BEST OF SHAMSHAD BEGUM - STAR SINGER OF YESTERYEAR

A couple of days ago, my friend Arun Sehgal sent me a list of 10 songs of Shamshad Begum compiled by a music journalist; Shamshad Begum, my favourite lady singer of Hindi songs in my growing up years. While I generally concurred with the list of the journalist, I needed to tweak it a bit to make my own. 

First, a few facts about this great singer honoured by our government with Padma Bhushan in 2009. She lived to the age of 94 and passed away on 23 April 2013, exactly 9 years ago. She sang more than 6000 songs in different Indian languages including around 1300 in Hindi, nowhere as many as Lata Mangeshkar, but still a considerable number with outstanding hits. Apart from being one of the first playback singers in Indian movies, she is reputed to have been the highest paid female singer from 1940 to 1955 and again from '57 to '64. In her heydays, she was the preferred singer of top music composers like OP Nayyar and Naushad. It is said that when Lata started singing, she was asked to follow the style of Shamshad as in the song that made Lata famous, 'Ayega Aanewala' in 'Mahal'.

Married at a young age, she was completely devoted to her husband who unfortunately passed away in 1955 in an accident when Shamshad was in her prime. That broke her heart and she gave up singing for 2 years which provided Lata an opportunity to reach for the top spot. Shamshad did make a return in 1957 only to go into self retirement in 1965.

On to my choice of her songs. We begin with the funny number of 1946 vintage, "Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday", that Vinnie Mama and I had designated as our 'anthem'. Vinnie Mama was in his teens studying in Allahabad University and I was in single digits having just started schooling in Bharatpur. The song is a duet with the male imploring the girl to visit him every Sunday with lure of 'ande', whisky and brandy, and promises of taking her to London and Paris. Shamshad, singing as the girl, would have none of it and tells him to 'Bhaag yehan se dur' as her 'Baba' is a 'Kashi ka Panda' and her husband is a 'Pehelwan' capable of effectively wielding the 'danda.' 

The next one is comic too: "Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, kiya hai vahan se telephoon, tumhari yaad satati hai, jiya mein aag lagati hai." This song, from a '49 film'  was also a duet with the composer, C Ramchandra, as the male singer.

"Saiyyan Dil Mein Aana Re, aake phir mat jaana re, chham chhama chham chham" was sung for the dancing Vyjanthimala in the film "Bahar". It is a happy, lively number.

The Begum and Lata Mangeshkar did a number of duets. One of the best is their last one together in "Mughal-e-Azam" titled "Teri Mehfil Mein Kismet aazma kar hum bhi dekhenge". The song is performed as a qawwali with Shamshad providing the voice for Nigar Sultana.

Shamshad sang two delightful numbers in Dev Anand's "CID", a '56 release. "Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana" was a mischievous solo while "Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar" was sung with Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle in a sweet, light vein.

Around the same time was another playful song in "Aar Paar", a '54 movie. The song was "Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar Laage Teere Nazar". Continuing in the same spirit was "Reshmi Salwar Kurta Jaali Da" in "Naya Daur" of '57.

Lest we think she only sang light songs, there were sad ones too like "Ek Tera Sahara" in "Shama" in '46, and perhaps the saddest, "Chhod Babul Ka Ghar, mohey pee ke nagar aaj jaana para" in "Babul" in 1950. The song is a tear-jerker describing the feelings of a bride leaving her parents' house and childhood friends for the first time after marriage.

To her credit is her popular Holi song, "Holi Aayi Re Kanhai", sung in "Mother India". It is of further significance as the movie marked her return after a two-year hiatus because of her husband's demise.

For a personal favourite, it is back to Bharatpur and 1946 for "Anmol Ghadi" and Shamshad's lovely song, "Udan Khatole Pe Ud Jaoon, tere haath na aaoon", a flight of fancy on a flying machine.

I love songs about 'bachpan' (childhood) and so I shall close my list with "Bachpan Ke Din Bhula Na Dena" from the popular film "Deedar" of 1950. The song has two versions and I relate to the first one sung together by Shamshad and Lata Mangeshkar for two kids, former for the boy and latter for the girl. The lyrics are touchingly sweet with the children singing that though they have a long life's journey ahead, they should traverse it happily with song, laughter and love and never forget their childhood days. The song is filmed with the kids on a horseback and the clop-clop of hoofbeats provides a most pleasing accompaniment to the singing. 

