode of VIIIth volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Hasrat Jaipuri – Beyond Shankar Jaikishan: 1961 _ Part 1Till now, we have covered –

The songs from 1950 to 1953 in 2017,

The songs from 1953 to 1955. In 2018

The songs from 1956 -1957 in 2019,

 The songs for 1958 in 2020,

 The songs f0r 1959 in 2021, and

 The songs for 1960 in 2022.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

The Bicycle Saga – Part 4 lists songs that can not be categorised into very narrow definitins.

Ten of my favourite crooner/club songs – One club song was almost a mandatory detail for films in 50s, and even 60s. The song came in different avatars: from a floor show in a club, with the singer/dancer surrounded by people sitting at tables; to a grand party. There were songs with hidden meanings, aimed at alerting the baddies to cops lurking among the patrons (or vice-versa). There were songs that teased, songs that blackmailed, songs of all sorts.

Songs of Spouses, the adjective used for the spouse in some cases was also the keynote of the film. The songs are both solos and duets depending on the context. But both wife and husband feature in the song, even if it is a solo.

After Ballads of Love: Ecstacy – D P Rangan comes up with Ballads of Love: Agony, a the theme of ‘love’ deals with the reverse of the coin. For every successful happy finish, there are very many disappointments with unrequited love that end in the separation of lovers going their way apart. Lyricists and music directors had worked in tandem to produce songs of pure agony laying bare frustrations in the conduct of love, and singers also did their part.

Hindi Film Songs Featuring Tribal Dance & Music – It is difficult to distinguish tribal from folk music in Hindi films, with many using the word ‘tribal’ interchangeably with the word ‘folk’. Songs featuring tribal music in films are somewhat stereotypical. These are generally dance songs. Unless the plot of the story revolves round a tribal clan and its chieftain (kabile ka sardaar), these songs are introduced in the film when the lead couple accidentally lands in a tribal hamlet.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Main Bhi Jawan Hun Tum Bhi Jawan Ho – Do Dulhe (1955) – Lyrics: Pt. Indra – Music: B S Kalla

https://youtu.be/n21wZLjqfbY

Meri Jaan Gair Ko Tum Paan Khilaaya Na Karo – Kundan (1955) – Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni – Music: Ghulam Mohammad

Bachna Zara Ye Zamana Hai Bura – Milaap (1955) – Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi – Music: N Datta

Aisi Nazrein Na Daal Karle Khayaal – Riyaasat (1955) – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan – Music: Avinash Vyas

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – April 2023 Edition

Welcome to April 2023 edition of the XIth volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XIth volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

To delve a little deeper into the subject of Future Competitiveness we take up Sustaining Long Term Competitive Advantage.

Sustainable advantages fall into three categories: size in the targeted market, superior access to resources or customers, and restrictions on competitors’ options.[1]

The dissipation of long term competitive advantage can be readily explained by Porter’s Five Forces Model.

The study of available literature on how to build sustainable advantage ultimately seems to boil down to just one area – Continuous innovation needs to be a core capability of the entire organization.

We will take up this aspect of continuous innovation in the next episode…..

Further study resources @ History’s Greatest Strategists.

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

Till writing of the present episode, new additions to Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems.

So, we take up the article ‘From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand:

    • Iterations: From manufacturing to personal growth. – 2.0 signals a new and improved version of the last. Industry has grown from Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0 with its subsets Quality 4.0 and so on. Do we live still live in our 1.0 or have moved to 1.01 and so one, or 2.0?

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] Sustainable Advantage – Pankaj Ghemawat

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XI – March 2023 Edition

Welcome to March 2023 edition of XIth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Songs of Yore presents the festival of colors, Holi, with Kleptomania in Bollywood.

Sampada Sharama has a pointed question: Hindi cinema can’t seem to separate Holi from harassment, is it too much to seek consent? – Hindi cinema has been trying to make its case for normalising harassment on Holi acceptable for decades, and no one’s calling them out.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Mausam Aaya Hai Rangeen – Rememberng Sulochana Kadam on her 90th birthday.

