A decade and more

My first blog came out on the 9th of September 2002, from then till now, it has endured me for quite long. i have rammed it with my thoughts and then maintained a stoic silence, but my blog has always called me back. How many times i did a re-return, i have forgotten, this is another chance for a re-return, lets see how long this partnership lasts. Lots has happened over this 11 years and more, that needs to be updated, that needs to be told. Where do we start is the question? Do i see my old blog-pals around? The hunt begins :)

Some words of advice...beautiful

GO to the people
LIVE among the people
LEARN from them
LOVE them.
START with what they know,
BUILD on what they have.
But of the BEST leaders,
When their TASK is accomplished,
Their WORK is done,
The PEOPLE will remark,
"WE HAVE DONE IT OURSELVES."

Awesome.....!!!!

Back or not

This always seems to be the question...am i getting lazy as i am getting older?...each time i decide to come back i just seem to forget this place to be revisited...

....some out of the box thinking....

Re-return

Aug 2006 to June 2008...thats hell lot of a time in the digital age which changes by the nano second...nevertheless am back and this time for good...for there are lot of images of life i wish to share....a new begin....a new start...new friends ...new experiences....life has been very beautiful....and what better place to record my musing than my good old blog...

Watch out...I'M BACK.....

back to what i like doing best

zaKhm jo aap kii inaayat hai is nishaanii ko kyaa naam de ham
pyaar diivaar ban ke rah gayaa hai is kahaanii ko kyaa naam de ham

aap ilzaam dhar gaye ham par ek ehasaan kar gaye ham par
aap kii ye meharabaanii hai meharabaanii ko kyaa naam de ham

aap ko yuu.N hii zindagii samajhaa dhuup ko hamane chaa.Ndanii samajhaa
bhuul hii bhuul jis kii aadat hai ik javaanii ko naam kyaa de ham

raat sapanaa bahaar kaa dekhaa din huaa to Gubaar saa dekhaa
bevafaa vaqt bezubaa.N nikalaa bezubaanii ko naam kyaa de ham

Silence prevails

This is the longest hiatus i have had from my blog. It was far from sight but never out of my mind.

Bell Chacha - Happy Birthday

Today happens to be Alexander Graham Bell's Happy Birthday.

They say when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing Invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"

Well, i am sure he is jumping in his grave at the present state of telecommunication technology.

Hail Bell Chacha!!!!

Here is one dedicated for u :)

gul teraa rang churaa laaye hain gul_zaaron men
jal rahaa huuN bharii barasaat kii bauchhaaron men

mujh se kataraa ke nikal jaa magar ai jaan-e-hayaa
dil kii lau dekh rahaa huuN tere ruKhasaaron men

husn-e-begaanaa-e-ehasaas-e-jamaal achchhaa hai
Gunche khilte hain to bik jaate hain baazaaron men

zikr karate hain teraa mujh se baa_unavaan-e-jafaa
chaaraagar phuul piro laaye hain talvaaron men

zaKhm chhup sakate hain lekin mujhe fan kii saugaundh
Gam kii daulat bhii hai shaamil mere shaahakaaron men

mujh ko nafarat se nahiin pyaar se masluub karo
main to shaamil huuN mohabbat ke gunaah_gaaron men

My romance with poetry continues

Itnaa to hua aye dil, ek shaksh kay jaanay say
Bichday huye miltay hain kuch dost puranay say

Ab mera safar tanhaa, ab uskee judaa manzil
poocho naa pataa uskaa, tum meray tthikaanay say

ruswaaii to wiasay bhee, taqdeer hai aashiq kee
zillat bhee milee hum ko, ulfat kay fasaanay say

raoshan huye veeranay, khush hoogayee dunyaa bhee
kuch hum bhee sukoon say hain, ghar apnaa jalaanay say

Ret - Sand

Time seeps through ur hand like sand, and life just moves on...read this beautiful verse

Sadak ko choom ke nikla
Toh tha, registaan ret ka

Rehta raha jeeta raha jisme
Woh tha, Makaan ret ka

Chalee jo tez hawaen, dar gaya
Insaan ret ka

Dafna do mujhe zameen mein, kee aa gira mujh par
Aasmaan ret ka

Mere qareeb thee woh qareeb se utha
Ek Tufaan ret ka

Na jao ke phir awaaz dunga tumhe
Hai mera Eemaan ret ka

Happy New Year

My romance with Faiz continues!