 

12 MEMORABLE SONGS BY FEMALE SINGERS

Comfortable in intimate surroundings and in close proximity of my School in Jaipur, who can blame me for indulging in some musical nostalgia. So here goes my pick of 12 songs by female singers, generally in chronological order.

The first one has to be Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow" which is just one year younger than me. I don't know if I heard it in my infancy but a definite memory is from Father Cosgrove's screening of "The Wizard of Oz" in School in early 1950s. A timeless classic, the song takes us to a child's dreamland. Told by her guardian aunt to go find a place where she won't get into trouble, Dorothy (Judy Garland) starts walking with her dog, Toto, fantasising about a place which is far far away, not where you can get by boat or train, but 'somewhere over the rainbow, way up high....birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh, why can't I.'

I became a Doris Day fan listening to her on Radio Ceylon in my schooldays and beyond as she kept coming up with hits after hits such as "Secret Love" and "Que Sera Sera", a song loved by children of all ages! But I will always remember her for "This Is Beautiful Music To Love By." An enchanting song, it is the right piece to play when in a romantic mood. Put it on, take your partner in your arms and gently waltz away into the night.

The '60s brought up a whole new crop of singers and one of them was Nancy Sinatra, a chip of the old block. My top song by her was ''You Only Live Twice", composed by John Barry as the theme for the James Bond movie. After much deliberation, he decided that Nancy should sing it.  John Barry's lush orchestra provided a distinctive opening with violins, French horns and strings setting the stage for a smooth entry by Nancy to deliver a touching, melancholic song. The intriguing lyrics speak of love as a stranger that involves a danger which must not be thought of, else the stranger would be gone.The lover 'must pay the price, make one dream come true, you only live twice'. The song became Nancy's top hit. 

Shirley Bassey burst into fame in the late '60s though her popularity lasted much longer. She was a favourite with John Barry who gave her a record three James Bond themes in ''Goldfinger", "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Moonraker". She had so many hits that it is difficult to choose one but I'll stick my neck out with "Never Never Never'', the English version of the Italian hit titled "Grande Grande Grande". In her captivating style, Shirley casts a spell on her listeners with her 'Love you hate you, love you hate you' conundrum, but 'Whatever you do, I'll never, never, never want to be with anyone but you.'

For most of us, Mary Hopkin was a one-hit wonder but that one number made her unforgettable."Those Were The Days" was a bittersweet song recounting the passage of time from 'where we used to raise a glass or two' and 'laughed away the hours and think of all the great things we would do' to 'then the busy years went rushing by us, we lost our starry notions on the way' and finally 'tonight....nothing seemed the way it used to be, in the glass I saw a strange reflection, was that lonely woman really me?' Harsh realities of life!

For sentimental songs, the French singer, Francoise Hardy, was one of the best. Pretty and seductive with an anxious voice, she would make a hole in your heart with her melancholic ballads. She was her own songwriter which might be the main reason why she could put the right emotion in her singing. For me, the song never to forget is ''Will You Love Me Tomorrow":

'Tonight you're mine completely, you give your love so sweetly,

Tonight the light of love is in your eyes, But will you love me tomorrow?

Is this a lasting treasure, or just a moment's pleasure....

Do tell me now and I won't ask again,

Will you still love me tomorrow.'

On to the next song on my list- oops, just realised I am jumping a decade. The last few songs were from the '60s and the next is from 1981. Perhaps the '70s were dominated by groups such as ABBA, Boney M and The BeeGees, leaving new soloists far behind. So the next number I have from a female vocalist is 'Memory' from the '81 musical "Cats". The pedigree of the song is in a class by itself- music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Trevor Nunn based on poems of the famous T.S. Eliot. The original show had Elaine Paige singing the song as the climax in the musical. Later, Barbra Streisand came up with her remarkable version. The lyrics tug at the heartstrings and while it would be too long to reproduce the entire song, I must quote two stanzas:

'Memory, all alone in the moonlight, I can dream of the old days,

Life was beautiful then, I remember the time I knew what happiness was,

Let the memory live again.

Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise, I must think of a new life, and I mustn't give in,

When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too,

And a new day will begin."