How OP Nayyar was one of the original disruptors of Hindi film musicAjay Mankotia – ‘Almost all Hindi film songs have beat patterns which are straight and regular. But OP Nayyar had other ideas.’…. the revolution OP Nayyar wrought was bringing on board both the Western and Indian beats to songs. This dual usage gave the song a hitherto unknown texture. One example – ‘Balma Khuli Hawa Mein’ (Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964).

Bollywood Odyssey – The Singing Taxman’s Journey into Film Music, Ajay Mankotia, Readomania

A millennial watches Chashme Buddoor: Farooq Sheikh’s rom-com reminds you of simpler times, but hasn’t aged wellArushi Jain  – Chashme Buddoor can be watched for its well-meaning performances, not just from Farooq and Deepti, but from every actor and well-intended script.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits 1957 – Lata Mangeshkar on the occasion of festivals of Gudi Padwa | Ugadi | Pongal.

March 2023 episode of VIIIth volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Ghulam Mohammed and His Singers: 1953. Till now we have covered Ghulam Mohammed’s songs for the year

1943 to 1949 in 2021, and

1950-1952 in 2022.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

The Bewitching Artistry of Raat Bhi Hai Kuch Bheegi Bheegi -The intoxicating dance in tune with the rustic, enthralling music of Raat bhi hai kuch bheegi bheegi has a hypnotic effect on Shirish Waghmode.  The song leaves you bewitched and besotted. The white-attired beauty named Waheeda glides across the mirrored floor like a swan, glamorously preening and parading her skills. The music of Jaidev is as rustic and mellifluous as a folk melody can be. Sahir plays with the words, which act like silver anklets, to add rhythm to his lyrics.

Bhabhi Songs Part 2: With the Nanadthe first part was Bhabhi songs with Devar

Ballads of Love: Ecstacy – D P Rangan comes with an objectively exhaustive article on one of the most common themes of Bollywood songs.

र and ल in Hindi Film Music – Many indigenous (or देशज) words replace the consonant ल with र. – for example: song where र has been used instead of ल:- Gaya Andhera Hua Ujala

song with lallation: Munna Bada Pyara

song with trilling र : Ek Baat Suni Hai Chachaji Batlaanewaali HaiNaram Garam (1981)

Ten of my favourite spooky songs, duly presenting a smoke-covered a ghostly figure (invariably female), wandering about in the night and singing a signature spooky song.

My Favourites: Comic Songs are the Hindi films songs that make you smile widely, sometimes even laugh out loudand Kishore Kumar’s Comic Songs where the singer’s vocal calisthenics complement the actor’s clowning.

The Only song that… lists very unusual songs, like The only song that Geeta Dutt & Suraiyaa sang together  – Preet Ka Naata Jodnewaale – Afsar (1950) – Pt.Narendra Sharma – S.D.Burman

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Chahe Qismat Humko Rulaaye – Neelam Pari (1952) – Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri- Music: Khursheed Anwar

Jeevan Kya Hai Dhalta Suraj – Dana Pani (1953) – Lyrics: Kaif Irfani – Music: Mohan Junior

Sun Sun Sun Sun Zaalima Pyar Humko Tumse Ho Gaya – Aar Paar (1954) – Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri – Music: O P Nayyar

Ek Ladka Ek Ladki, Ek Ladka Ghar Se Nikal Gaya – Khushboo (1954) – Lyrics: G S Nepali – Music: Shankar Lal

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – March 2023 Edition

Welcome to March 2023 edition of the XIth volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XIth volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Our first topic for a detailed look at the theme is Short Term Competitive Advantage.

There are two basic types of competitive advantages: cost leadership and differentiation. When combined with the scope of a firm’s activities, they give rise to three generic business strategies:

    • cost leadership – where the firm seeks to become the low-cost producer in an industry.
    • differentiation – where the firm seeks to position itself uniquely along one or two dimensions that the customer values; and
    • focus – where a firm tries to optimize its strategy by selecting a segment or a group of segments in the industry, and seeks to achieve competitive advantage in the target segment(s).

