This is a great Ghazal that my sister would sing for us. Those were wonderful days in Mumbai, a few years back. The lights would go dim and then me and my brothers would request my little sister to sing this song and she would oblige us. She had magic in her voice. Actually, she still does. It's still hidden from the world. She has not performed for a large audience yet. Maybe, after her MSc in Music she would but till then even the original song is sweet. Please enjoy the audio.
It's one common observation while watching cricket that most of us would have experienced. There would be a casual comment on how the master batsman should have treated the ball, how the field should have been planned by the captain or what should have been the batting line up. Most of the times the person commenting would not have even played a single ball on the pitch ever nor would have even attempted to study the game. This is an instance where opinion really does not matter but there are many other things in life where they do.
Opinion is a view, an impression, an idea, a thought towards something. One can have a strong opinion towards something but that does not necessarily represent the fact. It is important to seek knowledge about a thing before commenting on it and there are many ways of acquiring knowledge.
I feel a little uneasy when someone makes an opinion loaded statement. Earlier, I would react promptly, usually forcing a counter reaction from the person in support of the statement. Now, I have learnt to react by saying, "In my humble opinion ..... ". It's a win-win or atleast today it was.
This is the answer to one of my friend's queries. His query was, "Are you satisfied with what you are doing?"
I read an answer to a similar query on one of the blog site and I would like to extend the same philosophy to my life as well. Here goes the answer.
I would never seek satisfaction in my career, for it would stunt my growth and I wish to grow every day. I hope for fresh challenges and may god give me the strength to face them and do what is right.
Also, I liked a thought put across by Ronald Fonseca, a fellow Bosco-ite. I would like to share his thought in a way you would admire.
"Some people in the world go out and do what their passion calls for and the rest are very logical, they go out and achieve the status of common people".
I was finally able to connect with Ronney (Ronald Fonseca) after nearly 20 years. I could not believe that its been such a long time. Last week I spoke to Murtuza and this week it was Ronald and Paddu. School friends are friends forever. :)
I agree with Ronald that school days were the best days of our lives. They were filled with joy and innocence. Oblivious to what life had in store for each one of us. Don Bosco give us a very strong foundation for us to build our lives upon.
We raise our voices and sing in praises for the father of all youth. Thank you Don Bosco.
I had listed out some names in my earlier blog but looks like the Don Bosco Matunga, class of '87 list is set to grow. I am sure that we will be able to re-unite someday.
Some more names are:
a. Kamlesh Kale (I had spoken to him sometime back but have lost touch) b. Ashwin Dias c. Bubble (Don't remember his real name) d. Kailash Nasta e. Shaun Pinto
On the 18th of June, nearly after 20 years I was able to connect with Murtuza Vasowalla, one of my close school mates from Don Bosco, class of '87. It is amazing fact that things change so much over time but some feelings remail frozen. We only realize this when we get a chance to connect with the past. These feelings are so alive that it takes only a flash of a moment for the journey back into the past.
While chatting with Murtuza, it felt like years have passed but the relation has grown stronger with each passing moment. We spoke for an hour about our journeys since we parted ways and it was quite exhilarating. I am very glad that each of us are doing well in life and that left me wondering where the others are. Now, I am in touch with 6 Bosco-ites, namely Sachin, Murtuza, Sudarshan,Makarand, Jatin and Hozefa. Some of them I wish to connect with are as follows:
a. Ajay Chellani b. R.Sarangam c. Rajeev Shah d. Ketan Shah e. Bhuvan Khimji f. Harminder Singh g. Sunil Pandey h. Dhaval Modi i. Kavin D’Souza j. Trevor Pereira k. Persi Amaria l. Nevelle Shroff m. Melroy Roderick n. Savio D’Souza o. Prathamesh Pai p. Sanjiv Kabad q. Manish Jathera r. Jagannath Shetty s. Valle D’souza t. Rajiv Mallick u. Ronald Fonseca
I am sure, I someday will be able to connect with few of them but even that would be a great moment.
I had read somewhere that for the entire skin on our body to be replaced by a new layer it takes seven years. Interestingly, exactly seven years back I had restarted my work life from scratch and it has changed completely in those years. Life is really very beautiful.
Not that I am a distinguished person or my achievements are enormous but I would like to share 3 things that have helped me as an individual.
1. The tunnelled vision: Once I and Jatin Paranjape, my classmate at Don Bosco, were sharing some thoughts about Sachin Tendulkar, his fellow teammate for Mumbai. Jatin, with very high regards for Sachin, told me some things that helped me through the bad and the good days of my life. He said, "Sachin has a tunnelled vision. While batting, Sachin only sees the ball and its trajectory and nothing else matters. Also, he treats every ball differently. Each ball is a different instance for Sachin". These words still resonate in my mind and I still continue to use this technique in my career.