Next year, Laura Branigan sang "Gloria', a number adapted from Umberto Tozzi's Italian superhit with the same title. Laura's English version was an instant hit and became her signature tune. It is a fast paced, catchy tune designed to get you in a swinging mood though its lyrics are complex and not happy. Different interpretations have been given to its lines but the most accepted one is that of a woman whose looks have withered though she thinks she is still beautiful and everyone is lusting after her. She is becoming desperate for a stable relationship and could be heading for a breakdown as the line repeated four times in the song implies, 'Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?' Little did Laura know that in her own head she was developing cerebral aneurysm to which she would succumb in her sleep at the age of 52.

Sinead O'Connor gave her all in the deeply emotional number, "Nothing Compares To U". Listening to her and watching her passionate performance on video, one gets the feeling that she is actually suffering a heartbreak. In the song written by Prince, Sinead takes us through the torment of losing her lover '7 hours and 15 days' ago trying all means to move on but continuing to miss him ' 'Cause nothing compares to you'.

An all-time romantic classic was featured in the movie "Titanic"with Celine Dion's fabulous "My Heart Will Go On". The song provided the perfect background for the burgeoning love of the characters played by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The enchanting scene of the two in a close embrace with arms outstretched on the bows of the ship will remain etched in our minds for a long, long time.

Being an old-timer, present day singers don't move me much. Even Billie Eilish's award winning theme song from "No Time To Die" left me cold. There is one song though that I chanced upon recently that I would put on the same pedestal as the ones mentioned above and that is "One Moment In Time'. Originally a Whitney Houston hit, I love the passion and energy the Belgian singer Dana Winner puts into her version. Its lyrics are truly touching:

'One moment in time, when I'm more than I thought I could be,

When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away, and the answers are all up to me.

Give me one moment in time, when I'm racing with destiny,

Then in that one moment in time, I will be, I will be free.'

And now, I go more than 70 years back in time to round up my list with the Caterina Valente tango, "Kiss Of Fire". I used to sing this song as a 13 year old before quite knowing what the word 'kiss' meant let alone 'kiss of fire'! But the passion with which Caterina sang, it could leave one burnt and smoldering:

'Just like a torch you set the soul within me burning, I must go on, I'm on this road of no returning,

And though it burns me and it turns me into ashes,

My whole world crashes without your kiss of fire....

Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow, love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow,

I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me, though it consumes me ,

The kiss of fire.'

Really!

DELHI GOLF CLUB AND ME - A TALE PARTIALLY UNTOLD

The DGC Open tournament was held at the Delhi Golf Club over the last weekend of March. Like many times in the past, I went to see the action on the final day. While following the players on familiar grounds, memories of my association with the Club flashed through my mind.

I have been familiar with the DGC for almost as long as I have been playing golf. I had taken up the game in NDA Kharakvasla end-1964 at the insistence of my friends Lalit 'Tiger' Talwar and Subodh 'Guppy' Gupta under the tutelage of the inimitable czarist pretender, Dimitry 'Dimmy' Jouralov. Soon after, I was transferred to Delhi and applied for membership of the DGC. A short interview with the Managing Committee headed by Major General Virinder Singh and I was a member in September 1965. There were very few golfers in those days and I remember many games played in solitude without objections from anyone. At times, I could find someone looking for company as, on one occasion, a smart, dapper looking Air Vice Marshal Ranjan Dutt decided to join me. He was impeccably attired and, looking not too pleased with my golf equipment, asked me to get myself some shoes and a dozen gloves from abroad. How and at what cost was left for me to figure out.

The first major tournament I watched was the 1966 Indian Open. The inaugural Open in 1964 was played at the DGC and was won by the great Australian Peter Thomson. The next year, the tournament was played in Calcutta and Major PG 'Billoo' Sethi, an amateur, was the runaway winner with a score of -10, a lead of 7 over the British professional, Guy Wolstenholme. Incidentally, to this day, Billoo Sethi remains the only amateur to have won this tournament.