The VRIO framework[1] is a tool for identifying the competitive advantages of an organization (if they have any). The VRIO (Value, Rarity, Imitability, Organization) is the four-question framework used to evaluate the resources and capabilities of an organization. The VRIO framework categorizes the organization’s tangible as well as intangible resources into one of the following groups: competitive parity, temporary competitive advantage, unused competitive advantage, or long-term competitive advantage.

The process of analysing organization’s  internal environment (internal analysis tools)[2] as well as the external environment (external analysis) is extremely important in the strategic planning process. Typically, the category that usually poses the biggest potential for improvement is the Unused Competitive Advantage Category.

The resources in the Unused Competitive Advantage category don’t have the support, processes, and culture in place to completely utilize their value. The next step is to develop a strategic plan that takes these unused competitive advantages into account and works to support these resources through strategic management will allow companies to transform their resources into sustained competitive advantages. A well thought-out and crafted strategic plan[3] will align the processes, people, and structure needed to support these resources and turn them into sustainable competitive advantages.

In a world where a competitive advantage often evaporates in less than a year,[4] strategy is still useful but not by sticking to the same old playbook. In order to seize the transient advantage, the organization needs a new playbook which positions the organization’s current working between two statements of assessment – Focused on extending existing advantages vs. Capable of coping with transient advantage.

Defining where you want to compete, how you intend to win, and how you are going to move from advantage to advantage is more critical than ever in the critical in the times of the digital revolution, a “flat” world, fewer barriers to entry, globalization, when the competitors and customers have become too unpredictable, and industries too amorphous.

That should keep organization always thinking about is it possible to restore a balance between durability and variability of the organization in terms of strategy?

We will take up the possible answers in our next episode. Till then, download a free guide and canvas to identify organization’s sustainable competitive advantage(es).[5]

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

Till writing of the present episode, new additions to Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems.

So we take up the article ‘From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand:

      • Riddle Me This – A man is walking down the middle of the street dressed in all black. There are no streetlights. No moon. At the same time, a car is driving down the same road with no headlights. At the last second, the car swerves to avoid hitting the man. How can this happen?

(Alert: Please do not read further till you have figured out the answer.)

The tactic deployed in riddle like this is called extraneous detail. The story overloads the reader with imagery of darkness and descriptions of things associated with night—streetlights, headlights, the moon—to distract the reader from what is not being said.

Most of the times, our knowledge and experience can potentially lead us to poor assumptions, and hence poorer outcomes. Poor assumptions are part of what is called a syllogistic fallacy.

Don’t feel bad if you have ever participated in a syllogistic fallacy, as the greats like Shakespeare have been called out for a syllogism that falls apart in the end. And don’t feel bad if you didn’t figure out the riddle. With millions of points of data, we can be overwhelmed by what is important and what is not.

By the way, answer to the riddle was: It is daytime.

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] What is the VRIO framework?

[2] Internal firm analysis: Understanding a firm’s resources and capabilities

[3] How to Write a Strategic Plan: The Cascade Model.

[4] Transient AdvantageRita McGrath

[5] https://onstrategyhq.com/competitive-advantages-guide-download/

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XI – February 2023 Edition

Welcome to February 2023 edition of XIth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Remembering Madhubala – Today and ForeverAnuradha Warrier – Madhubala’s porcelain prettiness, dazzling smile and trademark giggle masked a gifted actor with so much more to offer.

Nimmi – ‘The Unkissed Girl of India’ – D P Ranagn pays tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020).

The Masters: Jan Nisar Akhtar – Of Romance and HopeAnuradha Warrier – For a poet who was part of the Progressive Writers’ Movement, Jan Nisar Akhtar’s lyrics for Hindi film songs were delicately shaded with the disparate colours of romance.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits Lata Mangeshkar’s songs with lesser known or forgotten male singers.