Ae Naye Saal Bata, Tujh Mein Naya Pan Kya
Hai Har Taraf Khalq Ney Kyoun Shoor Macha Rakha Hai

Rooshni Dinn Ki Wohi, Taroun Bhari Raat Wohi
Aaj Hum Ko Nazar Aati Hai Har Baat Wohi

Aasmaan Badla Hai Afsoos, Na Badli Hai
Zameen Ek Hindsay Ka Badalna Koi Jiddat Tou Nahien

Agley Barsoun Ki Tarha Hoon Gey Kareenay Tere
Kissey Maloom Nahien Barah Maheeney Tere

January, Faburary Aur March Mein ParDey Sardi
Aur April, May, June Mein Ho Gi Garmi

Tera Mann Dahar Mein Kuch Khoye Gaa Kuch Paaye Gaa
Apni Meyaad Basar Kar Kay Challa Jaaye Gaa

Tu Naya Hai Tou Dikkha Subha Nayi Shaam Nayi
Warna Inn Aankhoun Ney Dekhay Hein Naye Saal Kayi

Bey-Sabab Deytay Hein Kyoun Loog Mubaraqbadein
Ghaliban Bhool Gaye Waqt Ki KarDvi Yaadein

Teri Aamad Se Ghatti Ummar, Jahaan Sab Ki
Faiz Ney Likkhi Hai Yeh Nazm Niraley Dhab Ki

Bye and Welcome

2005 is just about to leave, and it would be cliched to say, it just zoomed by. 2005 a was quite a good year, except for the passing away of one of my first boss, a man i looked upto always. His passing away has dealth a major blow. Professionally and personally, it has been a great year. I got the long due promotion. The year always ends with a blast, so much for having a b'day at the end of the year ;)

I just hope 2006 remains a peaceful one for me and for the entire world. I dont like to see so much of pain around the world.

Here's wishing all of u, a very happy, prosperous, peaceful, healthy, wealthy New Year filled with loads of good luck!!!!

Merry Christmas

Its the end of the year and festivities are in the air.....Merry Christmas and dont forget to send gifts to me!!!!

Bluff Master

After I don't know how many years, I went to watch a Friday show, the first day show y'day. My track of watching movies this year has been pathetic, every plan of watching a great movie (not that there have been many) has remained on the drawing board. Thanks to a few friends, I made it y'day.

Coming back to the movie, overall the movie fails to create an impact, its ok kinds, done well. Some wonderful fundas given, comparing different people with different size and kinds of fish in the sea. Beautifully shot, good background score and good show by some of the cast. Nana Patekar as usual stands apart with his love for self. Catch him performing an arti of himself. Hilarious. As the movie draws to an end, it just looses the original essence. Nevertheless Good time pass if u have lot of time.

Jerkyl and Hyde

Life has been busy...not a reason why i should not blog, but guess there is some force stopping me from blogging and not blogging.

Most of last month i was busy being a blogging competition judge. My dept at Univ of Mysore, in an attempt to make them more tech savy and proficient with technological changes, keeps organising such events. I was selected to be one of the judges. Never having judged a blogging competition before, i was excited and nervous at the same time. guess the mind works better in these situations. i decided to remain the judge behind the viel. Started leaving comments on the blogs without them getting to know who the real person is. It was fun. Though the students didnt leverage all the positive points of blog, they nevertheless enjoyed blogging. The excitment of know who the judges were was quite exciting as well. I msut thank Questor for his ideaas on evaluating the blog. Thanks Pradeep :)

We are in the midst of setting up blogs at work, lots of ideas are being given. Lets see how we get set.

Ghazal, sher, kaafiyaa

Read these details somewhere, worth reading...increases ur Ghazal knowledge


Ghazal ! The word originates from arabic, meaning, "way or mannerism of talking to or talking about women." Thus in fact its an expression of love! But in this ever changing world the ghazal has become a reflection of the life around us, and now there is hardly any sphere of human interaction which the ghazal hasn't touched.

To better understand the finer nuances of Urdu ghazal it is imperative to understand the structure around which a ghazal is woven!

Classical Definition of Ghazal

Briefly stated Ghazal is a collection of Sher's which follow the rules of 'Matla', 'Maqta', 'Beher', 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif'. So to know what Ghazal is, it's necessary to know what these terms mean.

To understand these terms easily , we will take an example.