The Open returned to Delhi in '66 and we were all waiting for it anxiously what with Peter Thomson coming back to take part facing the red hot Billoo Sethi and other famous professionals mostly from UK. On the final Sunday, it looked as if the home crowd was going to be delighted with the result. Billoo Sethi and Peter Thomson came to the 10th tee with the former leading by 2 strokes. Both were on the green in two on the par 4 hole with Billoo lying just 15 feet level with the hole while Peter was about 50 feet away at the bottom of the green with an up-slope to manoeuvre. The crowd was secretly hoping for Peter to 3-putt and Billoo to make a birdie and extend the lead to 4. But we hadn't reckoned with Peter's capabilities which made him win the British Open a record 5 times; he made the huge birdie putt which must have shaken Billoo because he scrambled for a bogey. Lead neutralised! Peter continued with his magic making 4 birdies in the next 5 holes and eventually emerged winner by 6 strokes.

I was continuing my golf at the Club and had Flt Lt (later Air Marshal) KC 'Nanda' Cariappa as my regular playing companion. Nanda had been taken prisoner of war when his plane was shot down in the '65 war. On release, Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh took him as his ADC. I was Flag Lieutenant to the Commandant National Defence College, Air Marshal L Rajaram, and Nanda and I used to meet at all Air Force and Defence Services' functions. Both being fond of golf and members of DGC, we naturally started playing together.

Through the year, there were many amateur tournaments to witness at which the prominent figures were Billoo Sethi,  Ashok Malik and my favourite player in those days, Rajkumar 'Pit' Pitamber. With Ashok's father, the respected HS Malik keeping a benevolent eye on all, a new crop of young golfers was emerging consisting of Vikramjit Singh, Manmohan Singh and Manjit Singh. The last named is presently the President of the Club.

I was transferred out of Delhi in early 1967 but never lost the chance to play at the Club whenever in Delhi. In particular, I remember a smooth round of 9 over with 9 pars and 9 bogeys at the Services' Championships in '69. I had two postings in Delhi, '75-'76 and '80-'82, during which I made good use of the Club. 

In 1989, I left the Navy and settled down in Delhi. That has given me the chance to watch a number of Indian Opens at the DGC. I was a witness to Ali Sher making history in 1991 by becoming the first Indian professional to win the Open. He repeated this feat when the Open returned to Delhi in '93 after the previous year in Kolkata. Meanwhile, the golf bug had bitten Ruchir who took up Ali Sher as his coach. That gave us a chance to play with the champion many times.

In 2008, I was there when Shiv Chawrasia was hoisted on the shoulders of fellow Delhi caddies who went wild with delight on his winning the only Indian Masters held so far. For this Championship, my friend and neighbour, Champika Sayal, one of the organisers of the tournament, invited me to be one of the Marshals, an offer I quickly accepted as it gave me an opportunity to closely follow some famous players like Ernie Els, Thomas Bjorn, Graeme McDowell and Mark O'Meara in action. All the more remarkable for Shiv Chawrasia to have beaten them all!

DGC has proved to be a good hunting ground for Shiv Chawrasia who won the Open there in 2016. Thereafter, the Course underwent a major overhaul and redesign by one of the best golfers of all time, Gary Player, also known as the Black Knight because of his craze for always playing dressed in black which was odd considering that Gary was a supporter of apartheid in his younger days. The Course was readied in time for the 2022 Open and the 86-year old Gary Player was not only present at the opening but also played a couple of rounds.

Back to the finals, I was walking with the last threeball consisting of the Indian Ajeetesh Sandhu and two Thai players, Nitithorn Thippong and Settee Prakongvech. Going into the last round, Thippong was leading Ajeetesh by two strokes with the other Thai a further stroke behind. By the 16th hole, Ajeetesh had turned the tables leading Thippong by two strokes and it looked as if we would have an Indian winner. On the short par-3 17th hole, however, Ajeetesh's tee shot found the bushes and he dropped two strokes. Lead blown and both were even now. All three scored birdies on the par-5 18th resulting in Ajeetesh and Thippong ending up tied while Prakongvech remained one behind to settle for third position. For the two tied players, it was back to the 18th tee for the sudden death playoff. Thippong made a perfect drive but Ajeetesh found the bushes again and lost the hole by a stroke thus losing the trophy to Thippong and ending runner-up.

Now for the untold part of my story. I have written about my DGC association earlier too and have been asked by some why I am not seen on the Course or the Club now. Therein hangs a sorry tale.

