RMIM West Coast meet at Cupertino
Surjit Singh
We (my wife and I) had to return to San Diego on Saturday leaving the
venue at about 5:30 PM, so can't tell you about the whole meet. Have
been busy all day. In any case, we will all wait for the official
report. I can tell you my story.
UVR picked us up from the Airport. After a detour to drop our stuff, we
went to the Friday venue. Excellent snacks (Panjabi samose) and
brilliant food later. Thanks Pradeep Dubey and Family. This
gulzar-RDB-Kishor fan (Not that there is anything wrong with that!)
always delivers! BTW he said he is one of the original four who floated
the idea of an Indian film music newsgroup that became RMIM. Met many
old RMIMers and other friends and made many new ones. Some regulars
(e.g. Srinivas Ganti, Ritu) were missing, but the loss was made up by
the appearance of long-lost-but-not-forgotten guri and the famous MDson
Khwaja Irfan Anwar :) The official report will talk about the singing by
the usual gang, the jokes and the barbs.
Next morning my wife and Dr. MLKapur decided to make bundles of Mrs.
Rosie Anand's tapes (about 20 per bundle) and guests started trickling
in. As is traditional, the meet started about 2 hours late at 1 PM. As
is usual, guri took control and everybody introduced themselves. Name,
place, how introduced to RMIM, how to improve RMIM were topics
discussed. We were not quite finished and food arrived, sukha bhindi,
gulab jamun very enjoyble. Thanks Neha, Vivek, Akshay and Abhishek for
hosting the meet perfectly again. We ate till full.
Introductions continued. More in the official report.
My turn came. I had to do three things: an award presentation, a quiz
and a distribution.
Dr. M L Kapur gave the 78 LP No. N 26895 to Irfan for his commendable
efforts to make everything about his dad, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar, freely
available to the whole world. I presented the mounted record and
remarked, 'I wish all MD sons, daughters and relatives were like him'.
BTW, apart from Irfan, in the audience, we had an MD daughter, a
lyricist son, and a producer-director-lyricist-actor's nephew.
My quiz was about a famous compiler. Recently, he was given a huge
amount of money as a reward for his life-long dedication and pioneering
effort to documenting as accurately as possible information about Hindi
films. I asked how much money was given and who gave it. After some
hints, people were able to guess that it was $5,000 (five thousand!) and
a certain 'new' RMIMer (NDA), who was present in the audience, was the
awarder. I asked him two questions, how did he come up with this huge
amount and what did his wife have to say about it :) He spoke a few
words of explanation and there was a well-deserved long and loud applause.
After that I asked for volunteers and distributed Mrs. Anand's tapes.
About 10 bundles were left over and I requested that people take those
also later. At this time DVD containing songs from seven pre-1947
movies of NJ was distributed by VIsh, who also gave away the
commemorative 2-CD on a recently departed MD associated with Lahore.
Then Satish Kalra started a very interesting discussion about Indian
copyright laws in which mainly guri participated and then, sadly, we had
to leave.
--
Surjit Singh, a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
http://hindi-movies-songs.com/index.html
UVR
Thanks for the report, Dr. Singh. It was a thoroughly enjoyable
get-together.
Since Dr. Pradeep Dubey does not normally manage to post
on RMIM these days, allow me to make a minor point on his
behalf -- the trinity that he is a bhakt of is "SaKiGu". Salilda.
-UVR.
surjit singh
Thanks fro the correction. What happened after we left? Who is writing
the offiial report?
>
> -UVR.
Srinivas Ganti
> What happened after we left?
Let me guess..The meet must have become more organised as there was
only one Sardar left ? :)
surjit singh
Still lots of Panjabis :)
Srinivas Ganti
> Hi RMIMers:
>
> We (my wife and I) had to return to San Diego on Saturday leaving the
> venue at about 5:30 PM, so can't tell you about the whole meet. Have
> been busy all day. In any case, we will all wait for the official
> report. I can tell you my story.
Glad that everyone had a great time as always !
A request to the official meet reporter to cover the following.
What did Manoj, (lyricist Sailendra's son) tell about his father ?
What did Manoj have to say about his own role as a violin player
for SDB, RDB, L-P, Bappi Lahiri etc ?
UVR
>
> What happened after we left? Who is writing the offiial report?
I don't know the answer to your last question. I hope it's
Vijay Kumar.