1. koi ummid bar nahin aati
koi surat nazar nahin aati.

2. aage aati thi haale dil par hasi
ab kisi baat par nahin aati

3. hum wahan hain, jahan se humko bhi
kucch hamaari khabar nahin aati

4. kaabaa kis muh se jaaoge 'Ghalib'
sharm tumko magar nahin aati


What is a Sher ?
It's a poem of two lines. This definition is deceptively simple. Please note that, every Sher is a poem in itself ! A Sher does not need, anything around it, to convey the message. All the 4 stanzas in our example are independent poems, Sher's.

So Ghazal is necessarily a collection of two-line-poems called Sher. [ So the Rafi solo "rang aur noor ki baaraat kise pesh karu" is NOT a Ghazal, as every stanza is of 3 lines, and not 2. ]

What are other restrictions ? Many, and important ones.
[ Any collection of Sher's is not Ghazal. Some good examples are ; the famous Mukesh song from Yehoodi, "yeh mera deewaanaapan hai" ; and the title song of "dil apana aur preet parayi". Each stanza in these songs can be considered as an independent Sher, but they are NOT Ghazal's. To understand, why, we have to wait till 'Kaafiyaa, 'Radif'. ]

What is 'Beher' ?
'Beher' is the 'meter' of the Sher's. It can be considered as the length of the Sher. Both the lines in the Sher *MUST* be of same 'Beher'. And all the Sher's in one Ghazal *MUST* be of the same 'Beher'. There are 19 (!!) kinds of 'Beher'. But in simple terms, 'Beher' is categorized in 3 classes. Short, medium, long.

Small :
ahale dairo-haram reh gaye
tere deewane kam reh gaye
[ Also Talat song, "dil-e-nadan tuze hua kya hai" ]

Medium :
umr jalwo me basar ho, ye zaruri to nahin
har shab-e-gam ki seher ho, ye zaruri to nahin
[ And by Gulzar, "ruke ruke se kadam, ruk ke baar baar chale" ]

Long :
ai mere humnashin, chal kahin aur chal, is chaman me ab apanaa guzaaraa nahin
baat hoti gulon ki, to seh lete hum, ab to kaaton pe bhi haq hamaaraa nahin
[ The filmfare winner, "Manzile apani jagah hai" !! Yes ! It IS a Ghazal. And the Shayar is Prakash Mehra !! surprise , surprise !! ]

So Ghazal is a collection of Sher's of SAME 'Beher'.


What is 'Radif' ?
In a Ghazal, second line of all the Sher's MUST end with the SAME word/s. This repeating common words is the Radif' of the Ghazal. In our example, the 'Radif' is "nahin aati". [ Sometimes, the Ghazal becomes known by its 'Radif'. eg. "jaraa aahista chal" sung by Pankaj Udhas. On RMIM we all know one Ghazal by the 'Radif' as "aahista aahista", don't we ? or is it 2 or 3 ? :-)

What is 'Kaafiyaa' ?
'Kaafiyaa' is the rhyming pattern which all the words before 'Radif' MUST have. In our example the 'Kaafiyaa' is "bar", "nazar", "par", "magar" etc. This is a necessary requirement. Something which is followed even in the exceptions to all these rules.

So Ghazal is a collection of Sher's of same 'Beher', ending in same 'Radif' and having same 'Kaafiyaa'. [ That's the reason, why "yeh mera diwanapan hai" etc. are NOT Ghazals. There is no common thing which can be called 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif'. ]

What is 'Matla' ?
The first Sher in the Ghazal *MUST* have 'Radif' in its both lines. This Sher is called 'Matla' of the Ghazal and the Ghazal is usually known after its 'Matla'. There can be more than one 'Matla' in a Ghazal. In such a case the second one is called 'Matla-e-saani' or 'Husn-e-matla'. In our example, the first Sher is the 'Matla'.