Lata Mangeshkar: Ten Solos, Ten Composers – Part 4 is the last post in the series of Lata Mangeshkar obituary series, beginning with My Favourite Solos with Ten Composers, followed by the songs the other great music directors for whom Lata sang some exceptional songs and Ten Solos, Ten Composers

Gujara Hua Zamana – 21 Gaan Salute to Lataji!! – a tribute on her first death anniversary.

The Sculptors of Film Music’ series presents Anthony Gonsalves, one of the pioneering music arrangers of Hind Film Music of Golden Era.

February 2023 episode of VIIIth volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Talat Mahmood – Duets with Asha Bhosle – 1951| 1952 | 1953. Till now, we have explored –

In 2017, an overview of Talat Mahmood’s duets receding from the memory.

In 2018, Talat Mahmood’s duets with rare co-singers,

In 2019, Talat Mahmood’s duets with Mubarak Begum and with Madhubala Jhaveri,

In 2020, Talat Mahmood’s duets with Geeta Dutt, essentially from 1950 to 1952,

In 2021, Talat Mahmood: Duets with Geeta Dutt, from  1954 to 1957, with one duet even in 1972, and

In 2022, Talat Mahmood: Dets with Shamshad Begum.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Yeh Un Dinoñ Ki Baat Hai – In Conversation with Yasir AbbasiYeh Un Dinoñ Ki Baat Hai: Urdu Memoirs of Cinema Legends, selected and translated by Yasir Abbasi and published by Bloomsbury India, brings together an eclectic collection of memoirs written by renowned writers and cine artists and published in Urdu magazines of yore, many of which are now defunct.

Book Review: “चल उड़ जा रे पंछी (संगीतकार चित्रगुप्त: व्यक्ति एवं कृति)” – By: Dr. Narendra Nath Pandey | Kautilya Books, New Delhi: 2022 | ISBN: 978-93-90885-68-8

Book Review: Jerry Pinto’s ‘Helen: The Making of a Bollywood H-Bomb’

A hospitality professional recounts her encounters with film stars and directorsL Aruna Dhir

Zeenat Aman recalls the time she was ‘earnest’ for her new job at 16: ‘We shot around the Taj in a quest for the perfect image’ – Zeenat Aman quipped that her advertisement, however, was eclipsed by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain’s memorable campaign for the brand.

My Favourites: Women and Chores’ Songs – Some of these songs are absolutely wonderful, and some of the sequences make absolute sense in the context of the film.

Melodies with partly sung mukhda are the songs wherein mukhada precedes humming, or even an anatara.

The Bicycle Saga, commenced last year with Part !, peddles on with Part 2 (A couple on the bicycle) and Part 3 (Solo bicycle songs).

Ten ‘Anti-Love’ Songs – These are not ‘Don’t love me’ songs but are the songs which wonder why people fall in love.

The Gaali Songs are quite light-hearted fun songs even as the lyrics do contain cuss words like Badtameez, Bluffmaster, Junglee, Jaanwar, Loafer and so on

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

We have concluded Micro View of Duets for 1943, with MY Top Music Directors.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohammad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Shamma Jalti Hai To Parwane Chale Aate Hain – Bawra (1950) – Ghafil Haranalvi – Krishna Dayal

Chupke Chupke Dil Mein Aane Wale – Haramra Ghar (1950) – Rammurthy Chaturvedi – Chitragupta

Jise Dundte Phirti Hai Meri Nazar – Sheesh Mahal (1950) – Nazim Panipati – Vasant Desai

Panghat Pe Dekho Aayi Milan Ki Bela – Naujawan (1951) – Sahir Ludhianvi – S D Burman

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – February 2023 Edition

Welcome to February 2023 edition of the XIth volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XIth volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Our first topic for a detailed look at the theme is Future Competitiveness.