While doing anything or solving any issue I have always tried to focus on the main issue to be addressed or resolved and have never been bothered by the impediments that were presented.
2. Principle centric approach: It is difficult to do things the right way but by doing the things the way they are supposed to be done makes an achievement far more enjoyable. I have got myself and my family into troubled waters because of this practice but at the end of the day it is the same approach that has helped me out of those difficult situations. I am proud that I have done things that way. Many of my friends, on quite a number of occasions, have suggested me that at times it is not necessary to be principle centric as sometimes shortcuts that do not affect a situation adversely could be quick, efficient and risk free. They might be correct and I do not disagree with them as long as no rules governing those actions are broken. Also, PCA invariably helps a person to think clearly before taking a decision or acting on it. My experiments, discussions and the journey through life still continue and hence it would be worth writing about this sometimes later in life. :)
3. Building long term relationship: I must sincerely admit that I completely ignored the human touch in the pursuit of my goals. I realized this folly in my last job with Satyam Computers where I was working as a consultant and a relationship manager. I had never worked in these roles before and it was a sea of change.
My jobs prior to Satyam demanded me to be a result oriented person but in life and in career being result oriented is just an entry criterion. If one has to grow one has to work on relationship building and that too building long term relationships. I have come to realize that being result oriented and a people person are two are mutually exclusive and equally enviable traits to possess.
Here, I want to thank all who have helped me to be who I am. Some of the names apart from my family and Krishmurthy Aleti (He is my family member) are Kamlesh Sheth, Manish Patel, Ashwin Shah, Jatin Paranjape, N.R Narayana Murthy, Achuyt Godbole, Dr. Sulabha Apte
There are other very good things to share with you all and I shall do so as the journey continues.
I had read similar lines somewhere before. The thoughts kept lingering in my mind for a long long time. It’s strange but true that the thoughts take a wonderful form of poetry and just flows. Some of my friends say that most of my poems are philosophical. I still think that I am too young to teach anyone anything about life. This poem just happened to manifest itself from some lingering thoughts and hence I say it’s a translation of someone else's thought. I am just a means, a channel to present the same to you.
Here it goes....
I asked God – A translation
Of humans’ what’s the most fascinating? He smiled and said there is not just one thing.
He looses his health for the want of wealth, And later, spends it all for a better health.
He looses his present for the worries of the future, And not living today becomes his nature.
And He lives like he’s never going to die. And dies as if he’s never lived.
There are highs and lows in every person's life but some of the lows are not as low. No matter how successful a person is there is always something more that he/she keeps seeking out for. This is a never ending journey or maybe it ends only with life itself. I think that these different strokes that paint life makes life ever more beautiful and worthwhile. My journey still continues and I still am in search of some of the answers. Enjoy the poem that I wrote sometime back but it holds its ground even today.
This is a nice old song sung by Noman Allin. Originally a Russian song, meant to be a joke but turned out to be one of the most popular song of its time.
Some details about Norman
Norman Allin (19 November 1884, Ashton-under-Lyne - 27 October 1973) was a British bass singer of the early and mid twentieth century, and later a noted teacher.
His operatic debut was as Hebrew in Samson et Dalila on 15 October 1916. With the Beecham Opera Company he appeared in Aida and Samson and Delilah.
He created the role of Sir John Falstaff in Holst's At the Boar's Head.
In the famous 1930s Glyndebourne recording of Le Nozze di Figaro, Allin was Bartolo to Roy Henderson's Count and Heddle Nash's Basilio. All three appeared (and were shortly afterwards recorded) in the original line-up for Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music on 5 October 1938. Allin's line goes down to low D; the words set for his solo are 'The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus.'
The Vaughan Williams Serenade was recorded immediately after the concert premiere. Other recordings featuring Allin included Gounod's Jésus de Nazareth recorded in 1932 with the BBC Chorus and ensemble conducted by Stanford Robinson; pieces from Handel's Acis and Galatea, Partenope and Messiah; Gounod's Faust; Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Wagner's Die Walküre; and a Richard Strauss Lied.
During the Second World War he was a member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, which gave London seasons in which Allin appeared with Joan Hammond, Gwen Catley, Heddle Nash, Dennis Noble, Parry Jones and Tudor Davies.
Among Allin's pupils were Jean Allister, Pamela Bowden, Richard Lewis, Norman Lumsden and Ian Wallace (who followed his teacher into the role of Bartolo at Glyndebourne).
Allin's voice was of a depth and resonance now rare in British basses ( more ) ( less ) Category: Music
The Song of the Flea ... some more information
Beethoven’s ‘Mephistopheles Lied vom Floh’, Mephistopheles’ song in Auerbach’s cellar (‘Es war einmal ein König’), is usually given the opus number 75 no 3, and is all that remains of Beethoven’s ambition to set the first part of Goethe’s Faust, first sketched in 1792-3 and actually written in 1809.