My membership was active till end-1982 when I had a tiff with the then Secretary who was actually a friend of mine. In my life, there has hardly been any act of mine which I have regretted subsequently but here is a rare one. In a senseless huff, I sent the Secretary a letter resigning my membership. The resignation was based on two wrong premises; one, that the Secretary being a good friend would not take any action on my letter without asking me to reconsider; two, by that time I was 50% sure that I would be leaving the Navy soon and would settle down in my hometown of Jaipur and not Delhi. 

As it turned out, I was wrong on both counts. Firstly, the Secretary processed my letter forthwith and secondly, though I did leave the Navy, I was offered a job in Delhi and fetched up there!

In 1989 when I came to Delhi to take up my civilian job, I met Mr. Sankaran Nair, ex-President of DGC and High Commissioner in Singapore when I was the Defence Adviser there. He was fond of me and we had got along well in Singapore and played a lot of golf together. I told him my golf story and he said he would see if something could be done. He spoke to some members of the Committee and asked me to speak to a few others at the end of which Mr. Nair expressed optimism that the membership would be restored at the next Committee meeting. 

However, it was not to be. Unfortunately, a couple of blacklisted members who had been stripped off their membership for disciplinary reasons contrived to combine their cases for restoring membership along with mine. When the matter was put up in the meeting, a prominent member and past President, Mr. Dharma Vira, expressed his indignation at the blacklisted members trying to effect a backdoor entry and the item was summarily rejected without considering my case at all.

Apart from the fact that the two other cases were unjustified and should not have been clubbed with mine, the major irony was that the one member both Mr. Nair and I overlooked to speak to was Mr. Vira. With common roots in Bijnor, Mr. Vira was a very good friend of my father-in-law and if we had apprised him of my case, the outcome might have been different.

For a long time, I rued my decision to resign the DGC membership and felt bad speaking about it. Over the years, however, I have come to terms with it and am now content with playing at the Army Golf Course (AGC) which, I am glad to say, has progressed very well. Of course, as far as the golf course itself is concerned, it does not have the space or finances to compete with the DGC. But its bar, restaurants and the party venues are second to none. While the DGC sitting spaces open up only to the south-west, the rooftop of the AGC Clubhouse gives a 360* view of the lush greenery all round. With a band playing on weekends and moonlight to boot, one can have a memorable evening at the Club 'With a flask of wine, and thou beside me singing in...paradise enow'.

I could have had the best of both worlds though!

HOME AGAIN TO JAIPUR

Five long months and it was time to go back home.  We reached Amber and went up the hilly road and duly made our usual offering at the Mazar. Through the gate on top of the hill and there it was, a sweeping view down Kanak Ghati, Man Sagar lake, Jai Mahal on to the outskirts of Jaipur. Sir Walter Scott's famous lines that we learnt in School swept through my mind, 

"Breathes there the man with soul so dead, 

Who ne'er to himself hath said, 

This is my own, my native land, 

Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,

As home his footsteps he hath turn'd."

Yes, with Bharatpur and Alwar blood racing in my veins, growing up and schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur and finally settling in the capital city, I am a proud Rajasthani. This is where I belong and my footsteps will always turn towards my home.

By chance and not by design, we were coming to Jaipur on the eve of the 73rd Foundation Day of the state of Rajasthan. By now, the city like the rest of India, was almost completely free of the pandemic, at least for the present, and people were out in big numbers enjoying the evening on the 'Marine Drive' by the lake. Further on as we entered the old city, the sun had set which was lucky for us as we were able to see the tasteful illumination of Hawa Mahal and Badi Chaupar continuing through all the shops and houses of Johari Bazar. Ram Niwas garden was illuminated too with Albert Hall as the centrepiece. The stage was being set for the next evening's celebrations.

What a great celebration it was. We were treated to an evening of brilliant performances on the stage with the magnificent Albert Hall in the background. Led by Anwar Khan's delightful Manganiyar folk songs, Sunali Rathod and Roop Kumar Rathod followed up with some swinging, foot-tapping numbers. There were captivating folk dances too like Ghoomar and Kalbeliya accompanied with puppetry bringing out the myriad colours of Rajasthan spotlighted by the bright green, blue, red and yellow switching illumination. A large number of people, out in the open after two long drab years, thronged to the Park to watch the free concert.

There is more to look forward to. The big Rajasthan festival of Gangaur is on 4 April and I am sure it will be celebrated with renewed 'josh' this year.

Also waiting for some rain and peacock dancing.