Competitive advantage is the favourable position an organization seeks in order to be more profitable than its rivals, in the short as well as long run. To gain and maintain a competitive advantage, an organization must be able to demonstrate a greater comparative or differential value than its competitors and convey that information to its desired target market.[1]

“If a man…make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, tho’ he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.” Attributed to one of Emerson’s lectures in the nineteenth century, these words seem to have anticipated the exhortations of the twentieth: manage for uniqueness, develop a distinctive competence, create competitive advantage.[2]

Tweaking a management system based on old rules will no longer be effective. It is time to act now to start building an organization in accordance with the new principles.[3]

The three main types of competitive advantages are differentiation, cost advantages, and focus advantages.[4]

McKinsey outlines how companies can reimagine themselves for the future by asking: Who we are? How do we operate? How do we grow?[5]

Further reading: Future of work

We will continue in our next episodes with more detailed insight into the subject of competitive advantage.

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

    • Effective 21st Century Quality Leadership – Mike Turner, Managing Partner, Oakland Consulting, discusses the business challenges of the 21st century, and how quality professionals should respond in order to meet them.

Till writing of the present episode, new additions to Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems and From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand have yet to come up. So, we take up

    • The Multi-dimensionality of Quality – Speaking of Quality | Duke Okes – People outside the qualify profession see it as a potentially negative, narrow focus on just trying to find things wrong. Meanwhile, those who have made it a profession are more likely to see it as one with endless opportunities to learn and contribute to the success of the organization and its employees, customers and suppliers. … Quality is not a single field, but in fact the integration of knowledge from many fields of science, technology and management. … At its foundation, quality is about managing organizational processes that will meet stakeholder needs and expectations. … This is complicated by the fact that each customer or player who encounters the product during its life cycle may have different definitions of quality.  .. This multi-dimensionality then allows each quality professional to find a niche that suits their level of interest in technology and/or management roles, enabling them to have satisfying work that will yield a more productive environment. …Evolution of industry will require adaptation of known quality principles and technologies to new products …Technology will help improve many aspects of quality management. …Like many other support functions, quality personnel not only manage several critical processes such as calibration and corrective action, but they play a technology transfer role that embeds quality philosophies and methods into core functions. …Whether one wants to be a technologist, facilitator or leader, the opportunities for contribution and growth are immense.

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] competitive advantageNicole Laskowski, Rachel Lebeaux

[2] Sustainable AdvantagePankaj Ghemawat

[3] Organizing for the Future: Why now?Elizabeth Mygatt, Richard Steele, Mitya Voloshchuk

[4] 3 Main Types of Sustainable Competitive Advantages

[5] Organizing for the future: Nine keys to becoming a future-ready company

 

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XI – January 2023 Edition

Welcome to January 2023 edition of XIth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Mehfil Mein Meri opens the New Year with A New Beginning………., with a new subject to one’s liking.

So True….. everything is done in full flow when you do it because you like it.

Indeed, a very good thought to begin the New Year.

SoY opens the new year account with ‘Parent’-‘Adult’-‘Child’ in songs has also an implicit message that every ‘adult’ should continue to strive to keep ‘child’ within remain live throughout the life cycle.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Hrishikesh Mukherjee: Master of the Middle Path By Ratnottama Sengupta – A heartfelt piece as a centenary tribute to master filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee.  – “This is one of the biggest ironies of life you know! That, as we grow in years, we grow more experienced, and richer in thought. But, the more we have to give to the world, the less equal, less capable our body gets…”

An exclusive pen and ink sketch of Hrishikesh Mukherjee by renowned artist Subrata Gangopadhyay

Pyarelal Santoshi: Jack of All Trades? – D P Ranagn pays tribute to polymath  Pyare Lal (P.L.) Santoshi

Films Are Art, Not Commerce was the motto that Khwaja Ahmed (K.A.) Abbas that remains a testament to this man’s dedication, commitment and perseverance.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits favourites from the year 1956 in 1956 – Lata Mangeshkar

The Masters: Kaifi Azmi b- Born Sayyed Athar Husain Rizvi on in Mijwan (Azamgarh, Eastern Uttar Pradesh) in a zamindar family, Kaifi Azmi demonstrated his poetic skills very early on.