After you left, there was a nice presentation by Nimish on
Faiz Ahmed Faiz's life and poetry. We ate, played various
raucous rounds of antakshari-with-a-twist, and sang. The
salient moments of the antakshari were Guri christening
it "bantakshari" (banaayi hui antakshari), Satish ji telling
a Santa-Banta joke, a discussion on whether tumsaa (e.g.,
Tumsa Nahin Dekha) is one word or two, Neha recalling
the film La Bella and Vish singing a song from it, two
different individuals, both male, being labeled "Sita" and
the accompanying put-downs and embarrassments (not),
and guri declaring out of the blue the team which had
actually scored fewer points the winner! The highlights
of the singing session for me were Gautam-da's guzar
jaae.n din (Annadata) on the harmonica, Khwaja saahib
Irfan Anwar's inciting us all into singing (what I think is
his favorite SDB song) -- kaheen beKhayaal hokar (Teen
Deviyan), and Pradeep's "mitwa" (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna)
and 'nain hamaare' (Annadata again). Sometime during
this period, Ms. Dukhtar-e-Raz, whose presence had been
sorely missed by some the preceding night, finally made
an appearance and was greeted very warmly indeed by
several of the remaining attendees. :)
Of course, the best was as usual saved for last with Vivek
Garud singing some lovely songs from recent Hindi films --
jaane kyaa chaahe man baawra (Pyar Ke Side Effects), in
dinon dil mera (Life in a Metro), yeh hausla (Dor), responding
to Pragya's request for an encore of his last year's rendition
of "beimaan tore nainwa" and finally bringing the Meet to a
scintillating end by singing two recent Gulzar songs with
his characteristic infectious zeal: bii.Dii jalaile (Omkara)
and jhoom baraabar jhoom (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom). I say
infectious because I could not help but join him vocally
and many others were moved enough to get up and dance!
-UVR.
UVR
I just realized that you weren't around when Shri Manoj
Shailendra, second(?) son of the famous lyricist, spoke
to us. The audience listened in rapt attention as he
spoke about his father in great detail, and of his own
life in Bombay growing up as the son of his illustrious
father and living amongst the many famous names of
that day. He also later spoke of his own experiences
as a member of the film fraternity (he was a violinist
and worked with SDB and RDB amongst others). The
palpable tenderness with which Manoj ji fondly recalled
his father, using the phrase "my baba" to describe him
was very touching. The genuine warmth and affection
that the great Shailendra must have had for his children
was evident from the way Manoj ji described him. The
thrill of hearing Manoj ji recount various anecdotes from
his (and his father's) life was only ehnanced by the way
he and Aloka ji interacted with each other, talking about
their fathers just as a couple of kids would who had
grown up in the same neighborhood (I don't know if
they did grow up in the same neighborhood). Gautam-
da's presence in the room only added to the enjoyment
of the discussion! To me, it was also a tremendously
rewarding experience to hear Manoj-ji talk about how
songs that his father wrote were typically composed,
and not only that, but to also hear how some of the songs
he had himself participated in were recorded, how
background music was composed (and who did the
composing of it), his observations of the role played by
the main MD in the creation of the final song versus the
role played by the "arrangers" (for example, what did SDB
do for the songs of Aradhana and what did RDB do,
according to Manoj ji), the interestingly tiered remuneration
structure for musicians and so on. I do not exaggerate
when I say that I was truly sorry to see the discussion
come to a close and Manoj ji leave (but it was probably
good he did leave when he did, or else he would have
seen our "unruly side"). I am happy to know that he
lives in the Bay Area; hopefully I will have the chance
to meet him again.
-UVR.
surjit singh
I would have loved to stay for this part. (We talked briefly earlier.)
>
> -UVR.
Asif
> I just realized that you weren't around when Shri Manoj
> Shailendra, second(?) son of the famous lyricist, spoke
> to us. The audience listened in rapt attention as he
Is he the one who wished to his mother about 'rotis' growing on trees,
so that she did not have to toil in the kitchen? This wishful
thinking (by one of Shailendra's sons) led the lyricist to pen 'munnaa
ba.Daa pyaaraa' (Musafir, 1957).
Asif
Surjit Singh
Manoj was about 5 years old at that time, so it is possible:
>
> Asif
>
>
--
Surjit Singh
Please visit my homepage at
http://hindi-movies-songs.com/index.html
kcp
>
> - Show quoted text -
Yes indeed...talking to Manoj ji is one of the best experiences and
his observations about my fav MD's ( he played for SD 1969 onwards &
for RD in his prime 1969-1975 ) professional/personal - are simply
great.
KCP
Narsingh
RMIM meet and I thoroughly, absolutely, and overwhelmingly (!) enjoyed
the meet. I was so glad to finally meet, in person, so may people
whose postings I regularly read. My special thanks to Vish for picking
me up at the airport, to Pardeep and Madhuri & Vivek and Neha for
hosting the party at their homes and for providing all that delicious
food, snacks, and drinks, and to Satish and Saroj for putting me up
for two nights (they themselves were staying at a relative of hers who
had very conveneiently (!) gone away for the weekend). I came back
with so many free goodies (tapes, CDs, Pankaj Malik stamp). But best
of all, every one was so nice and this being my first RMIM meet, every
one would come and ask me about my welfare. Unless something drastic
happens, I'll be coming to the next meet; can't miss out on the fun.