What is 'Maqta' ?
A Shayar usually has an alias ie. 'takhallus' eg. Mirza Asadullakhan used 'Ghalib' as his 'takhallus' and is known by that. Other examples are 'Daag' Dehlvi, 'Mir' Taqi Mir, Said 'Rahi', Ahmed 'Faraz' etc. There is a Sher in a Ghazal, the last one, which has the Shayar's 'takhallus' in it. [ A Shayar, can use the 'Maqta' very
intelligently. He can "talk to himself" like one in our example. I have lots of favourite Sher's which are 'Maqta' of some Ghazal. Some gems are

koi nam-o-nishan puchhe to ai kaasid bataa denaa,
takhallus 'Daag' hai, aur aahiqon ke dil me rehte hai

and

jab bhi milte hain, to kehte hain, "kaise ho 'Shakil'",
iske aage to koi baat nahin hoti hai

The first one uses the meaning of the 'takhallus' to create the magic, and the second one is just simple, simply beautiful. ]

To summarize, Ghazal is a collection of Sher's (independent two-line poems), in which there is atleast one 'Matla', one 'Maqta' and all the Sher's are of same 'Beher' and have the same 'Kaafiyaa' and 'Radif'.

Back to my sher-o-shayari

zaKhm jo aap kii inaayat hai is nishaanii ko kyaa naam de ham
pyaar diivaar ban ke rah gayaa hai is kahaanii ko kyaa naam de ham

aap ilzaam dhar gaye ham par ek ehasaan kar gaye ham par
aap kii ye meharabaanii hai meharabaanii ko kyaa naam de ham

aap ko yuu.N hii zindagii samajhaa dhuup ko hamane chaa.Ndanii samajhaa
bhuul hii bhuul jis kii aadat hai ik javaanii ko naam kyaa de ham

raat sapanaa bahaar kaa dekhaa din huaa to Gubaar saa dekhaa
bevafaa vaqt bezubaa.N nikalaa bezubaanii ko naam kyaa de ham

Josh machines

Last Saturday we had our annual party at office. Annual day can be interpreted as parents days..Difference here, its one bunch of enthu emps who struggle between work,talents exhibition and personal life and one bunch of employees who watch their co-workers perform.

At our office we have an in-house Event management group. An amazing bunch of people, who now can give any events group a run for their money. Software professionals who have learnt the tricks of the trade.

Being part of this troop, it was fun organising an event for 5000 people. Equal dose of tension, the excitement, the nervousness all blended together, end into a awesome dish, taste of which is savored for days to come.

And I must say, the world is full of talented people...They never cease to surprise me. Wonder where in us lies the source of josh :)

End Journey

One of our colleagues passed away today. The guy was on vacation from on-site, while driving trough the roads of God's own country, devil's own people in the form of state road transport bus driver, collided with his car. For nearly 7 weeks, he was in the ICU and this noon succumbed. Just when he was showing signs of life, the Creator had other plans for him.

This was the second accident case at our work place, about 2 weeks back, we lost another of a colleague in a freak accident case, that man was to get married in the next 10 days.

Death is such a leveler. It snubs life without warning. We live such a fast track life, where we plan life for the next 25 years, without a clue what the next 25 days, 25 hours, 25 mins or 25 seconds hold for us.

Speaking of death, I wonder how would all my blogging friends know, when I die?. Maybe I leave my blogger id and password in my will. Why this thought, don't ask me?

Kuch Tabiyat Aisi apni

The past few days have been a roller coaster ride. while work and study have a habit of keeping me busy, I have been getting quite busy and active with my professional.
On one hand I am helping my alma matter put up a workshop exclusively for students, on the other I have been delivering lectures at my Library School. Ahem! yes, Last Saturday, an unfortunate crowd of about 60 people, comprising of library school students, Information professionals, and consultants in Information world, had to bear me for nearly hour and quarter. I spoke, rather, led them through a few useful links which they can use in their day-to-day professional affairs. end result, I got invited to another institute to give their managers some gyan. Aint I happening? ;)

Last week I was also a part of the first time summit in India, which brought together, the stakeholders of information Industry, the creators, the distributors and the users. apart from listening to luminaries, I had my good share of fun. Ofcourse I did some hard work, I was the official reporter for the Summit. Am making a small report to be published in a magazine (hopefully)...same shall be shared once I get a nod from them...wish me luck!

And a couplet for those who have got used to my shayari :-D

Kuchh Tabiyat Hi Mili Thi Aisi
Ki Chain Se Jeene Ki Surat Na Hui
Jis Ko Chaaha Usey Apna Na Sake
Jo Mila Uss Se Mohabbat Na Hui

Waqt...boleto...time

The shayari bug has taken over me big time...one more awesome couplet.


kalam uthai hai lafz nahe milta ..
jisko dhundte hai woh shaqs nahe milta
phirte hai woh zamane ke saath
bas hamare liye he unhe waqt nahe milta...