“Hum Ko Mann Ki Shakti Dena Mann Vijay Karein” – Lalita Kumari – Born in Peshawar on July 6, 1938, Lalita Kumari entered the world of Hindi films through Navketan’s AandhiyaN (1952).

Behind the ScenesA Patchwork Quilt is just that – a patchwork of memories – of Paranjpye’s life, travels, plays, films – and the persons and personalities she met along the way.

November 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Jaidev: Brilliant, But Underrated, Composer:  1976 – 1977. Till now,

In 2018, we listened to his songs from the most successful films phase of 1955 to 1963.

In 2019, we listened to his more remembered songs from his less remembered films for 1964 to 1970,

in 2020, we listened to highly appreciated songs from the films that did not succeed in 1971,

In 2021, we recalled the songs that have faded out because the films flopped in 1972-1973, and

In 2022, we listened to his melodies form relatively not so known films for the years 1974 and 1975

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Contribution of Marathi Composers in Bollywood – Part I focuses on Snehal Bhatkar and  N Dutta, Part II on Dattaram, Sudhir Phadke and Vasant Desai and Part III on C Ramchandra.

Some Favorite Noor Jehan Film Songs Related to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (and some other Qalandars too), the songs that come from the playback singing that she did in Pakistani films revolving around Lal Shahbaz Qalandar – or, in at least one or two cases, other Qalandars or saints in the Sufi tradition

Chal Ri Sajani Ab Kya Soche – Torn Between Two WorldsChal ri sajani ab kya soche is synonymous with the bidaai, the heart-breaking moment of departure when the bride steps across the threshold into an unknown world. Shirish Waghmode revisits this classic created by the SD Burman-Majrooh-Mukesh team and emoted in perfect sync by Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand along with Nasir Hussain (the father) and Achala Sachdev (the mother) for Raj Khosla’s Bombai Ka Babu.

Javed Akhtar on how cinema has changed: ‘Improved on the form though lost out on the context’ – A Book ExcerptNasreen Munni Kabir’s conversation book ‘Talking Life’ follows ‘Talking Films’ and ‘Talking Songs’.

Bhabhi Songs Part 1: With the DevarSome of the songs do not specifically have these kinship terms mentioned in the lyrics but the characters on screen play the role of the devar and bhabhi.

Ten of my favourite ‘two songs in one’, the songs where the two styles of the song alternate

The ‘Fusion Songs’ lists songs that has seamlessly interwoven two different styles of music in the song

Songs of Anger focuses on Hindi films songs with the words the words krodh (क्रोध)/ khafa (ख़फ़ा)/naaraaz (नाराज़)/gussa (ग़ुस्सा)

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

Gulzar’s Parichay is a study of a dysfunctional family, but can we accept that ours is broken? – Gulzar’s Parichay is a humble reminder that love might be the solution to all problems but to actually solve those problems, loving each other is never sufficient.

Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha is India’s version of Modern Family, but with all the problematic tropes – Khatta Meetha might seem like a harmless, innocent film that is designed to appeal to the good-heartedness of a regular middle class family. But the movie casually ignores the tropes that it introduces and turns it into plot points.

Gulzar’s Achanak is what Akshay Kumar’s Rustom would have been if it didn’t take the easy way out – In Gulzar’s 1973 film Achanak, an army officer murders his cheating wife and her lover but then we start questioning how this relationship even disintegrated.

We have moved forward with Micro View of Duets for 1943, with Female-Female Duets(+) and Triads(+) to conclude with My Top Duets.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Jai Hind Ki Yeh KahaniyaN – Mansarovar (1946) – Deepak/IshwarChandra Kapoor – S N Tripathi

Sambhal Sambhal Ke Jaiyao O Banjare… Dilli Door Hai – Saajan (1947) – with Lalita Deolkar – Rammurti Chaturvedi – C Ramchandra

Phool Ko Le Baitha Khaar, Tera Kanto Se Hai Pyar – Chunariya (1948) – Mulkraj Bhakri – Hansraj Behl

Badla Hua Duniya Mein Ulfat Ka Fasana Hai – Hamari Manzil (1949) – Qamar Jalalabadi – Husnlal Bhagatram

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – January 2023 Edition

Welcome to January 2023 edition of the XIth volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XIth volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

The aim for the present episode to overview the major trends already identified in the first two years of the present decade that are expected to shape the working philosophy for the quality management professionals. We shall look at some of the critical trends in a little more details in the subsequent months.