Thanks too to all the singers, musician (especially Gautam Chaudhary),
and special guests: it was so nice to have the conversation with Manoj
Shailendar and to find out how Shailendar composed some of the lyrics.
Thanks to Surjit for all the DVDs I had requested. It was a pleasure
to meet MLK about whom I had heard so much.
Thanks also to Guri Singh for keeping some (but only some) order to
the get together. Thanks, thanks, thanks for the wonderful time.
Narsingh
Neha Desai
Richa and Ravi were also part of the hosting team and the yummy
*slurp* lunch
that we all hogged on Saturday was taken care of by them...
and of course Vish (the force behind the meets!)...
Thanks to everyone who attended made the meet fun! And special thanks
to Vandana Vidwans and Rricha/Nimish for helping out with the dinner
on
Saturday!
See you all at the next meet!
Neha
surhall
Hello to all.
Glad that everyone had a great time as always .
i request to all if this meet in long weelend is
better more members come
from canada . i love go there but not have
dayoff on friday.
dhall
surjit singh
For the next meeting, fly early Saturday and be there before noon.
Didn't you come to the Ottawa meet on Friday night?
> dhall
Satish Kalra
news:1188325606.1...@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Also for the record:
We got home just this afternoon - so it makes Saroj and I having arrived in
the Bay area (Tuesday 8/21/07) a full four days before the meet began, and
leaving San Francisco by a 12.40 a.m. flight this morning, i.e., the
following Tuesday. By the way, that is not a record. That belongs to
Rajesh Kumar (Vijay's brother), who had arrived from India much earlier, and
has a sense of humor unmatched by any other, except perhaps for Vijay
himself. Now that is soemthing for the record. :-)
It was a delight meeting and getting to know him.
Thanking the hosts of the meet is done not just for the formality of doing
it - I do so because there is so much that goes behind the scenes that does
not meet the eye, and for that I genuinely thank all who were involved in
the effort. UVR and Richa, Vivek and Neha, Pradeep and Madhuri, Vish
Krishnan....... I can go on and on, but you get the picture, right!
Thanks also to Surjit Singh for all the goodies, and to Vish for the
unbelievable commemorative.
And above all, a big thanks to all those who attended the meet, for making
it successful.
I am already beginning to look forward to the next meet at Guru's place next
year.
Meantime.....
--
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
irfan
> "Neha Desai" <nehar...@gmail.com> wrote in message
It was a real treat ! Two days which I spent in Cupertino,
nay ,
in the homes of Vish, Vivek/Neha and Pradeep/Madhuri are
simply unforgetable. Besides meeting all other friends, it
was
really nice to see Dr.MLK and Nani ji. Nani ji looks
completely
different from what sometimes he writes. It was pleasure
talking to
Shailendar's son, Salilda's daughter, Gautam ji, Narsingji,Ek
Tanha,
Guri Singhji, Surajit and others. And the FOOD, it was simply
marvelous!
Thanks again to all the Organizers and the Participants of the
Meet.
Warm regards,
Irfan
Neha Desai
Now who was Ek Tanha ???
:thinking:
--
Neha
> Guri Singhji, Surajit and others. And the FOOD, it was simply
> marvelous!
> Thanks again to all the Organizers and the Participants of the
> Meet.
>
> Warm regards,
>
> Irfan- Hide quoted text -
surjit singh
PJ.
surjit singh
Dr. M L Kapur emailed that he has also reached safely and is going to
start converting hundreds of tapes to CDs soon :)
>
> Warm regards,
>
> Irfan
Srinivas Ganti
> This was my first
> RMIM meet and I thoroughly, absolutely, and overwhelmingly (!) enjoyed
> the meet. I was so glad to finally meet, in person, so may people
> whose postings I regularly read.
Narsingh ji:
You are now officially inducted into the MAFIA ( music aficionados
from india association).
Welcome !
Satish Kalra
news:1188356811....@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On Aug 28, 7:14 pm, Neha Desai <nehar...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Aug 28, 5:32 pm, irfan <kianwa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
.....snipped......
>>
>> Now who was Ek Tanha ???
>> :thinking:
>
>
>>
>> --
>> Neha
> PJ.
Now those two initials have a double meaning.
Panjabis are not known to let any such opportunity go by. :-)
Satish Kalra
news:1188357502.7...@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
Srinivas:
When did you coin up that acronym? Rather its details?
Srinivas Ganti
> "Srinivas Ganti" <sga...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > Narsingh ji:
>
> > You are now officially inducted into the MAFIA ( music aficionados
> > from india association).
> > Welcome !
>
> Srinivas:
>
> When did you coin up that acronym? Rather its details?
>
> --
> Happy Listenings.
Satish ji:
I came up with that Yesterday! :)
asi...@my-deja.com
During my engineering college days, MAFIA used to stand for Music and
Fine Arts club. :-) It was a reference to the term 'culture mafia'
that was prevalent during those days.
Cheers
Arun
Animesh K
Talking of PJ and PJs ...