In order to identify the first step is carry out the trend analysis.

The trend analysis can be carried out from either the perspective of past data or from the potential changes that can take place in the future.

The real, lasting, and positive change to happen from implementation of CAPA[1] (from the past trends) or from the actions emending out of strategic planning – based on appropriate risj management approach -may require rethinking on the organization’s approach to trend analysis w. r. t. the quality management philosophy. These three questions provide a good beginning before taking up new trend analysis areas or tools/ modifying the existing ones.

  • What is the primary objective of the trend analysis? – One fundamental guiding principle is that a meaningful trend analysis should identify, evaluate and eliminate or prevent the issue that is having negative effect on product quality or customer expectations or to enable the organization to maintain / improve / sustain its competitive edge in the future.
  • What method to choose? – Primarily this driven by the basic purpose of the trend analysis exercise.
  • Is the data being analysed timely and adequate? – The timeliness of the data would mean that data neither should be outdated or should be irrelevant for the purpose and period of the trend analysis.

We now try to enlist major trends as identified in the presently documented literature:

    1. Changes in quality perceptions and approaches in terms of product and system quality as well as customer expectations.
    2. Evolving of management of risks under constantly changing business practices
    3. Knowledge sharing within and across the departments as well with outside stakeholders.
    4. Increasing significance of decision intelligence
    5. Improving the quality and reliability of the supply chain.
    6. Defining quality standards and related job roles in view of increasing need for seamless blending of technical and cross-functional skills.
    7. Increasing significance of integration of QEHS
    8. Increased importance of quality management approach with enterprise-level strategic planning

Apart from these generic issues, there are industry-sector specific trends analyses that can also help bring more generic issues under the radar.

The subject of trends analyses for very specific areas like  quality /environment /occupational and health and safety standards, geo-political-economical-social micro level and macro-level realignments, business performance measurement practices, micro- and macro-level racial and cultural changes etc.

There would be more trends identified in areas of Sustainability, Social relevance and Business continuity or Use of Quality 4.0 technology vis-à-vis Industry 4.0 technologies and IT technologies and the like.

Some of the Sources used as references:

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

We have taken up one article from Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems:

  • Motives Are Important in Everything We Do – The success of our endeavors depends not so much on the endeavors themselves but, rather, on our motive for doing them. …. The key to success of The greatest writers, the greatest quality professionals, the greatest companies – the greatest men and women in all walks of life –is to be found in the fact they were motivated more, at least in the beginning, by what was important to them, what society needed, or by what they felt they had to do, rather than the thought of profit. This is the actual secret – the key to success… True success comes from working on things we really care about.

From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand, we have –

  • Knowledge is Power – From Sun Tzu to Chuck McGill – Why do we remember the past, and not the future? It is a perplexing question with no tangible, concrete answer. The question stems from, or at least often follows, Albert Einstein’s famous utterance, “Time is an illusion, although a stubbornly persistent one.”  …. We can even go as far as to replace the notion of memory with that of knowledge. Knowledge, after all, is facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education, i.e. the memories of that experience and education. So now the question becomes, “What if we had knowledge of the future?” … No matter your answer, the question points to the accuracy of an old, but particularly apt adage—Knowledge is power! ….As Sun Tzu states in the Art of War: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” … In the real world and on the “battlefields” of good business, particularly regarding the field of quality, knowledge lies in training. As contributing editor Genevieve Diesing writes, “As the pandemic and advances in technology impact the field, education and training remain paramount — especially for newcomers.”

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] Management of an Effective CAPA